Gnarlyoak

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In theory, it would be possible to do them now, but later maybe better, especially if they are late producing trees and they have only just dropped their leaves. The tree will enter dormancy after leaf drop, but the tree may also still be drawing down the energy stores in the branches down into the root system. Cutting too early, will mean that the tree will loose these energy reserves. This article may help to explain how, when and why to prune your apple trees. Pruning Apple Trees - How and when to prune Hope this helps.

Just wanted to say a quick thank you to site sponsor Honey Bros. Prompt answer to my enquiry, nice price, speedy overnight delivery, now the proud owner of a new pair of Haix Protector Pro boots. Now plodding around my flat in them to break them in. Excellent service all round, and speacial thanks to Stuart Girdler.

"Why you no risten ?" Its on the Arbjobs website, as per original post. Try here mate: Arbjobs.com | Tree Jobs! And good luck.

I've done some voluntary work with the councils local countryside service. No ticket, no chainsaw work, this even goes for their own rangers. Everybody else is given hand tools, gloves and made to sweat. Of course this has more to do with LA insurance/liability issues, but as Andy says you don't want loads of people running around weilding chainsaws, especially if they have no training/experience.

Hi Ledders, Does your Local Authority have a Countryside Service (part of the Environment Dept.)? Mine does (Tameside Met.Brgh.Cncl, Gtr.Mcr.) and they run about a dozen hedge laying events each year thru the winter when volunteers are not only welcome but essential to the success of the events. Check your LA's website

So sorry to hear your sad sad news. My sincerest condolences. Best wishes. Rick

Aye, bothways for me. Is it a real women in silhouette or computer gen? Great nawks on her.... By the way Batiarb, whats that tree doing to the other tree in your avatar? Cunning.......no wait a minute is that a boy tree.... rimm.... oh my! Or is that another optical illusion?

A nice idea, but at the worst possible time. Whilst the government is in a cost cutting frenzy, they will probably be not inclined to start cutting fuel duty any time soon in response to a small pressure group representing a rather anonymous (in the public eye/national psychy) industry. Even combined arboriculture and forestry does'nt have an imposing public profile. I'm not trying to denegrate your idea, just think it wil be a long hard uphill struggle in the current climate. On a more positive note, perhaps you could try to stimulate the debate/argument by combining the case for reducing duty on fuels by also campaigning for VAT exemption on all arb/forestry PPE. My chainsaw pants like my boots and helmet are worn for protection not as fashion accessories, so no VAT on pants would be a definate plus! Wishing you the best of luck man.

1. Given the growth in Joe Public (JP) returning to wood burning, I would'nt have thought these briquettes would have a major impact on the log market in the short or mid term if ever. 2. If the supplier tries to hold customers to ransom with higher prices, then surely JP will just switch back to the logs he used before if they are better value for money. 3. The manufacturer IS marketing and trying to sell his product, that is why he's been in touch with Bingoben. Many manufacturers produce a product and then enter into a relationship with a retailer to sell to the end user. Cadbury's don't own all the corner shops that sell their chocolate products! IMO: If the briquettes are as good as or better than logs then its a win win situation. It makes excellent use of a waste product, log suppliers have another product to offer to picky customers to create revenue, and if we have another long cold winter its another source of of burnable material when the retailers log pile stocks are running down.

R Beaumont: Vid clip posted by Mark Johnson says it all. Just in cae your confused by conflicting advice:- Mesterh : Explains how to remove the clutch. Nick93: Explains how to remove the sprocket. Hope this helps.

I'm intrigued, how exactly does one go about making birch oil/tar? Burn it in a pot. And is it the same stuff that I once saw Ray Mears make in the Canadian wilderness to waterproof a birch bark canoe?

For the first year of the course you may find this book invaluable: Biology. By Campbell, Reece & Mitchell. It will cover all your bases on plant biology, and I think it is on the recommended reading list.

Aaaaaahhhhggggg, one of my absolute pet hates is being stuck in a queue trying to get onto a garage forecourt, behind a bunch of numbty's ignoring empty pumps waiting for one to come free that has the nozzle on the same side as their filler cap. These idiots should be banned from driving for life at least or executed and disemboweled in their vehicles at worst. I like nothing better than to under/overtake them whenever possible, and pull up at a vacant pump "with nozzle on the wrong side" and gently and easily stretch the hose the four feet over the boot of my vehicle and start filling up, whilst all the while giving them my sternest Paddington Bear style long hard stare with an extra large portion of gritted teeth! Sorry, rant and derail over.......

Danny, sorry I can't answer your question directly, but just wanted to make you aware that if you decide to accept a policy with either company, you have BY LAW the right to cancel said policy and get a full refund if you are not happy with the wording. Its called the cooling off period, think its about 7 days. That said I do think its a bit of a liberty of any insurance company to sell a policy without clarifying what its covers, but in retrospect I can't think of any insurance I've bought in the past where I got to see the "small print" bumph before I had actually comitted to buying a policy. So it's probably industry standard and hence the reason why the cooling off period is mandatory as a regulatory control measure.

For £10K Rob, get yourself a decent yard and fill it full of shiny new kit. Then ring it with barb wire, minefields and machine gun nests to keep the micky mousers out. Failing that how about a tracked chipper?

Fair point. But looking back, the first member who responded with a reference that the customer may have been a female of the species was Ella. So I think we can breathe a sigh of relieve guys that it is'nt our chauvanism thats branded the customer a "she". After all who are we to argue with a womans intuition?

Nasty! I once nearly witnessed something similar, when a groundy in my crew loaded the chipper with a large branch which had the climbers rope entangled within it. He was completely oblivious to his error, and the climber was concentrating on the job, I was on the other side of the road spotting for the climber and managing the traffic. By the time I noticed what had happened, the rope was just about touching the lip of the chipper chute. I managed to leg it across the road my arse twitching in terror and hit the stop button. Then I launched into a spittle frothing tirade against the numpty ground in the middle of the street. Not very professional perhaps, but it was born out of shock and fear. No matter how it might of looked I could'nt help but think about how I would tell the climbers wife and kids how he was killed by being ripped in half because some idiot was'nt paying attention to what he was doing. Stay alert, stay focused, and stay safe lads and lasses.

Tell me about it... running on fumes M8. Cheers for the heads up, I'll give them a punt Friday.

Bump! Still on hunt folks. Any takers....?

Yes Rob, its the latter! Sorry peeps, perhaps I should have been a bit more explicit but was thinking I would spare you all the boring details. In hindsight though from your thoughts and advice I should explain the circumstances that are behind my question. I am part of a community project cleaning up a local blot on the landscape. I am an active member and one of the driving forces behind the project and providing my time and arb skills for free. We are accumalating a growing amount of brash arisings, from thinnings and prunings, and its becoming impractical to keep adding it onto existing "habitat piles". As part of the project we are proposing to plant a community fruit orchard and British native hedgerow during National Tree Week at the end of November. So we would now like to chip all arisings which would then be recycled on site to mulch the new plantings. I work as a freelance climber so don't have a chipper of my own to use, but I do know how to cut and stack me brash. So it will all be clean and stacked properly, ready to be just fed through and chipped on site. Plus I have the skills and experience to assist as well, so it would be pretty much easy money, and they would be paid on the spot on completion. So now I'm trying to weigh up what method would be most cost effective, hire a chipper for a day or get a man in. Hence my original question, what would be a fair rate for a couple of hours chipping a pile of brash! Cheers,

Hi gays 'n' gals, What would you consider would be a fair price to chip pre cut brushwood up to 3" dia. Approx 2-3 hrs chipping time & all chip to be left on site. Thanks for any input.

Lovely shot there Hama, showing the different growth stages. Love the idea of the thread as well, bring it on. I am now emptying my mind and waiting for it to be expanded with your wise knowledge....

The gay quarter in central Manchester is based on Canal Street, the council have to keep replacing the sign after some wag removes the C and S.