JaySmith

Download the assessment schedule and have a read through that. Remember little details like decent chainsaw lanyard (without tears), ensure chainsaw is in working order little things like chain catcher and safety stickers for example. Make sure your gear has a LOLER ticket. If all the little details are in place then the instructor and then assessor are unlikely to pull your gear apart. Read up on some of the basic H&S and legislation stuff they may ask and learn a bit about target pruning as that used to come up in the schedule. Familiarise yourself with the cuts required beforehand so you have a bit of an idea before you get there as the actual climbing time under instruction may be relatively short. Have a look on YouTube at some vids. Also buy a few Lyon tape slings that you can put on your harness to help with hand held sections, they are about £8 each and handy for rigging, creating false foot holds etc. Enjoy the course, you are there to be taught and not giving the course so they don’t expect you to know everything at this stage

I did my PTI about 5 years ago but guess the syllabus probably hasn’t changed too much. I’d look at the following: Decay fungi and strategies Defects in trees Pest and disease - OPM, ADB How a tree functions - energy types Branch unions/forks - Duncan Slater Lever Arm forces Mechanical defects - helical cracks, hazard beams etc General overall of Laws surrounding trees - eg Highways Act, Occupiers Liability Act, Town and Country Planning Act Start thinking about Hazard, Target and Risk in that order Books like the following: Principles of Tree hazard by Lonsdale Mattheck’s books on VTA and Decay. His VTA one is decent (many others) BS3998 NTSG Common Sense Risk AA guide to VTA Think of a systematic approach to inspections and work to that each time to ensure consistency. Think of a template or way to record and collate the data that works for you and print off some copies of the form and get used to working to them. If you can go and do some dummy surveys on some decent trees in woodlands or parks and record the data, if you have another Arb get them to have a look and evaluate. If not go back to said site when you have done your PTI and see what you would do differently Probably many other things I’ve missed and I’m sure others will add! Enjoy the course, it’s a good one

If it’s a N7.5 190 it should have a towing weight of 3500kg, weird it’s not plated that way for some reason

About ten years I did the same as you and asked a similar question on here, an old member replied and I started doing a few days for him at the weekend to get an idea if I would like it or not. I didn't invest big money in kit or courses, just went along and dragged brash to the chipper, raked up and learnt some basics like tying saws on, helping climbers etc. I then managed to get a trainee job and made the switch to Arb and haven't looked back. Yes there are shit days but these are often outweighed with the good ones. I would see if you can get some days with a local firm, maybe at the weekend around your current commitments and see if it is for you. To be fair if you can survive the crap weather we are having at the moment you have half a chance! I've seen guys spend a fortune on kit and courses to never use them and leave the industry within weeks, it can be an issue with some training providers hooking guys into CS30, 31, 38 and 39 before they have even started a saw. The last guy we had on trial before Xmas paid £4k for his courses and another £500 for PPE and jacked it in as tree work wasn't for him, not sure about you but I wouldn't want to throw £4.5k down the drain, if you do let me know and I'll gladly take it off your hands! Yes having lots of tickets will help you get in with some firms that work on construction sites, utilities etc but a decent local one man band would be the way I'd go to start with to see if you like domestic arb. Re kit don't spend a fortune, a pair of work trousers, steel toe cap boots and a lid would be ok to see if you like it then maybe look to buy some gear thereafter. I have some 'older' leggings and boots in my shed, they are in no way brand new and I've kept them for spares just in case. If you are a similar size to me then you are welcome to them free of charge. The Stihl leggings are either a small or medium and the Meindl boots would be size 8 from memory. If they would be of use DM me your address and I'll courier them to you. Good luck with whatever you choose

Starting to snow and settle in Kent, glad I sacked off the Ailanthus reduction today!

Saw pod [emoji817] for me. Have used one for years now and always reach down on my leg for the silky, force of habit. Personally wouldn’t use anything else but then I know people who hate them so it’s an individual thing

I’ve got a Rayburn that does my heating and hot water, in the summer an immersion heater kicks in for the water. In the lounge I’ve also got a stand alone log burner that isn’t connected to the heating system and be used to take the chill off if we don’t need the central heating running. As others have said logs can be messy and require a bit of work in terms of processing and storage. For example if we go away for a few days or a weeks holiday the temperature in the house nose dives as the Rayburn isn’t in action so no hot water or heating is produced. Also be prepared to burn a lot of wood, I get mine for free through work and have a yard to process it and a few log stores at home to store the timber. If I had to buy the wood then gas would probably be cheaper. Our main reason for going for wood was that we aren’t on the gas mainline so would need a tank or burn oil which has its own issues in terms of price fluctuations. If you can get timber for free and don’t mind processing the wood then it can work. My house is 24 degrees at the mo, if I had to pay for the gas then I probably wouldn’t have the house so warm!

I’ve torn various tendons in my legs through running injuries albeit not the one you have. From experience they normally take around 6 weeks to ‘heal’. I tore my adductor tendon at the start of lockdown and luckily as I was off work it made a quick repair as I was doing limited physical work. Tendons tend to repair themselves with rest and plenty of it, obviously this is an issue in our trade as we rely on being mobile. The first week or so from the injury is the worst as the areas are inflamed, after that the pain did start to drop. Hopefully with Xmas approaching and a bit of rest you’ll hopefully be on the road to recovery

As others have said no reason why you can’t be self employed and employed, your employer deducts your tax and NI and then technically you do a tax return for your self employed income that you generate. Not sure how it stands legally if you are employed and self employed by the same company. Normally you could be 5 days a week for one firm then freelance/contract climb for another firm (s) at weekends. It sounds a bit strange why they just wouldn’t pay you overtime and lump it with your normal wages. Only thing they will be saving by making you SE would be the employers NI and pension if you have one, but then as SE you would normally charge more than an employed guy to offset things like climbing kit, saw etc. Doesn’t really make much sense. When self employed if you are a labour only contract climber who turns up with a bag of tricks and top handle you don’t need insurance as it’s not your job. If the company quoted and won the job then takes their truck and chipper and ‘owns’ the job and gets paid for it then they need the insurance. If you are just providing yourself and under their guidance, ie reduce that tree mate, thin that tree mate, take that one down etc etc then they need the public liability insurance and employers liability as it is their job. Where it changes is if you bring your own truck and chipper and effectively execute the job from start to finish then the job has been subbed to you and you would need your own insurance. I’m no lawyer but have spent some time looking into it and this is pretty much what I’ve discovered and one to the conclusion of

I climb daily on a lockjack and also have a bulldog bone but hardly ever use it, I’ve probably used it a handful of times since I brought it. I’ve been on Teufelberger Fly for the last 12 months and like it. Bedded in well with the lockjack and runs through nice and freely with a semi worn cam. Only negative I have found is when the rope is wet it can be a bit jerky but that is fairly standard with the lockjack and most ropes to be fair. I’ve haven’t use cougar blue with the lockjack so can’t comment if they are similar I’m afraid.

At a previous firm I used to fit a fair bit of Cobra bracing and also inspect it for clients. I don’t have a specific qualification in bracing but would argue that I have the necessary experience and knowledge to install and inspect the systems as I’ve got 10 years experience as well as L4 diploma, PTI etc. I also did the AA workshop/course in bracing a few years back. It would come down to your experience and knowledge in terms of the bracing systems if a claim were to go against you. NPTC now do an integrated course in bracing/props, may be worth a look if you do a lot of it NPTC WWW.NPTC.ORG.UK NPTC

Slippy, slimy Syc 2m reduction. Tree was previously engulfed in ivy that had recently been severed and partly stripped. Plenty of deadwood and squirrel damage. Wasn’t much to work with in terms of growth as all decent growth points were on the last couple of feet of each limb.

We’ve got a caged trailer for the tracked and also a ifor williams gx84 which is relatively small and can be spun around by one person with the chipper off.

The firm I work for has a 230 road tow and tracked machine. Both of these machines have the older engines in as the boss brought them when he heard about the newer ones not being as powerful to meet the new regs. Our tracked has gone in for repair and a loan machine dropped off. Took the new machine out on Friday and the output by comparison to our own machine seems to be down. It would appear that the anti stress kicks in quicker and takes longer to get back up to speed we were only chipping conifer upto about 5 inch. To be fair to the machine it was wet but a new machine with sub 100 Hours should blitz that. The machine also sounds very different to our older one. I’m no chipper expert by any stretch of the imagination but have used these machines for many many years and the newer engines do seem a lot less powerful by comparison, just my thoughts having used both the old and new engines.

I did mine a few years ago with Landskills in Dorking (bit of a trek for you). Guy Watson was the tutor and was very good and would recommend. Think they have a course running in January

I used to like the Stein jackets, they were only about £45 going back a few years and seemed to last well but the design seems to have changed recently. The one I had on today is about six years old and ok for light rain shower. I’ve also got a cut and climb jacket that’s coming to the end of its life but nobody seems to have them in stock anymore which is a shame as I really rate them. I recently went for one of the Arbortec smock. The Arbortec is nice and has some decent features like the side zips when using a harness and a high neck/hood to stop the rain going down your neck. The cuffs also tighten up to stop some of the water running down your arm. Overall it seems like a well thought out jacket but time will tell how it lasts as I’ve only had it a couple of months so far

I have a manual 2015 L200 and when it was being repaired I had an auto L200 and auto ranger wildtrak on loan. The 2015 l200 auto always felt it was ‘hunting for a gear’ when cruise was set to 70mph on a long run. It was a shame as I’m a big fan of the l200 otherwise and have had 5 years of hassle free motoring with the Mitsubishi. Thinking of changing my manual for an auto soon and would deffo drive one to see if the newer one had the same issue. I also had a 2016 Ranger wildtrak auto on loan, I loved the truck it was silky smooth and just felt more robust and complete than the l200 I had at the time. The 3.2 was a bit juicy but decent on a longer run. I only ever towed a sub 750kg trailer on road behind that one but you hardly knew it was there and the vehicle towed nicely. I really like the wildtrak’s but they are dear in comparison to the new l200 and what you can get for your money, but on the other hand the wildtrak has a decent spec

Hi Steve, would you come to North Kent if you could do a couple of trees or have another job locally? Always good to have details of available people to call upon when needs be

Not sure on cost offhand but have used John Harraway before for a job in Bromley. Would be worth a call/email Harraway Tree Services WWW.HARRAWAYTREES.CO.UK

Reckon that has been used and returned and put back into stock. I’ve got a X25 and I didn’t look like that when it turned up!

Yeah for the mo mate, been there for about 3yrs now

Relatively hard (3 - 4m) reduction on this small Beech to let more light into the allotment below. Didn’t come out too bad considering it was pretty hard. Very slippery and sliding after the crap weather

Deadwooding some tall Pop’s. Up there somewhere

A truck I used to drive at a previous firm had a body made by Southern Vehicle Bodies. Very well made and took a fair bit of abuse.

I did mine through Scott Fraser Treework Training in Kent a while back. If you google him I’m pretty sure he still does the course