Ty Korrigan

Took it to the workshop where Didier saw the issue right away. This model has the wankiest security system ever devised. I mean, it is safe but über awkward to operate with a jerky motion which is very fatiguing. The nuts that hold the system together need locktight as they creep with the vibrations and only need to move slightly for a huge effect on flow. Just that, very simple. I'd remove the security if it was only for my use but I bought it for clients to use as a deal sweetener. The dealer I bought it from (also a GM dealer to avoid) previously told me there was no problem just a low oil level and I'd simply not greased the rail enough (gives dealer a hard stare through narrowed eyes for mugging me off) Back on site the client started splitting wood with the machine on a slight slope. Hydro oil pissed out in a long green stream from the breather narrowly missing the tarmac drive. The dealer had overfilled and with the machine not being level flooded the breather. The Briggs dealer did the same to my 150P despite the hydro system having no connection to the engine management. Luckily I spotted that before taking it out to work because that would have been messy and embarrassing on the clients driveway. Anyway we repositioned wood splitter on more level ground and started again. Runs perfectly though I now need to remove some hydro oil to be on the safe side. Stuart

Hello, I have a generic Chinesium Briggs powered road tow splitter which is very much like the Rock Machinery 22t model. Recently it has simply lost power. Hydro fluid is at the correct level. I cannot see any obvious inline filter to check, replace or clean. Is there likely to be an internal one inside the pump? Also, is there any adjustment on the pump for flow rate? If I can't find a simple fix, I'll take it to my local machine work shop. The owner himself uses it from time to time and would certainly fix it for free but there is a certain pride in problem solving oneself. Cheers Stuart

You'll need to apply for a work visa but to obtain that first an offer of employment. There is certainly a shortage of arb workers here of all categories but as free movement has ended you must abide by the 90day rule so there is simply no 'moving to France' without some hoop jumping unless as inactive (retired) You have a 3 month window within which to find a company that will be able to offer you some employment before you must return to the UK for 90 days. A suggestion is trying the larger outfits which engage in line work. Best of luck Stuart

I just asked the accountant (Mrs Lee) and we spend 1.25% of our turnover on publicity. That is Pages Jaune and web site hosting Google and the reviews are free and pure gold. I take images on my phone, post to instagram share via FB and upload to Google Maps. I fluctuate between a 30% to 70% uptake per month though I still need to update my year on year average figures. A grand a month for £10-12k in accepted quotes does seems rather steep to me. Stuart

I bought a steel pulley for very little and was stunned at what the wee Solis could pull. Stuart

Do you know the cost of that? I imagine it doesn't kink like a cable which at times can be frustrating to release. Stuart

On the French news, small businesses reliant on electricity and gas are closing upon the advice of their accountants, rather than get into debt. I suspect that many of these were marginally profitable anyway. Better to close than to run up debts to and risk losing your home though recent legislation has offered better protection against such scenarios. Boulangeries and laundries especially vulnerable it seems. Enquiries are lighter than last year, a sign that people are thinking ahead perhaps? Stuart

Which is why they render, cheap porous block work. Based on what I see in France... Stuart

I was about to post along this line myself but thought for once I'll read the whole thread beforehand. My main climber charges a sum which represents his worth and allows me to make a margin I'm happy with. A less capable climber would mean a lower margin (which is why I rarely climb) I'm in business and my goal is net profit so am happy to pay for a fast efficient climber. Stuart

October 2022 in Lantillac Morbihan Brittany Yew hanging onto life next to a 16th century cross. A European hornets nest occupies a cavity further up. If that isn't just the definition of Tolkiens Ent HO HUM... Stuart

Mrs Lee just found an article on a new species of Hornet even worse than the Asiatic, the Oriental... Le Frelon oriental, espèce très dangereuse, détecté à Marseille pour la première fois en France FRANCE3-REGIONS.FRANCETVINFO.FR Une nouvelle espèce de frelon, le frelon oriental, a été découverte pour la première fois en France, à Marseille... Stuart

Guêpes et frelons asiatiques WWW.ELAGAGE-HEVEA.COM Retrouvez l'essentiel pour lutter contre les guêpes et le frelon asiatique : pistolet insecticide longue portée... Guns and ammo freely available but pointless buying when so many regions finance the destruction through approved/licenced companies. Even finding training and getting on a course in de-insectification is a near impossibility here. Stuart

Indeed. Stuart

Here, Jerome gives our local exterminator (former tree surgeon and Blakes hitch man) a crash course in SRT in order to reach a particularly difficult nest. Our man failed due to the +30c temperatures. Then Jerome said "putain" and put the neoprene suit on himself (Meindl Airstreams) Upon reaching the nest the feckers swarmed him. He treated it then shot out of the tree faster than the SAS on an embassy balcony. Amazing descent, well he does climb competitively. Stuart

Free in fact, paid for entirely by the commune in this region of Brittany but no-one including the client or his neighbours in the village could see a nest so no-one to take responsibility for it. I recently abandoned moving my wood pile at my renovation due to Asiatics interested either in the grape vine or those others insects feeding on the grapes. I watched for a long time and saw they took off in 3 directions. After noting their flight paths, I walked several hundred metres across fields towards copses yet could not see a single nest in any tree. Like yours, the nests often very difficult to spot until you are almost upon them. Even then, you need a property owner to take responsibility and sign the required forms. Stuart

So far only one job abandoned this year when Asiatics started bombing Jerome in the heat of the afternoon. The nest was close but hidden amongst other trees. We went back a week later, early morning when they are less active. Jerome got stung twice in the face last year, me 7 times on the back and head in 2016 which sent me to hospital with a severe reaction. Between PPM, OPM and Asian hornets, volonteering on the Ukrainian front line is looking to be the safe option. Stuart

I've never gone in for creating balls out of trees. I respect the skill but it is an unnatural and unecessary look.

Hello, I'm no big tree hero these days. How about a thin? I try to keep any reduction cuts to a few cms but most birches I get to work on have been previously butchered so often the regrowth from a rot pocket is impractical to climb.

I often wake up filled with anxiety. I go downstairs and raid the fridge. All the time trying to get to the bottom of my fears. I return to bed and lie there wide awake trying to work out the source of my current anxiety. Then the alarm goes off. Repeat. Stuart

If you are interested enough and able to navigate translation apps, go join a few French arb pages, post your reductions and wait for the flak...

I'm a wood waste disposal operative. A cleaner. I clean up. I provide the means, rake, chipper, truck, whatever it takes but at the bottom line is I'm a cleaner. I've a subby French climber who refuses to reduce a tree. No shit That is the current in vogue philosophy here in France, no reductions. No reduction movement here is like a religious cult. He'll dismantle, thin, deadwood, remove offending branches but apical dominance is his sacred cow and he won't touch it. The French do love a lion tail... I can sell every service but reductions it seems unless I want to do them myself. And respect? That is a deep as my Google reviews. Few other arbs seem to respect others. If they did we'd be more confident posting our reductions... FFS, I just want to earn €€€

The drop off in demand co-incided with my choice to not work July and August. In fact I've only done a single days actual tree work since the end of June, an urgent job near Nantes for another outfit, traffic control permissions in place taking advantage of the quiet holiday period but I have been doing a few quotes in between carrying slates onto the roof and digging out 4 centuries of beaten earth floor. Normally September itself is an intense period of quoting so I limit myself to a 4 day week leaving plenty of time for site visits during daylight. After a day sweating like an indentured white colonial labouring on his mistresses manor, I've rushed home and whisked the family off to the coast, taking advantage of the quieter beaches. This Summer has also been one to remember. Not for particularly remarkable events but for all the little times I've had with family and renovation. It has been wonderfull to step back from tree work after the intense period of Covid. Stuart

We need a "Roast" discussion section in the members only area. I'll do my utmost never to post in it though... Stuart

Reading with interest. I rarely rent but when I do it is for dead or damaged trees with no anchor point. For those arb businesses who own their own mewp costing £70k, what turnover might we be looking at? Where is the point you break even and what are the cost implications in owning one? Running one doesn't mean you automatically dispense with an experienced climber as there are obviously plenty of jobs where a mewp is overkill or access to the whole tree is not possible. I know productivity can be greatly increased If I'd rented one for the 80 Lombardi's we stripped and topped instead of climbing I'd still needed to be able to deal with the volume of waste by employing another groundy I'm interested in the bottom line. Stuart

Piggy backed trailers at times. Imported studwood, insulation when on offer at B&Q, paint even plaster to order. Brexit put a total stop to all that.