scotspine1

I agree, nice bit of problem solving going on there. All joking aside it seems to do the job these guys ask of it. Its good to see this kind of thing going on in the world somewhere, the British used to excel at these kind of contraptions, now we just buy Ipads and giant flatscreen TVs made in China.

What you are about to see is the future of tree surgery in the UK - [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNkyWiLFtdQ&feature=related]bhadra2.wmv - YouTube[/ame]

Watch as the holding wood fails unexpectedly during a plunge cut operation - there's a few lessons here for everyone......felling zone, escape routes, decayed timber in stem? etc [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StmPiJ0qcCI&feature=youtube_gdata_player]plunge cut tearout - YouTube[/ame]

you should, the way you've framed them using rational thought makes them seem quite plausable. Changing my beliefs isn't going to change the way my customers behave. I regularly quote against VAT registered companies for large private/residential jobs, most times I win, the reason I win is because I made a decision not to be a tax collector for the government which is what all you VAT registered companies are doing. Being VAT registered will help you get that Council contract for sure, but thats about as far away from the kind of work I want to being doing as you could get. If you want to run around after half baked civil servants barking orders down the phone thats your perogative. Private and residential clients represent a goldmine to me, they pay well, they tell their friends about me and they're not interested in having VAT added to their bill I can assure you of that. The work is top end and interesting and thats where I want to be. This year I am ceasing all my commercial work to concentrate on private residential treework. After this year there will be no more commercial contracts. I'm leaving stuff that for the so called, 'bigger companies' with their vast array of plant and machinery. I'm not in treework to be a millionaire Tom, if I wanted to make serious money I'd have left this industry years ago or moved my business to upstate New York or the Hollywood Hills.

Was involved in felling around 12 big Sitkas a few years back, everything burnt onsite immediately in the garden, the fire was going all week, the heavy stuff burns like a furnace once it gets going and leaves nothing.

The most prosperous area in the UK is the South East, I bet you'd be hard pushed to find the majority of 2 men arb teams that operate in that area are turning over 80K per year. Not because the money isn't there but simply because there are so many arb companies fighting for the same work it pushes the average price of treework down. Maybe they all aim for 80K but rarely achieve it. Your in the fortunate position of working in an area with a relatively low number of arb companies (compared with the South East), added to this a relatively wealthy client base, so for you 80K seems realistic, for many others it will seem out of touch with their own particular situation. I do agree in general that we should all charge more - but we're all to a greater or lesser degree controlled by the economic situation of the area in which we operate. For many people this will probably mean going in relatively low to guarantee the work and keep the company ticking over.

nice job

Some folk just join to look at pictures and read the odd thread, it's no big deal. What you'll find over time is that there is a group of people obsessed with posting almost like they're in a pub type atmosphere, most of what they say is trivial rubbish so take it with a pinch of salt. take with a pinch of salt - Idioms - by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia. One of the most offensive things I've seen on this forum was a new member asking a relevant question with his first post and some well known idiot piped up, 'how about an introduction then?' not even answering the guy's question. Why in the name of christ should a new member give an introduction when all they are wanting is a simple answer to a decent question? That particular incident is the kind of thing you'd expect from a Landrover Owners forum not a forum full of tree surgeons. Incidently the guy never posted again and I dont blame him. people need to get a grip on reality and a sense of perspective and lighten up.

I suggested that to the customer.. but hey, they didn't wanna roll the dice plus we'd have needed a skidsteer, which we don't have at the moment but i'm saving up for a bobcat so next time Mark...next time.

yeah, we'll have a simple block and tackle system set up attached to the Porty next time....... finger is fine thanks, Silky scabbard is broken at the end meaning the saw sticks out with a few teeth exposed, reaching down to free a branch and knicked ma finger on the exposed teeth. cheers for the positive feedback everyone.

we were using a Buckingham Portawrap with 2 people to tension the line at the ground end of the speedline, then releasing it after the branches had slid down the line allowing me to move the anchor point around the tree easily. Your right though, a block and tackle system would've helped for tensioning the line to allow the bigger pieces of timber to run down easily over the obstacles at the end of the vid. The problem with speedlines in general is that you are trying to avoid side loading the tree anymore than needs be. Everything has to be as light as possible.

Recent job - very rarely use a speedline but the tree and the situation lent itself to the technique. We had some issues with tensioning the speedline for the bigger sections near the end which were lowered using regular block rigging to avoid shockloading the speedline. Ran out of batteries for camera near the end so unfortunatley missed a few of the last sections. If anyone has any questions about the job I'd be happy to answer them. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9FC3ahGwtI]Lime Speedline - YouTube[/ame]

any pics?

not interested

I'm allowed to say it

what you've just described is pretty damn close to present day Glasgow

just posted this in another thread, thought you defender nuts might like to see it

Bateson tipper, had it about 8 years, never had issues with yet. Holds 2 ton of chip easy. 1st pic is of a 90 + Schleising turntable setup I saw somewhere.

nice vid that, cheers to whoever put it all together.

The new Ranger (2012) looks very good, 3350kg to 3500kg towing capacity and 3.2/2.2 litre engine options

Yes, but dont use a 90 to tow it with. You want to see a pic of the trailer?

Speaking of 60cc Husqvarnas, anyone remember or still own the 61? First company I worked for had one with a 15" bar, it was the most hated saw in the armory, brought along to every job yet no one wanted to use it, often just sat there looking sorry for itself, weighed about 4 tons, totally indestructable (despite our best efforts), think it was ran over by a transit on two different occasions and still worked fine. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_wNRG28XfA]The chainsaw guy Shop Talk Husqvarna 61 - YouTube[/ame]

the latest 346xp wasn't that old was it? the one with the primer bulb and silver sideplate? why change what is basically a perfect saw? just another stupid name change is it or an emissions thing? Heard the 560xp with 18 bar is something else. It's probably gonna be the next saw I buy. FWIW wouldn't put an 18 on a 346 or a 260 for that matter, the 346 is the perfect small saw with the 15

You people are making a lot of assumptions about that Birch. Never quote from a pic.

170 - £65 21 - £80 29 - £150 is the polesaw the ht101? if so I'll buy it.