Theocus

well now we have told all our secrets i am going to have to come up with some other plans!!!

The ebay bandit looks like it has seen some work!!

The Key thing with Flyers is not to make yours look like everybody elses, A5 on light weight paper looks like you have made them yourselves photocopying them in the caravan if you know what i mean. Consider formating your flyer with a little more info into A4 DL. This an A4 sheet folded 3 times, i had 1000 done on 150GSM paper for £130.00 from yourlocalprinter.com and the response has been great because they stand out. Technically you have 6 sides to put say, your area covered, your services, your company history etc etc logs or whatever you want to push/sell. Competition is fierce so stand out i say, also something i did recently was write to my local paper on the AA format of how to choose your tree surgeon. I wrote my own version including all the major points, ended up with a half page spread with a photo and 4 jobs out of it so far. No death threats from any pikeys as yet!!!!!

Mixed reactions really on this then, the larger chippers do look great with the vids on the Global Recycling website, just buying new is a mine field!

Anybody ever owned, used or bought one of these. I am humouring the idea at the moment of investing in one but at 14k + vat they are going to have to be worth it. I know the XL had dead wood issues also, but the dealers at the APF think they have sorted it. Anyway anyone views on this chipper would be great. I know there are cheaper models out there from say timberwolf but are Bandit building them better or quite the opposite?

Every xmas i advertise to recycle peoples xmas trees through my wood chipper and ask for a donation to the Air ambulance, this year i raised about £150.00, its a great service that they supply. Well done on the riskys, they may be a pain but they pay of when the snizzer is flying off the fan.

Im still confused about the bit when daddy puts his car in mummys garage!!!!! lol

He never makes any sense!!!! Welsh you see!

I dont mind a bit of stick every now and again! Every establishment has the ability to turn things around, for all i know they may of sorted the problem for this year and are ammending the notes as we speak. I just dont know, but from my experience if you need the best information, the best way of increasing your knowledge base and good guidance which will obviously lead to success and better things in the future then i would say the choice (at the mo) is not with Myerscough on line. i have heard the full time courses are good so i am in no way dismissing the whole college but its your money and your career. Wow i sound like my father!!!!

The Tech Cert is definetly a worth while course and you will have to put the work into to get it but like all educational facilities you need good back up and involvement from colleges. Treelife will teach you to an extent all you need to know and the online course will provide the notes for you to study. You will obviously have to have an interest and an ever increasing knowledge of arb to pass. The problem with Myerscough (for me) was they didnt know what was going to be in the law paper as it was changing format but what was in the paper was not covered in the notes ( so now i am peeved off with them!!!). 2 out of 20 people passed it on our course yet with other establishments the pass rate was higher, its not stats but its pretty clear there is a problem there! I read every note sent and went out of my way to purchase most of the text booked, learning this way is not a problem to me as i have already obtained a degree from Reading, but did feel blind sided by the law paper. As for the living the job this is now my 12th year in the industry, run my own business and work with a AA consultant on occasion. I do want to increase my knowledge base but ultimately i need to pass this get more work in the future, everyone loves CPD!

I remember seeing a book/handout that had approx water values for green wood. Ash was around 25-27% if i remember right etc. I know the rigging book has wet weights per cubic foot.

I am based in Tewkesbury and will also let you know, Got stacks of oak etc but all mixed in on the woodchip pile! Will bear you in mind should anything come up.

Im going to sit the rest of my Tech Cert with Tree life, although more costly its def a clearer way of passing!!!

Hi chap, I am having a nightmare with the college at the moment, the last exam i sat with them had questions in it that are not in the notes and the college replied if it is in the syllabus we dont need to put it in the notes!!! The support from the lecturers online is also poor and no preparation is offered for the management course at all. I am still awaiting a reply from a lecturer that i sent 2 weeks ago. I do not usually slate colleges etc but with 1st hand experience of them i would advise not to do it with them. 2 out of 20 people passed last year one being a TO of 2-3 years before, There are other places to do it and i now wish i had gone else where. I hope they sort it out for others in the future but for now it is not good. Hope that helps!!!

Apologies, typing too fast again with one finger!!! should read, An after thought, what type of fire lighter would you use to get wet willow to burn!!!!! hmmmmmm.

An after thought also, what type of fire light would you use to get wet will to burn!!!!! hmmmmmm. I will get some pics this week as i think they are almost done, have made a good mess of the gateways with their landys. Missed the classic picture of the 5 guys stood around the willow brash pile, 1 to light the match, 1 to hold the paper, 1 to make the tea, 1 for the risky and 1 to get the petrol when i guess nobodys looking!!!!! Anyway give me a day and i will get some images.

If you guys missed it, here it is on iplayer. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00h4lqr/b00h4lp8/Victorian_Farm_Episode_3/

I also sat through this at Capel Manor in 2008, Its a good course but to be fair if you are able to read the little blue book and understand it you could save yourself some money. The updates offered are good though and on occasion i still receive the odd email.

Well i dismantled a Pop today in near enough sunshine the whole day, bit of a nip in the air though!!! Im in Gloucestershire i guess you snow bounders are up north!!!!!!

The EA are pollarding the willows near me with a large 360 digger and a shear attachment. There must be 25-30 willows to do, i spoke to one of the guys and asked how they were getting on, what they were doing etc etc and it turns out they are going to burn all the wood and brash on site as burning will have a lower carbon footprint than putting it through a chipper!!! As far as i can see they have torn up the farmers field with the digger, burn large patches of grassland and left crushed stubs about 1 foot long on the willows!!! This is crazy as far as i can see. Anyone else heard of burning being better for the environment than chipper because i havent!

Cadwell has got to be the best track,this is me going over the mountain there! awesome.

As i said i am not here to slag them off but just saying it as it is, that was a reply i had on an email from them. Apparently the other courses are fine but this online one is terrible, the notes are very thin on the ground. Go for treelife, i wish i had. I am having to go to them for practice and guidance for the management exam in September as the college doesnt offer a practice day. You could almost do this course yourself, get the past exam papers from ABC awards and get relevent books. I will keep you posted if anymore comical replies come back!

Online support, it took 3 weeks to answer a question and that was very vague too. we all helped each other or at least tried to on the forum provided with no tutor intervention.

Hi all, i am never one to b£$ch or slag off etc, but if anyone is thinking about the online course with Myerscough please think long and hard. I have paid up on mine, received all the notes etc and then sat the law paper which had questions in it that were not even in our notes!!! I had to resit and again more questions outside of the notes, these were high hedges, hedgerow law, badgers act, etc. This is all basic notes for law but as they were not even mentioned in my notes i presumed we were not going to be tested, how wrong!! Myerscough replied to me saying "I have spoken to the Learning Manger for Arboriculture who has confirmed that the tutor did leave towards the end of the course, however, the materials were delivered and on-line support was available. Regarding your comments on the content of the exam compared to the curriculum delivered, the subject was not actually on the curriculum and hence was not covered, therefore this was outside of our control"!! They had to be on the curriculum as they were in the exam question!!!! As i said i am not here to slag them off but just look at many of the other options. 2 out of 20 people passing cant be wrong!!!!! We have had no guidance for the management day either!!!! Rant over.......peace!!!!!!