Perkins

I'm just reading 'the wild trees' by Richard Preston, which details the first ascent of a Coast Redwood by Steve Sillett and the subsequent discoveries of some of the largest and tallest trees on Earth. It's made me want to go to California and seek out the Atlas Grove and the Grove of Titans and make an ascent of some of the trees. I've been to California a few times and think it's a great place anyway. A detailed study of the forest was made in a 2.5 acre section of the Atlas Grove with thousands of measurements taken of the trees. These have been converted into detailed 3D images. They also discovered countless previously unknown species living in the Redwoods and found a new ecosystem in the canopy layer. It's a fascinating read on it's own and quite inspiring. I'll let you know if I decide to make the trip and if anybody else is interested maybe we could hook up and climb together. Just need a bow and arrow, some fishing line and some really long ropes and ascenders. Oh and a 60ft strop, and some bread and water.

I think we've broken the atmosphere

Not sure about Hourly rate, but on a daily rate, I've had climbers asking for between £90 and £220 per day depending on how desperate they are. Personally I aim for between £160 and £250 per day depending on technicality of the job and if it's a one-off vs. regular work.

That's awesome. It does need a bit of mulch though. It's impossible to get through to some people about trees. They just want to tie their washing lines to them and hack branches off when they get 'in the way' and complain about leaves falling off.

Some interesting comments there, and a definite majority feeling like me. Thanks for making me feel better. My argument boils down to the Yell.com ad, which should give me a 15mile radius, plus whatever keywords I have paid for. I'm not even getting 12miles, which knocks out a major town that I was promised. All I get is, 'the search facility is working as expected'

I've finally decided to pull the Yellow pages advert. It's been on the cards for 2 years, but I've continued to maintain a presence in the book for fear of being left out. I suggest that if everybody pulls their ads, we'll all save a lot of money and won't be competing with each other any more! good idea eh? (and yes they've pissed me off again this year by not delivering their promises)

Here's one I built from a kit costing £28,000 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom, snot finished yet

Hello Rob, and welcome to the forum. Great enthusiasm. I think you need an attitude like that to get a foot in the door, so to speak. A mate of mine worked for £30 per day for months before getting a rise, but he learned loads. I would say that working for a private company or sole trader, you may find it difficult to extract the finer details from your boss. Especially regarding pricing. Efficient working techniques and basic necessary kit will be more obvious . It's not uncommon for people to set up in competition with their previous employer and right-or-wrong you may encounter some hostility or unhelpful behaviour. Be ready for that. That's where training comes in alongside your work experience. I haven't analysed the Proclimber course in detail but the courses in general have gone up in price considerably, and six weeks accomodation included would be great. Sabbatical here we come! There's a lot of value in being able to ask millions of questions, but on-the-job experience is invaluable and something built up over years and thousands of difference scenarios and trees. Both are necessary. You're starting in the right direction and if you want to move to North Yorkshire I'll happily give you some paid work. Good luck with the journey. And take care, Perkins

It worked a treat, and I enjoyed it tremendously. Found it easily by the way David. Fantastic resource. Thanks. Later I also learned the difference between saprophytic and parasitic. The question is, is the tree root dying or is the fungus living off the 'bark' layer shed from the outside of the root? Presumably roots work similarly to the upper parts of the tree? I've always wondered about this but never found a book that explains it without going over my head. The fruiting bodies are clearly positioned along the line of the root. Should I be concerned about this?

These have recently emerged all over the flare roots of some grand firs. They're near the house so I'd be interested to know if they're detrimental to the trees' health.

Yeah I guess that's the difference between the positioner and a lockjack, there's only one attachment on the positioner, so you can't move the krab to your central d-rings for a 2nd lifeline. I usually have a couple of lanyards in the bag so might try the positioner out for certain circumstances. Shouldn't we adjourn to the "climbers talk" area? with a glass of red wine.

Don't any of you use an ART positioner? I've always made up my own lanyards with 5m of 13mm, micro pulley and a 610mm eye-eye prussik 8mm cord, but thought a positioner does away with the friction knot and pulley, for about £75. Just an idea at the moment. Can't decide if I need the swivel model or not.

Grew up with the Pixies and other indie stuff, rock, grunge, smashing pumpkins etc, then got into electronic stuff, The Orb, the Prodigy, Orbital, Plastikman and other techno DJ's , Jeff Mills, Joey Beltram etc brief encounter with Dub and Ska, Desmond Dekker, King Tubby, Augustus Pablo. currently into Aphex, Squarepusher, British Murder Boys, Mike Paradinas, Headcleaner, Beatwife, Mouse on Mars etc etc the list goes on... I download about three albums per day! µ-Ziq - Autumn Acid - YouTube

yeah google what a revelation, Agriaffaires - Used Farm Equipment, Tractor and Machinery - Farm Equipment for Sale - Used Farm Machinery has some amazing stuff but a lot of it is abroad. Forestry Commission - Machinery Contacts is another option or eBay of course I know a chap with a 4wd zetor, looking for £3200 I think. I'll check if its been sold yet if you are interested.

damn I only just saw this thread, I'm ace at reviews aswell. especially reviews of myself.

all those stub cuts on the right

So it's an Ash tree, the tie in point looks to be somewhere between 3 and 4 inches, the limb in his left hand is about 2 inches and he's standing on a side branch which is about 1/2inch diameter. My concern would be something snapping during the cut, you follow through with the saw and hey presto you're in a mess. No second anchor point. Potential injury. There are safer and easier ways of making that cut. Don't want to change the subject but what are you actually doing here? A crown reduction? If so, what's happening to the right of the picture with all those flat tops? If not, why take such little pieces free-falled with an 020 when you could handle entire branches off with a silky? (that's a handsaw btw) Most of that tree would come down with a handsaw, and climbing would be easier without the chainsaw hanging off your belt.

Yeah it's called an overage agreement. Pretty onerous but not uncommon as you say. 40% is usual.

I can highly recommend pickaweb

I would say between £3,000 and £10,000 depending on the pressures from hobbyists or development opportunists. Throw in the potential for a building plot and the figure could be anything. More info needed.

We've had moderate success with Yell.com, but I do think the yellow pages is a waste of money frankly and I look forward to its' demise.

$13 is £8.19 for the side cutters. I can't find the most important front 8 cutters though. Should've bought a vermeer

click here Your's are the older design. Mine are the newer design which makes precisely no difference to cutting performance but makes the teeth more expensive. beauty...

Have you cleaned the air filter recently?

unless it's bigger than 5cu.m in which case you need a felling licence !!