Big 'Ammer

Back to the customers one liners... Today I fell victim to the classic - I don't remember that new summer house being under this tree when I quoted for the job? No its new we had delivered and erected last week! The bloke went white when I said I just hoped it was well made as I wasn't taking any prisoners in this p*****g rain! It escaped unscathed! The only bit of clothing that I came home in that was dry was socks! Good old goretex. Encouraging the groundy with mutterings of "men from the boys" and "character building" and "its Friday" etc....

Was that the one on the main road near you with a sandwich board outside the camp saying " Scrap Wanted"? They are actually expecting people to take them scrap?????? Probably too busy doing trees to go and collect it!

Felled the second in one go. Not a lot of sound wood for a hold, about an inch! and on the wrong side of the weight.

Job from Tuesday, felling two rotten beech. Took most of the side and top out of the first one and then felled into the available space.

Don't allow the customer to distract you whilst removing your climbing rope from the tree. I did, and the rope came sailing down, caught one of the lower branches and swung round catching me in the middle of the back with the large ring of the cambium saver! I now have a bruise that looks like a tea mug stain on a table.

Pete, If they can't be arsed to start till 10, and then forget to go to the job they won the day before, I don't think I've anything to worry about! Perhaps it was their signing on day?! I am intrigued by the call, I've rung the number twice today and its still switched off!

I've got a large black pinus I'd like you to take a look at.

Thats my philosophy also. How's that cooks winch coming on Log-o?

I've sort of had one like that today.... A message on the mobile voicemail from an irate customer as to why we wern't there at 10 o'clock today as promised, blah blah blah etc.. They left name address and phone no. The best of it is I have no idea who it is! Not one of my customers and an address I've never heard of or been to! Tried ringing back but their phone is off, so it may well be a wind up. On the other hand I want to get to the bottom of it as there may well be a job in it, or some tw*t is going round doorknocking pretending to be us. In fact I'll try them again now!

Smuggling, tin mining and pasty eating if the surfs not up!

What make of chain is it please, Jonesie?

Its not some thing silly like a fine crack in the oil cap is it? or the rubber grommet is un seated?

:dito:

Hope this works! I have scanned some old photos. Here's me back in 95 taking down a pine that was 7 feet from double patio doors and had a flagged patio around the bottom. 3 strand and prussic and a 254 18" bar for the top 2100 for the bottom! They wouldn't have let them build the house that close these days!

A friend of my mum's came to visit her in York. She went home on the train to Newcastle, fell asleep and woke up in Edinburgh! Not drunk, just elderly! It was very late so she had to find a hotel for the night!

Have you made sure the oil pickup holes in the bar are properly cleaned out? If they were bunged up then the oil has got to find a way out somewhere when the saw is running as it can't get on to the chain. Start from scratch with a clean saw and then see where the oil is coming from. Or, has the saw been dropped and the oil is creeping out of a weakened seal and not the oiler hole? This would leave a puddle where the saw has been left.

I try to talk them into a thin / lift / reduction or whatever and try to do the right thing. Failing that I'll talk them into a fell. I don't want my sign written van near any monstrosities on the road side. I will as part of other works on a site cut back old topped trees, but try to cut them further out and put some shape structure into place if its safe and theres few targets. I have only done it once from scratch, to a big willow five years ago for someone I know very well and it was round the back of some farm sheds out of sight of any one else! It was a large tree and the volume that was cut off could hardly be described as a pollard or a reduction! Nevertheless, its come back very nicely and will need doing again in a few years! Conifers however get no quarter! I do in fact get a great deal of satisfaction from seeing a large leylandii hedge cropped back straight and level - even if its been a sod to do!

The boys seem to have declined my offer to tow the caravan down behind my tranny van! I can't imagine why?

I'm no fisherman, shooting man myself. One of my close friends was involved in running the fishing village at the game fair for many years.

The main CLA one at Blenheim.

Well I'm not colour prejudiced, I have both orange and orange and white saws, and in different sizes and for different jobs they both have their merits. FTR, my favourite saw is a 262, pick it up every day, out of choice. More through sentiment than anything else! Its got a 14" bar and 8 rim, the 357 is a bit more powerful and vibrates less but doesnt balance as nicely, and the handle is just ever so slightly cast differently to all the other saws, so you have to look and check where you're felling with it. My close second favourite is a 440. an excellent, powerful, well balanced saw, spoilt only by lack of Husky type turbo air cleaning. The newer 441 has this, nuff said. The only trouble is with good quality saws is that if you look after them well they dont let you down and you dont have to replace them with the latest new model! My mate is still cutting up firewood with my old 2100!

I am for all three days.

Yep, Oregon do 13" -30" in that mount that will fit a 77 in 3/8.

They were definately better with a 36" bar and 404 chain. We had two back in the day , one was 28" 3/8 and the other was 404 and we had 34" and a 36" bars for it. My own was a 28" 3/8. Tidy saw, not ideal, but got me going. I am not ringing up logs so I only use a large saw for cross cutting to length and felling. I prefer to use a smaller saw wherever possible, as its handier. Realistically, there's only the very largest trees need any bigger than a 25" bar to fell them and I manage most of the time with a 20".

2100! I lent my old one to a firewooding mate last year. It hadnt been started for two and a half years, we filled it with petrol and 6 pulls on choke and she fired! 2 more off and she was off! I was delighted, what a marvellous bit of engineering! 3 log rings later when I had no feeling in my hands and bitten my tongue twice I decided to let him "bring it back when you've finished with it" ! I remember slicing a sycamore down in rings with one when I was a newbie, on me steel screwgate and 3 strand! Were them the days?