daveindales

I always leave the cable in the winch as it's a devil to get back in sometimes. As someone else said, wrap the cable up in an old tyre, if it's quite a length

I sometimes wear a decent face mask when ringing up certain woods, eg dead elm. Or when chipping really dusty stuff. Last week, I chipped some philadelphus which was hard as hell and dusty, so I wore a mask when chipping that.

me too. But Iv'e aches and pains that I did'nt have when I was 35

Conifers like pine and spruce are readily available bare root. and are very cheap. I'm not sure about leylandii, bare root. It's usually in pots. as for the comment about leylandii and never plant it : WHY NOT. it makes an excellent hedge. Birds nest in it all the time. So do wasps, as iv'e found out. If the hedge gets out of control, then it's a job for us. I love it.

Yes, I always clean and grease the slide bits very well. Think its important as they do collect a bit of grime. I scrape it off with an old stanley blade

a few pumps of the gun every blade change. been doing this for six years with no problems

I make the bottom cut first, always have done. However, as long as you get the gob right, I don't think it matters that much.

don't dwell on it. nobody will ever get every job they quote for. I just accept it and move on.

will take a look as its yorkshire based

Took a look at vehicle 'wrapping' could just work for me. did'nt know there was such a thing

Iv'e come across an unusual pickup that would just do me. The trouble it it's white, and I hate white. How much (ballpark figure) to spray a standard 4x4 ford ranger. I would only need to spray the cab, doors and all around the front, wings bonnet, etc. But not the rear carrying area. rough price info needed

as stated PM me for details, rates etc

Yes, was confused. Have never used the large mesh guards

I'm not saying they all fall over, but confiers in Tubes 1.2m are a risk. Iv'e seen it time and time again. However, most of my experience is in upland areas.

however, conifers and shurbs don't do too well in 1.2m guards. They tend to flop over after they emerge from top of guard. Hardwoods, no problem with 1.2m

I once found a chainsaw tool strop. Pulled it out from under the hedge, and guess what was attached?????? Yes, a 020t. It must have been there about a year. The client had some work done the year before, and had lost the companies name and contact details. Anyhow, she got in tough with me to do some more work. It was quite a way from my normal working area . I told the lady about the saw. As we had no contact details I kept the saw. Took it home and cleaned out the tank, carb etc. The bar and chain had siezed on. But I got it going and all sorts of dead insects were ejected from the exhaust. It was ok as a backup saw, but always a bit unreliable. Also, once foud a bomb whilst tree planting. my mate said, what's that, it looks loke a bomb. I said, don't be so daft and gave it a tap. Turned out it was a morter shell. The quarry where we were working was closed and bomb squad turned up.

Well done for posting. Iv'e just hurt myself too (also posted). Hope it makes someone else think twice.

Not that it matters but black poplar is quite a rare tree, I could be wrong but I would be surprised if they really are black poplar.

Interesting thread: I was'nt vat registered for years. However, about 4 years ago, I volunterely went vat registered, as I figured that about half my income came from others who were vat registered, hence charging vat was not a problem. I have no regrets at all. And frankly, I don't think I have lost many jobs over it. My van, chipper and grinder are all paid for. I would never borrow money to purchase equipment. That's my advice to anyone, start small and gradually work up until your comfortable with what you have.

The helmet was a husqvarna climbing helmet. The cut is to the back of the scalp. about 10 or 12 staples in it. I also have a bruised right buttock (not too bad) and a bruise (painful) around my left kidney area. I landed on a previously lowered log, on my back. Urine sample showed blood in urine, but hospital did ct scan and ultrasound, results were clear. My urine still looks concentrated. I guess it's trauma to the kidney. Have to go for staples out in a weeks time, so i'll mention the urine to them. Thanks everyone for the get well messages. And yes, like some people have said, accidents always seem to happen when you least expect it, when you think most of the danger has passed, and not when your most alert

won't be getting another

Willans t22. Used to have the full body version. Loved it. Not right keen on the current willans t22 half harness, as It always wants to fall off me when walking about

I know exactly how you feel. I'm 43 this year

Good question. I can't remember the exact details, but it came off and my head hit the ground. I always have my strap under my chin. It could have been that I lifted the strap as I came down the ladder, or it could have been knocked off as I was falling. I know you should'nt say it, but when your 3 or 4 feet from the ground and decending, you tend to feel pretty safe. It's one more thing to learn never to do again, but like I said I can't remember. To be honest, when the paramedic asked me my age I could'nt remember that

Well for the first time in 26 years tree related work I had my first accident. Was taking down a ash tree. Anyway, it was brew time so i came down the tree and my climbing rope was just not quite long enough to reach the ground. I wanted to keep my top anchor point as tree was a bugger to get up so. got the groundsman to put the ladders up so I could come down. Was only about 6 feet. So I unroped, passed the groundie my saw and got to the second from bottom rung, when the ladders slipped, and I went head first down a six to eight foot banking. I can remember thinking this is going to hurt. Woke up to find paramedics fussing about me and the air ambulance about to land. Anyway, was flown to hospital (7 mins) examined, 10 or 12 staples in a head wound, a ct scan on my head and chest (results came back ok) . A load of bruising. Other than that I'm ok, but no climbing for a while. Have made a donation to air ambulance and intend to do some fund raising. Apparently, it costs £2500 every time it's called out. To be honest I was not too badly hurt, but seeing as the chopper was already there, and had to go back, it made sense to take a trip in it. I could have prevented this accident by bringing my longer rope, or spiking down the last couple of feet. Everyone take care out there, it can be a dangerous field to work in.