Taupotreeman

That's disappointing is an understatement. Never heard that before but I'd be asking for a full refund or replacement if that were the case.

A few more. I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK. Clear felling in the outwoods for Doug Illingworth. More from the 132KV line installation. Paul Claybrook and Mark Coulson from Reid and Co. George Stokes. Unfortunately a lot of these big Oaks got nailed just for the wind farm. One of them was the only tree in the middle of a paddock and they decided to put the line right over the top of it. County hauling the same Oak out of the gully. Asplundh Ford Louisville and Whisper chipper.

A few from various jobs. Massey 135 we used for timber extraction in The Outwoods just outside of Loughborough. County on a new line clearance job for a 132KV line going to a wind farm out the back of Welshpool somewhere. Transmission line clearance corridor in the Megalong valley, NSW. Sunrise over the Hawkesbury River from a road bridge just between North Richmond and Richmond, NSW. Gum removal job (saturday work) in one of Sydney's suburbs for a local contractor. Back then most PPE was unused or unheard of.

Few from a crane job

When you say flawed, can you expand a little on the flaws? Surely if you find something wrong then Bandit would cover it under the warrenty.

Mean!

Should have got the 12 inch 990 xp. Excellent machine.

Ha, short, sweet and to the point Thanks for all the feedback so far. Gives me a bit more confidence going in to the meeting on Monday. Myself and 2IC had our queries about them but I was beginning to question those thoughts.

Part of the contract agreement is that if we (Taupo District Council) are not happy with the stock then we can ask for replacement plants/trees. Obviously, because the landscaper is from out of town he's going to argue that the trees are quality and that we (the arborists) don't know what we're talking about therefore he doesn't have to replace them. I thought it better to get a few opinions on the form of these so that at least i'm not talking out the hole in my backside or, for that matter, making the landscaper replace perfectly fine trees that are supposed to look like this.

The trees are part of a million dollar upgrade to a prominent town centre street. We have already had some animosity to various expensive sculptures around the town along with the upgrades on this street. Council now want to make sure that everything is bang on. When we first saw the trees we didn't think they were 1st grade quality but the landscaper and nursery insist that the form is as it should be. I know little about the species hence the thread. And they did check for Dutch elm in Auckland. I think they might have had an instance but all elm cuttings and chip had to be taken to a special tip site. Not sure of the current rules and regs though.

A couple more anyway.

Yes they are supposed to be fastigiate. I have some more pictures if needed.

You've never heard of a drop bear? We had to warn all the newbies about them when they started. You have to be really careful when walking through dense bush just in case they drop out of the trees on to you. We had heaps of young fellas walking through the bush, saw in hand, eyes skyward looking through the canopy for a glimpse of a drop bear.

We've just had these planted by a contractor and was looing for your thoughts on whether they are good specimens or not. I'll keep my thoughts out of it but we have a site meeting with the contractor on Monday morning to discuss so I'd appreciate any input.

990drum chipper. Better than the disc.

Another good one; Plant Amnesty They have a heap of info on poor pruning, why it's bad to top trees etc and a few links worth looking at. I emailed them and they sent me a heap of leaflets and info on good planting, pruning, 6 ways to kill a tree and why topping is bad. They've come in really handy for trying to get people to understand bad pruning with really easy diagrams that even kids can understand.

It's worth the shipping fee and exchange rate just to have something no else has. Haven't seen any others in NZ yet. And to be fair, with the pound being rock bottom, it's not actually that bad.

Save your money, buy a Bandit.

Now that sounds a bit more sensible. I'll be looking out for that. I still prefer it to having something else hanging off my harness.

Does anyone else have an issue with the straps comeing undone or even with them moving about? I've already almsot cut through the top strap when sheathing the saw because it rides up over the top of the scabbard.

Cheers Tony. Mulching along with general remeidal works planned annually. We both felt quite a bit of satisfaction and well chuffed even after just a bit of mulching today. Just nice to give something back to the old girl.

Okidoki, for those of you who wanted to know the decision on what was happening with this Oak. Turns out it was planted around 1898 in honour of NZ's longest serving Prime Minister Richard Seddon so there wasn't much chance of it coming down even if we wanted it to. It's one of the oldest specimens of its type in NZ. A resource consent is in for a reduction on the lower laterals and those with heavy lever arms along with reduction of the upper canopy if required. It won't be a major reduction but a staggered process over the next few years while we try to encourage lower canopy growth. Today we went in and removed some of the larger dangerous limbs as they were a public health hazard. We also put down a good layer of well rotted mulch with a bit of mushroom compost and old chook poo mixed in. We will also be putting in a new fence just to prevent some of the foot traffic. Very much a wait and see process now but hopefully we can give it several more years before we need to do anything drastic.

Most kiwis don't wear chainsaw boots because either they, or their employer is too tight to buy them the good stuff. Some outfits do for their better climbers or if the employee wants to contribute. Forestry guys wear chainsaw wellies rather than normal boots but they're way too big and cumbersome for climbing. Just like most of em wear chainsaw chaps rather than trousers. For those that argue that the kiwis aren't safe; rules and regs along with the way we think is changing. H&S is getting up there these days but there's still a lot of accidents, more so from farmers and the have a go hero at the weekend. My offsider was going through a pair of boots every 3 to 6 months. That's $120 to $160 a pair for boots that are waterproof for about the first five minutes out of the box and provide ankle support for all of the first climb or two. My offsider is now in a pair of Meindles and is considering using them as slippers For my part; I've been buying decent boots for about the last five years. They've easily paid back what I spent on them and having warm, dry, toasty feet even in the middle of winter reminds me why I spent the money on them. Having worked in North Wales in mid winter and spent day after day with freezing cold, wet feet I'm not arguing about the cost when a few weeks easing up on the booze, takeaways and maybe a few trinkets soon covers the cost. You'll have to pry my Meindles from cold dead hands.........feet!

There's always got to be one hasn't there Mark