Rupe

Knob heads! How does that help a guy learn to climb a tree in his spare time??

I think tree cutter stu meant, throwline into the top of the crown, install rope and footlock up it. That is what most of us would do, but it requires practice. Plane are quite easy, Poplars and hairy limes are the hardest! For weighting the end of your rope a heavy throwbag will do. It might not seem heavy enough but it will help. THrow bags come in a range of sizes. Most climbers have a light one for thrownig and a heavy one at the other end of the throwline for positioning the line. Get one of the heavy ones clipped to your line it will help. I think if the limbs are small enough to get a 60cm sling round then you would just climb up them? Slings are no good for climbign large trees. IMO they are for positioning high in the crwon or at limb ends.

Dean, can we have an update? Have you manged to mount it ok etc?? Do you look a prat with it on!?

Reg uses a seperate camera/recorder, but they are both designed for the purpose. They cost a lot more (500 ish) but that is about the same as this one would cost once you've added a camcorder. The one Dean has just got is looking very good for the money so far.

Another things that beginners tend to do wrong is to follow the trunk up the tree. Sometimes you can climb branches to get you higher instead, but this brings you away from the trunk which can be unnerving. This often works best on Lime trees though! Big throwbag clipped to the end of your rope is best IMO. Or throwline from the ground, doesn't need to be high, just higher than the difficult bit!

Recording device not included.(e.g. digital camcorder, MPEG4 recorder, etc) Its a camera lens but not a recorder. Image resolution not great and feild of view 92 degrees is ok. BAttery pack is seperate from the camera and then you need a camcorder shoved somewhere too..

Go for the lightweigh pole extensions if you can. Same price but much lighter. The handbook says no more than 2 extensions to be used but we have managed 3 but only just, it gets wobbly at that length.

Definatly! Unless I'm not a proffessional which is a possible argument!!!! I take mien out to nearl yevery job, just in case but it doesn't get used every day. I have bent one extension pole in the last 5 years, not the 1m extension but the one that comes with the saw head which was cheap to replace. Get the biggest 4 mix engine unit, lots of power. The chainsaw attachment is the same as the one that comes with the pole pruner, and all the hedgetrimming attachments are the same. The poles may be a bit more flexible and likly to bend if mistreated, but as each section is replaceable its not the end of the world. PLus you can get the blower attachment and that will fit in the roof box too. The blower is actually really impressive!

I have been giving this some thought!! In the first examples I think you are correct, but if you are insured for groundsmaintenance and you completely sub out the tree work-are YOU insured to sub out tree work?? Would you be insured to sub out satelite installation or anything else you chose that you didn't fully understand? In the example in the fourth paragraph above, I think it is still a grey area but I hear what you are saying. The guy is offering a complete service and his own rigging gear and insurance. Whos on the other end of the riggign line?? That person has responsibility for the lowered sections and the climbers safety (not letting run/ swing backs etc). If the guy provided his own groundy then the area is less grey......but, what if his guy is busy lowerign and your guys allow a perosn or car into the work area which gets hit then its your responsibilty agian. Another problem is that you would still need to check all the tickets etc. Anyone can get insurance, that doesn't make it valid. And unless YOU are qualified to carry out all the work, how can you be qualified to check tickets etc? Another example: A grounds maintenance company "subs out" a rigging job to me and they clear up. I tell them I'm insured and show them climbing tickets and insurance certificate. I don't show them a rigging ticket or loler tickets because they don't know such things exist and don't ask for them and for the purposes of this example I haven't got them! I damage a load of property and my insurance isn't worth the paper its printed on. The groundmaintenance company try and claim on their insurance and there is no chance cos they shouldn't have been doing that kind of work. Do you see where I am coming from?? I'm not suggesting you have done anything wrong, just made up scenarios. There is very little "grey areas" where insurance companies are concerned. They will or won't pay out, there is no maybe pay outs.

No. You would need the combi system which is more versatile IMO. You cna get the same size engign as you would for the pole pruner and lots of accessories. Its is slower to adjust to different lenghts though.

I agree with Dean. If you buy a house with a significant tree then you should look after it in the same way you would look after the house for the duration of your ownership. In some case the tree(s) will actaully add to the value of the property, if providing shade/privacy as long as it doesn't cause damage/obstruction. I have often explained to people that cheap tree work can cost £££'s in devalueing the property. Often I am explaing this to people who have nice cars and will happily pay servicing costs even though the car is depreciating in value quicker than enything else they will ever own, wheras good tree care will increas ethe value of the trees/property. My biggest gripe is with poeple wanting to remove trees due to the leaf drop which makes them have to do something on a saturday!!! They will wash the car and walk the dog but not pick up after the tree!! Muppets. Morgtgage company surveyors are the worst though, any cracks in a wall and the nearest tree must be removed prior to purchase. That saves them the effort of investigating the structural quality of the building - blame it on the tree, tick the box and go home early!!

WD40 is ok but its a short term solution. Graphite works for longer. Rub some pencil lead on sand paper and make your own!!!!!!!

Bona fide sub contracting would be when the climber does the job with his own groundspersons. Therefore he needs public liability and employers liability. He woudl see the job first and quote you for the job and once you agree the price that is the "sub contract". The initial contract being between you and the client. In the event of the job going wrong the client would sue you and you would sue the sub contractor. If the climber comes in and work with your employees of any kind then he cannot be responsible for the overall safety of the job, you are, simples. Another example. You are charging 500 quid to take atree down and clear it all up. You get in a climber to do the climbign work and he gets paid 100 quid. How can someoen who is getting 20% of the money be 100% responsibel for the job?? Its not possible,feasable or moraly correct to expect him to be insured for your job. Not a dig at you mate, just my normal rantings...........

Its not like gettign a climber in for a day at all!! The climber will be on the insurance of whoever is doing the job period! The climber is not "using" anyones insurance. The ones that come with insurance are not worth paying extra for cos the insurance is not valid on someone elses job. Not including full bona fide subcontracting though. With tht eexample above with the council though, it sounds liek they are puttign on a course and employing an instrcutor. They should do a full risk assessment and provide insurance. If the instrcutor is insurign it then he would take all the money and pay the council for the site and any admin costs and take the rest. Its the one who stands to make the profit if all goes well that also has to cover insurance. IMO only of course, councils are peculiar things!!!

BTW that video was shot with a digi camera in video mode not my POS old headcam which would have looked worserer.

Heres the link for the free software to flip video. Its free so ignore the annoyign ads on the page. I've used it it works well. You could moutn the camera any way you wanted and flip it later. Heres an example [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQxRMY7R6bQ]YouTube - Poplar trees rigging 4[/ame] And rotated [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEZ6GOEOXX4]YouTube - Poplar trees rigging 4 rotated[/ame]

There is some free software that will do it, I'll find it later. You would need to edit out any exposure adjustment delays anyway to make it look good.

Free heels, free minds, dudes!!

You can re orientate video later, its quite easy.

My hilarious response has been removed by me before it causes offence where it was not supposed too!!!!!!

Thats definatly made my mind up that I don't need to tidy my office!!!!!! Its got like a fish eye distortion to it, but thats ok, it definatly is wide angle and the quality is way betterer than my act3k POS. (Which is still for sale)

Try and find nissan specs on their web site. MAy only give current weights though.

To be fair, that ain't going to look good if the "high anchor" was removed!!!

I know what you mean, it stresses me a bit. But these clients will all have started off having quotes off me but now just let me get on with it. Obviously its a trust thing either way. Recently I allowed two days for a job which took three. I invoiced for three and cheque arrived today, no worries. The main client has had 4-5 different companies over the last 20 years (he's in charge of, but doesn't own, 20,000 odd trees) In all that time each company he has used has casued him grief at some point. I started there by quoting and he feels he's gettign better value than before and (so far) I'v enot caused him any grief. I quote when there is projects to be done so that they can cost it all out, but no one else quotes. Then for remedial works, and safety stuff, I just get on with it and send the invoice. I think that feeling that you are describing is common but peculiar to tree workers. I'm sure the plumber doesn't worry when he writes out the bill for the dripping tap? We should all learn to value ouselves a bit higher.

No I don't think so. If I were better at business I might advertise more, get all the smaller jobs, have employees to rush round doing it and make more money but that does not appeal to me. Tree work is my vocation, not a business project.