Tom D

That should be it.

Sorry wrong pic,

Climb it high every time, unless you were promised by a mate it was only half a days work and then discover you've got to dismantle 2 largish ash trees over a streetlight wire. In that case tie a rope round the wire and have your groundie pull it tight against the tree then fell just above it . see pic, ten minutes later the guy on the excavator broke the line anyway. Always make sure that your strop is attached to your main d and not side d's though, even for small ones.

I'm looking for someone just now, but we're mostly on the east coast, ley me know if you're interested.

Its Chris White I think, you're right theres only 5 AAAC's in Scotland and I'm not saying we should all join. Thing is though Imagine you're a punter and you dony know much about trees, how do you choose between a well meaning well motivated quality team and a cowboy. All it comes down to is the gift of the gab, and if the cowboy's got it he'll get the job. What if you could only call yourself a tree surgeon if you had certain qualifications? What should these be?

I have sold timber to mills over the years but to be honest you're going to struggle with a single bit of beech however good it is. We took down 90 tons of hardwoods on one site last year, only 6 ton was worth selling, if you can get a 20 ton lorry load together then you may find a buyer, and it can be worthdoing. The six ton in question made £800 and they collected it. However beech is worth very little so i'd log it. If you are in the north and have good logs in the future AJ Scott will collect a full load. I have also had sucess selling single logs if they are at roadside and you're prepared to wait untill the lorry is passing but this can piss your client off. You could always buy a chainsaw mill.

Would'nt it be good if there was a mark, membership or certificate that we could have, like CORGI. If so what form do you thinhk would be best? Would you certify the company or the individual? How would it be made useful to both small and large companies? All we need is something which reduces the number of Pikeys and cowboys out there. They are seriously driving down prices. Because tree work is so expensive to get in to, ie equipment costs insurance etc our profits are low when compared with a plumber or sparky who only have to shell out a fraction on tools and equipment compared to what we do. Get rid of the pikeys and we'll all be minted!

I agree, inspect on a tree by tree basis and keep as much as you can rather than reduce right down, if a stem has a good attachment keep it. If you are worried about wind sail reduce these stems a little but nothing drastic. Remember the more you take off the more shock and therefore root and corresponding butt rot. Just removing all the crossing / weak / included / and poorly attached branches will reduce the overall wind resistance considerably. And of course get some replacements planted

Sorry did'nt read the bit about bore holes. Sounds like a wood wasp grub to me, did you find any grubs? They're quite common round here the grubs are big, over an inch long and the holes they make are about 10mm. The adult looks like a large wasp up to 6cm with quite long legs, the female has a large ovipositor which looks like a sting. Only thing is I think they only feed on conifers, they only eat dead wood anyway.

Used to drive a U1900 with a 12"bandit on the front, not a great setup to be honest but.. was thinking of a long term replacement for my van and looking down the 7.5 tonner route till I discovered you now have to do B + E to tow a trailer.... So started thinking of a mog again but a farmer friend of mine thinks that the government are going to scrap red diesel due to the high levels of fraud. Genuine users ie farmers will claim the duty back as part of their tax returns. This will be seriously bad news for mog and chipper owners as i'll bet tree surgeons wont be eligable for the rebate. Anyway if anyone knows anything about this i'm sure they wont be frightened to post it on here.

Just found this old thread, I seriously considered joining the AAAC scheme last year, it is suitable for small firms like mine and has many advantages. The scheme only asks contractors to do what they should be doing anyway. If all tree surgeons were members the bad pruning thread would have a lot less candidates. The pikeys and cowboys drive prices down making it harder to make money as a reputable company, and therefore encoraging corner cutting (if you cant beat them join them). There would be a lot fewer accidents if people had all the proper tickets. There's just one problem NO ONE HAS HEARD OF THE SCHEME or in most cases even the AA. I would love a CORGI type scheme and the AAAC could be that scheme if the AA gave it the backing it deserves. They could have a massive brand awareness drive and also get the insurance companies involved: House holders are liable for any dammage caused by poor tree work ie trees topped/tipped 10/20 years ago. Local authorities could also help enforce the scheme: only AAAC's to work on TPO's and in conservation areas. I have lost work after explaining to clients that they cannot top trees in conservation areas only to have cowboys come in and top them, all the council do is send a nasty letter to the owner. The way i see it WE are the arborists WE are at the coal face If WE get organised and tell the AA what we want from the scheme they will listen. I did last year and they did respond but to make a difference we ALL need to pester them. If we want the scheme to be more open to smaller companies then lets tell the AA. The guy to pester is Paul Smith [[email protected]] I think all you business owners out there should ask for an application form and then contact the AA with recommendations as to how to make the scheme more small business friendly. I hope this starts a fresh debate but its no good if our oppinions never leave this forum.

If the dacaying detritus is part of the tree it is not performing any useful function therefore the woodlice are not doing any harm, infact rotting wood holds moisture accelerating the decay process and allowing potentially pathogenic fungi to take hold so you could argue that the woodlice are beneficial.

Go for speed over tonnage any day, I've not used a screw type but seen them working, hydraulic ram is the way to go, especially if you've got a tractor. The wider the ram the more the force BUT also the longer it takes to fill with oil hence the slower the speed. Many of the cheap splitters advertised are far too slow because the pumps just dont have the flow rate. My splitter has a two speed pump so you can split fast at 8ton pressure or slower at 16ton simply by releasing the handles slightly. The vast majority of my logs split at 8ton so if you're after a cheap splitter get an 8 ton one with a good blade speed. Another tip is get a table top type not a horisontal that way you can quickly move to the next split with little effort.

You can get those little winches in machine mart, i have had one for years, it does'nt come out much but it can get you out of a spot. I would'nt fell anything big with it though.

Good for you, i hope you enjoy it, its nice to see people getting properly qualified before they start in the industry. If you are part time or get long holidays try to get work with a GOOD tree surgeon, there's no substitute for a bit of experience, it will really help when you're looking for a job. Shame you live in the south, If there are any students in the Edinburgh area looking for work I am looking for someone now.

Really like that Roger, what sort of sander do you use? Here's a pic of a pinecone that I did for the NTS. Have to say you put me to shame though, I would love to do something more abstract. Do you only work to commision or do you just make stuff and try to sell it?

When you drop your silky, don't try to catch it. Did it again today, you'd think i'd have learned by now.

Not sure, thinking about putting it on ebay 4-5k I hope. if you want details let me know.

I allways have a swiss army climber cliped to my chainsaw trousers with a toy karibiner, it cimes in handy all the time. When i climb i just clip it on my harness, only time i use it up a tree though is to take samples.

I'm experimenting with this too using a martin hitch tied with very short legs. I too have noticed that the termination knot can catch the top of the hitch causing slippage though this only happens while acending so you tend to have hold of the rope anyway. I am experimenting with a 50cm loop between the hitchclimber and the puley for acending; this way you're pulling underneath the entire system and there's no worries about self tending. Once you get to the top you remove the loop and work as normal. I have not had enough time playing with this setup to decide if i really like it.

Was taking pics for a survey today, remembered this, here it is..

Done that with my 200 too, its a horrible feeling watching it get smaller and smaller and then bigger when it hits the deck.

Binned todays job, groundies log splitting, im off to get the landrover ready to sell, new one arrives soon, anyone want to buy a 2.8tdi 110?

Hard to get a sense of scale from pics, do you mean just the 2 windblows? I'd say £750-1200 but its so hard to say from a photo. This happens from time to time, I lost out on a big job for a community woodland project recently, the other price was half mine. S**t happens. If you get 100% of the jobs you quote for you're too cheap, less than 70% and you're getting expensive. Stick to that and you'll not go far wrong.

The equal wheeled compacts like this can really go some places, they're designed for vinyards which are often very steep. I reckon i'll get most places a quad will. You're right about ground compaction though, still I could always get some grass tyres for it. The forestry winch is the biggest advantage, I used to use a 4x4 winch but the Igland is awesome by comparison. We were clearing windblown ash trees which had falen into a river at the bottom of a 50 foot embankment on thursday. This job would have taken 2 1/2 days previously but we did it in one. I'll admit quads are probably more fun though.