Taupotreeman

Another one for you. The reason they are topped is to keep the afluent property owners behind them happy by retaining lake views. Current council tree and berm policy allows for trees to be topped for views when they have been topped before to retain views. I sat in on a councillors meeting the other day where a couple of millionaire landowners want trees topped so they have an uninterupted view of the lake. The likelihood is that the trees (some of them mature oaks) will be topped again and again to give those people those views. Unfortunately removal and replanting has not come in to the equation so far because council does not see anything wrong with topping. The resource management act had just been altered to allow pruning of trees on private property without gaining resource consent, including topping. And Rob D is bang on. You don't do what the customer wants (the customer always knows best) and you get a bad rep and no further work. Word of mouth works fast in a small town.

I am SOOOOO glad I wasn't eating when I saw that.

Heres one the local councillors had done about 3 years ago. It's right in front of the council buildings and blocks the view of the lake so they just had the tree whacked in half to give them their view back.

What did you end up talking me into buying?

Dean to be fair that's pretty harsh. I don't like to lower my standards and I sure as hec won't cut a tree like the one in the picture however I will top them if required. As for the comment about topped trees being dangerous; I'm sure we have seen plenty of Hama's posts where trees have been left with deadwood in them or reduced to allow them to regenerate and nobody seems to have an issue with that. Most of the topped trees are done every year or two for the reasons I stated....views.....so never usually have enough sizable growth on them to be an issue. I'm also a little upset by the fact you think I should be mowing lawns or cleaning windows. That would be just one less person in the industry trying his best to educate the public as I am currently trying to do with the local council. Would you really get out of tree work and go and clean windows if you had to top the odd tree or two or is that just your principles talking?

Hells bells, if you can remember Zamo you're older than I thought

Pete, you wanna tell me why I should be buying a 9 inch Greenmech instead of a 9 inch bandit?

1. key stress features? Dealing with idiots masquerading as the general public (not all but some). Phone calls at 9 Oclock at night to discuss the trimming of a camellia. Groundies who prefer to sit with their thumb up their backside while I do all the work but the worst of all? doing absolutely nothing like I am at the moment when I could be out trimming trees. That's the joys of working for a council for you. Why wouldn't I give up the profession? I don't know how to do anything else plus I love what I do. Who else gets to see the sun rise and then be 60 feet up a tree in the crisp air of a winter morning with nothing but bird song for company. There's so many positives it would be hard to list them all and they far outweigh the negatives.

Unfortunately David it hasn't quite worked here yet. One of the arb outfits set up here back in 2003 and tried to educate the public on how to trim trees correctly. Eventually they had to bow to customer demand and do what was asked not what they wanted. too many other outfits prepared to do what the customer wants and not argue. It's difficult to explain but when local council approves random topping of trees all around the district it doesn't help. I eventually had to take a job with the council because there was not enough work to keep me going (along with other reasons). There are plenty of other outfits prepared to charge less for either a sub standard job or one that I wouldn't be happy with. You just have to understand that in some places price is king NOT the fact that the tree has been pruned properly and sympathetically. The public in general don't always want to be "educated" and can get quite offended if you try to tell them how to prune. And yes, many of my repeat clients were extremely happy with the job but still ended up going elsewhere because I couldn't compete with the prices of others. You also have to remember that people here want their lake and mountain views so will not accept a tree being thinned or lifted etc. It gets topped and the cheapest job will do. And yes, I was on the bones of my backside and at the stage where I could no longer afford to wait it out. I'm not in the position to call the bluff of the bank manager and neither am I willing to make my wife suffer just to maintain my principles.

So just to derail slightly; I was looking at either a vermeer or a bandit 9 inch. I talked to guys who had used both and most reckoned that the bandits were far superior. Now we have Greenmech thrown into the mix. So who uses a Greenmech and what are they like? I saw one of the 9 inches in action today and for such a small chipper it actually out performed the BC1000. I alos had a nosey at Bearcat and wasn't at all impressed. Looks like they'd give up the ghost after 6 months.

I see this argument come up often on this topic and my reply is usually the same. Although the idea of being able to walk away from some jobs because you don't wish to "butcher" them or your principles dictate otherwise,is nice, it doesn't work for all. There comes a time when you HAVE to put food on the table and you HAVE to pay the mortgage and I'm afraid for the sake of butchering a tree I'd prefer to make sure the former were first in line. I have turned down jobs that meant the tree was going to take a hammering but only when I was in a position to be able to afford to. Most of the time money is the factor and I need to eat and I need to look after my family. I hate being told I have no principles because I'll top a tree. I have principles but they revolve around family and mortgage security first and foremost. NZ is slightly different to the UK in the fact that people want their views and if I don't hammer the trees someone else most definately will ( I speak from experience) seeing as there is minimal protection on them. I always aspire to do the most professional job that I can as do the other contractors around here but all have learnt that the customer wants what the customer wants. Maybe 10% here you can talk in to trimming a tree properly but the remainder? Fat chance. So what are you going to do? Stick to your principles and run out of work, end up subbing to a contractor and still doing the job you refused to do originally but for less money just to put food on the table? Go look for another job mowing lawns or doing stop go or working in a super market? How long exactly DO you stick to your principles when the work starts to run out? And what do you tell the bank manager and your wife when the debts rise? Oh, I'm sorry but I still refuse to do what the customer wants because it's soooo bad for the tree.

Not that I agree with the way the tree was "pruned" (that term used in the loosest sense of the word), but bob has a fair point doesn't he? I mean, many on here are all for fracture pruning etc so what exactly is wrong with what's been done here? And, if we are so loved up on trees why wouldn't you keep it, after all, pollarding can be just as harsh and the tree would still add some amenity value once it has recovered somewhat. Having said all that though I'd hate to think that it would become anywhere near the norm.

As the others have said; if this guy has treated you well over the years then leave on good terms. He obviously thinks highly of you if he has offered you some contract work and his recommending you to others could be invaluable in the long run. If you leave on bad terms he is unlikely to provide a good reference to other prospective employers. He may just have decided to stop doing the more technical work and head for an easier life doing smaller work. Every so often he might have a job for a repeat customer that he doesn't want to disappoint and call you in. This could be a good opportunity to spread your wings a little so try and look on the positive side. Your old boss might just have been stuck between a rock and hard place.

Yet City and Guilds and some NPTC's aren't recognised here. When I applied for residency they didn't recognize half my college certs yet the tutor who cross credited reckoned that NZ couldn't offer anything close to the UK certs I had.

That's what I mean and no offence to those that come out of college or uni having done the proper qualifications which have both the theory and practical elements to them. The problem is that there are also several of these slightly more dodgy papers that you can sit through and do the exams just by reading from a book. If I guy comes in for an interview and says he's done however many years in the trade and he has the references to back it up then you can usually bank on him being able to do the job (as long as he has the right attitude) but would you say the same for that same guy if he produced an arb cert from the university of hoojawajagombawamba?

Same here, not my cup of tea but some really sharp work in that ink.

Easy. I did my HITO some time ago. I also know a couple of other people who did it at the same time. They were given the HITO qualification, which included crane and helicopter work when they had never even climbed a tree in their life. How the hell can you be approved to do heli dismantles when you don't even know what a prussic is for? Just plain daft. One guy wouldn't have the foggiest how to carry out a basic climb of a tree or even put on a set of spikes so that's what I base my dodgy qualification statement on. I'm sure there's plenty more out there too.

quote=skyhuck;491644]Pegs are the work of the Devil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Once you've had a swing into one you'll never leave them on a tree again. Hurts like hell.

For me bro it's experience. I used to do much of the hiring at Treescape and found that either a guy with neither that you could train up from scratch or a alternatively a guy (or girl, sorry ladies) that had the right sort of experience was the best. Too many people with dodgy quals (HITO?) or coming out with the paperwork thinking they're the bees knees. Most of em never lived up to their own reputation.

Klimbas all the way if you do a lot of spike work. MOG, we couldn't throw line up many of the Eucs; too close to the 330KV and 500KV and also most of them had been trimmed before so were basically a totem with a whole load of fluff on top. Nothing to throwball in to. Never keen on leaving pegs on a tree anymore after smacking into one of them and giving me something to think about for the rest of the day.

Best bet is to find an artist who can draw you up a few ideas and then fiddle with them until you have what you want. Alternatively, find a proper tattoo artist and get him/her to do the same thing. You need someone who has some imagination not just your run of the mill pick one off the wall tattoo parlour.

I can see the argument of for and against rearing its ugly head again.

I also found that many who don't like using spikes either haven't used them much or are scared of them. I don't want to tar everybody with the same brush though. In Oz we had to wear them as the site supervisor wanted us up and down the Gum trees as fast as posssible, most of which were just poles. My work in NZ has been mostly take downs so I've been used to wearing them almost permanently to the point where I've just ordered a set of carbon fibre ones. Like I said before, nothing to do with being lazy it's just my preferance and I find I can speed up my take downs by using them, the same as some find they slow their work down.

Spikes on all the time for a dismantle unless it's a only a small tree. I just like being able to put my feet wherever I want them and no, I'm not lazy. I work faster with them so I wear them.

That's the whole point of a random thread. Stuff that doesn't fit elsewhere but that you want to show off or think is worth sharing. There's some good stuff out there, keep em coming.