antwood

Give it a try... you can't beat a satisfying lay!

Maximum diameter for laying, depends on what the hedge is like and what you want to do with it. If it's really big overgrown and full of big gaps, with little regrowth we often tend to coppice the big stuff off, fence and replant as it's past keeping as a hedge, it's just a line of trees. However if you are a cheap skate like me and my farmer neighbours you lay what you've got regardless of size, if it comes down all well and good, if it snaps off then you swear at it; I've been doing an overgrown one of mine this winter and have layed some elderberry stems that are 10-12'' diam. Trouble is if you lay lots of big stuff you struggle to get a good angle for the pleaches and it ends up very flat to the floor. t'other thing I was taught is you aren't laying it for yourself but for the next bloke who comes to do it in 25yrs time!!!

No gold star or smiley badge. Think I was in trouble with head for not going to assembly to collect my award in person and sending a 5 year old to do it instead. I spend an hour on the naughty step most days.

I post this one in full expectation of having the mickey taken. Crown thin I did for my son's school. Was given a 'work of the week' certificate the following week in assembly. Fortunately I was working so couldn't collect my award in person:001_smile:

Hello All, wanted to canvas opinions on this one. Due you use a soft link between harness attachment and wire cored flipline or not? Question came up in brew time discussion, as all 3 of us did not, all having a crab between rope grab and harness. I am pondering what the pros and cons of having a soft link are having nearly got into bother without one... explanation below. Week before christmas taking down 50' multi stem Eucalyptus, I was taking top out of stems about 40' up wearing spikes, using wire core and top anchor in another stem. While changing position right foot slipped along sloping branch about 6-10" back towards left foot caused me to pivot on branch, unfortunately my right hand was braced against stem and didn't slip off as my weight went against it, result right shoulder dislocated; ouch! After couple of minutes decided I hadn't just tweaked a muscle and wouldn't be able to finish job so shouted I was in bother and was coming down. Said I could get myself down using left hand but got my oppo Jon to tail my rope in case I couldn't control speed of descent. Unfortunately half way down the snap catch on my flipline which I had managed to disconnect from harness caught in a fork above me... so now I'm suspended in mid air, can't get myself up or down, fortunately I'm 12 stone and Jon is considerably more so he was able to haul me up enough that I could undo crab on flipline with left hand, otherwise I was very stuck and feeling very sick! There were three of us with climbing kit and aerial rescue tickets but it would still have been a bugger of a job if I'd say gone unconscious and couldn't help myself. However if I'd had a soft link I would have cut it myself straight away. Sorry it's a long post just wanted to give you background to question Thoughts please:confused1:

No Vauxhalls not being made any more, for some bizarre reason they got out of pick ups just as the market took off?? mines a '99 T plate, they gave up badging them as Vauxhalls in about 2001 when they improved the model and started selling them as Isuzu TF's but I think they only sold them for a couple of more years before replacing them with the Isuzu Rodeo. The Vauxhalls were just Isuzu pickups all along, mine only says Vauxhall on front +steering wheel everything other label is in Japanese. Plus point, very cheap crew cab 4x4 , engines go on for ever 200,000+, 30+ MPG, spares are cheap. Plenty of room in cab and decent sized load bed for a crew cab, I fill mine to top of Ifor Williams canopy with chip and you can get a fair bit in (ton+) Minus points hard to find a good one, lots of Ex AA etc with galactic mileages ( I was luck mine hadn't done a days work till I got it). Good MPG = lack of grunt, noisy and poor towing limit 1800kg. It's a basic no frills truck that costs a lot less than others... but it's not as powerful or as quick. You get what you pay for, but I'm quite happy with mine:001_smile:

Bloke I was doing a tree planting job with last week threw this into conversation. "hmm yes, tree work, I always manage with a pole saw, I'm not really into swinging around up trees... I always think of tree surgery as another branch of showbusiness !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I have to admit to being unable to reply with anything witty, but that was only because I'd left my tap shoes and spangly leotard at home with the rest of my climbing kit:001_smile:

Vauxhall Brava... definitely not sexy but 4x4 and built in chip box (ifor williams canopy) and certainly looks less gypo than my mates old trannie tipper when you go to nice domestic jobs

answers to questions the winch was due to my cautious nature??? We took stems down in a couple of big sections and I wanted to be sure they went exactly were I wanted them as steep slope to right hand side of tree finishing at back of house so didn't want a couple of tons of timber bouncing and rolloing in through kitchen door at 20mph!!! Maikta/Dolmar, first job with it and very happy on this showing. Cost under 400 ex vat, 28" bar was only 70 odd quid on top and it went through beech like hot knife through butter (customer wanted disks he could manhandle about after we left) and it fairly wizzed through stem. All in all nice day, nice weather and nice view of Lake District too "I love it when a plan comes together"

Forgot last two pics

Taking down very poorly beech. Quite fun as everything to be lowered back on to 'our' side of boundary wall as neighbour had put an nice expensive and imovable hen ark directly underneath crown. Climber in pic Scott Reed, not me. Well why wear yourself out when he's 14 yrs younger than me and not recovering from a dislocated shoulder... scares me more watching somebody else though:scared1: Good test for new saw as well

Alasdair I have always found the coming back harder than going out! The best thing I did was change my climbing setup from a prussik, but if you are at college or being assessed they often want everyone to stick with prussick to keep things simple (and make sure that everyone's doing it right). Once I could do what I wanted I swapped to a swabisch hitch and fairlead pulley, it just meant I could easily keep tension on my climbing line whilst coming back in to the stem, something I always struggled to do with a prussik; it just never seemed to be the ideal hitch for branch walking as it tended to lock to easily or maybe that was just my poor technique!!!!

Bill I resorted to online shopping for my 7900 it came from Lawson HIS. http://www.lawson-his.co.uk seemed to be the cheapest ones online at £398.51 ex vat plus a measly £4.25 carriage, only minus point seems to be that most makita dealers only sell what's in the box ie an 18" bar so you have to source your own bigger bar (which I think is same as Husqvarna fitting), which again I bought online, if you're interested, from http://www.newsawchains.co.uk but give them a ring and they will give you trade prices which are a lot lower than website prices shocking not supporting local dealers but I don't have that many big dealers within easy reach nor the time to go driving off to buy stuff!

Well, had chance to give the new 7900 a warm up and a try out on the timber pile this morning, semms really nicely balanced, revs like billy oh and plenty of grunt too. Postie turned up with 28" Oregon Power match foor it about 1/2hour after I'd fired it up with 18" standard bar. Had a swap over to the 28", not done any serious cutting but still not bad balance especially when held horizontal as for a felling cut. Seems to have plenty enough acceleration and grunt with the bigger bar. I hope it is as good as it appears to be on first impressions especially as comes in for under £400 ex vat and delivery and even the bigger bar chain only adds on another £80. Surely I can't have found a really genuine bargain after 40 years of trying:sneaky2:

Been meaning to put these on for a while.. in the woods near our abode. Certainly the longest continuos split I have come across, even in a gentle breeze the two halves move independently of each other for the top 20' of the stem... nice but wouldn't want it in my back garden!!