scotspine1

Small scale -

The other fishing pole method is used for felling, its a way of setting a pull line without having to climb the tree. Pick a branch high in the tree, the throwline should go over the branch as close to the stem as possible, run the pullrope over, it runs down the back of the tree, tie a running bow round the stem leaving enough room for your notch below. Walk the other end of the rope out from the tree and your ready to fell.

Oh that one, its complete nonsense. Everything about that 'fishing pole' technique is wrong, talk about rigging yourself into a quandry. It was experimental, no-one uses it cause they know its rubbish, sorry but its true.

Without a pic its difficult to explain, you need a throwline, over a big central branch union high up in the canopy, throwline doesnt need to be isolated as one end just runs down the back of the tree and you tie it above where the notch is going with a running bowline, the other end is for pulling the tree over, just walk it out from the tree. Its an excellent technique so long as your skilled with a throwbag and have a good eye for selecting the right spot where the rope is going over. It can go badly wrong if you select the wrong spot due to stem twisting or pulling to one side.

Bet they're BNP members. Seriously though, who was the idiot that brought Japanese Knotweed to the UK?

Is Redwood the chipper division of Wessex? just that Jensens now have Redwood stickers these days. Spoke to them a few times - south african bloke, very helpful, can call them pretty much anytime and they'll guide you through a maintenance issue.

Got a large Beech to takedown soon, there's approx 20 tons of good timber in it, anyone interested in taking it away, you can have it for free? The tree has to be rigged down, so there wont be too many long pieces if your using a Botex etc. Good access for a large tip truck with hiab though. Smallest diam timber will be approx 5/6 inches largest - 48 inches diam. Can get pics of the tree if needed. thanks

Been using a Jonsered cs2171 for six months now, bought it from Central Spares for about £540 inc vat, 20 inch bar.....its been very good so far, good power through the timber. No maintenance issues and feels very solid. Same engine/carb as the 372xp according to the sawheads at Arboristsite.

Rupe, that little Petzl pulley, as a slack tender I found it was sticking as I tried to advance the hitch, it was the sharpo corners of the side plates. Into garage and filed off corners with flat chainsaw file (rakers), works much better now. never sticks. If anyones gonna try the Swabisch as a hitch for a flipline its better with 5 wraps if your using the marlow cord.

Would be interested, either competing or just watching, need to brush up on rescue techniques.

The thread might have been of some interest to folks here in the UK seeing as we place a lot of value on ancient/heritage trees and the UK arb industry tries to focus on how we can maintain them in their natural state without restricting public access to them.

Can't you let us decide that? Steve Sillet's email to you was the main reason for you starting this thread. Damn sure he wont be sending you any emails again, in fact be very surprised if anyone did after reading this thread.

I'd be happy to discuss the issues in the thread, but I'm finding it difficult to give your thread any credibility, we dont even know what Steve Sillet said in his email to you. You could have easily have taken what he said out of context. Why dont you post Steve Sillet's email so we can all make up our own minds about what he was trying to say. As you've already said his email is now owned by you, so lets see it.

Ok, maybe it was a bit strong, I just dont see why mdvaden has to spoonfeed the worldwide arb community snippets of a personal email in order to make his point.

YOU got an email from Sillet, no-one else did, it shows a lack of judgement on your part sharing the details of his private email. I guess your into 'freedom of speech' and all that BS? well.....with freedom of speech comes responsibility. That fact you've disclosed his email to the world just makes you look amateurish at best. Sillet comes out of it looking like the professional. Having said that, I do agree with you on the Redwood naming/location issue.

One of the guys over at Treebuzz had to have a testicle removed after the leg strap pinched it and cut off the blood supply. Here's the thread - http://www.treebuzz.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=149619&Main=149441#Post149619 .

Been using Marlow Gecko for a year now, its been hardwearing, smooth with various friction hitch cords, very knotable, easy to coil and throw to the next branch, light enough, good colours, I've nothing but praise for this rope. For those who use blakes it works great with Marlow's own split tails. My main climbing line for the last 11 years has been Yale XTC red and white but I dont have a problem switching to Marlow Gecko, keep up the good work Marlow. As for Yale XTC milking, I've never seen it happen on any of my ropes.

Bought a 1998 swb 2.8tdi Fourtrack Fieldman a couple of years back, 60K on the clock, tidy condition, no problems so far other than new glow plugs and uprated rear suspension - £60 on maintenance in 2 years. Its good offroad/woodland, but really needs decent mud tyres, only use it for towing a 1 ton chipper. Doesn't have the same power as a Defender, wouldn't like to see it towing more than a couple of tons though its rated to tow 3.5t! Think the long wheel base would be better for towing. Its a better drive than a Defender, much better visibilty and more room in the cab. Would look for one about 2002 though if buying now. Most important is that its good for reversing the chipper up narrow driveways and has plenty of flat areas on the dash for coffee/sandwiches etc.

It happens in this vid at 9.30, watch the rope belly down as the piece drops off the stem. Great footage - [ame=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=tq1p4xc1GtM]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=tq1p4xc1GtM[/ame] Rigging Errors vid - In the first clip of your vid why would you remove the slack from a piece so high up? In the second clip, could those groundies milling around in the background have been put to good use by using a control/tag line to stop the piece swinging about wildly? Its very hard to judge the exact trajectory of a big piece your letting run, I've seen walls, fences and a greenhouse getting demolished when the guy running the ropes has misjudged the weight or wraps. Nice vid again Reg, thanks for posting.

powcaddy, never buy any vehicle from a farmer or builder. There are thousands of crewcab pickups being sold by yuppies who bought them as SUVs and businessmen who bought them for tax reasons, they've never been off road or towed anything. Farmers 4x4s have spent most their lives off road. As for the d22 issue I've owned a 54 Kingcab version from new, its now on 70,000 miles and been towing almost everyday, it has not needed one bit of maintenance other than oil change/usual service etc. The problem with the bearing in the conrod could be confined to a single small batch. I know a landscaper who has a d22 from new 53 plate with 110,000 on the clock no problems. If your put off by the d22, what about a Mitsubishi L200? or Daihatsu Fourtrack? you can pick up low mileage 2001/2002 Fourtacks for the £2000/£2500 mark, excellent vehicles that are rated to tow 3.5 ton. Many of them have never worked a day in their lives.

I agree Mesterh, but would you recommend felling if the fungi was the cambium killer Armillaria mellea in the same abundance as the Merip and there was some mild dieback in the canopy or would you Picus and Air Spade root etc further investigation?

I found the same difficulty when preparing for the exam with marking instructions and past papers not forthcoming. I find it very concerning that the Arboricultural Association does not help arborists in such an obvious and structured way, it makes no sense. Surely past papers should be in the public domain and marking instructions provide transparency and a clear understanding of HOW they mark. The marking is clearly subjective which therefore suggests, one marker's 4/4 could be another marker's 2/4. Where is the consistency? How can they expect people to do well if they dont provide the tools to support learning? I was disillusioned by it. .

lol, Ed's so fat his blood group's Dolmio

Very true Matty, I came pretty close to buying a 338 when the carb went on a new MS200 after 3 weeks. Since the carb was replaced, 3 years ago now, its been excellent, not a single problem. As for the whole profit thing, Husqvarna are doing exactly the same. Seen the plastic covers on the handle of the 385xp fall off after a couple of months exposing the trigger mechanism to saw shavings and dirt etc.

Having used the 338 on some big pruning/removals I wouldn't say it was a waste of space at all, its an excellent little saw, its just that the Ms200T feels better to use, especially on bigger diam branches/stems etc.