scotspine1

judae is Judas, Judas Iscariot, hung himself from an Elder tree, the species most commonly associated with the fungi. The corruption of judae to jews is an example of jewish persecution thoughout history. It's plainly obvious that most Jews would be offended by the name, 'Jews Ear'. This has nothing to do do with political correctness, anti-semitism pre-dates political correctness by about 2000 years. Personally I wouldn't use the name Jews Ear and I think if you do use it your wrong to do so.

the F8 revolver to final ropewrench design is the most innovative thinking we've seen in treework, anyone who'd looked into SRT for work positioning and given up on the idea will understand what Kevin did was find a solution to the very frustrating all or nothing characteristics of a hitch on a single line. The switch from the F8 revolver to the wooden wrench was a big leap forward. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyXwrXgN0qw]the F8 revolver - YouTube[/ame]

like the homemade wrench

ha ha, in my first attempt in about 1998 or 99 (I think? memory fading) I used multiplait and the old GQ harness, came away from that comp thinking I really need to get some of that New England orange and white rope and one of those fancy svens tradvard harnesses:biggrin: No joke right, in one of the first Scottish comps I remember a guy who climbed wearing a full length Paddington Bear style duffle coat over his harness and wellies, branch walking and all he was, well funny, he seemed really happy with his efforts (think it might have been Mark Bolam), as I said, fun times.

the first ISA comps in Scotland were excellent (Kelburn/Auchencruive 98/99/2000ish?) - good fun times, especially if you were into trying it for a laugh or were half serious about aiming for a decent time in the events. A lot of Scottish based climbers were into it for the first couple years, some great climbers up here, then as the comps became more of a circuit for the serious guys the regional guys lost interest. The last Scottish comp I took part in (Perth/North Inch) sometime around 2003 there were about 3 Scottish based climbers and about 17 guys who regularly attend all the comps from elsewhere in the UK, to me, something wasn't right about that. It's not an easy thing to explain why people in the industry don't seem interested, loads of different reasons, but speaking personally, when I saw how serious the comps were becoming with the same climbers competing in the regional comps I decided not to take part again. In the defence of ISA climbing comps they are a great place for new climbers to see what can be achieved with serious practice. .

he's can't use that footlocking hitch set-up for work positioning or descending, he has to switch back to the spiderjack and use it DdRT. The tandem hitch guy's system allows for footlocking a static doubled line and DdRT without any unclipping. that's exactly what it does do. it's a fairly simple idea, nothing complicated about it at all. the hitches are on either side of a doubled rope meaning 50% on each hitch, it's basically srt or stationary rope climbing without the need for a ropewrench the idea is that you set the system up with a throwline or set it up at the top of the tree and work the tree from there having the ability to ascend/descend on a static line and switch the DdRT for work positioning without ever having to unclip. The fundamental idea of having a hitch on both sides of your line has been around a long time, the guy in the tandem hitch vid has just refined it - .

answer......

nice idea - sDdRT Tandem Hitch Concept on Vimeo

had dealings with them before at other similar jobs near rivers, strange bunch, that's all I'll say Ben, not compromised but I was tied into a 80ft highline behind me with a quick release setup on the flipline just in case. The branches and top sections you see in the vid were pulled out at the opposite shore with a Nissan Pickup (seen in vid at 0.45) via a re-direct on a big Oak (see the guys on the opposite bank at 1.04). The timber was lifted out via a re-direct on the Poplar itself with a 5 ton tirfor, you see the set up here?

agi, not that high, it had a big lean over the river though, will get a pic of the tree that footage has been destroyed along with all other evidence that would lead the environmental agency to us

Recent job - stems and timber winched out the river, will post some pics later if folk are interested how it was done, here's the cutting - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8V_4CiZYQo&feature=youtu.be .

For anyone on PPI's/Omeprazole etc I wouldn't be in too much of a rush to come off them, as said before acid reflux can cause serious problems with your lower gullet with scar tissue. If you've had serious indigestion/acid reflux then the PPI's give your body time to heal. A lot of people these days are keen not to stay on prescribed drugs for fear of long term side effects, it's been said PPI's inhibit Vitamin B12 absorbtion by the stomach, this in theory could potentially lead to early onset dementia, but if you stop taking the PPI's you could end up with major scar tissue problems far worse than not being able to absorb Vitamin B12. A lot of problems associated with PPIs use are dietary but stress can play a major role and if your suffering serious acid reflux and pain the stress will only increase if you stop taking the PPIs. If you come off Omeprazole and the acid reflux starts again, you should go straight back on the Omeprazole before you cause more damage. .

there wont be a ban, we've been through this before, all the issues were covered by Paolo Bavaresco's/Treevolution 2001 document to the HSE. http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/crr_pdf/2001/crr01402.pdf

banning top handled saws? what?....again? it was a stupid idea when the HSE talked about it in 1999/2000 and it's a stupid idea now.

rob, it's definitely dawn redwood, I've removed about 10 of these trees over the years of varying size, they have a very distinct shape (fluted/inverted/folding in on itself) near the base like the ones you have

George Galloway is on top form here, Jim Sillars is alright as well. Entertaining debate with some good points on the issues -

The solar panels? Possibly the real reason the work was done? if that's the case, then all things considered, Tommy has done a decent job. Firstly, the pruning/cuts on the limbs...it's really no different to current practices for veteran tree management. Anyone whose seen/done pruning work like that on an Oak knows that tree will be fine health wise. The appearance of the pruning is a bit ugly - you've lost the natural taper of the branchwork, but at least the branches weren't completely removed back to the main trunk and when in full leaf the pruning work wont be so noticeable as the growth left on the limbs will soften the overall appearance. Found this pic on street view of the tree before the pruning, if the house is facing east then the lower branches of the tree were blocking the morning sun to the solar panels, as the sun tracks round during the day the height of the tree is of no significance which is why it was left untouched, the lower branches were shortened, problem solved, tree retained, client happy, tree surgeon paid.

solar panel pruning, it's a new thing, it's being added to BS3998 this year

That's Dawn Redwood.

David, they were big (24mm) 3 strand nylon slings with a spliced eye and metal thimble for lowering with (negative blocking etc). They'd be attached to the tree using a timber hitch. Very common in the UK before arborist blocks/pulleys appeared. Wraps were taken round the tree or round a stub in the tree for friction. The rigging line was also 3 strand, normally 24mm. They were basically the forerunner to X Rigging Rings, as the old saying goes, 'there's nothing new under the sun' -

Reg was just being honest, only thing I didn't like was I'd have sold the 201t instead of running it over, the arbtrolley debate was another issue altogether and not comparable. Stihl are a massive company and to bring the 201t to market was an insult to our intelligence. As a saw, it does the job, but only just and not very well at that. Now the 540 is getting established the 201's days are numbered and Stihl only have themselves to blame.

good to hear the 540t is as good as the 200t, pity bout the 201t, well built but you can't hide it's poor performance, the 020t/200t was always an eager saw with the grunt required for our work. pity to think this saw will die out......if Stihl read this, they should seriously think about re-introducing the 200 cause if they don't, in 10 years the 540 will probably have taken 90% of the top handled market

Didn't realise that Drew, thanks for letting us know.

nice work August, cheers for posting the vid, seen David Driver's other vids on the X-Rings, wouldn't mind trying them out sometime. Any dealers here want to bring a few over?

cheers folks, just watched it back and realised youtube had removed the original music so everyone must've been watching it in silence, sorry bout that, found a cool tune on youtube's audioswap which seems to fit, gotta kind of 'Shaun the Sheep' vibe to it Rich, I slo mo'd it on windows live movie maker, didn't realise you can do it on the camera, will look into it, cheers. With new music - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPonHi-j1sI .