Tim Williams

While I see your point about not always felling beech trees with merripilus I also see that to carryout investigations such as thermal imaging etc could prove costly. I am a tree surveyor for a county council highways partnership and today discovered a large beech next to a main arterial root (no pun intended lol) from the M6 with the decaying remains of said fungus all round the base and patches extending into the field due to the risk/target what would you do fell or keep, as we know little about the fungus we do know it's unpredicatable and therefore can you take a chance with it in that situation.

As has already been suggested the arb info exchange (aie) is a good place to start. more info can be found in Principles of tree hazard assessment and management.

worked with an AEC matador a few times and they are superb, the pulling power is awesome. it's a great sight when you crank up the winch and watch the front wheels come up then the anchors bite and down she comes ripping the tree with it. A shame you don't see many still working on a daily basis instead of just in sawmills etc.

when i worked as a 2 man team with van and chipper i was billed out at £560 + vat per day that was in the north west wages were £90 per day climber and £100 per day lead climber/team leader so the boss did allright

As you pointed out andy good judgement has to prevail, I agree with you that it should be one weapon in the arsenal but one that should be used as a last resort,

While this seems like a good idea there are a few questions pointed out by my lady (A senior sister specialising in trauma in A+E) which would need answering, firstly while I realise that chainsaw clothing doesn't always stop a running saw injuries are very rarely of such a serious magnitude that they are so life threatening that either a paramedic or air ambulance could not get to you in time. secondly although the video shows how easilly the clot can be removed once bleeding has stopped the cut shown was very different (they used a scalpel) to a chainsaw injury and quick clot (a brand name) would be quite difficult to clean up from a ragged chainsaw cut so the wound could be repaired. thirdly how many tree surgeons would be temped to use it on fairly minor cuts e.g ones requiring a few stitches where a normal compression bandage would do therefore taking more time up in A+E due to having to clean it out. I do however think that there maybe a case of having a pack in the team first aid kit but only for use where everything else has failed.

First got the bug aged 7 when my mates dad Mr Kirsley of flintshire woodlands used to let me watch and help tidy up after his weekend jobs on the housing estate i lived on. then many years later after doing a college work placement At Bodnant estate near conwy i had a go climbing and loved it and have been doing it ever since

My long term goal is to become a tree officer, I have worked as a chipper beeatch, then as a climber upto senior climber level over the last 6 years.I have now moved onto a job carrying out Visual tree inspections on highway trees for a local authority, I will shortly be doing my level 2 surveyors course and hopefully my QTRA at some point. I feel that my years spent at the sharp end from chipping thorn in the rain and sleet and dragging brash through cow poo to carrying out large dismantles over greenhouses or 132kv grid subs have given me a great practical knowledge, now working closely with the tree officer is boosting my already good theoretical knowledge.

climbing wise Ms200T with 14inch bar used to have 12inch which although faster and more powerful the 14inch can cut more quite happily. Normal groundsaw either a ms260 16inch or personally I use and Ms361 with 16inch and then have a spare 20inch bar and chain for medium stuff also it's a good saw for bigger dismantles. For big stuff i use an 88 with 3ft bar.

totally agree although i can see the plus sides to VT, personally I didn't like it so went back to a blakes plus you can inspect the split tail daily without having to undo lots of bits. I do use a VT on my side strop though for one handed adjustment (can't afford grillons or other fancy bits).

ivy infested trees.

worlds full of what if's however were you working on the side of the road the mother and child could have walked past, if so surely under health and safety then i'm sure a footpath closure may have been in order. I think you may have been a bit harsh in this case give him a talking to and give him a chance.

associated utillity supplies AUS make insulated rods for powerline clearance, you can get a hook for these. rods come in sections around 1.2 m in length and although they get very bendy when you use over 7 i have used 15 rods to gain access to a wellingtonia infested with ivy. shockingly horrible job clearing it off but looked quite good afterwards.

i use a crab with the gate taped open so the saw would hang off that , this works pretty well although not ideal. another way is to use dog lead/key ring clip which opens and closes very easy even with gloves.

yes please pretty please with brass knobs on

Have use munter/italian hitch a few times but also carry a figure 8 which is great. in the past have used the figure 8 to descend out of a 60ft mewp after the boom got stuck at full extension (too fat gits in the bucket lol) and also used it for abseiling down cliff face to clear rhodedenron in mid wales. figure 8 is also useful for improvised lowering (not recommended but got me out of a fix more than once after being sent on jobs with insufficient equipment) and also useful for aerial rescue.

Was surveying a lime avenue yesterday. all the trees are mature and 20 plus meters in height. one the trees had this fungus growing around the base and on the trunk also there was a bracket which appeared to look the same about 10 meters up in a wound cavity. I believe it is pholiota squarrosa can anyone confirm this, it is similar to the pictures on arb information exchange but not totally convinced.

Komet evolution the original green and orange one not the evolution 2. I love it very comfy when hanging around, good support on lower back and good on spikes. As the harness comes without a bridge you have to tie your own but this allows for you to customise the length to suit. Am now on my 2nd harness after the first was retired after 5 years loyal service. when i first started climbing had a willans T22 what a vile piece of rubbish that was.

what a load of crap, health and safety what a load of rot, the FC just want to make more money so by issuing licences to local firewood suppliers they can ramp up the prices and stop issuing to the commen man. somehow I don't think it will stop people picking up firewood it'll just drive it underground.

Usually work as a satellite team based on merseyside so am up at 6:30 and in van by 7 pick up team mate at 7:30 and on site 8 - 8:30. usually home by 4:30pm. however if we have to go to the yard in shropshire I have to leave at 6 to get there for 7:30 leave for site about 7:45 and return to yard at 4:30 so get home about 6:30 - 7pm. what's a pain though is that if we are working from the yard we don't get paid overtime :thumbdown:although technically we should as our home base is liverpool. am currently doing these hours all week so am knackered.... i think it might be punishment for leaving after 3 and a half years to work for the BIG BLUE Machine. Start on monday 3rd Nov can't wait.

while I understand that tree topping is a bad practice and a bad term, unfortunately whether we proffesionals like it or not that is a term the general public understand. I think personally that by licencing arborists and educating the public we can improve the quality of the service as a whole. However I know that when I came out of college I had NPTC's and with a bit of on the job training i know as much and sometimes more than people who have proffesional qualifications so the licencing scheme might be very hard to get up and running as many may not be able to afford to do proffesional qualifications if it were based on that alone.

vertex vent all the way, had one when they first came out and the only problem I have is that the lip inside the ear muff hole isn't big enough so earmuffs can come out too easily. This problem has been overcome on newer models. I find the chin strap good and the 3 point harness quite adjustable. also for carrying out night emergencies for scottish power the helmet has clips for using with head torches although I remove the visor at night and wear safety specs as you can get glare off the visor mesh.

i take the point on sap cuts that they may or may not prevent barber chair but i think a it depends on the diameter of the timber being cut, as was pointed out if you remove some of the timber to the sides of your direction of fell then the saw can pass through on the back cut quicker so helping to reduce risk of barber chair. however on more substantial timber then I think dog tooth cuts are the way to go.

to help prevent barber chair make a small cut either side of your hinge this will help prevent the stem splitting as you make your back cut.

one thing that does get the blood pumping and the leg dancing is climbing at night under head torch light. carrying out emergency treeworks for electric companies at night in all weathers is great. Even in the rain an snow etc it just feels good helping people get their power back on as well as just the adrenalin rush. climbing with a headtorch is quite surreal just you the tree and the elements, the tree takes on a whole different persona. if you get the chance just try climbing under torchlight it's ace.