Rupe

If you remove the o' ring on the tool strop and insert a non locking carabiner instead, then it can be clipped to anywhere on your harness. Of course you can still have a caritool in the perfect place for you, but this means that if you are in an awkward spot then anywhere will do, like the ring on the bridge of the harness, this is a good place to keep it short term.

Its not really a quote over the phone though is it? Its more an estimate of what could be inlvolved. No ones sayign the do fixed price quotes over the phone. I have in the past given rough ideas of what it could be 200-2000 sort of thing and offered to come and quote, but I don't think any of those enquiries have led to work. Even if I went and quoted and it was more like 200, then someone else would have said 150-1500 over the phone and gone round and quoted 150 and got it. Asking over the phone means that price is the main factor. If experience and insurance etc is the main factor then they would start off by asking about that?

Used in a Ddrt set up it will probaby not end in a serious accident, but it is misuse of gear. Is he employed? If so the emlployer needs to remind him to work to best practice etc.

For me, if I'm not busy I actually can't afford the fuel to go and visit a time waster so the more I can filter out on the phone the better. Another give away is the "how soon could you do the work" question on the phone. That happenned recently along with "it hasn't got a preservation order on it". I didn't even bother to go and look and now, guess what?? Yes, the company they got in (along with the client) are being prosecuted for carrying out tree work in a conservation area without permission. I could see it a mile off!!!

You need to evaluate your enquiries to see if they " qualify" as a potentila cusotmers. If they start by saying "I've been given your number by Mrs XYZ because you did a good job for her" then they are part way to qualifying already. Starting with "how much do you charge?" they are pretty much not going to recover from that. I would have a bit of fun with them and then forgtet about it. Maybe say somethign like we charge more per hour than anyone else round here but get more done per hour too" that will confuse them. Or a direct answer to a direct question "as much as I think I can get away with!!" or "it depends on who else is quoting"

The results of yesterday's Masters' Challenge are: Women: 1. Anja Erni, Switzerland 2. Jo Hedger, UK 3. Christine Sulzberger, Austria Men: 1. Jon Turnbull, UK 2. Bernd Strasser, Germany 3. Gregor Hansch, Switzerland 4. Nathanael Gros, France 5. Johann Gustaverson, Sweden

Chisel.

Isn't that just a Machard Tresse? Been around forever, came form apline climbing, not really popular for tree work but an historical knot worth knowing.

I think if you are on the same job for a few days then the rate per day can go down a bit. For example, if I were to charge 450 for one days work, I don't have to charge 4 times 450 for four days work. I could go down a bit on the day rate cos one quote has landed me four days work, instead of four quotes to get me four days work. Also on bigger jobs there may only be one clear up at the end, you can leave loads of stuff one site, signs, bollards etc, so that save time each day. Another thing is the kind of work you are doing means that there could be one day of shifting blocks of wood, are you going to charge the same for that as the rigging days? Price it for what your customer wants, and manage their expectaions. Stop worrying about your day rate etc. Its a lot easier to get one pay cheque each week than it is to chase round the countryside for 5+ pay cheques, plus all the time quoting. We all say "free quotations" but I know when I fill up the car on a saturday quote day then its not going to be free for me at all, so all the jobs I get pay for their quotes AND for the quotes that I didn't get.

The important thing is who BT send to sort it out. If the tree company call an engineer it is charged, if the customer calls an engineer usign their customer number then a different engineer turns up and all he has to do is fix it, not ask questions. It Bt's line, and they want to rental, it goes over the customers property and other poeples property sometimes as well, anything that happens to it while its passing trees and stuff is BT's problem. Its not like its easy to get them to take lines down for us in the first place. As for minor damage by "subbies". They don't HAVE to pay for anything. All they have to do is protect their future careers and the bast way to do that is to A. Not break stuff, and B. Pay for stuff if they do break it.

YES. BT would want youto pay for it, so if you phone them up and report it you will get the bill, and the line may not be fixed until you've paid it so the customer has no phoneline for a while..... BUT, BT gaurantee to their customers to repair faults with 24 hrs, after that they have to re imburse line rental etc as that is all paid in advance. So get the owner of the line to report the fault, and make sure they don't say "the tree surgeons broke it!" Just report an unknown fault, BT test the line and its not working. They send an engineer and his remit is to get it fixed ASAP no matter what he discovers (sawdust allover the place) so the line gets fixed quicker so the customer is happier that way. Its a bit cheecky, but you have to play the system! I've only done it twice and its worked a treat each time.

Add the 20 minute phone call to the bill at the same rate!

Their insurance wont ever pay up if its down to someone elses instruction, even if they ignore the instruction! Did he sign a risk assessment that states that he will definatly not fell the tree in a oner? No? Thats beside the point. There should not be a BT bill to pay. BT will repair the fault free of charge as long as you get the affected customer to report the "fault". As far as the cutter is concerned, he didn't do what the person writing the cheques asked for, so that needs sorting out the old fashioned way. No pay and no more work ever, good bye! And if that don't work then there is the real old fashioned method!!

I thought we used work positioning systems?

They are both subject to Loler though. I don't get your point? I think insurance would be the key problem, yes shackles and slings are all the same if you can identify them, but PI insurance to cover you for Loler test on arb equipment won't cover you for loler test on unrelated industry gear.

Thats me off the hook then, thanks Tim.

Ah, interesting, I was wondering which factory actually made it, and I assumed it would be one familiar with this kind of thing.

One serious stick and lots of cameras!! Sorry, cynical head on again Mark, I'll have a look at some soon before winging, but correct me if I'm wrong but that video was for a pulley for cutting trees down, right? They do look nice though!

There was already a pulley in the states with two eyes for attachment, before the HC came out. Can't remember who made it but its called the mickey mouse. Looks very similiar to this stein one. Interesting comment about DMM and ISC pulleys, considering the historical links between the two companies, it seems to me that ISC make industrial type components and bring them to the market place, but DMM have are a larger company and more used to making refined items for the leisure climbing fraternity, so they are therefore equipped to "polish the edges" so to speak and re create designs to please the eye for the gear junkies among us. I'm still unsure where Stein, as a brand fit, into all this. Where petzl, ISC, and DMM have pretty much everything covered in terms of climbing hardware, maybe Stein are looking to the company purchases, if I were an employer wanting to kit out 6 climbers with pulleys etc which one would I choose...........??

Its crazy that in a 4 day course a person can be taught to climb AND rescue someone, yet still not know anything, but be "qualified". There should be a climbing course, and then 6 months experience required before doing a rescue course and then, maybe then, a chainsaw in tree course. New climbers would have to work with rescuers on the ground instead of newly qualified Cs 38/39's going out as qualified rescuers for existing climbers.

No, you are a "loler inspector for arb equipment", it kind of explains it all for you right there. Part of the qualification is being able to recognise all bits of equipment or at least being able to look up what it is, SWL etc. Maybe you could do cranes next week? Thats meant in a friendly advice kind of way....

we drive on the left cos thats the way they did jousting !! Do you know where you are going to be based yet? Maybe see you at the show on friday?

Can't help, but did you keep it as a two handed control or did you make some alterations? Mines one handed now and its sooo much better. No more lending it to clients though!!

Yes, it wasn't a critisism of what your doing, just a point that the "back to the boundary" rule is pointless unless its the homeowner cuttign stuff back. As proffessionals we should be engaging both parties and finding the correct solution for all including the tree. If I get asked to cut back to boundaries because its a law that it can be done, I usually tell them that the law is for them to cut the trees back, if they want me to do it it will be done my way regardless of the law, i,e. with planning permsision (if required) with tree/land owners consent and correctly for the species of tree.

If cutting back to the boundary line is going to leave stubs then you are carryign out improper tree work. "lopping" I think its called. If the tree is in a conservation area then you still need permision for crown lift/thin/reduction etc and work to be carried out to BS etc. So cutting to an imaginary line is not ideal. A good solution, if you can, is to remove branches beyond the boundary line, either to a suitable growth point or back to main stem. For this you do need permision from tree/land owner but it should then be a permanent solution to the problem, and a good sales persion should be able to obtain this, unless the owners are mentalists which is so often the case!! Keeping everyone happy, especially the tree, shoudl be the main aim, not merely carrying ones rights to hack back to boundaries.