Tom D

This tree had split at around 10' and was hung up in a neighbouring ash when I looked at it 2 weeks ago, it had fallen further since then, taking part of the ash with it. It was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle to dismantle safely but we managed it thanks to ite incredibly chewy properties. At one point a 25 foot section was held off the ground by the split part (pic 4) . Made protecting the wall so much easier.

The dates will be the 9th and 10th of May, unless the weather is terible in which case we'll do the 16th and 17th. Gustharts have confirmed that they will send a guy on the saturday so if you want a particular harness or piece of gear to try please contact them and let them know what you'd like.

My brother was on a farm the other day, the guy had a range rover sport with a big bar welded on the front, all his gates were sprung and he just bashes into them to get through. He'd had sheep in the back of it too. Some people have too much money. BTW monkey I saw a wildlife program once where a cock robin attacked a model like yours. Apparently during the breeding season they will go for anything remotely robin like if its in their teritory. Keep an eye on it.

They cant all be bad, all i know is mine has been expensive, and talking to the dealer I'm not the only one. I think there's a lot of guff talked about the stihl vs husky debate, they are both pretty good, but the 357 is a bad saw. I bought mine thinking that they have been around long enough to have ironed out any teething problems, I was wrong. I am a husky man and have always preferer their high revving slimline style, but I would buy a stihl next, even if I don't like shape and feel as much.

Nice job mate. Leaving the bole up save so much work anyway. Sometimes half the job is cutting one up.

Dont buy a 357, mine was only bought 18 months ago and has cost well over £200 in repairs since then. When its working its a lovely saw better balanced than the stihls and a much lower profile body, it has plenty power and a good AV system. But its a dog to run and has been a lot of trouble. I was chatting to the dealer ( who sells stihl too ) and he reckons the 346 is great, its 50cc now and they dont get many probs with them. I have always liked huskys and would recommend other saws in their range ( my 385 and 254's are great) but dont get a 357. There's a lot of anti husky sentiment out there mainly because their flagship saw the 357 is pants, and not a patch on the 254 it replaced.

I really should be working harder, but I found this: http://svc237.bne113v.server-web.com/calculators/treecarbon.htm

Maybe its an old dog and he's cutting his losses.

You had me woried for a minute, I thought everyone was going to turn up next week, and I'll be in Bingley.

You do realise its the 10th of May not April.

I've actually asked gustharts since they're only an hour away and I know them quite well, they sounded keen so if there's a particular piece of kit you're after call them and ask for Alex. I wouldn't mind having a go with one myself, and a petzl swivel. As for the tracks, its a working estate with forestry, farming and game rearing business as well so we'd need to ask permission before you can go and get your landy stuck. I don't think it'd be a problem though.

Popped along to the site this evening and took a few more pics, the first is the campsite, the rest are a few of the trees nearby. I will post details on directions soon.

I think you have the right Genus but the first pic looks like Phellinus tuberculosus to me, Its very common on Prunus cerasifera.

OK folks, things are shaping up nicely for the 9th and 10th of May, I have confirmed things with the estate and potentially have a dealer interested in bringing some climbing kit to try. I have a few questions for you guys: will anyone need a tent as I can get hold of a mini marquee which would do the job for anyone who can't bring their own, I will also source a barby large enough for 20 or so hungry arbs. I wondered if it would make more sense to all chip in to a kitty for food rather than each bring the same pack of burgers, £5 each should be more than enough. As for booze would you rather bring you're own? Also If a dealer is coming what would you like him to bring? don't be shy, any shiny kit you're after, now's the chance to try it. Please post any ideas or suggestions.

No real need to carry a knife with a retractable blade then.

:scared1: Left alone they can be ok. I did this one last year, was around 4' at the base and totaly sound. In fact the stump was a bugger to grind.

A good backpack blower will shift twigs on short grass. Failing that my Dad sells these. http://www.bargam.co.uk/leaf_blower.htm

I have taken dow a fair few Lombardy poplars over the last few years, one thing that I have noticed is that all the ones which had been heavily pruned were rotten right down to the base. Some had been brutaly topped to just poles and some just reduced, others which had never been pruned were sound, even large ones. This is one from today which had been topped 8 years ago, it had put on about 20 foot of growth in those 8 years. To look at it was fairly healthy, some of the old topping wounds were occluding and appart fron some minor deadwood it didn't look too bad. After cutting it down you can see just how bad the decay was. The white rot appeared to be caused by a fungus with white mycelium and a strong mushroomy smell (no fruiting body). I have seen this many times before as I am sure many others have but wether its the same fungus every time I can't say. One thing I can say is that if you see a lombardy that has been topped over 5 years ago I'd bet good money its pretty rotten already, I am yet to see a heavily pruned on that hasn't been. Makes you wonder if there will ever be a case where a contractor is sued for deliberately making a tree unsafe. Most of us have topped at some time or other and some species can handle it relatively well but in a lombardy pop its a time bomb. The speed of regrowth and the speed of the rot are recipie for disaster. Here's the pics.

I used to drive one, and so long as you don't go too big with it then it should be handy.

Still using the icetail at the mo. It grips almost too well so I might be giving the op a try.

Maybe, like I say the min is 2.5 times the diameter, so maybe you're just ok, its hard to tell from the pic. I usually have a bit longer as they tend to creep a bit over the first few climbs.

Good stuff mate, there's no going back, btw the ends on your half double fishermans could do to be a bit longer by the looks of things. The minimum is 2.5 times the diameter of the rope.

Year 1 ganno on monkeypuzzle?

Haven't we seen this tree before?

I gave up 3.5 years ago, the thought of it was far worse than actually doing it, as has been said NRT is a very bad idea, nicotine only stays in your system for a few days so NRT draws out the pain over weeks or even months. Most people have enough will power for a few days but not much longer, so to stop; stop dead. If you smoke one fag you may as well have smoked 20, just do 24 hours cold turkey and then repeat, its easy cos you know you have just done it. BTW the only REAL symptoms of nicotine withdrawal are feelings a bit like hunger which are often felt as an empty feeling in the stomach, all that anguish and inner torment, starting arguments just so you can storm off and have a fag, thats all in you're head. If you can handle the hunger type feelings you'll be fine, and remember all the other stuff is'nt real.