Perkins

just to clarify...that's not "all I know"

I could do with that info myself. All I know is that approx.28 hoppus foot hardwood or 32 hoppus foot softwood weighs 1tonne.

some builders bags and a rake !

I put the notification in last week, with photographic evidence and explanatory notes. The council have ignored me. So now I feel a bit exposed cutting the tree down without a formal response from the council. I'll get the samples sent off for confirmation and let you know...thanks for the info

Anyway if you're working for adam ant, can you get me his autograph ?

The Wildlife and Countryside act applies to all land and requires hedge-workers to avoid disturbing birds nests. I've always been of the understanding that laying during the summer will kill the hedge, but I don't know where I got that idea from.

Really? I never considered that. There isn't any bootlace mycelium **** growing on it. Anyway the Forest Research Centre in Scotland said they can diagnose the disease if I send them a sample of the bark, including both the discoloured and normal tissues, so that's worth knowing. Looks like I can get my free diagnosis afterall.

How will we recognise you Steve, I'm guessing that avatar isn't a photo of you wearing a pink t-shirt and white cardie?

I'm going, with my compadre Martin who's lurking around here somewhere...

I pass this crazy pigeon every day when I go stalking rabbits in our larch plantation. I've seen it going in and out of a rabbit hole, where I guess it must have a nest. It's quite tame and I can get within 6ft of it! Mad

Ok there's a new development on this, please see photos below. Anybody concur that this is bleeding canker? Anybody know how I might get it confirmed without paying a consultant? I've informed the Forest Research centre and given them the postcode.

More blower related fun...when asking for your backpack blower to be started up..."could you pull me off please?".

Parish magazines are cheap, Flyers (and lots of walking) Doorstep directories circa £25-£40 per month

Is that sometimes called the sandvik disk? I've seen some advertised with the same looking disk referred to as sandvik...

very true

I live on a Hill farm surrounded by moorland in the North York Moors, so what do you think. Do you not think that woodland is a better environment for all native species, given that the British Isles has been entirely covered in trees for the majority of its history? @ jpbeaver, yes I agree but the abnormally large population of weasels etc wouldn't exist without the introduced game birds to feed off. A natural balance would occur. ......Meanwhile back on topic. Some really interesting and thought provoking points here. Janey, Chris sheppard, Paul Barton, tommer9 thanks for your input. Hamadryad I'll keep you posted if I get a response.

The council have refused permission to fell and state that the owner of the tree remains liable "if the tree falls onto the main road crushing a bus full of children". You would think that their legal obligation was to ensure the tree was safe before refusing permission, but this is a council we are dealing with so normal common sense doesn't apply.

A friend of mine works for a large shooting estate, who own large areas of moorland. They are paid by Natural England in the region of £10,000 per year to maintain this moorland, part of which involves pulling up self-seeded trees, including Holly, Oak and Birch. They have been pulling up thousands of them recently and burning them. My view is that the moorland is simply de-forested land, and obviously would support a massively greater wildlife population than the current green-desert of heather which supports nothing but a few game birds. Especially when there are traps set everywhere to catch so-called vermin like stoats, foxes and weasels. The ecological imbalance is ridiculous. 20,000 pheasants a year are released and then fed grain, while the balooning populations of animals that take advantage of all this meat are controlled using traps, poison and guns. With eco-awareness suposedly at an all time high, I can't believe that a government funded body is paying people to pull up native trees to maintain what is an un-natural eco-system, just to prop up a rich mans business and a rich mans hobby. I'm writing to Natural England to discover the thinking behind this absurd situation.

Erm yes it's a Horse Chestnut but don't let that put you off your stride Hamadryad. Really interesting points so far. Thanks. The problem I have here is that there is a TPO and the council don't have a designated tree officer to make a judgement. Their stance is that the tree stays unless sufficient evidence is submitted to prove the tree is unsafe. They have specified that a consultant rather than a contractor needs to be involved but that's going mean additional costs.

Any advice on which to choose between the Carlton SP4012 or the Vermeer SC252. I've used the Carlton SP2000 but had steam coming off my back after 10 minutes, so would prefer the hydraulic operation. Anybody got any experience of these two machines?

There are no signs of disease but clearly the tree has a major defect in the shape of the two large splits in the bark at the base, one of which runs the full height of the tree. The bleached hearwood is peppered with woodworm. Dying/dangerous? Thoughts please.

Well, I was going to try and summarise the general opinion but frankly I think that's a job for an uber-geek. I never expected such a response. Wow! Some very interesting points of view here, but I think most of us should stop using the forum until we've got a few more years experience and can call ourselves arborists Seriously though it's been educational finding out the general consensus amongst the professionals. Thank you all for your input. I'de agree that pigeonholing ourselves is a bad thing, but advertising requires it unfortunately. I'de also agree that experience is a massive factor, and that qualifications are just the beginning. I guess the most important things a 'tree worker' needs are the right attitude, background information / training and the opportunity to learn, along with a few choice bits of machinery. **** knows what I'm going to write on my business card.

So......when can a person ligitimately call themselves a tree surgeon?? CS 30/31/38/39,? or do you need more than that? Do you expect the title to mean a lot more than basic training? How much peripheral knowledge is a tree surgeon expected to have. To me, a surgeon is an expert, or at the very least, somebody who can safely prune or take down a mature tree and give correct basic advice on tree care. There are too many cowboys out there with a bowsaw and a ladder, definitely, but at what point during the NPTC training can somebody be considered to have earned their stripes? Opinions please.

Now then, I got mine via a friend who's dad works for Ayton Engineering (http://www.ayton.com). The gloves are made by Cac Industrial (don't laugh) (http://www.cac-industrial.co.uk/default/product.asp?proNo=14) Don't know how much they actually cost Before that I was using some old-fashioned leather mitts which were covered in big flat steel staples. Horrible things they are.

Hello everyone, I've been lurking in the background for a couple of weeks now, and decided to start contributing what little knowledge I have. I'm learning a lot from the forum, which makes me realise and appreciate what an excellent and varied subject tree care is. It makes me glad to be involved. Background is (in a nutshell) 1 year working self-employed in arb, 3 years working as outdoor countryside maintenance/hedging/fencing/agricultural contractor, 2 years sheep farmer. Previous to that I was an engineering consultant for 7 years (!). Bonzer website. Cant' wait to get to know you all. Feel like I belong here already. Oliver/Perkins