Ty Korrigan

Do you have any links to the U.K 'packaged goods' law? I'd have thought there must be a reasonable allowance outlined within it for fuels?

Right, I believe goods can be sold over weight but not underweight. If the goods are sold underweight due to poor storage, packaging or time between manufacture and eventual sale then surely this is an offence unless advertised? It is quite one thing to sell 5 litres of Aspen and the client experience evaporation of the product but quite another to sell it under volume in the begining.

We are all well used to buying cereal whose boxes are two thirds full but these are sold by weight not volume. I do not think consumers would accept short measures anywhere else at the point of sale without the seller offering a pro-rata reduction.

Can you think of any other examples were the weight or volume reduces so much? Seriously, I buy 5 litres of Aspen I expect 5 litres not 4.5litres. What is the accepted variance from the marked amount at the point of sale? I find 10% or 2.80 euros quite unacceptable.

Apsen is my main fuel and chain oil so fed up of being given short measures, yesterday I took the matter up with my local supplier of Aspen. Many containers of Aspen 2 have been coming in a 4.5litres and were packed in March 2022 and my dealer bought a pallet of 108 x 5 litre containers last summer 2022 This is the equivelant to losing 2.80 euros per container at full retail in France. The statement I have before me from Aspen France states 500ml per year lost through the actual Aspen containers themselves WTF! So much for punting it as a fuel that keeps long term if the evaporation rate is that high! In addition, if your dealers sell a container advertised as 5litres but containing 4.5litres at the point of sale, surely this is an offence under under the U.K weights and measures act? However, this is not limited to Aspen either. Whilst in the local dealer, we weighed other brands pre-mixed fuel and all were significantly lighter than 5 litres (0.69kg per litre) plus container weight. Today I picked up 3 fresh containers, this time with a white cap instead of a black one. They are packed March 2023 and contain a full 5 litres(held up to the light) I have kept one of the March 2022 containers aside as a control having first weighed it as I am curious to see just how much more is lost over this Summer (stored in my garage) Stuart

Victim of a Ukranian drone...?

It is a crime often featured on the evening news here in France. From absent owners whose forests are pillaged by organised crime using all the big boys toys to the small time firewood poacher cutting without permission. Stuart

Mewp is just a pipe dream for the moment but one that may become a more solid proposition once I have finished our building renovation. I once thought I had a good thing going with a young clean living subby climber but he burned out and now fits stoves instead.

I feel this way about subby climbers and that puts us off employing any-one. Still I'm looking for a fresh faced kid with no bad habits to become an apprentice. One of our work experience lads is interested for September 2024 My subby climbers are often moody tempermental divas. Late to site, always sleep deprived and stressed, first words usually an optimistic "never get this done in a day let alone a morning" Stomps back to his van for a Red Bull, vape, black coffee, throwball tantrum, mobile phone diversion before a sudden positive mood swing as whatever he took earlier kicks in. Strings lunch out as long as he dares only to randomly disappear from site between 3-4pm Texts later "oh I thought it was all done" Sometimes rucks up late to a job having been on an opiates binge for 3 days. Lane closure, traffic control and 3 groundies stamping feet to keep warm only to say "I can't do this today, don't feel up to it" Anxiety, depression, emotional wrecks and the pre-Brexit expat climbers were probably running away from something. Certainly a very good reason to buy a MEWP and quit relying on these twunts.

I have a groundy who works part-time with me but cannot drive. She starts late and finishes early due to school runs. I hang on sharpening saws until she is ready or she walks to the job if in town. Recently the French have been striking alot over pension reforms so she loses days because of collecting kids at midday for dinner and picking them up early because there is no after school club. It works well enough on smaller local jobs and I even drop her back home then return to finish up on my own. I make an effort because I like working with her. I admit it is easier because she is my wife and technically I work for her but still, a point of reference. Stuart

I checked for cream rendered walls, 20 year old fence panels and extérieur insulation. You got me thinking now...

I'm still looking for a second climber if anyone is considering settling within an hour or so of Rennes. Image of a local Breton for interest.

3 birch stumps and ploughed the area for surface roots. 30min machine time. Took longer to load/unload and travel to job. Wife came along because I had to drag the machine up a grassy slope which at the time I felled the trees was freshly sown and a no go. I do regret at times not buying the self propelled version. The engine cut out 3 times, a bit of a mystery but with 172 hours in the clock I guess the fuel system might need cleaning. Running a mix of Stay Sharp and QRMS depending on the job and soil.

Aside from my local council work, larger jobs have generally been thin on the ground which also being down a climber suits me well enough as it has pushed me into climbing more. I was so low on April work that in March I canceled the next work experience lad. Then these last two weeks the enquiries have picked up. I've just won a €5k single tree job, I get one or two most years. A large dead purple beech. MEWP job this one. The client told me I wasn't the lowest quote but he felt I was the best man for the job. Frenchmen don't normally say nice things to Brits so that rather made my week.

That is how it works on the Brittany expat pages with the female partners pushing their handyman husband at anything going and for mere centimes.

Here in Brittany it can be pretty warm and wet with 70cm of rainfall in our area. Today I cleared up yew branches removed not by me but an agricultural contractor over a neighbourly dispute (another story) One small yew was also felled and from this I cut a disk which is sitting on my table having had it's rings counted, 42 of them. The diameter is 48cm having taken the circumference and divided by pi = 1.143 There is another yew, much larger whose DBH is 95cm and is still standing despite the neighbours complaints. So I am trying to calculate the age of this yew based on the growth of the younger felled tree. If I take the 95cm and divide by 1.143 = 80.5 years Is this a reasonable way to estimate the age? Seems very low for such a large yew but the climate here really is much warmer than say Sussex where yews are abundant. Now yews are very rare here and so I don't get to work on them often. This disk freshly cut had a strong acidic smell. Not too unpleasant though, more like stale cider vinegar. I had to drive with the window open it was so pungent. Reminded me of Lucky Elevens saw pants when wet... Just to be clear, I did not prune this yew. Stuart

5 years ago I was considering moving back to the UK (Hants,Sussex) from France but a deciding factor was that even with funds for a truck and chipper etc, I couldn't find anywhere reasonable to rent with garage and driveway or a safe yard such was the pressure on property and accomodation.

The worst thing about this was when I was told it was my fault somehow using dirty fuel despite the filter and tank being clean. Then the re-occurance of the issue which further undermined my credibility as a competant owner. (Some people shouldn't be allowed dogs was one comment fired across my bows) Total lack of any solid explaination from Briggs and their Efi dealers. Keeping my chipper first for month then 16 MONTHS! Incompetance, disinterest, aftersales from hell. A parts supply chain that belongs in the last century, no reactivity or appreciation of their customers needs. Covid, Briggs reorganisation of their E.U structure, closure of their Paris office. A total ****************-fest. It is a twin cylinder not a Rolls Royce Griffin after all. THEN... I contacted Briggs UK agent who organised an engine to be sent through Briggs E.U's convoluted supply chain. The Efi mechanic claimed it was his own efforts but still another 4 months to fit and deliver the chipper. Meanwhile to avoid going out of business l we used our house deposit to purchase a chipper powered by a Kubota diesel. Almost 200 trouble free hours...

https://arbtalk.co.uk/forums/topic/117152-vanguard-efi-fuel-pump/page/3/#comments

Three times the EFI Vanguard engine failed. Began with starting issues when hot so had to wait until cooled down 20+ min before restarting. Hunting, then began cold and hot starting THEN...THEN... it would hunt full time and wouldn't rise high enough to activate the rollers. Fuel pump twice then possibly fuel pump and ECU ensemble. First Efi mechanic found the pump pressure to be on the low side. GM factory opened the fuel pump to find a grey sludge in the internal filter as did the last Efi mechanic who was driven to despair by the episode. Pump fuel or clean Aspen containers but regardless nothing should get through the inline filter. Shonky electrical connections too not designed for the vibrations and heat of a chipper, wires rubbing through. I gave up on it and bought a diesel that can be repaired by any tractor mechanic. Eventually Briggs UK came through for me and shipped a new engine to France. I am grateful to them for stepping up to the mark when Briggs E.U based in Germany failed me badly. It was also a drinker of oil though nothing in the way of detectable exhaust fumes. I still own it and the machine runs sweet but as I've a reed bed sewage system to finance this Autumn so it must go. You're not alone, others too have moved their machines on rather than face painfull downtime and dealer denial as they drag out repairs.

I can still see some fat buds present despite the bark shedding in plaquettes. Whether they burst next month may decide whether or what may be climbed or 'cherry picked'....

Are there no nice trees to cut instead?

Great, I just visited this beech and came across this thread as I was cruising for advice. 25m+ in height with a 90cm dbh. Tree was 'protected' but has now had that lifted. The owner claims to be quite up on all matters arboricole so I am incredulous that they let this situation develop as far as it has. I questioned the client about whether any fruiting bodies had been seen and from his description and by showing him images we established that Meripilus has been present for at least 3 years or more. I think Kreutzmaria is also present but I didn't take any images close up. Crown is dead with bark flaking off. Client states the tree was quite healthy and in full leaf when the heat wave struck last Summer. The white stuff is limewash. I thought 2 days to strip it from a mewp in small lumps then a day to fell and cross cut the stem.

Bit of a trend with some surprisingly ordinary arb guys to think they are influencers and post footage of their opinions, bling gypsy lifestyles or rambling lectures of life as an arborisssstttttt... Apart from Reg of course.