Mark T

Well done... what an amazing project to have been involved with. I've just seen you on BBC points west as well and by chance, the tv journalist that covered the story (Andrew Plant) is one of my oldest school friends... small world! Send my regards to Matt, I saw him dodging work in the video (all he ever did was eat on my work sites!). Let us know if you have anything else like this in the pipeline as I'd love to get the college involved.

http://www.aie.org.uk/books/aie_book_diht.html Diagnosis of Ill Health in Trees - Strouts & Winter http://www.aie.org.uk/books/aie_book_ptham.html Principals of Tree Hazard Assessment - Lonsdale These two will make a good starting point...

Sounds like another great trip for an extremely worthwile cause.

Admittedly there will always be a difference but it needn't be a HUGE difference. We always use real work sites and try to make each scenario as realistic as possible... We are, after all, preparing students for industry. I can't speak for other colleges, but over recent years we have seen some really excellent students come through. It does help if they actually want to be there though!

Do you know how high he was?

Just an update for those that are interested... Lukasz has put together a few of his pictures now which you can view here - http://lwimages.ifp3.com/root/lwimages/iphoto/main2.cfm - have a look at some of his other pics too, they're pretty special! It's been a great project so far and we've got at least 2 other projects about to take off which is great! We've been knocked out by the amount of publicity the project has generated so far - you may have seen us in the national press over the last few weeks - it was always one of the project aims to raise the profile of some of the fantastic natural heritage we have in the UK but the sheer level of interest has been astounding and great for all parties concerned. With any luck we'll have more pictures / videos / updates in the next month or so!

That all looks great mate... it's nice to get out and do stuff like that. I know what you mean about carrying long ropes. I'm part of the Tall Trees Project team over here in blighty, on the first trip we had 1 x 200m rope, 2 x 100m+ ropes plus all the other SRT & DRT gubbins (including the electric ascender - thanks Safety Technology!) to carry - glad we only had 400m max to lug it! You can see some more of our pics here... http://lwimages.ifp3.com/root/lwimages/iphoto/main2.cfm Who were you collecting the seed for? I'll PM you with a proposition...

It's important to buy a trailer first off that has a good deal of clearnance between the tyre and body - you can then build up sand over the wheel, I just used to use ash... once you've walked over it a few times and it's been left out in the rain ash actually acts as an excellent insulator

I've been using burn trailers for years on woodland renovation sites... get a good fire going and they can be as effective as a 6" chipper - also saves scorching the ground. Get the fire going in the morning, usually from yesterdays embers, burn what you need to burn then tow the trailer upto the next work site. Word of advice... always have a dewy field at hand to drive around in case the tyres start smoking! Also, check the fire is out before driving down Newmarket High Street! Seriously though, the old burn trailers were really useful bits of kit. I had no major concerns about safety - as long as you selected the right trailer base first - usually old slurry tankers bought for about £50. I can't take credit for the idea, 10 yrs ago I was foreman for the same firm that Steve got the idea from! Good old 'dusty bin'!

Don't know anyone specifically up there (that trains anyway) but your brother can take NPTC CS units at 16 - it just requires one on one tuition aqnd is therefore more expensive. Have a look at this for conformation... http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg317.pdf - top of page 2 'Chainsaws and Young People'

Great minds and all that...!

Fortunately, I've never had to do it in anger... like a few here, I've come close though. We make our students practice a lot, not just in the run up to CS 38 but drop it into a pruning practical or spiking session (pole rescue). One student had a saw accident in a Beech whilst out working, he cut his left arm and had to use his right arm to stop the bleeding so couldn't operate his friction hitch - don't always expect to be able to get yourself out of trouble. There are a few little things that can be done to reduce the time a rescue can take - I'm sure most of you already use them but I thought it might be worth mentioning for those who don't. Install an access rope into the tree for a rescuer to use - the most time consuming part of a rescue is getting into the canopy. Have the rescue kit out of the van and next to the tree - harness setup and ready to go Pre-load the harness with slings, pullys, karabiners, prussik loops, first aid kit etc. The three suggestions above are a bit of a pain in the arse when you're not used to doing it but it soon becomes habit - you've got to weigh it up - is your safety worth an extra 5 mins per day?

You've got to love Westonbirt... any type of weather, any time of year. Used to spend days and days there swatting up on Ident - loved it!

Cheers Steve, That would be really good, I'll bear it in mind! We'll hopefully be doing some more in the spring.

Haha! You'll be lucky... he has only just got used to the TV remote - let alone computers! He's good though - still working for Reg.

Hi there, 3rd member of the Tall Trees Project 2009 team checking in... it was an amzing trip that I doubt any of us will ever forget! We should have a load more pictures soon, Lukasz (LWimages) should be sorting through the hundreds that he took so when they're sorted we'll post some more. I hope you find the project interesting, we certainly did! The 3 trees that we climbed were immense plants that deserve recognition. As for us... this will hopefully be the first of many expeditions with the backing from STIHL and Safety Technology. Next up, the UK's tallest broadleaf and Englands tallest tree... who knows where from there! I look forward to keeping you all informed. All the best, Mark

Chain Reaction Cycles have always sorted my weird bits and pieces out... they seem to have everything! You've got the cream of the riding up your way mate... must book another trip back up there... I miss the Ae Line!

Extremely useful exercise... let keep 'em coming! More detail would be good but then we've got to stop somewhere or we'll be submitting reports!

Clove hitch then a series of half-hitches works well for straight lines. If you have a spliced eye then get a throwbag with a small fabric loop on the base and use a small clip to attach the bag to the eye.

Going on the limited information available and purely for this exercise I would go for the 0 to 10 out of 100 range myself... I would edge towards the upper limit (6 to 8 probably) due to the fact that the tree appears to be in a relatively exposed area, appears to have a relatively large sail area and has cambial wounding to more than 1/3rd of the stem circumference. Details of prevailing wind direction in relation to basal wound would play a part as well. Interesting question that I look forward to watching peoples response to.

Yep... Meripilus giganteus - Giant Polypore - A squashy one at that! Have a look at recent research before rushing to conclusions about the hazard potential of the tree would be my advice.

Out of pure curiosity... has anyone had any experience of snow loading leading to branch / tree failure in the recent dusting? If so, what species and what size pieces have been affected?

Thats my take on it as well...

I hate jaspers!

I know what you mean Tim... SRT rescue is pretty unlikely but perhaps equipment failure / dropping - general muscular problems? It was what was recommended in an SRT workshop by Treevolution at Cirencester in the summer. With the guys I'm working with, I personally wouldn't bat an eye at them lowering me - lucky I guess.