Taupotreeman

Was feeding some stuff through mine the other day. Had a reasonable size rose in with some other stuff. One end of he rose got wrapped around my hand, the other end went in to the chipper. Somewhat painful to say the least and was picking bits of rose thorn out of my hand for days after.

Working for the council has had an ageing effect on me. 40 years in 4 weeks

SKY TV, Electric blanket etc?

That's got to be worth seeing.

Haha, you don't even want to go down THAT track.

Sounds like you're well set up and sorted littletree. Personally I hate being away from the wife (yeah yeah soft sod I know) for even a night. Been there, done that and I prefer my home comforts these days. It was a good way to see the country when I was younger though but now I'm happy to travel up to about an hour and a half.

The powers that be decided, after seeing something similar in the states, that they would bang some trees in big steel boxes and then park them in various spots about the town centre. After a few weeks in one spot they are uplifted with a Hiab and then shifted to a new location. People are divided between liking and loathing so I thought I'd stick the photos up on here to see what people thought. Personally I can't stand them but who am I to judge?

Following on from the "large" Magnolia thread; came across this today and wondered what the biggest Cherry was that you had come across. I wiped one of the photos of this unfortunately which gave a better scale.

Surely, despite what the trailer may legally carry, common sense would kick in here. I mean, you just have to look at the load to know it's wrong. Old bill would have a field day with his ticket book for something like that. I sure as heck wouldn't want to be towing that thing down hill because I reckon you wouldn't be stopping in a hurry if it all went kinda squirrely.

Hahahahahahah emergency stop hahahahahah. Seriously though, I have one and they are a beast of a machine when you know how to use them. According to a few statistics I read, there's less accidents and fatalities with these old chuck and ducks than there are with the newer machines. It seems to be that operators generally have more respect for these than the machines with the emergency stop, feed rollers etc. They're cheap as chips to buy and maintain, they're built like a brick outhouse and very rarely go wrong. Mines a 94 model whisper and it just keeps going. Chips up to 9 inches and cost be around the equivalent of 3500 quid. You sure as hell don't have to wait around for it to self feed. Mine runs a 6 cylinder 4.2l ford petrol engine. The 352 V8's are a sight to behold. Don't knock em till you've tried em.

Don't you just love climbing smooth bark Gums?

Most I've done is two and half hours each way for about 3 months. Never again.

You forgot Chrissy Spence.

Do a Google or Youtube search for whisper chippers or drum chippers. There's heaps of vids with the old chick and ducks around.

Drew, you're a nutter

Bro, if there's a next time, and you want someone to lug gear, I'll swap for a trip down to the inferno.

Farmer Ben, that third picture requires viewing while playing a little bit of Elgar.

Despite being perfectly happy where I am, sometimes I forget what I left behind. I can be brought back down to earth with a bump when I see inner city living etc but some of these "country" pics remind me of what I grew up in. And the first picture is missing Geese and ducks.

Gotta say; that wall looks remarkably stable and intact. The tree looks like your local builder has just sat down for lunch. Nice find David.

Father Zed; don't let it put you off doing something you maybe possibly love. There's more than one way to skin a cat, possibly just give it some consideration and look at all your options within the industry. If you want to be outside and working with trees there's heaps of options, you just have to find the one that best suits you, your income requirements, your physical capabilities and your experience. I'm currently looking at training up a 50 year old to be my groundy in the short term. Mad maybe but he's keen and likes working with trees so why shouldn't I give him a go? I don't expect him to climb except to be able to perform a rescue and we don't have to go like a bat out of hell as we work for the council. Long term I'll get a younger fella on to do the big stuff and the more tricky work but it still shouldn't stop this older guy from being able to work on the crew.

I'd have to agree with a couple of the others that said it was dangerous trying to go self employed with the lack of experience you have, especially when you are starting out in the trade at 40+. I'm not ageist and I don't wish to put you off but I have just had to give up full time SE work (at 40) as I am no longer young enough (and the body won't hold up long enough) to work fast enough to be able to compete price wise with some of the other outfits. Add in to that the number of companies out there and you may be battling for every penny, against guys who have been in the trade for a long time. If it were me in the same position I'd be tempted to do a couple of base courses before commiting to a long term degree and, if you are keen on the self employed route, start small. Don't invest in too much gear and sub yourself out as brush dragger to other companies to get some more experience on the tools. At least you'll get more of an idea of what you can physically manage to do, if this level will be sufficient to keep you competative and also it will give you chance to get a better perspective on the market and if there is sufficient work out there to support you. I now work for council which gives me my secure income, then do my own work at weekends. Don't forget, if you invest big in the gear it's going to break down sooner or later and will need replacing. That includes you. Whichever route you take I wish you luck.

Slightly off track from the main topic of conversation here but I don't think enough is made of the addictiveness (is that a word?) of hard drugs. It's all well and good to say that someone has it all and has pissed it up the wall but until we are in such a position of being addicted and stuck in that cycle, it's hard to pass judgement. Anyone who has tried and tried again to give up smokes or alchohol etc would maybe attest to that. Being a social drinker, binger drinker and full blown alchoholic are only a few small steps away from each other. I doubt Ms. Winehouse was coherent enough for long enough to kick the habit. This has little to do with media coverage etc i know but maybe we just need to reign things in a little.

Unfortunately, when it comes to the media, it's the story that sells advertising space and gets viewing figures. I wasn't a great fan of Ms. Winehouse but she's the big news. another death in Afghanistan etc is just hohum to most of the population today. Also, Ms. Winehouse is more likely to hold the interest of the British public rather than the goings on in another country hence the possible lack of interest in the Norway story despite the huge tragedy.

Airstreams are great with spikes on. Still remain nice and stiff. As for waterproof? 3 years old and still don't let in a drop.

I bought a Canon Eos 1000D twin lens kit, on special, after advice on here from the guys. OK so it's now been superceeded but I'm stoked with it and still haven't learnt how to use it properly. It should keep me going for years. Takes awesome photos too compared to my old cheap and nasty point and press.