Taupotreeman

Real fancy work that; looks well smart but is that $2 and a half K for real?

Yeah mate. Mother nature has been throwing on a bit of a show of late so I've been taking the opportunity to take a few snap shots.

I'm no electrics guru but I had the same problem with my tipper. Turns out the solenoid had fried itself. Not expensive to replace fortunately.

Not sure if we already have a similar thread or not so started this one anyway. Having seen some of the cool photos that continue to pop up I thought it might be nice just to have a place to put those photos that don't fit anywhere else. Hopefully this isn't breaking any forum rules.

Not yet bro. Off to hastings next week to have a look at a couple of bandits fresh of the boat. I got sent to look at some Bearcats yesterday. I'm not sure how they get away with flogging their 9 inch as a 9 inch when it's clearly only a 6 inch. Had a look under the engine cowelling on the 12 inch and there's a teeny little Kubota donk and then acres of space. The whole think seems to be huge but with very little actual machinery for the space used. Had a chat with a guy that had one and I was told that after 6 months it looked like it had done 10 years worth of work. They also seem underpowered as well.Hopefully I get the OK to buy the 90XP when we see it next week. And, Drew, i changed my order this morning. The carbon fibres should be on their way with the rest of the gear next week. I should be wearing them to bed by the end of the week.

My personal harness is a Kolibri which I bought when upgrading from the old Petzl mini boss but I have just purchased a tree motion for my new council position. I tried it on yesterday and couldn't believe how snug and comfy it is and how much lighter. I can't understand why Buckingham charge more for the ergovation when the tree motion feels like part of your anatomy. Having said all that, there's nothing wrong with the kolibri.

Shiny stuff is choice! I'm gonna have a ball.

That must have been what Drew was on about flying down to. You better be sharing some of that new found knowledge when you get back.

It was good to actually be feely touchy with stuff ( I usually get the police called for doing that in most shops) rather than just seeing it in a catalogue, and yeah, Drew's talents could be well served in all sorts of ways. Unbelievable how much the guy knows and how many ideas he comes up with. His brain must be hard wired to a monkey gene or something.

Massive thanks to Richard at Treetools up in Auckland for helping me spend the council's money today and for being what a good business operator should be; Interested in what they do and excited about telling and selling. Special thanks go to Drew who took the time to show an old dog like me a couple of new ideas (to me at least) that should make climbing way easier and for stirring that little edge of excitement about trying out this new stuff. Also for giving heaps of advice on gear and how to use it. Brickbats also go to Drew. If anyone ever thinks of going shopping with this guy make sure that A) you have deep pockets or B) you are spending someone elses money Now, how long before I regret not buying those carbon fibre climbers?

Yummy,sucker growth on liquidambar. Nice and strong.....NOT!

You don't you just stick a hose pipe in their mouth and use them as a water feature

Mate, some of those thorns are over 8 inches long and they aint soft either. Count yourself lucky if you don't have to deal with them.

:thumbup: All hail the king for next season.

Unfortunately these things are growing in what is now my patch. Fortunately, the kids aren't too keen on trying to vandalize them.

And you think Hawthorn is bad?

Can I be nosey and ask where? I worked in Wales and Cheshire back in 95 - 98.

Was in exactly the same position and at nearly 41 almost the same age too. Loved the lifestyle but was starting to struggle with working at the required speed to compete with the other outfits. Along with fuel price rises and more tree outfits starting up and the resulting competition I took a job with the local council as their arborist. I've had the chance to check out the prices that the other guys have been putting in for work I had also been quoting on as I am now in a position to approve some of those quotes and to be perfectly honest it's pretty bloody scary seeing how low they have gone in order to win the work. It kind of made be realize I'd made the right decision as I would never be able to compete at those prices. Now I get to spend a couple of days trimming trees and then a couple more driving around looking at the work for the council and trying to improve their maintenance plans. In addition I still work on saturdays and holidays doing my own stuff which brings in a little more income. The bonus of having a set regular income means I can plan a few things like holidays etc plus I don't have the constant wear and tear on the machinery and the ever increasing repair bills. As a small time outfit I have to admit I'm probably a little old for the full time self employed thing. Much easier if you have at least one crew or a climber that can at least give you a break from the heavy work occasionally. Plus I don't have to be polite to those really annoying people that ring at 9 at night thinking that you don't have a life and you should be at their beck and call. What ever you do I wish you good luck but don't be too down on yourself if you go down the employed route. At our age we deserve a little security don't we?

Two dog de bordeaux. The female is Ripley and she weighs in at about 45kg, the male is Diesel and he weighs in at over 50 Kg. Neither come to work with me as I can't fit both in the truck at the same time. It's bad enough trying to get em both in the back of the disco if I want to walk them further afield than usual. Do a fine job of guarding the house though. We have a gate that's almost 6 feet high and Diesel can look over the top when he stands on his back legs. Enough to put off most would be burglers.

I paid my groundy $20 per hour but always slapped on an hour or two over and above what he worked and a bit for petrol if he had to travel to my place (50kms). He was a year or two older than me so about 42 or 43 but worked like a trojan. I'd show him once how to do something and wouldn't need to show him again. No lunch breaks and if I went off to dump chip he'd be into the logging up or raking when I got back. Never had to ask him to do anything and we get on like a house on fire. Even on the crappest jobs we have a laugh, he's never late, never let me down. In my humble opinion guys like this are worth their weight in gold and also worth paying what you can afford to keep them. Imagine having to tell some guy what to do over and over for the same thing. Imagine wondering if he's going to show in the morning or if he's going to feed your rope through the chipper again or leave the combi spanner in the back of the truck to be filled and covered with chip. I have a mate that turns staff over on an exceedingly regualr basis because he expects them to work like they own the business and pays them like a sweat shop worker. He moans and complains that he can't get good staff but treats them like crap when he has them. All fair enough some of them might earn more than the climber or business owner but a good groundy also earns that business more in productivity by being damn good at what he does and not shirking or breaking everything in sight.

Nah, ignore him Drew, touch that red glowing stuff, let me know how hot it is. Gonna be up at treetools sometime next week perusing the gear so hopefully at least I can get one part of the gear organised. As for the chipper? Bandit it is..........unless the boss puts a spanner in the works.

Same question bud; are you a kiwi? Funny you should mention the morbark dealer as he rang me today. The 12 inch is actually more than both the vermeer and the bandit although the 8 inch was about $8K cheaper than the bandit 9. I'm just a bit unsure about the morbarks. I know a couple of people who have had them and don't rate them as much as the others. I've been dealing with Steve at Power x (now Hydralada) who seems like a good bloke and from all reports so is the parent company. I have to say that I'm pretty much sold on a bandit, just got to get the powers that be to hurry up and sign the purchase order.

Didn't you know that we are still stuck in the 70's here bro? Apparently. We don't got no remote control TV's yet either.

As I keep saying; give it a few months and see if it bounces back. Several around here do the same thing almost every year. All the green dies off and then come spring it all sprouts back out along the branches and stems. Over in Oz you can see Gums that were totalled in the fires and most of them have sprung back to life. Amazingly resilient. What have you got to lose? It's unlikely to fall down in the next few months or so.

Yes, we have street view, despite being stuck in the 70's apparently but don't think that is going to work unfortunately. As for the neighbours; problem is many people want to see the back of the trees due to the amount of leaves they drop in autumn so would be quite happy to say it's started to lean if they thought it would get the tree removed.