Tom D

The tech cert is tough, but I think you will get a lot out of it...

I did one once, but got it off with the bottles, I had the whole thing out and in a vice though and was canny with the heat...

Could you not get the bottles on it dean? I take it you tried.. although it doesn't look scorched enough for me. You can't beat a bit of oxy..

I have been doing 80 ish for a while now, with the worst weeks 100 or so, I will be taking it easy soon though. I had to work last week while my wife and kid went on holiday, that is not how I want things to continue...

what I need for the job, I hate having things getting in the way. Lanyard, caritool, 020, 50cm sling and retrieval ball for rope guide. other stuff if I need it. Festooning your harness with bling is for poseurs. Rather like the saddos who have a vauxhall corsa bearing half the stock of halfords.... cocks

There is an element of natural ability involved here, some people will take to it naturally, some won't. I had believed that getting stuck in was the answer, I took on an apprentice climber a few years ago and just made him climb everything, he improved quickly and now is an excellent climber, I have another new start who has not been able to improve any where near as fast, even after 6 months occasionally climbing he is still unable to cope with any big trees in an acceptable time, this is not his fault I should point out. What has worked for one guy (pushing him outside his comfort zone) has not worked for another. I don't know way the answer is but experience is the key factor. Its hard as an employer to give experience to new starts if they are so slow that it holds you back and costs money and time. Once we have got through our current run of commercial work I will give the newbie more climbing on smaller domestic trees where time pressures won't be so much of a factor, maybe this will help, as he will be able to build up slowly to doing more difficult stuff.

OOOhhhh impressive girth... Is it white or black?

I might be able to top 27m.. not sure about the girth...

IME the cheaper alternatives are not as good as silky. Buy a silky and look after it... and if you can't afford one put your prices up!!!

I have or aerially inspect a monster white poplar next week, its by far the biggest one I have seen, does anyone know what vital statistics of the UK Champion are? If its close I will take the time to measure this one, otherwise it will same me the bother.. My guess is that this one is 1.8-2m' DBH and about 30m high with at least 30m spread.... I have seen black poplars bigger than this but never a white one...

I'll post up after I have used it a bit, but won't have a real verdict for several months.. I need to really get a feel for it before I'd recommend one..

I am in a similar position myself, I am currently running 2 teams and although I have 2 362's, a 357 and a 254 I don't have a second "big" saw. I love my 385xp, it has been brilliant in the 9 years that I have owned it. I don't like the newer generation of husky and stihl saws and would have ideally liked another 385. I have used the 441 and 372 and liked them both however not as much as the 385. So after doing a little web research I bought a makita 7901 on impulse, hopefully it will arrive tomorrow, it is the only saw in this class to have a 1HP per KG power ratio and i have used one and been impressed, it has a nice design and feels nice in the hand, also it has no fancy auto tune or any other gismos. I will stick a 24" bar on it and run it for 6 months and report back. I am only thinking of you lot, sticking my neck out to try a non stusky saw in the interests of research. It only cost £411 new! so no great loss if its crap, it may turn up on the bay though, watch this space...

This really isn't about the employees, its about the business owners. Its not like its easy for a newbie to get work in this business, and 100 - 120 a day is good money for a newbie tree worker. The reason we are cheaper than other trades is simply supply and demand. If Dean had quoted the same hourly rate as the dish fitter he would have lost the job. We price our work according to our local market, (not that some couldn't charge a bit more if they tried). If there was a shortage of tree surgeons we would all be making more money, but there isn't. When people ring for a plumber in some areas they are so grateful to get one that they will give him the job whatever he charges. We rarely have that luxury.

I have been saying this for years, if you wanted to be a tradesman and took a cold hard business decision as to which trade to take up, tree work would be at the bottom of the list. The fact that I like being outside and not under someones kitchen sink is what keeps me from being a plumber. Most trades are easy to learn, and get the associated quals, CORGI etc, the cost of equipping yourself is minimal compared with tree work less than £1k for top quality tools. And you can charge the same rates or higher as a tree surgeon who may have £100k worth of kit. Why do we do it??

Kill bill and dusk till dawn were shite.. Its started now ..

On 4 at 10. worth a watch. I saw it when it came out and enjoyed it... Tarentino's take on how WW2 could have turned out.

I was going to say use them... and also the cement mixer option... both will work well..

I was driving late at night down south about 15 years ago, I saw an animal at the side of the road, brown, bigger than a hare, just didn't look right, as I got nearer it hopped further into the verge and I saw its tail, it was like a huge rats tail... It took me a few moments to realise that it was a wallaby! I later looked at the map and realised that i was near whipsnade zoo... Just shows that animals can and do escape...

Check the compression before you shell out on a new turbo, with the engine warmed up take off the oil filler cap and rev it up check for smoke coming out and put your hand over and check for it blowing...

There will be oil in the intercooler, from the breather pipe, a little oil could look like a lot.....

some of that beech is sycamore BTW Where a bouts in the borders r u?

Very nearly Dave, but the trailer was pretty full of leylandii logs. I did wonder about chucking the whole lot in the sea as we were only 100yds from the beach...

This dead pine had a massive climbing rose in it so we ended up felling it over the top of a wall, a nice wide gob so it landed tip first and rolled over. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcl1eWti3hs&feature=plcp&context=C3b714a0UDOEgsToPDskIGwmKKEQntGdCQektdNeCk]VIDEO0059 - YouTube[/ame]

Problem is, although the first fine is light, your number plate goes on a database and they target you from there on.. get caught twice and you may be in bigger trouble..

Still loving my HTC desire HD. does same as iPhone but has bigger screen and better battery.