Taupotreeman

I was almost about to fire off a very hurried and rather unfriendly reply to this (being a council arby myself) but thought I better read the rest of the thread first. Good job I did otherwise I might of made a right ass of myself

This could be interesting.

I've seen a couple of the guys down here who are also unnervingly good at hitting their target while I'm busy throwing it back over my head, across the car park, into the old chap looking out his window, onto the exhaust stack of a passing goods vehicle etc. I'm starting to get it but it took for someone just to show me how to throw, direct etc to get a basis to work from. Sounds elementary to some but it's all new to me. Mind you, now we are starting to use the rope wrench and don't always have to isolate a branch I can start to see a whole heap of new benefits. Still have to break out the poles every now and then though.

I tried to do a test set up with the SJ and the RW and it looks all cock eyed. The rope twists through the SJ and the rope and tether interfere with the braking, at least the way I set it up. I finally had a go on a (admittedly small) Cherry dismantle the other day. Ditched the SJ because of the above reasons and just went with the hitch climber set up. Struggled somewhat with the ascending as, like many, I'm hardwired to that DRT way of doing things. On a branch walk when I wanted to haul myself up a little I had to stop and think about it and work out how to do it. Somewhat different to just pulling yourself up and having a SJ grab the rope. Also tried with an over the shoulder lanyard and half strangled myself so I need to work on that. What I did find was that there was no lack of confidence only using single line. Also, I preferred the less cluttered set up. One line to check and everything in front of you. The VT and HC work just fine for me, finger tip control. Think the SJ will be kept entirely seperate for the times I want to use it. I need a heap more practice and experience and that's probably still an understatement but I'm sure as hell going to be giving it plenty of time and energy to try and get it right.

We burn a fair bit of Douglas Fir in NZ and it's rated quite highly. I just mix it in with a hardwood but it burns nice and hot anyway.

Just been shown how to use a throwball properly so that's what I'm practicing at the moment but I also was using the AUS poles with the switching head on. Saves getting throw line wrapped around my feet and pine cones and branches etc and then spending hours cursing. I'm getting better though.

What heat? Muggy with thunderstorms at the moment.........sorry.......

We use Vigilant, stump cutter and a few others. Failing that, diesel/sump oil mix but it's not exactly green.

I'd argue that point Oldmill. I went back through all 45 pages and reread pretty much all of it to try and get a bit more clued up. Agreed it's a great thread though; in excess of 60 pages now.

As I say; tarring all with the one brush. I know you don't get a bad rep for no reason but surely they can't all be the same? There's plenty of dodgy rip off artists all over the show that aren't travellers.

Read the Bro's posts above Dak, you won't regret following their advice. And like Adam says; don't bother with that return fare, it'll be a waste of good beer money.

Long time ago Adam, 94/95. Worked out west of Sydney at the foot of the Blue Mountains near Penrith and Kurrajong. Spent nearly a year working on and around the area, as far out as Bathurst and back in to Blacktown. Had an absolute ball, met some awesome people and earnt some good money. Can't imagine it's changed hugely since then according to everything I read and hear. Easy to get in to Sydney city at the weekends with good transport links. Plenty of surf beaches, hunting, fishing and...........some very pretty young ladies.

Not much in the way of Utility surveying in NZ I don't believe as most of it has already been done. You can try both Asplundh and Treescape as they are the major players in line clearance here and in Oz. Some utilities do their own stuff in house but you'd probably need line mechanic qualifications. You might be better off looking for liaison positions. I also know that Transpower in NZ have just won the contract for the EHV lines in the Eastern North Island and will be looking for employees so might be worth getting in touch with them. Failing that check out SEEK - New Zealand's no.1 jobs, employment, career and recruitment site and Buy online and sell with NZ's #1 auction & classifieds site | Trade Me

First off; I'm happy in NZ. Second; hell yeah. Oz is an awesome place to work, good people, outstanding lifestyle. Fine it's got its creepy crawlies etc but I was there for a year and was rarely bothered. You have to be a little more careful but on the flip side, what you get with the package more than makes up for it. These days, way to hot for me. I like the green green grass and the cooler days but I'm glad I took the opportunity when I did. As far as the trees go; Yes they're way bigger but does it really matter if you're 20m up or 50m up? It hurts just as much if you fall out of the tree and think of the experience and the tall tales you'll be able to tell. I can't or won't climb big trees these days but I'm glad I had the chance to climb a couple of 50m jobs when I was young enough.

Are we just tarring all travellers with the same brush here? How do we know that they aren't going to pay the bill?

Yep, I agree with Adam. If you can prove your worth you'll have no problems getting a job without the formal quals. They are sometimes desirable but not always neccessary if you have the experience. Plenty of guys getting work by word of mouth and expertise alone. Sounds like you have the priorities right too. Just hang out and chill.

Yep but the country is way better.

beats faffing around with a hedge trimmer any day. Reckon I'd be banging a pretty high price on a job like that looking how spotless that driveway was. Nice work.

OUTSTANDING. I'll show that to my trainee and he too will be an expert in felling. This vid should be available for those buying chainsaws from B&Q etc.

I dunno, you finally get three weeks away from climbing trees and the opportunity to look around NZ with the wife and here's Drew trying to talk you in to a climb already. All I can say is the Mrs must be very understanding and Drew, give her a break for goodness sake

I think he meant ascend TO the first limb though I could be wrong.

One of my work colleagues got lippy ( so we think) with some a few months ago. Got a good bashing and a broken leg for his troubles. Still not back at work. Not sure how we got here from visiting Redwoods though. Sorry for the derail.

Not so much bloods and crips but Black Power, Mongrel Mob, Hells Angels etc. Nearly every town has a chapter. Some keep to themselves, some not so much. Mike, same applies to Murupara now pretty much.

Oh yeah, forgot; if you didn't keep an eye on it the SJ started to slide around the krab due to the way the rope and tether were pulling on it. This led to the krab being side loaded. Not pretty.