gibbon

Great time of year to prune a Prunus too!

My furry friend.

I had a kingcab patrol in Costa Rica in the late 90s it was awsome. Even got us in to town after hurricane mitch. Do they still make em?

Nice job.

I know serveral tossers who drive navaras and that alone puts me off the truck.

The soil type will determind whether the soil changes in volume during wetting and drying. If the soil re-hydrates and expands after the felling(possibly resulting in heave), the soil will still reach the same volume once the tree is gone regardless of how quickly or slowly its removed. At least that is how I interpret the information I have read. As far as I am aware staged felling is a redundant theory.

I went for the 660 with a 25 and 36 inch bar. The main reason for me was that it more manageable in the tree with than an 880. I have taken down some pretty big things with it over the years and don't regret my choice.

Good luck going uphill with a load of chip on board and a chipper. 1st gear screamer I reckon!

I agree the first 2 look like Bjerkandera. The last looks like an old FB of another fungi. Meripilus or Honey fungus?

Gotta be a bit of both. If you learn the old ways and use the new you've got twice the tricks up your sleeve!

Has happened to all deisel timberwolf/entec chippers I have used. Bungee cord or a twig is what we end up using.

Chicken or the egg?

Staged felling is a waste of time. As far as I am aware this theroy has been redundant for quite some time

I don't see why not, if you are confident of the information you put in the report is acurate. Recent court cases have shown that a formal qualification is not always essential in a tree survey. Knowing your limitations in any consultancy role is key imo.

With you there. Hanging from the branch to the left of this photo are African bees, all came buzzing out just after this shot. Brown pants moment

Front joint snapping and front wheel coming off my cab star doing 40 down hill and very overloaded with wood chips

Ahh. It all becomes clear

I have done around 10 crane jobs but only had help with the 1st. I don't profess to be an expert but this is what I did. As for weight, your driver should be able to tell you how much he can lift and once cut how much it weighed. Start small and get a feel for the weight. Having the biggest crane you can get on the site will mean you can cut bigger sections, use less cuts and have a higher safety factor on the limits of the crane. I have always used chains as they are come with the crane I use and I have not got around to buying long strong strops yet, but these could make balancing brash easier. You will need to be very carefull with the brash-especially vertical sections. You will need to take a larger piece of timber below the brash than you may think to avoid it swinging around on to you. However this may mean setting the chains on smaller branches so it is always your judgement, you may wish to use 4 chains on heavy verticle sections. When you come to the timber. You will need to use a barrel hitch. This is wrapping each chain around the stem in different directions and set each chain 180 degrees from each other, hooks facing down. This can be hard on M.Pines as the chains are heavy and one can slip when your setting the next. If the chains are not at 180 degrees the but may kick out towards you.I have used 6 inch nails in the past just to hold the first chain in place while setting the second on these Pines. Mind your fingers as the crane tightens up the chains! It is a good idea to set a rescue line on a pulley close to where you will be cutting each section as a rescue on a large pine pole could be tricky. Good luck

This rebate thread has got me confused? I leave my books to my missis and the accountant so am no expert. I can't work out how guys can get a rebate though. Are you CIS? If you don't pay any tax till the end of the year hoawcan you get back tax which you have yet to pay?

80ft Strangler fig, growing from a union around 100ft up a Camaron tree.

Are you using the crane to take off the brash, or just timber?

As part of PPE, there is a movement to ensure all componets have a minimum breaking strain of 15kn. I would have thought that the strenghth is more important than the actual diameter.

The AA now have a generic method statement which is free to download from their website

I suprised no-one has said climbing trees covered in Ivy. I loath the stuff.