Andy R

we did some rock face type stuff on the railway embankments years ago, they were far more interested in nptc tickets than irata at the time...saying that though, as we were packing it in with them they were turning to irata guys to do the portholes. Lots of highly flourescent men flailing about with croppers and handsaws was apparently the way forward.

I'm not really up on all this coronet stuff, but I would much rather see that then a huge wound back to the main stem. There is one in Evesham in the pleasure gardens by the river...pretty much a twin stem crown and one half has been completely removed, god only knows why. The cut looks awful.

chisel chain then...iirc we have semi chisel on the 48 and the 36...cuts well, in a plodding along kind of way.

Thanks guys, on to bigger and less greener things tomorrow I hope..

we have a 36 and 48 for our 084, not noticed any difference between the 2 on that, apart from it is alot easier to start with the 36 on.. Are the chains the same rupe?

always prefer to leave some kind of limb than a large wound close to the trunk. A 2m stub like you say if there is no remaining brash on it. Would it have been within the remaining crown, or an eyesore from certain angles...??

My car...civic type r I like to abuse it when I am feeling down. [ame]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqtiow44uPI&feature=related[/ame] ..other than that my PC, TV, DVD, Sky, Stereo surround sound multi media home cinema entertainment system...it's loud, bright and on every night.

I'll be waiting.

nice video Mike. Used bore and release many times before but not the step at the end. Normally I would nick the last bit at the same height almost to the bore cut and it would pop off a few mm short of meeting. To think all this time I've been doing it wrong:blushing:

some climbing rose, old mans beard or bramble would have tipped me over the edge I think..

I was talking to the owner of the nursery next door, and he said in the past he has watched them lay it all down in the top of the hedge and walk along it. I live in the same village and I have never seen anyone there doing the hedge so can't comment on who it might have been. But I have my suspicions

I've said that to him before mate, but you know how it is running round looking at jobs etc...but for the sake of 5 mins climbing up and having a butchers all would have been revealed. How many people do that though..?

normally I would Dean yes, every time. But it made it easier leaving every stem the height of the hedge, lots of locking my legs in between the stems made it straightforward to lean out toward the edges...it's pretty wide. and we do have the job of trimming it each year now, after what the owners have seen come out of that hedge this week they have asked us to book a date each year to go back and keep it in shape.

I've done some big big conifers in the past, hedges that would put this one to shame, but the sight of all that dead rotten brash trampled down in between all the tops was a sight I wouldn't wish on anyone...We would have hated to walk away or try and adjust the bill...am just glad it is all over, I've been pulling my arms out of their sockets these last few days.

cheers, bit of bad history with this place so am chuffed we have finally put it all to rest. We had a tractor blokey come and do the rotovating seeding for us so we called in on the way home this afternoon to see how he had got on. Then dropped the bill in to the office..

some shots from the end. Managed to finish all the cutting today, so back in the morning to rake up and a little tart up round the edges and should be about 3hrs over on the job. Lucky escape..!

This what lay inside, the entire length of the hedge, 2ft deep by 6-7ft wide..

I thought I would share this story with you at the risk of earning a reputation as a conifer junkie.. We had this job on the books for a few months and finally got to start it this Monday. I don't like mondays...anymore. We had about 3 days for 3 men + van&chipper on the job and knew it would take all of that...or so we thought. The last 4 yrs + the owners have had a different firm do the job, but just basic trimming&topping. Our spec was to reduce it further. Well you know the story of starting one of these jobs and the secrets that are held within the boughs of conifer hedges are revealed...everything that has been cut off in previous years has been laid to rest in the top of the hedge, for so long in fact alot of it had started to turn to some kind of peat. I've never been more demoralised in my life, and to he beaten this bad by a bleedin conifer hedge, well, that just took the biscuit, we guessed we would run over by 1.5 to 2 days and decided to just bite the bullet and do the job as agreed....cue copious amounts of determination... This was 3 hrs into day 3.

finished rotovating and seeding today.... before and after, with alot of graft in between.

experience..but that is a tough one to expect in new groundies..lol Reliable, hard working, willingness to learn, common sense. A good groundie will know what their colleague is going to do next, already have the required kit out of the van and ready, be aware of their surroundings and risks, be on the lookout for info the climber may or not be aware of and maybe the most important of all have a large flask of perfectly made tea ready.

I know if/when my folks get to the "help the aged" phase I would be far more comfortable knowing they can flick a switch to keep warm than start loading logs into a fireplace...I'm sure there will be a few die hard log burning ageds out there but for the most they will not be in a position to use free firewood.. great sentiment though, we should be thinking of people in need at this time of year especially.

thanks for the update, keep them coming and best wishes to all involved.

embedding the video has been disabled..just use the link instead. funny video though, saw it a while ago but worth another watch.

great pics atree...if only every takedown was so close to the chipper..I personally love roadside stuff as once the TM/Cone-age is up and running everything else is straightforward..

I'll pm you my address now for a price list.