Big 'Ammer

I'm that short sighted my prescription glasses will turn just about anything!

Just having a giggle, my friend. Apologies if you've been offended. Those that know me will know I like to dish it out for a laugh, but I'm quite prepared to stand and take it from others when I'm the one at fault. Obviously there is something contaminating the bottom that meant it couldn't be felled to ground level when you are attempting to sell the timber. Perhaps if you'd added some more info to the post to explain why you felled it at that height. At first it just looks like '"I've got a new big saw and look what I've done.....!":scared1: I'd have took the pee even more if you'd posted a pic of the tree dismantled and a felled trunk in the middle of a field! - but believe me I have seen such a thing more than once! Don't take it too seriously mate! Enjoy your work, all the best.

*Special Offer* 18 Foot Oak Butt reduced to 15 Foot for quick sale!

I'd like to see something along the lines of a certificate a competence issued as it is now, with a certificate of proficiency issued after so many hours logged doing the various tasks. Once issued, you are both qualified and experienced and then have the certificates for life. I may be wrong, but I think the Germans have something like it in their forestry tests. Whether it would work or not and was open to abuse is another thing? I do not believe that making 'old hands' resit basic stuff serves any purpose other than lining the coffers of the training providers. If long standing certificate holders have managed to get along without injury or accident so far then they are clearly comfortable with doing it 'their way'. It should be up to them whether they want to be updated on newer techniques which may be quicker or easier than 'older' ways. There can't be many people these days on 3 strand and prussic or not using a friction saver, but it doesn't mean that climbing on them is some how unsafe. And I can't see some radical new technique coming along to replace gob and hinge felling!

Only a little light hearted leg pulling here buddy! We can see its rotten on the vid. You've not heard of 'Danners' Boots then? They are expensive american ones.

My first climbing carabiner was a big steel screwgate reassuring stamped "3 Tonnes"! 3 strand and prussic and steel climbing spikes!

I once elbowed the old girl in the face in my sleep dreaming I was pulling a rope to get the top off a tree against a strong wind! Needless to say she was not amused !

But seriously agood groundsman is worth his wieght in gold both when rigging but also when on reductions as a second pair of eyes I'll second that. When you have a good groundman and your both on the same wavelength it makes the job so much easier as you anticipate each others moves. Just being half a step in front having the right bit of kit or a rope ready for the climber before being asked, watching the other side of the tree and the nose of the bar when your slicing off a large section to save your changing position, even having the combi can there ready at the bottom of the tree because he could hear the top handle starting to run a bit lean, and lots of other small things make all the difference to a days work. Plus he can even make sure you top the conifers off nice and level!

And some very unhandy chipper operators who were definately Tree Waste Arb Technicians!

What about a Ground Operations Arb Technician or GOAT? God knows I've had to work with some goats in the past!

I am sure I read one of your older posts Dean where you said you only worked three days a week! £285 doesn't go very far.

Could be a Jackall hi lift jack?

Reminds me of what my old felling mentor used to say... "lets just get it on the floor, and then you can cut what you f*****g like off it!" Needless to say, he wasn't a climber!

Heres some pictures of the landy the day after I came home through the floods last summer. I thought i'll be ok and ignored the road closed sign! Silly boy! I was bricking it when it kept getting deeper and there was about 3/4 mile to travel, as I have no snorkel, once I was committed I had no choice but to keep going. Worst of all was trying to guess where the road was, as the water was higher than the fences! Managed to get a nice bow wave going over the bonnet which kept the wash low enough to keep the water out the air intake on the wing side by about 1/2 inch! Filled both head lights and rear indicator lenses on a 110. Wife's hairdryer to sort the damp out next day! Saved a twenty odd mile round trip to get home but if I'd known how close it was going to be I'd have made the journey and not risked it.

Morning! Apologies if your offended drtsfc, your later posts have clarified the circumstances. However, I bet I wrote what a lot of others were thinking! My advice is to sharpen with a file not a grinder. You can get a far sharper chain with a file by hand. Once you've taken a grinder to a chain it heats up the cutters too much and then they are hard to file by hand afterwards. If you are cutting a lot of dirty wood and are repeatly having to sharpen, buy a carbide tipped chain and use it for that purpose only. You will find that it will save you endless time in the future if you spend some time now with your groundman and teach him how to sharpen chains properly. Like anything else it'll only come with practice. On the other side of the coin, these people presumably have got certs and will have been passed as competent to maintain a saw. If they can't then they deserve to struggle until they make the effort to be able to do the job your paying them for. If they are no hopers then get some other staff. I am of the opinion that if some one can't sharpen a saw to at least a reasonable dgeree of usability they should not be any where near one in the workplace. They will only have an accident and cut their leg or boot when they are trying to force a blunt chain to cut and keep the job going when the pressures on. Why not send the lad home with a saw and some of the blunt chains and let him have a go in his own time? He'll be pleased as punch if he brings them back and you tell him he's made a good job. If he ruins them, so what? You say they are cheap anyway? It was my junior staff members job to sharpen any of the medium sized ground use saws in a vice whenever they required it. In this way he was getting as much practice as possible. Now he's not bad and we let him sharpen anything. As regards hitting nails etc and keeping the job going on site we always take a couple of spare saws onto every job in case of nails/breakdowns whatever. That is a lot quicker than sharpening or changing a chain. Change chains or sharpen during a lull in the work. Thats my bit of advice, others may do it differently and tell you otherwise. All the best.

Ditto both those points. Nice to see something new and someone else's approach. Excellent piece of work Reg.

Your name must be an acronym... Doesn't Really Time Save Filing Chains? Why not weigh all the blunt chains in for scrap and buy some more sharp ones! Save wasting money on files too! This thread has got to be a joke, surely?

Is Danners the bloke or the Boots? You'll have to change your name to High Stump!

It doesn't say what size the brash has to be when it passed back over the boundary - just point that chipper spout over the hedge and let 'em have it all back!

Returned from my holidays to discover a brand new pair of chainsaw boots had been delivered. Very many thanks to Fortec for excellent customer service. However, Tata have yet to offer me a new landy as I commented on this forum that mine leaked oil....

aka "The Elastrator"

Ho Ho! I hope you blew the tyres up! I bet you went down the main road as well! How many could we get in that 6x6 landy off one of the other threads?

The other thing with the landy is you can get backed in a lot of places and leave the chips there and go home empty.

The guns and beaters wont like it in the back of a 7.5 tonner, specially when they they have to get out and push!

What does your landy weigh empty?