Ben Ballard

that would be good if you got go a head to put deer leap in ,ours is just to be restored wont make any diference as there no deer fencing the leap is brick built we restoring it is because there a grant that we are getting to do it and it a good bit of history that crumbling away,the keeper said it was there to let deer back in that had escaped when it was a deer park ,i offered to pay towards my cock up with my crane but my boss said s**t happens so i feel a bit better now and stoped punnishing my self over it:001_smile:

hi you sound busy i was hoping to work this wekend butthe crane out of action i feel realy stupid as a pin on crane arm warn and it my falt,i grease it every time i use it but today found a grease nippel i have been missing ,the hole the pin in has gone oval and not safe to use hoping it can be built back up with new pin or get it drilled out and use a bigger pin i hope it wont cost the estate to much will see when man comes next week to fix it

Hi David hope alls well ,what work you been up to i been doing bit of summer pruning of cherry walnut, acer,tulip trees,and limes also ride maintenance and clearing a old deer leap that we are having restored deadwooded a big beech overhanging it ,that was on public footpath.

Hi david hope you having a good week and your well we had our winch cource today it was good and had a loler test done on winch it is reasuring to know every thing was safe and we are using it the right way.having a loler test done on the crane and loader on tractor,do you have yours inspected?,i havent done a chainsaw course since 1998 so hoping i will get to do some refreshers done it seems like the estate are taking health and saftey more serious so iam happpy

Hi David you having a good week. been realy hot in woods comming to end of conifer thinning job extracting wood tomorow,made good use of some of the straight larch planked some 3inch thick 2m long and sold to next door estate for benches by river so making my money back on it ,working weekends and evenings to extract 250ton of chestnut this summer that a contractor cut,the area of chestnut we had cut last year has thousands of foxgloves now . with the ground been dark from the overstood coppice its good to see it come to life and see the bennifits of what we are doing for wildlife:001_smile:

hi david how things iam cool looking forward to holidays,i have just placed a order for a alaskan mill with 24 inch rails to use with my ms460 . one day when get hold of a old big saw will go bigger ,looking forward to using it as havent done it before .hoping to show the estate that it usefull and get some money back on it do u use one and if so what thickness boards do u cut and any good for making gate posts also ordered a multi tool for chainsaw so its like christmas cantwait

i just put them down badger sets or give them to people with ferrits before i have sold them to a game dealer but the time spent skinning them turned out not worth them doing to be honest i havent eaten tree rat but should as it a waist,havent caurght much this week think it the warmer weather i try to control them in the small woods as the big woods on our boundry could catch hundreads but wouldnt make much of a dent and would take a lot of time so use poison in those areas hope you having a good week david:001_smile:

i have done the climbing my new work mate has got tree rescue before had to do it at weekend with the old woods man as he had the rescue ticket and still lived on the estate ,its something i can do but due to my back problem and that i only do it about 5 times ayear i have never got realy quick at it so take extra care not totaly comfortable doing the realy big climbs been a part timer climber but stil done them as used to want to take on every job and wory i would put myself out of a job if didnt do them and look bad but me just been paranoid and to keen to say yes to everthing due to all the red tape and paper work my manager said now he would get people in if i am not comfortable doing it now i am happy with

hi david hope you havin a better week this week we had lots of rain and wind slowed things down a bit,i was meaning to ask do you do all the climbing work on the trees and large fells next to roads on your estate and do you get any help of other workers eg gardeners or keepers?

we have a footpath thats runs round our boundry nothing as big as yours we sometimes have volentears from conservation group go round some areas cutting back forestry commision have most of the path on there land i clear anything fallen from my side and dead wood overhanging limbs with polesaw and check on regular basis for dangerous trees and make safe as part of our hazard assesment ,sounds like you have a lot to do at your place i been feeling like that hear as i was of sick alot over the past couple years so got behind on the management plan that is impossible to keep up with any way with all the jobs that you do on the estate that arnt related to the woods and extra jobs that get added and times your on your own. i know i put a good days work in and can only do what i do so try not to let it stress me to much when get reminded

hi david hoes your week been ,ive finnished my coppicing area made some bean poles to supply the gardens for next couple years.started thinning a block of ash now it on edge of the wood that is on a hill so got a good view of the estate and on 27 tree rats now

hi mate its ben.is your wee lad getting better ,what sort of a jobs your firm got on this week?,iam thinning small stuff , coppicing hazel and trapping tree rats looking forward to it drying out so can shift some wood with crane,been a amenity woodland ushaly leave extraction till drier months so dont make a mess.

hi david i feel lucky having a cranetrailer even if mine old and tired.so handy on most jobs wouldnt get half as much done with out it a good investment for the woods hope you get one in 2010,my problem here is that no equipment gets replaced and more wood than ever is been cut and shifted so my stuf could do with been updated but find money just get spent keeping what i got going with no interest to replace anything so one day it could get expencive all at once if things break especially if thinking about wood fuel system:confused1:

hi david what tractor did you get and do you have a crane to use with it

i know what you mean it depressing see ing all your hard work it in mess .ive keep goin round replacing the stakes some areas have had almost all replaced ,find it a pain when the cable tie been chewed so carry secetuers to trim the ends and ones that i collected of old ones,but hopefully should get better in future years as the deer are been controlled 100 been shot this last year:001_smile:

that sounds a big job will you get some help or contractors in ?,i been removing guards as wel on the stuf i am thinning its the old type so they dont split open that well,i have no trouble recycling the spirals but cant get rid of the tubex as recycle company dont take them as they made of already recycled material that cant be used again so they have to go in a skip,i get told to burn them ,whats wrong so i been piling them up for now ,iam realy looking forward to alaska going on cruze from vancover travel up to glacier bay then on coach and train to denali national park hopefully see some bears ,mose and be cool if get to see samon going up rivers:001_smile:

:001_smile:Hi David hows your week been ?,iam almost at end of block i am thinning so hopefuly move on to next block hope to have whole area done in feb -march with tree planting to do hopefuly trees should be delivered soon.and on 17 tree rats and started baiting up some cages to start new area next week