scotspine1

This is a prototype of the new Hilux and this is what happened when it tried to pull away towing a small Halford's own brand trailer (which was empty).

Your prayers have been answered, funnily enough these cheapo double spikes have been around ebay for a while - Hurse must've copied them.

Strange they have this bit on website about old/new posture ....probably every climber I've seen using traditional spikes positions himself like the guy on the right. So why are they saying traditional spikes make you position yourself like the clown on the left? Hurse's marketing seems amateurish at best which then makes you wonder about the product.

When you fell at the level of the flared buttresses with a conventional notch and back cut (without cutting the buttresses off) the fibres at each side of the hinge tend to hold the tree in place as it falls over not only because the sapwood is more fibrous but also that the fibres at each side of the hinge are curving away at 90 degrees to the felling direction so they wont shear cleanly like in your pic.....all things being reasonably equal it'll will be a slow tearing shear on each side of the hinge giving more control of felling direction. Also most people would make a deeper notch into the straight grained fibres of the trunk which would avoid the type of shearing shown in your pic. I get what the guy is saying but the pic example only tells half the story.

have you used x/antal rings? if not it's probably worth starting with them before buying the aerial brake, like the aerial brake they move the friction into the tree but in a more manageable way. The aerial brake is a nice idea and it would have it's uses now and again for certain jobs/staff but overall a pulley or block in the tree combined with a Port a wrap/bollard on the ground is still the best method for lowering branches and timber.

good explanation here but without the port a wrap [ame= ] [/ame] [ame= ] [/ame] [ame= ] [/ame]

had that tree been reduced to those points before?

Tom, Like most of us here you're a climber, but not only that you have good climbers on your staff so when you approach a tree or trees to quote for work it's very rare the first thought that comes into your mind is MEWP. I'd use a MEWP a lot more if more clients were happy to pay for the hire but until everyone is using a MEWP the guys climbing will nearly always be significantly cheaper. The reasons I'd use a MEWP have almost nothing to do with safety. I really enjoy MEWP work especially on removals but very rarely use them these days due to competition for jobs. The ICOP risk assessment approach is pretty much irrelevant as well because nearly all of the jobs I look at fall well within what is reasonable to do from rope and harness and I would happily argue that point with anyone in a court of law or anyone from the HSE, AA or any self proclaimed voice of the industry or self proclaimed leader in health and safety.

If I opt to use a MEWP it's very rarely to do with safety. It's more to do with 'is there good access for MEWP?' then comparing the time spent on job and wear and tear on the climber if you chose to use rope and harness. There are some situations where a MEWP is preferable to climbing. Couple of years ago I was involved in a job that required a crane and a MEWP otherwise it would've meant setting up a complex rigging system between adjacent trees which would've taken about 10 times longer using rope and harness methods. Safety wasn't an issue. The job would've been just as safe climbing. There are obviously other situations like dead or dangerous trees where the safety factor does come in to play when considering using a MEWP. .

energy efficient yes.....but the HAAS, foot ascender and wrench set up can feel a bit frustrating at first when you switch from years of climbing on DdRT. The addition of the hand ascender is helpful if you're not used to climbing a static line hand over hand with the HAAS, wrench, foot ascender method or even just a wrench and foot ascender. It's also easy to clip the hand ascender into the back of your harness when not in use. The pic shown was suggested as a simple ascent method in the early stages of switching to SRT, then add in the HAAS later and remove the hand ascender altogether if you want.

Steve, before you give up consider keeping it as simple as possible in the early days. Like I said before just use it for medium or large spike dismantles with a top tie or pruning jobs where the tree can be climbed with ease like a ladder or big frame. If you try it on something like a big reduction you'll get frustrated. For a long ascent with base tie off - forget the knee ascender just now. Just use a hand ascender above the wrench and a foot ascender, as you ascend with this setup the tether/hitch self advances up the rope no problem.

This was posted in another thread but deserves it's own place in the video forum so more people get to witness the insane but effective remote controlled chainsaw technique of Billy King [ame= ] [/ame] .

that's gotta be one of the most memorable tree videos ever made for so many different reasons. Nice find, hope he makes more.......makes August Hunickie vids look boring.

been finding SRT with the top tie excellent for removals, just seems to work so well, especially on bigger multi-stemmed spreading trees like HCs where you can fix re-directs at the top of a secondary stem then head down that stem to start rigging off branches upwards but always with the over head TIP rather than having to fight the angle of your main TIP. The ability to use re-directs in a much more effective and easier way than you would with DdRT is what makes SRT worthwhile. Steve if you give up on SRT it's your loss mate. Using it on smaller/medium spike removals with a top tie is a good way to get a proper feel for the hitch with the wrench, forget about the ascenders just now - unless you got a long ascent into a taller pruning job.

good to see you're still around Rupe, long time no see. Hope all is well.

It's for setting up a double/twin line system, basically working off two SRT lines, similar to IRATA etc. 2 Ropewrench systems working side by side at all times for example. There's a big thread on Treebuzz that covers it all. DRT | The BuzzBoard .

these pics were supposed to be in my last post -

never been keen on breakaway lanyards, last ones I used were the Cresto saw lanyards which were designed to fail at 200kgs, been using hollowed out Yale/Samson 13mm (for the 200s) and 3 strand New England (for big saws) for years now. I wouldn't advise this for trainee climbers though for obvious reasons.

newspaper, dry kindling, maybe an old pallet, get that going then small twiggy branches then build it up from there, little bit of 50/50 old engine oil/diesel mix to throw on occasionally, blower can work but normally only if you have it sitting at idling speed. Good groundies should have all the brash gone by the time the climber hits the deck but they should time it just right so there is enough hot embers to make a bacon and egg fry up. ps, make sure the groundies don't drag the climbing rope into the fire

yeah, looks like the farm boss 038 AV, great saw, they don't make them like that anymore.

try the swabish, I've found it holds it's shape better than a distel and breaks and advances with ease, been using it for well over 15 years. this pic is on SRT and was working perfect with 5 wraps but 4 or 5 can work well on DbRT with Hitchclimber or micropulley, hope you find something that works.

you can use graphite powder, just don't use too much or you could clog the mechanism. This will be why DMM are saying this, they wrongly assume everyone who is using graphite powder is so stupid that they'll put too much in the mechanism and clog it up. WD40 is good for biners.

I'll occasionally send this video to clients who have an interest in encouraging and helping wildlife on their land or property. The feedback is always positive and usually leads to a better understanding of trees in relation to bio-diversity/habitat etc. Those in the know in treework are well aware of the positive advantages of this kind of treework for many different reasons other than purely bio-diversity. [ame= ] [/ame]

I can think of a few places around Glasgow where you can see examples of coronet cutting (RSPB woodland walk Ross Priory, pathside Birches), Glasgow Uni (Vet School, Bearsden, on large Oak near Beatson Building), also a few big Beech monoliths on this site which were created for habitat/biodiversity. There's more around Glasgow but you dont always notice them because they've been done so well. They can be done on healthy trees where for example a large Oak limb has died back and has become a hazard, the limb can be removed and a coronet cut left.

I've dealt with a few P. lateralis sites, felling, burning etc. Some trees seem more susceptible/resistant than others. It wont kill every Lawson on a site where it's present.