Taupotreeman

At the moment I have no idea. It's a NZ native but that's as far as I've got I'm afraid. There's still some live foliage left on it but with the speed of the die back on the rest of the tree I'd imagine it won't be long before it's all brown. The tree is about 15 feet high. I can get photos if that's of any help.

I've just been called out to have a look at a clients tree. Apparently a few months ago one of its branches began to have the foliage brown off. Within a month two thirds of the tree has browned off. The leaves are soft to the touch rather than dry and brittle. There are no signs of poisononing and a tree within two metres of it is fine and dandy. The land owners have also had issues with Rhododendrons around the garden turning yellow and dying. They have an irrigation system that waters the area although it has been very dry here for the past couple of months until recent heavy rains. No photos at the monet but any ideas out there?

You can buy a bucket scabbard that hangs on the inside of the bucket. It gives you a place to put the saw in between cuts rather than around your feet and means you don't keep having to detach a strop. Been pulled out of a tree once (when I was learning) when a big chunk of wood jammed the saw and went over. I was tied in so was on the end of my rope with the wood hanging off the saw. In all honesty I can't remember how I got myself out of the predicament. I think when it comes to a MEWP it's more the prospect of being attached to the bucket while a large chunk of wood tries to drag you out. Also, if the wood is a big enough piece there is the possibility of shock loading the boom.

Cheers NItree, that makes a whole lot more sense.

Moon monkey; I don't work for free for eveybody but I will sometimes do extras for the odd person here and there free of charge. These people do not go and tell all and sundry that I work for free, rather that I leave a good impression on them and they are more willing to pass my name on to the next person. I'm not sure if you are self employed or not but word of mouth is, in my eyes, the best way of getting work. For the sake of a little extra freebie this extra work is invaluable. As for the hedge is a hedge, a tree is a tree; I think you'll find several members on here that will disagree with that statement and have a much more personal relationship with the fauna and flora they work with. That isn't meant to sound or mean anything distinctly kinky either. Some are just passionate about what they do to the extent that weekends are spent studying the ecosytems within the tree canopies or the fungi that grow on the forest floor. For some of us it is way more than a job. For me to learn something that would be of the betterment of my knowledge or life either now or in the future I would happily do some time for free. Many conservation volunteers do this in order that we, the general population, have a better place to live because we can't be bothered or don't have the time and inclination or both. And, for the final statement; I know and have heard of several brickies and other tradesman who will volunteer their services, for free, for a worthy cause. Some know it as charity but it can come in several guises. It depends on the situation.

What's wrong with clearing a couple of branches of one of those felled trees and parking your backside on that to sharpen up? Plenty of little stumps for the bar to lean in to when you sharpen; easypeasy.

The wife loved the Smash ads; absolute TV classic. No smoke without fire bats-n-trees? We don't get too much fire in that little hill, just lots of smoke, ash and big boulders. Maybe it's time for a change of avatar. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkpl2IpCj4o]YouTube - If you can dream it, you can do it - Toyota Advert[/ame] Toyota seem to come up with some doozies

A long time ago, in a far off place.....the bosses brother in law was helping us out on a job digging out the root of a tree we had dismantled. We dug a large pit around the roots, attached the 4WD and then slowly but surely pulled the stump while cutting the roots one by one. The brother in law grabbed a hold of one root and ran the bow saw through it forwards. Turns out it wasn't a root but the main service cable to the house. Fortunately, because the guy had run the saw in a forward motion rather than backwards, he had put the nose of the saw into the earth as he cut through the line saving him from either shock or something worse. It melted the the blade on the saw though. Turns out the cable had been buried about a foot below ground level.

Haha brilliant. Can anyone remember the milk advert with the catchphrase "watch out watch out there's a humphrey about"? and if so would you care to explain what it was all about. I also liked this ad. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5P7KyMLZAY]YouTube - Do it all - advert[/ame]

Nice nice. Did some dry stone walling at college as part of my conservation course but that looks proper smart.

Not even when viewing upside down.

So I'm having a wistful moment and remembering some of the good and the great of TV ads I grew up with in old blighty such as; The readybrek ad, Hamlet etc and thought, just for a bit of fun, I'd see if people out in arb land actually had a favourite tv advert that reminded them of being a kid or just made them smile. This one is my fave from a couple of years ago. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbBx4Ql6Umo]YouTube - Bugger[/ame]

Some of these humourous ones are all good in the first instance but then the humour starts to wear off after a while. I've also found that a lot people associate dodgy workmanship with a humourous company name so if you are going to use one, be original and really think about it first.

Much as I am happy to endorse the use of EPV's, MEWP's or whatever you wish to call them, rigging from them is a wholly bad idea. I was always taught never to use them for rigging, lifting, craining etc. They are designed for one purpose and most usually have a safe working load for a reason. Personally, I wouldn't use an EPV that I know had been used by someone else for rigging etc. In fibre glass booms it has been known to cause hairline fractures which can lead to a catastrophic failure of the boom if it isn't picked up by daily check, acoustic testing etc.

Never really used one. Wasn't keen on the idea of the saw getting jammed in a piece of wood and taking me out of the bucket with it. I had it happen a couple of times and just let the saw go.

Worked with a guy who, when faced with a tree entangled in telecom lines, would put his saw through the lines, deal to the tree and then call telecom at the end of the day and say he'd seen one of their lines down or had seen an over height truck snap them as it drove under. Personally, done one, maybe two phone lines and one LV that I unwittingly dropped a Cedar branch on. Ripped the mounting off the house wall but didn't snap the lines. Cost me a box of beer for the faulty to reattach the the wall mounting

These biggies are becoming an all to regular occurence. Thoughts go out to those affected.

Haha, you'd get more life in a cemetary than in downtown Turangi of a night, believe me.

Does any Friday/Saturday night in the town/city centre count?

What species of Nothofagus?

I've used platforms or EPV's quite a bit at Asplundh and another company. The platforms were truck mounted with a chip bin underneath. Average reach was about 55 feet. They were mainly used for power line clearance (being insulated booms) but came in useful for work such as deadwooding, where access is usually difficult, especially on a large Gum. The newer EPV's used had a reach in excess of 65 feet and Asplundh have some two man versions with a 110 foot reach. If used correctly they are an excellent bit of kit and nothing to do with being lazy. The idea is to make life easier for both the operator, company and client and I don't understand why some arborists are so against them. Personally I would prefer to use one in order to make my life easier on a really tricky job (not to mention safer) rather than go home at the end of the day a creaking aching mess. As for safety; if the daily, weekly and monthly checks are done then they should be safe as houses. The checks daily take about 10 to 20 minutes. The weekly checks would be about an hour or so looking at cables, bearings, shims etc. People are willing to check their climbing ropes, lanyards etc before the start of the job but because it's a piece of metal beneath them they think it should be safe as houses without these same safety checks. During my time using them we only ever had one fail and that was due to the operator not carrying out his safety checks and just filling out the forms without actually getting out of the cab. Had he actually looked he would have seen the cable starting to ping strands.

Well done mate and thanks for your efforts over the last 30 years too.

Does this also possibly show that it doesn't really matter what type of chipper it is (feed bars, emergency stop etc) if you are going through, you're going through unless there is someone else there to stop the machine. A lesson worth learning, from someone elses mistake unfortunately. Good luck to the fella, hope he pulls through OK.

Never heard of using a shove stick? I know we should all be wishing this guy the best at the moment but some people just never learn. This was predictably avoidable.

What an excellent cause and what a shame that you guys actually need to raise money for them. Hope you manage it and a few photos might well be in order for me to salivate over. I'd be keen to join in but it might be a bit far for me to travel, sorry.