kipperfeet

Just thinking, if it's any use, if any one is arriving early i can borrow the truckasaurus and do a minibus run up for a walk on the fell and up Jeffery hill, which is a nice walk through the forestry areas of Longridge fell? Only a mile away from Hurst green. Or there is quite a nice ancient Lime in the Stoney Hurst grounds for a pre-drinkin dawdle to? I am free that weekend so am happy to assist in local knowlege. In fact, i have about two tons of cut wood that wants splitting if anyone misses the smell of cut wood in the morning! Nice itinary though Bob:laugh1:

I am after a new splitting maul as my old borrowed on broke. Never thought about it before, but what do you guys think is good for the job? wood or plastic handle? Makes etc. Any thought on what you think may help me decide as i have tons to split but can't justify a log splitter. Never really bothered to sell it but i guess as its getting scarce i may as weel fill in my spare time by hitting wood!

Hey all, just spotted this one as i've not been on for a while. Is it 20th Dec at Hurst green? If that is right can i meet you all in the pub as i only live three miles from where you will be. Be good to talk tree shi*e with some new people instead of the younger newbies i teach and all my usual tree talking Shisters i kick around with. Don't worry about the accomodation as i can either - 1 :get my mrs to pick me up, 2 :bunk in with least hairy arsed of you lot, 3 :sleep in a cosy ditch, 4 :not stop drinking until morning and hitch home!

Hi Pete, i've used the Edelrid helmet for a few years now and think its great. Very tough helmet and the adjuster is on the back with tape clamp buck rather than a plastic ratchet type thing like the petzle. It fitsm much better than the petzle and the balance kit is screwed on so it cannot fall out like the petzle. If you want you five years worth out of it, get one. Thats why outdoor ed centres and rope access companies use them. Try it first though and check its comfy, horses for courses and all that.

Pretty sure that it is the Kasp one that trees unlimited sourced a while ago with a stein label put on it. Also saw Treequip's helmet at the APF and they come in glow in the dark. How cool is that? Railway night work maybe? I think they are also British made.

Swandri's are great for kicking around in but a bit warm for working in. The bush shirts are any way. Swandri shifted all there manufacturing to China last year and since then the quality has gone rapidly down hill, so much so the company had to get the N.Z government to bail them out so i heard. Fantisticly long lasting if you can get the old ones but make sure you do not wash them in detergent. The wool is processed so as to leave the sheeps natural water shedding capabilities so if you wash with a machine it ruins them. I used mine all the time in N.Z when working on a tree nursery but found it to restrictive for tree work, climbing any way. I still have a simple shirt which is great and super hard wearing.

http://www.treetopclothing.co.uk pm me and i can give you prices and where to get hem from.

Wow, that is brilliant. It would be perfect for the area around here. It would sell in no time for good money. Especially burning. I'm not far from Pendle so everything is witch witch witch around here. I'm going to have to have a go at the burning thing to it looks fantastic.

Hows it goin Sam, apart from that scary one! What kind of capstan was it, a hobbs i assume? Thats one problem with the one we have, the ratchet strap in intergal to the system and sits at the bottem. It's is something that i pay particular attention to when loler inspecting as it the only thing on the holding it to the tree. What was the rating on the strap. More impotantly are you ok? We have been dicking round with a rigging weight tester (can't rmember the name, some on help me out please!) at work and it is quite shocking when you drop stuff to shock load more that 1/2 a metre. 250kg section lowering on to itself is a big peice if the distance dropped is large and the groundie has not let it run. You must have cacked yourself!

Nice one Drew, i was thinking of double layer across the shoulder and arm section for rain shedding and toughness but was also thinking about having the arms and shoulders one piece so that there is only stitching under the arms and nowhere else. This will reduce the places to let water in but i'm not sure about the articulation of the arms. if the arms are straight off the shoulder instead of pointing down the way like a normal jacket is (when flat on the floor) then there will be more articulation when the arms are up above the head. I have a few in this style being made as we speak for testing. I'll give it ago and see what happens. The other issue is its not cheap - £15 a metre for ventile so the final production cost will be pricey. Not sure if its cost effective for retail but if i can get it right then it should be a great working jacket. Colours are a bit limited though, green-red-blue-orange-and sand. PM me how the issue ended out there, i passed it on to the boss man!

I agree, there are no short cuts to gaining experience, short cuts usually mean some one is putting them selves in a situation where they take chances, and this may mean accidents or at best, breaking fence panels. We have all done that i'm sure. On the other mini discussion in this thread, i Used to live about two minutes from the Red lion Brewery and it was rubbish beer even that close to its source. Long live the clean fresh tate of the Monteiths! so long as Booths bring it up to Lancashire.

Nice one Yorkshireman, took the words out of my mouth. NPTC is a certificate of competence, thats all. If you are already competent at your job and feel that you are, just register and do the assessment. you don't need training, just go on to the nptc web site, print of the schedule, read it, understand what you need to show the assessor and prove your competence to him! Admittadly the registration fees are, in my opinion, a tad daylight robbery but its a hoop that we have to jump through and better the assessed competent fool than the plain old fool that doesn't know any different me thinks. At least if some one kills themselves having been assessed at the highest level there is no excuse for poor work practice. Don't get me on to the the contents of the schedules because some are very silly and i may not stop ranting and get in to trouble!! It does take along time to bring some people up to the standards though, and i am talking about 10 years experience without tickets as well as newbies. You would be surprised. No way you could do it all in a few weeks to bring them to a basic level of safety. Incidently, having passed c.s.31, you can now go on and do Multiple wind blown. Thats what the nptc came up with after their revision period. so after felling a 15" tree competently, you could train to let loose in a wind blown woodland with out the winching and felling techniques of 32 and 33. hmmm a bit of a difference in 15" trees and 100 footers stacked up in Grizedale me thinks? Nice one NPTC.

Glad this thread has continued as i've been watching avidly to see if it turns in to negative or positive rants. I only have in interest because i love the industry i work in and it seems to becoming increasingly harder for people to do what they love as a job in it. I have seen it from a different side since working at a college (took a massive pay cut i might add) and its annoying how my hands are tied to some politics but as instructors, we pretty much get left to run our own shop. Thats why we build up such a good rapore with most of the students we work with and get to know what suits them for the industry (more than they think sometimes!) Hopefully we can help them play to there strengths and treat them mean and keep them keen. Only said stick to the monteiths as i can get in sunny Lacashire, if i want speights i have to go to the speights pub in London. I'd rather go back to N.Z. to be honest! I miss the land of the long white cloud.

Thought as much. I am looking at putting one together for tree work to suit my needs. It seems good so far but just wondered what its like when filthy. I like the way it goes fairly hard and changes when wet. Cheers Tom D

What about the cost, it seems to be pretty pricey but if it lasts then i'm not so bothered? I have a west wind antarctic smock but its got to many pockets etc for working in and i don't want to ruin it. Absolutely love it for walking the dog and kicking around the woods though.

Say g'day to the Drew meister for me sycamorephobic ya big jessie!!! And stick to the Monteiths and avoid the speights mate!

Any one used Ventile?

Any one used ventile tops for working in? The likes of West Winds, Bison or sas type smocks. Thinking about giving it ago for climbing in. If it was good enough for Antarctic exploration is it good enough for tree work?

Just thought i'd dob on to this one from the college point of veiw. Most of the Lads that come out of college at N.D. level are under no illusions that that they will be on low money and have to graft to earn the respect from more experienced guys and take the time and initiative to gain experience as a good climber. Most around this area pay from £30 - £50 a day for inexperienced lads with or without tickets, makes no difference as they havn't the work in them straight from college. Depite what JPBeaver has said before (not sure how long ago you did "one" day there but i can assure you it has changed) The lads are taught that, until they can pick up a rake when it needs picking up and load wood when it needs loading then pipe dreams of becoming a good climber can stop. Until the ego is knocked out of some them they never will. I would say that out of 20 on a course, maybe 2 or 3 show a natural apitude towards being a good tree surgeon (To me that is not just a climber but a good groundie, customer relations, mechanicaly minded with a sense of humour and give the stick as good as he takes it) From the start. The rest either learn slowly or go and work at Tesco. Simple as that. Myerscough runs a placement year, the only college left that does, and sends lads all over the world for experience. New zealand, Oz, America, Germany, Austria, Canada. Even to od places like "the south of England" The difference in them when they get back after a year of beasting is amazing. I see them go away, nieve and soft to work with the small amount of hard pushing we can give them in the short amount of time we have them. They come back wiser and ready to work. 99% that come back and complete, get work very quickly if they haven't got it sorted already. Unless companies take them green then they won't get the experience they need when they do leave college. Myerscough is stopping this after next year, despite us fighting to keep it, which is an absolute catastopy for the industry in my eyes. (so much so i will leave after next year) Students won't get the experience and employers all over the world are losing their trainees. Australia wanted as many as we could send them this year. 9 went out. So unfotunately there will be even more wet college boys with no experience coming your ways guys. Sorry! I work there part time but subbie out to other companies as well i would not expect more than £120 a day in this country. I have 12 years experience so i'm not sure what these people who cack it at the first sign of dead trees and a bit of rain are expecting but they won't last long expecting £200 a day. Contact us us if you want to give lad a chance and i'll send you a good one. All the companies i have worked for get the cream. We like to match the person with a job, its no use sending some one who is slow on the climbing front to, say, Austria as there big trees and he will break easily and lose confidence, they need time dragging brash and watching good people climb. Equally it is silly sending a naturally good climber somewhere where they will drag brash for 12 months and get no chance to climb. So thats how it works a Myerscough at the minute. Just wanted to get Mister Beaver off the case! Not bothered really but all i want to do is turn out usefull people to an industry that seems to becoming cool for ego's to do. Lets face it, everyone of us, nomatter how good now, was crap at the start. Some just crapper than others! Rant over.

Edelrid helmets all the way for my little head. Strong and good fitment and the eardefenders screw on so problems with them popping out like the older vertex did (i kicked it out of the tree in the end in a hissy fit!) I know a few people training IRATA and working up at NARC and they all swear by them to. Most out door ed centres use them to put the kids in as well, super robust and good adjustablility.

Gary Blackburn, that rings a bell. Is he on the Bonn Area. I worked for a guy near to Bonn about 7 years ago and there was a company out that way, Sebenfeld i think. Might not be him so i don't want to slander, but this guy had a nasty reputation for slave driving and accidents! Great place to live if it is though, nice Cities around that area.

Done a few cat rescues in my time but i happened to do one a few weeks ago. Refused to take any money as as i see it as helping the public and raising the profile of the industry. Nice to see that someone can appreciate what we do. I actually don't like cats and did offer the use of a rifle or throw line to start with but the owner wanted it one peice for some reason. Turned out the cat had been there for seven days and two fire and rescue teams, one council tree gang and a private tree gang could not get the cat down! It took me 20 minutes and as i grabbed the cat, it lost all bodily functions and wee'd on me. Charming.

A good friend of mine has just landed a contract in Vienna with a 1000 trees to do a variety of work too and is looking for a decent climber to go over for a few weeks with the potential for more work. Assistance in getting there and accomodation is given and its on a day rate basis. I worked there for a quite while and its a great city to do tree work. Nice big trees and great climbing in the snow! PM me if you are interested.