Mark Bolam
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Everything posted by Mark Bolam
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That boy is quick! What kind of tree / format was it ? Throwbag to start? Regards to Gump.
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Right. I'm off to buy a time-lapse camera. Did you see how quick it made those blokes work? Brilliant! Reckon I can charge £15000 a day when I get one...
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Transit double cab tipper here. Would like a 4x4 as well for soft access jobs, but Mogs apart I haven't seen anything with decent capacity. Most of my jobs seem to involve getting rid of vast amounts of s***e at the end!
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Brother and sister in law live in Brissie. Nice place, but I agree about Sydney and would prefer to travel more. I have taken out a second mortgage for my impending Byron visit! Been before, nice place. Saw a gang taking down a Moreton Bay Fig (?) yesterday. Pro job, in a school field, but left a 5' stump with some tears in it. Just wondered if this was some eco-arb thing?
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Yes fellas, here in Brissie till the 26th. Off to Byron at the weekend. YP - I know what you mean mate, I've got groin rash already and I'm on holiday! Would like to have a crack working out here for a month or two, but I think the heat would do me in. I'm from Northumberland!
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Few months ago I was suggesting trying to take it easy all the time you could. Skyhuck disagreed, saying 'use it or lose it'. With hindsight, and starting to 'use it' a bit more again, I ultimately started feeling looser, fitter and stronger and have to agree he was spot on. Know your limits. Take joint capsules. Work around niggling injuries. It's like a pensioner getting a stairlift. Within a month they couldn't climb the stairs if they tried. I'm off now to try out my new Stannah treelift....
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I think a lot of them are under pressure to please everyone. Mr. Bloggs worried about light/encroachment/size? Instead of saying no, leave it alone, end of argument, they approve a 10% thin or 15% reduction. Over the years I've come to realise the best thing you can do to a tree is leave it alone in most cases. However, that doesn't take people and their wishes into account. What to allow / not allow must be a tough call sometimes.
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Spending some of this joyful winter in Oz, mainly Brisbane. They seem to have a lot more respect for the trees out here. The only reductions I have seen are line clearance work. Palms etc. growing literally through porches, right next to structures everywhere. Heaving pavements retarmacced (rather than trees removed), even saw a main road split today going either side of a big gum. Thing is, there are loads of arb companies in the book (yes, I am that sad), and I just wonder what kind of jobs they do with their 18'' chippers. Is it mainly just felling stuff that has had it and utility work? Mainly some of you who have worked out here can enlighten me. Awesome place. And the way everyone has pulled together for the Victoria fire victims is something else.
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Monkton in Thanet, mate. They layout looks very similar. They have literally hundreds there. I swore I wouldn't do another one. They were failing all over the place 'cos they havn't been repollarded since '88. Ross Smith did a few as well and enjoyed it about as much as I did. If they are similar, they are probably a fair bit bigger than they appear in the pics?
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Mick, if those Pops are at Foxhunter be careful. Loads down there have had joint failures at the old pollard points. Not nice trees to be snatching heads off themselves, for sure. Good luck with the job wherever it is. I'm off down to the pool with a couple of cold Tooheys. 31deg in Brissie. Ahhhhh........
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I'd be up for it, Mick, but I'm in Oz till the end of Feb. Good pics of Ross. Our loss is NZ's gain.
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Er, partial success? Clearly size isn't everything... Is it because I have got a small phone?
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Just trying to see if I can work out how to attach a bloody picture at last!
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Thanks for posting Liam, and for explaining about the Oak. Get your Grandad a pint in for me!
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The lads in Sweden seem to think that burning untreated timber is ultimately carbon neutral, certainly no more impact than natural decay. Albeit quicker. I'm with Skyhuck and SWB on this one. When the situation allows, you can't beat a good burn up at the end of the day. Especially if it's hot enough to melt cider cans down to 10p sized blobs of molten alloy! Only thing is, missus never believes you have been working so late when it gets dark at 4.30!
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Jonesie give me a chance to put on about 6 stone and I'll get back to you...
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Lets have it then. What was your scariest moment? Tree related. Mine was early days, dismantling 100+ Lombardy. Stripped it out on the way up, left with 25' top, blowing a hooly. S**t myself, came down, had nightmares all night, went back and launched the top into neighbouring garden (severe cavities prevented slinging top off itself). Success! Plenty of "disco leg" on that job I can assure you....
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Surely they would want that notch in their roof sorted when the tree was gone, so you would have thought they could have felled a much larger section? Lots to think about there. Cheers for posting.
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Tricky one isn't it? I think as long as you explain to the customer clearly that it will be bad for the tree, will look utterly s**t, and if they tell anyone who did it you will have to kill them, then I think you have covered yourself. If you hadn't done it, I guarantee someone else would have.
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110' Lombardy. But I didn't get to the top....
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Tennis elbow, usual early days silky cuts, black conifer snot, big pinch on top of thigh from resting running hedgetrimmer on Levi's, all normal day-to-day scratches, nicks etc. Badly burnt palms from single-handedly lowering a small bit of "brushwood" that was leg width. And yes, the climber did warn me. Friction? Naaaa.
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:001_cool:General consensus - THUMBS UP!
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Good job you didn't just bomb it over the fence. I can see how high it is when I look again!
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Nice vid. Cool speedline. Wouldn't it have been quicker to bomb everything down on the LHS of the fence and handball it over? Liked the speedline, mind. How did you tension it?
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660 runs a 36" bar ok, but much more grunt with a 30 or 25. Just stick the big bar on mine when I really need it. Really versatile, no problems 3 years in. 880 is a beast of a saw, much heavier. Too big IMO for day to day use. Havn't used the 3120, but mate has one and seems to like it. This hasn't really helped at all, has it?!
