Ty Korrigan

I've read that my first choice is no longer available in France. Suzuki Jimny being phased out due to emissions and France's 'eco tax' Stuart

There is a new version, the 'Rifter' It is around 25k I'd love one but I'd need to grow more cannabis and sell more meth to afford one at French tax rates... peugeot.fr/gamme/nos-vehicules/rifter.html?msclkid=1d9fb64201391d158e60e874c825d7e0&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ap_fr_rifter-generic_vn_rifter_1pk9_ongoing_sea-sdf_p_ld&utm_term=rifter&utm_content=rifter%20-%20exact&gclid=CIiV9LP3sucCFdg-GwodDlMAkA&gclsrc=ds Stuart

Update, my new subby climber (French lad) tells me that 'reductions' as we know them are no longer taught as part of the French 'certificate de specialisation' for arboriculture. I showed him many images of U.K reductions, my own work and that of others where the tendance is to prune to a downward sloping growth point. In France, this groups philosophy is to leave vertical growth points and never reduce the height. A great influence in this movement appears to a British man, William Moore. Biographie de William Moore WWW.ARBRE.NET Nous effectuons des expertises phytosanitaires et dangerosité sur les arbres d'ornement ou remarquables, et dispensons des formations sur toutes les techniques de gestion durable du...

Jimny is soon to be withdrawn from sale in France due to an emissions tax which will be around half the price of the new car. Stuart

You can still work here as self employed. Difficulty is finding employment when your NPTC are not 'au norm' with the French system. This is a strange contradiction in that you may not be easily employed yet work for yourself and even employ. No official bodies seem interested in 'controling' the trade. Even my insurance company cannot issue a certificate with anything more concrete of detailed than 'pruning' Very few foreign qualifications are recognised in France. This is most obvious in the number of foreigners working in medicine, something I notice on every hospital visit. My wife has 2 diplomas, one from a Swiss international business school. Here, the French board who approves foreign qualifications wrote back to tell her neither where valid to obtain France. So again for her self employment (running an arb business) is the way forward (and mine too!) #sleepingwithaccountants #alifeinthemerde Stuart

I've replied on your other thread. Stuart

Now then... Faulty high pressure fuel pump. Mine would start fine warm but very difficult cold and never when hot. We quickly figured out turning over the engine to be a fruitless excercise so just left it to cool. @Pete B who diagnosed the fault remotely. Lack of pressure in pump. A simple pressure test can confirm this. Doesn't require a loss of many psi for the starting to be effected. Sadly GM could neither send me tbe part under warranty or sell me the part. I had to go through the official Briggs dealer network. None of those in the North West of France had recieved training/approval to work on the engine. Meanwhile we soldiered on, sometimes waiting 20min with the bonnet open and blower running for it to cool sufficiently before an ambient starting temperature was reached. Eventually Briggs put me in touch with a dealer 90kms away in Normandy who had recieved Briggs approval. I won't go too deeply into the farce which followed. It was as I had previously predicted in an frustrated email to GM in which I exprimed my reluctance to leave my chipper with a dealer having what seemed at the start to be an intermittant fault. I would have a fight on my hands to get it repaired. In the end I was 4 weeks without a chipper for a part I could have bought for £150 from Briggs bits and fit myself. GM's hands tied, the engines are covered by a separate warranty but Briggs France dealers have been glacial in reacting to these new engines so aftersales is thin on the ground. Couple this with Briggs France convoluted supply change and the French national character trait 'arrogance', a mornings work turned into 4 expensive and inconvenient chipperless weeks and 5 x 180km round trips. Sorry but fuck dealers (apart from GA Groundcare) and fuck your fucking hollow no quibble warranties. People did what they could, PeteB, Jason in service and support and Spencer in parts offering to repair it at GM if I brought it back to the UK (a tempting but very expensive option) and surprisingly helpfull was one of the 2 guys who run the Briggs Paris office who I suspect not to be of French origin which is why he wasn't an unreactive twunt. The other guy is written in my little black book of 'indifferent bastards I have known' I'd have more chance trying to obtain parts for a home build V2 rocket and probably obtain them quicker too. Anyway... Good luck with it. Stuart

Netflix 'Ottoman'

I rarely walk away because I want to buy a new truck at some point and the $$$ must come from somewhere. No all of us are smart enough to be able to grow enough weed to buy trucks with...lol! Stuart

Oh, Lion's tailing was another acceptable method for these Arb extremists. A result of over thinning and crown lifting. We are guilty of that too having been forced into it on council jobs here. Stuart

I've just spent 2 days cutting 20 odd oaks back to a boundary line, hairy great pollards, 'shreds' I've heard them referred too in the U.K. Previously fecked over by others so I had little room for improving their fortunes. Strange thing is, they are actually an alignment which is protected... only from felling, not what has passed for pruning. No competance or permissions required. In France, the limit of a property is often the place where trees lose their good looks. When one neighbour writes a stern letter to the owner. Regardless of age, character, amenity value, trees get sided up to conform with the law. Stuart

Ah, it is exactly this that the group seem to be against. A horror of reaction growth and a belief that trees cannot occlude except where dead wood is present. As far as limbs ripped ou by storms, if I ever get the minerals together I might ask them about coronet cutting, something I have only once sold to a client but the apprentice was so horrified by the idea he cut the the material off instead. (Mick was right about college kids) Stuart

Well, aside from my NPTC, experience and horticultural certificates (none of which are recognised in France) I'm hardly an expert on paper but do have an avid enthusiasm forall aspects of our trade. I dare not ask these guys, they have already told me that I am no arborissssttttttte and am merely an English gardener wannabe faux arb. Seriously, I'm not suffering butt hurt, just surprised that such an acidic group of extremists has focused their ire upon me. Thinking we have pinched too much work from some-one...lol! Stuart

Rodeo is uninvited. I find it very strange to recieve unsolicited messages from people criticising our work who then barely respond and even then shut down when questioned further. Stuart

Is what the French call 'Taille Douce' I thought I practiced this until recently when I found out that pruning as I have been taught is frowned upon by a movment of French arborists with their own views and methods. It started with me recieving the odd weird message via instagram of FB criticising my pruning work. A little searching around found a French group on FB devoted to pruning. I have been accused of selling a service just for the $$$ and not working with the health of the tree in mind. I am accused of destroying trees with my methods. I've had several messages so far from as far away as Belgium. Seems that target pruning is frowned upon as it destroys apical dominance. Only thinning or deadwooding is permitted. The actual exteriour of the crown, all those apical buds may be very lightly pruned with secateurs but once this is done must be repeated every year for decidious and every 3 for conifers and it is very expensive. No actual crown reductions are permitted. Branch removals in case of lines or buildings etc are permitted only grudgingly. Curiously very few when asked have heard of Matteck or Shigo and this includes my current subbing climber who is French. I posed questions time again, "What do you do if the tree has outgrown it's station?" Only to be told that trees do not outgrow their situation and should not be treated as urban furniture. It is better to remove the tree than adopt any reduction pruning as this leaves open wounds blah blah blah CODIT. A pruning method they have adopted is that of effectively tickling the corona of the crown which is very time consuming and so expensive. Yes, the trees often look, well, nice and clean with a good shape but at an eyewatering cost. It also changes nothing, virtually nothing in terms of volume. You never reduce, never change the volume of the tree, never reduce the height. I asked about hyper-tropic limbs (apologies if this term is incorrect), branches that are long and gangly with all their weight at the ends. Those branches in danger of fissuring or perhaps already done so. Cable bracing is the answer. I asked what if 4 neighbours write a petition to have a local tree pruned because it overhands their properties and they are afraid that should it fall it would land on their house? Answer was 'remove the tree but again no reduction permitted' These guys will simply refuse to do pruning work if it does not conform to their strict ideas. YET! They are fine with pollarding techniques such as used on lime or plane street trees. Now a great deal of my work is either pruning or removing trees which are in some way a problem to the owners or neighbours. 95% of my clients are French and seem very happy with the results certainly when compared to the many urban trees attacked by travellers, gardeners and home owners. Also, people have a budget in mind and tree work usually comes last after mortgage, new car, holiday, night out etc. However if I am missing a new trick in pruning techniques I'd certainly like to learn about it. However, these guys certainly do not appreciate being questioned or challenged, I find them pompous, self congratulating, arrogant, they are like a sub cult of arborists, religious extremists, fundamental vegans or eco warriors. Personally we are doing very well with 70% of quotes accepted on average and our clients also seem very happy with my teams methods, results and advice so I'm not unduly worried by unsolicited criticism from far away French arborists. Any one aware of an alternative arborist movement in the U.K who is against tree pruning in general? Regards Stuart

Father Time more like, Auld Pete the GM sage. Stuart

So... is the next evolution an Evo 200...? Stuart

What is the price of a 200? Stuart

Here in Frenchy France, red diesel will soon be a thing of the past. It will be 'defiscalised' and so all trains, plant, boats must run on white. This should have already happened but the Gilet Jaune and subsequent protesters delayed many of Macron's reforms. Stuart

Now then, No rush but if you are considering a future move to France, anywhere within commuting distance of Rennes, I can help with work. I could use another productive climber, self employed or on the books. Ideally... a move here is best suited to a couple or family relocation because single males here often tend to be lonely and bored outside of work and a family unit is proven to be more stable. Single males tend to cut and run after 3 months of Breton Winter. A grasp of French would help you more than me but isn't a requirement, you'll pick it up as we go along. I've been working here near Rennes since 2010 and my wife is an accountant and administrator, so is able to help with all things admin wise to help your settlement here. Climate here is fairly dry with half the rainfall of the West of Brittany, with long hot Summers and cold 'dry' Winters but check the online stats for yourself. Housing is less expensive, especially renting which I recommend you do until you are sure that France is for you. Purchasing rural property can be very cheap but reflects the amount of work locally. Food can be more expensive (no BOGOF offers here by law) Workers restaurants at midday offer 3-4 courses for around 12 euros Drinking at home is cheap, drinking out isn't, a pint 7euros+ and rural bars close at 7pm France is generally considered a better place for bringing up younger kids who tend to absorb the language like sponges Kids of early secondary school age will struggle and be put back a year but still profit from life here. Excellent health system which isn't totally free but doesn't suffer the lack of funding of the NHS. Take a look at our business on the web and visit us on Facebook. www.franglaiselagage.com Regards Stuart Lee

I was 50 a few days ago. In 25 years only gained 3 kilos and wear the same trouser size as then. I feel great, fit, strong but seem not to recover so fast as a 30 year old me. I think even at 60 I should still be able to climb many simpler trees. For those I deem too much for my body there are 30 year old subbies. SRT has been a boon for accessing the crown which I've always found takes the most energy. I'm best on the ground though. I love to move fast, run from chipper to branch, drag hard and am always on the move. Stuart

Not in our trade. Only things that are cheap in France are properties and wines. Ask any expat. Stuart

I am occasionally contacted by other French arborists asking how they might buy kit from the U.K This week, it was 2 used chippers from a guy near Bordeaux who stands to save 12k or more over French used prices for the price of a few days jolly, ferry and hotel. I help with bookings, translation and advice and am available on line or phone if required. No fee, just for the 'bonne volonté' Stuart

Legend or bellend Legend for all the wrong reasons. Stuart

No, only Jason shuts Fridays. Stuart