sime42

Very interesting. Thanks Sloth. Agreed, the Staghorn Sumac sounds amazing.

Cheers guys Nice bowls there. That's something I need to develop, bowl turning. Not done any for years. That's a nice hard shine you've got there se7enthdevil? What did you finish them with? Apparently Robinia is a lot more widely used in America where it originates from. For things such as you suggest. Never heard of it being used in nightclubs though! The glowing is an interesting property. On the negative side the trees can sometimes be a problem. They grow as weeds in some areas where they're really comfortable. And have even been classified as invasive species in some places I think. They're all over the world now.

Hello all This is my latest bit of wood turning. It's an earing stand for the Mrs. I started off with a log of unknown wood from some tree I cut down a while ago and then forgot about. Once I'd finished the turning I was curious about the ID so after a bit of research I worked out that it's Robinia Pseudoacacia or Black Locust as it's often called. Anyway I was really pleased with the way the wood works and finishes. It's come up lovely. Very close grained, no faults that I found and kind of waxy to cut on the lathe. The only downside is that the end grain was bloody hard to sand by hand, (to remove a parting off mark). Apparently it's some kind of wonder wood in terms of strength, hardness, toughness, durability etc etc. It rivals Hickory for tool handles for instance. All news to me. Anyone else got any experience of using this for woodworking? I can highly recommend it.

Maybe I meant 30/31? It's Saturday night after a couple or few beers.

How many of us do have tickets? I have what I thought was the minimum (CS31/32/38/39), cos I thought they were necessary. I've always wanted to do more but time and money have prohibited it. I completely agree that there is never a substitute for practical experience, but I've always thought that some initial theoretical knowledge is worth learning. I'm surprised by the idea that some others don't even bother.

Nice

Cheap and dodgy! Beware.

I think it's for cutting something softer than wood. As others have said. Peat or turf or clay or something. What's the story? Where did you find it?

Nice slippers!

Fair point about the size of the branch. Though I figure that if it fits in the hook of the pruner then I should be able to cut it. I've always had a saw to fit on the pole pruner, but never used it. I don't quite get the concept to be honest. If the branch is just slightly too big for the pruner head then it's much too whippy to cut with the saw. If it's large enough to be steady then I might as well just climb the tree and do it by hand.

Ok, cheers Bill.

Sorry, I meant to say I see the Trump picture when I look at the participated tab.

That was the least hilarious photo I could find, the rest really looked like the fishermen were sporting huge Strap-ons! Steve Bullman:- how come there is a picture of "someone's Trumped" at the start of this thread when I view all the unread posts in my Arbtalk app?

I've never heard or seen of such a thing for a pole pruner. Does anyone else know if they are available and where I could find one? Alternatively it might be easier just to make some kind of cup attachment to put on my climbing harness. All thoughts gratefully received. Cheers guys.

Evening guys, I been using the pole pruner again today, (Corona). It's a great tool, really useful but I often feel that it lacks something. When I'm cutting large diameter or particularly hard wood, (beech for example), it's hard to put enough force into pulling the cord with one hand whilst holding the pole with the other. Anyone know what I mean? I think the problem could be solved by supporting the butt of the pole in some kind of waist or chest harness, hence allowing both hands to be used to pull the cord. In my mind I'm seeing some kind of sport fishing harness type arrangement. Something like this:-

That's ominous. I hope that's not the beginning of the end for wood burners. I don't trust the government/authorities to always do the right thing in cases like this. Seems like they have chosen to pick off the easiest target first. I do very much care about pollution and the environment but I can't believe that wood burners contribute that much to the issue. "Up to 50 percent in some areas"?!!! Never! Transport is by far the biggest cause of urban air pollution. Taking cars and trucks off the streets should be the priority. Eg by improving the rail infrastructure to handle more passenger and also freight traffic would be a good start. Allowing private companies to keep raising rail fares is definitely NOT going to work!

Tree cavity treatment - Chinese style.

Ollie;- ignore the Troll-Creatures that have been trying to put you off. There's no reason why you shouldn't have a play around in your own trees. As long as there is no possibility of harming anyone else around you then there is no problem. You are entirely responsible if anything bad did happen and I'm sure you were aware of this before you decided to try it. Our culture in this country is far too risk averse already, I'm surprised that some on here are echoing that. There is obviously no substitute for experience but as someone else said;- the basic concepts of tree climbing/surgery "are not rocket science" at the end of the day. Plenty of people even free climb trees without falling out, we are not that different from other primates after all. (I'm not suggesting that anyone does this by the way! I used to as a kid and growing up. No way I would do it now though, it would be extremely dangerous and most times impossible I reckon if you were trying to work and use tools.) If you were asking for advice in order to profit from your activities then I agree with the Trolls that we as trained, qualified and experienced arborists should NOT be encouraging you. But you're clearly not so there's nothing wrong with us giving advice and opinions. Maybe this is a case of "knowledge is power, hence let's keep it to ourselves and fiercely guard it". I don't think that's very fair. We should all share knowledge, experience and opinions:- that's how we learn and also the whole point of this forum, surely. Anyway, we digress.......... I agree that some kind of friction saving device is a great idea, and actually almost a must if you're going to be moving around and up and down a lot from one anchor point in the tree. From the point of view of protecting the tree, reducing your fatigue and enjoying yourself. I am pretty sure that reducing friction at the anchor also shares the load more equally between both sides of the rope if using the doubled-rope-technique as well. I would go one step further than the cambium saver and use a pulley as well, attached via a karabiner. That really increases mobility. Though if you do try that then you need to have complete confidence in your friction hitch as that becomes the only braking action in the whole system. Have fun, but stay safe!

I've had the KM90-R with an adjustable hedge cutter and strimmer attachments for about 8 or 9 years now. It's probably the toughest tool I've got in terms of reliability given the amount of work it's done, mainly hedge cutting but also a fair bit of strimming. Always starts pretty much first time, even after being laid up over the winter for a few months. I've used a metal mowing/brush cutting blade a few times. It works but probably this engine is a little under powered for it to be honest. One extension is quite manageable for vertical hedge work, you could probably use two at a push as long as you don't lower it too much. Horizontal work, (really wide hedges), were a struggle with just the one extension though. I always thought the KM90 was a 4-Mix engine until I read this thread and then checked up on it. Feeling slightly sheepish now!

Where to begin a critique of that? Positive or negative ......... ...............

Little beauties!

Hi Steve I think it's probably not constantly manned, maybe there's nobody there if there's nothing to process, i.e brash to chip or timber to logs. It was something like £10 a load last time I was there, you pay to tip.

Recycling Organic Matter Gorcott Hill, Beoley, Redditch, Worcestershire,B98 9ET I've used these guys a few times before. They take logs, brash and I assume chip. They seem pretty good, no hassle. Can't be tricky to get hold of sometimes though.

If you're looking for pole pruners then Corona make the best in my opinion. Lightweight and efficient. Though you can't cut a whole hedge with them! Just isolated branches too thick for the hedge trimmer.

Yeah £1 a plug sounds about right. You're definitely paying for the convenience;- they're dead easy and clean to use compared to messing around with sprays or liquids. Not completely sure about the environment friendly aspect though. The actual plugs seem to be made of some kind of plastic. Unless it's a biodegradable type then that's going to be in the ground for ever more.