Tom D

Thing is, if there's no work, there's no work. Doesn't matter how many people you ring. I get loads of CV's sent and quite a few calls too, its sad to think how many guys there are out there looking at the moment. IMO there has been a bit of a perfect storm as far as tree work is concerned: Firstly there has been a downturn in the housing market, 5 years ago I recon 50% of the domestic work that I did was for people who were A. just about to sell, B. just bought, or C. drawn down on mortgage to build extension/garden makeover/decking etc. With 50% of the market now gone the next part of the storm kicks in, after 10 years of growth the number of people getting into tree work spiked, colleges turning out hundreds of fresh new graduates each year. These youngsters, unable to find the work they were promised began doing jobs on their own or with their mates, and began undercutting the established firms. Who can blame them! The established firms, seeing their workload shrink due to the fall in domestic jobs, and the downturn in the building trade, ( we used to do a fair bit of site clearance, not any more) found that they were loosing money. Their workload had fallen and they were having to cut prices ever lower in order to compete, so they began to lay off staff... who, unable to find work, began working on their own further driving down prices and so the cycle continues.. I hope you find something... and although I said there is no work, that wasn't true. There is just a lot less work. Keep ringing round and eventually something will happen.

How did you work that out Dean, I recon mine has cost me £18 an hour!! What were your sums?

It is actually very rare for trees to damage house foundations, walls are more easily damaged as they have shallower foundations and are much lighter than houses. I have seen buildings damaged by branches rubbing in the wind and trees can cause damp problems if they are right up against a wall. It will not damage the foundations of a house though, not for a very long time anyway. An extension with say a thin dwarf wall could be damaged, it is the weight of the masonry that protects the building, and the quality of the foundations. It could cause damage to the wall although I would say it will take 10-20 years, and only if the stem or buttress roots are in direct contact with the wall. If the stem is even 50cm away that will be enough to protect the wall as the roots will be thinner by that distance, by the time they are 2-3m away they will be no thicker than your thumb and of no cause for concern...

I've just bought a wee one for my alpine tractor, My dad is the importer so I got a good deal. If you are interested Scott he has one in stock just now, a big one, 2.3m I think, your case should just about be able to handle it, its a really nice heavy duty one, takes brash up to 3", and cuts grass, brambles etc. I know he is looking to get it out of the way so would do a good deal. Its just too big for what I need.. This is it..Bargam S.p.A. - Sprayer Machine - polverizzatori - nebulizzatori - atomizzatori - sprayers - pulverisateurs - feldspritze - atomiseur - mist blower - atomizer - atomizadores - pulverizadores - sprgerte - automoteur Call 01361 883418 ask for Patrick.

mine's orange... can't tell you more than that..

Thanks, do you just use softwood?

Tachyon is awesome.. Really hard wearing and not bouncy..

I don't know? Do you do kindling? There's loads of threads on the price of cord, logs per M3, bags of logs etc. I have no idea how the kindling job works..

I don't do kindling, out of interest how do the numbers stack up? How much timber does it take to fill a bag? how long does it take? and how much do you sell em for? Nice neat stack BTW...

That's the ones, Thanks!

Good point Rich, although I know a couple of locals who it could have been.

That's ten minutes from my house, they never rang me, we have rescued the odd cat, I usually charge though. I'd love to know who chickened out, I' will be asking around, I will be offering the lad a job, clearly he has talent.

I wish I knew Dean, I have pondered over this one too.

Have an arboricultural consultant look at the tree, then look at the weather data for the day in question. Send your arb report and weather data in along with a claim for your extra costs. You should get what you are due.

Anyone know where I can get brackets for joining 4" round poles? I am wanting to build a swing for my daughter. I have found sites where I can buy the swing seat and other bits and bobs, but no sign of the brackets....

its a regular client, in the borders, a big house, must have been planted up 100-150 years ago.. The fir near the house is the one in this vid, it was 100 foot, these are on slightly higher ground, but will be 100 foot easy. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwBdStb-4Xk&list=UU-ibThvqyJuNQX62QacBTbA&index=3&feature=plcp]the fir.wmv - YouTube[/ame] Edit: just watched that again and remembered how blunt that saw was LOL

Climbed a big douglas fir today, really nice site, like a little slice of the pacific north west. Lots of big hemlocks, spruces, douglas's and WRC's.

IME big jobs are always easier than you think, get some form of timber shifter o site and you will be laughing...

Quite true, also I can't recall an accident where a climber fell where he had followed the guide to good climbing practice to the letter. Few of us do, myself included, but assuming all things are equal i.e. a climber following the "rules" to the letter and a mewp operator doing the same then the mewp is by far the most dangerous option. Mewps have fallen over when they were being used correctly, Just ask Dean.. If as many trees were"mewped" as were climbed we would see the true picture. We have all cut limbs off and had them do something unexpected, as climbers we are generally above them and so its rarely a problem, in a mewp a limb could easily catch the basket, break a hydraulic hose, bounce on the ground and hit the boom, stabiliser, chassis etc etc...

I find that if they are left outside in a heap un covered they will dry down to 20% quite well. My yard is on the top of a hill though, its always windy up there...

I hope the kids pull through OK. There's not enough root on that for it to be a healthy wind-throw, some rot there for sure.

I have one, 24" bar, very nice saw, fast in the cut.. Light. I like it!

With 3 of us feeding our processor with cord and rings we timed an 0.8 cube bag at 4.5 mins! it doesn't really work out like that though, over the course of a day we get 20-30 cube.

I think .20 has best of both worlds, more weight than .177 and more speed than .22...

I have had an SMK for a while, I don't use it much as its so inaccurate... Got my FAC now... I'd go for a gas sprung one, they are better quality than the conventional sprung ones and you can walk around with them cocked for hours without tiring the spring. I have a friend who has one, can't remember the make but its very accurate and is in .20 cal which is nice for an air gun IMO.