Rupe

Andy do they re insure you for the same accident/injury/sickness the following year when they renew the policy? This what I have heard they dont do, but if they do then fair enough, I may have been wrong. Still dont like them though!!

Any old tat with a bit of strength. Old prussik cord or similar would do. Didnt quite mean bailing twine.

I ahve been saying for years that they are a bunch of crook and the insurance is not worth the paper its printed on. Also the sales team intimidate poeple into joining when in fact they are not being unsured correctly. Waste of time and money!

Any old tat will do Paul.

Yes, but they also have budget for fault repairs so we might as well use that.

I am not proud to admit it, but I think I have done it four times (in 18 years) and have had the same outcome every time, so I now consider it to be the right thing today. I once tried to get BT to take down 8 wires through a plane tree (it really was the only option to remove them first) and ended up talking to a girl in india who could simply not concieve of what I was saying. She couldn't comprehend why the wires were not at my house but at someone elses. All I wanted was a price or to find out if it was even possible to get them removed for a day. Eventually she said she understood so I though I was gettign somewhere and then she said she ahd all the information and the lines were booked to come down tomorrow!!! I hadnt even quoted for the job so I said dont bother. Eventually another company got the job but all they did was talk to an engineer who was havign a cuppa, got a mobile number for the main engineer in the area and spoke to him directly and it all got organised easy peasy. So it can be done, but you need to go straight to the right person and not through a BT call centre!!

Yes, its essential that the tree workers do not phone BT to say the line is broken even if it was a genuine accident. The person who's line it is must make the call, use their customer number and report the fault. I did it last year, hedge trimming. I was really careful, then the customer came out and said something annoying which put me off, next thing I know I have snipped the line!! After I left they reported an unknown fault, and it was fixed the next day, no dramas.

Or just disconnect it, its not hard, four cables, just write down where each one goes.

This has come up before. Trying to get BT to remove the wire is near impossible!! If you see an engineer working in the area then talk to him and he might be helpful, might give you a mobile number of who to contact, or he might drop the cable for you, maybe as a cash job. If the cable belongs to the person you are working for, then, with their permission and as long as they understand what you are doing, you could just cut the cable and get on with the job. Once finished you need to get the customer to call BT customer services (they will need a mobile to do this of course) and they need to report a "fault". NOT say that a tree company cut the wire!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BT have a policy of repairing faults within 24hrs or they HAVE to refund line rental charges, so as long as its reported as a fault then it will get repaired but you need the client to play the game! When the repair engineer turns up and sees a cut cable and some sawdust lying around, it is his job to repair and not ask questions but if he does ask then the client needs to say it was some bloke in an unmarked transit and leave it at that the enginner will just fix or replace the line. It must not be reported as an accidental damage casued by a tree company or it will take ages to fix and you will get a bill. Of course the proper way is to just get the tree down without breaking the line, and if its only one line then that should be easy enough.

I've got an @ 104 inch 1080p screen, its ok 'spose!

I agree top first, leaving a high anchor point it you are going to need it. BUT I did one this week that I couldnt see where the top should be cut to, so I did the sides first and then back to top to match it in. Worked fine but thats an exception. Also I prune where the tree wants, not where the shape wants and the shape will sort itself out, if its onesided shape wise then thats fine as long as the cuts are right, it can look as though it grew like that as apposed to lookign like it was forced into a shape. Its not what you cut off, its what you leave that is important, because that is what will dictate how the tree looks in 2-3 years time. So dont prune for today prune for the future, and sell your self on that point in the first place!

Well as long as she doesn't hack at your wood with a knife your Ok!!

Power cut, log fire, candles, missus? Yes I know, I'll reach for the ray mears book!!! Sorry! Couldnt help it, and cant help much with knives and that!

There is no "legally" she wont call the police! Surely you dont have insurance that covers a hedge for two years? Just tell her you not insured (or that it only applies for 12months) and then leave her to it. Let her tell other people what she wants, no one will sympathise with her if she tells the truth and if she lies, well no amount of insruance can stop that.

Actually I can now see that if the working part of the rope was through other branches then it might end up bent round the butterfly on retrieval which would increase the friction, I still cant see it wearing the rope out more than a hitch.

Double Rope technique Drt is like SRT but there are two fixed lines, so Double Rope. Doubled (with a d on the end) is one rope doubled over to make a climbing sytem, its quite diffferent to two fixed ropes(Drt as above) and so its called Ddrt. A small difference but if we seem to abbreviate more and more so we might as well get it right.

No big deal in using it, just surprised that its necessary. I have been choking an access line with a butterlfy for yours. Agreed, I dont then climb on that access line all day but it still gets installed and removed in the same way, and not noticed any excess wear on it. Your saying that the butterfly wears the rope whe nyou retrieve it from the tree? And this is more wear than the friction hitch causes while climbing around the tree all day?

Yeah, like, huh, like, you wouldn't, like, want that to happen while yer friction hitch is repetitivly wearing up and down the same rope. Seriously? The alpine butterfly would be in a different place on the rope for virtually every tree you climbed? Much less repetitive than the friction hitch we are all using everyday?

Is that just the same as threading the line through an alpine butterfly?

I said she had done fine, and not to listen to me, but I still think they are not the best pics to show off someones skills. Sometimes its best to keep quiet about these jobs, we all do them fo rthe exact same reason, if we dont do it someone else will. If its not in a conservation area then it doesn't matter waht it looks like, and if it come back badly and you get to fell it then repeat business, getting paid twice for the same tree, happy days. As long as the customer is informed then its up to them what they do to their trees.

Some councils only use Arb Approved contracors, and the others should have a qualification process that is very similar to the AAAC assessment.

I quite like the idea of leaving a luton parked up with a bunch of crap in it that is usually in my way at the lock up! And maybe havign a picnic table and chairs in for lunch when its wet out! Have you tested the tail lift much? Will it really lift 500Kgs ? 2-3 big logs and you would be full!!

I'm after a flat bed with a tail lift but would consider a Luton, just dont think it would look right, too much like a remvals van! But then again we do tree removals so I guess its would be ok. Mozza, that a fire starting flint. Not sure why its there really!

This is the drivers side of the tool box, all important emergency things like tea bags!!

Not yet!