JaySmith

I met Julian when we did some work there, very nice guy and very knowledgable. Do you do the felling/forestry ops there?

Yeah I think it would straight fell from memory. The issue with Bedgebury is they plant small new replacement trees near the larger ones so if they need removing then they need to be dismantled. When the tender went through last year or the year before I think Navin from Greencut got it so he may film it if they are still doing the work there.

PM me your email address and I will send you a template tomorrow if you like

Yeah saw the article in the paper Mark. Have you seen it? It's a beast i had a good look at it when we worked there. The one we took down was around 120ft and I could see the old man of Kent in the distance. I visited Bedgebury before xmas, at that time it hadn't suffered the damage but did have significant die back in the upper crown so this may have contributed. Would be an epic tree to take down!

What time scale are you aiming to complete it in? I had already done a level two in arb but wanted to do the rfs level two to get back into studying after a break so found myself going over old ground. I did it in 8 months but found the workload fairly manageable, IMO the level four requires much more time and effort

I did my level two RFS cert Arb with HCC and am just finishing my Level 4 diploma with The Training Tree. The difference between the two courses is immense, not just in terms of the subjects covered by the workload. I completed the level two in around eight months working a couple of Saturday's a month on the course work. The level four however takes up a lot of your time, I have regularly been doing a couple of hours each night after work, all day Saturday and some Sunday's to keep on track. I would definitely recommend starting with Level two unless you have some significant experience as the step up is fairly significant and the biology side of things is hard going at Level four. Level two does help to condition you for the level four if that makes sense. Take a look at The Training Tree, Lisa Sanderson is the trainer and is very good. They are doing the level two now I believe and were looking at offering it via distance learning so well worth a look.

One from yesterday's walk. Lots of soil erosion on the front side and compacted soil on the back side

I am not sure how you plan on studying but if it is via distance learning or day release I don't think there is anywhere that offers level three. There is a vast difference between level two and level four. I did my RFS (level two) after being in the industry about four years. It is a good qualification and does teach you a lot. However it is aimed at a lower level so as others have said some of the information is drip fed to you. The content is also a lot less. With level four you have to evaluate things a lot more and go into a hell of a lot more detail. It involves critically evaluating other work and methods and rely on you going away and finding out the answers as well as looking at various research papers and standards to back up what you have said. A lot of the level two stuff is recapped at level four but also goes into a lot more detail. For example instead of saying that the Silver birch on a planting plan is too close to the building and leaving it at that you them come up with reasons why. So this could include damage to built structures, fast growth habit of a pioneer species, pruning may be required, CODIT etc etc. The work expected of you in level four is far greater, during the academic year I've got about thirty five assignments to complete and each one varies from 4,000 - 15,000 words. I find myself working about nine hours at the weekend on the coursework and around eight hours in the week. By contrast with the level two I did around six hours at the weekend and finished within seven months, but they are flexible and you can work it around other committments. I am glad I did my level two first off as it gives a good base from which to expand but when I was looking I couldn't find any level three courses that I could fit around work.

Oak reduction from today 1.5m off top and up to 3m off laterals in places

He was on a basic tree inspection course I did a few years ago keeping up his cpd! I got the impression what he doesn't know about trees probably wasn't worth knowing. I think he recently did the survey for the line of lime trees they are trying to remove in St Albans.

Normally a three day course with a written and practical exam at the end. For the exam there are questions that relate to kit as well as regs such as PUWER, WAH etc. This is followed by 10 items that you have to comment on and pass or fail. If you pass the written aspect but fail the practical then you can just resist the practical at a later date. Very good course

We often leave our tracked chipper trailer on the road with the nose lock on it and take the number off, mainly to stop somebody stealing the plate as well but I suppose it is then very hard to identify it without the number plate on the back. Although I am guessing this probably flouts a law that says that a number plate should be displayed at all times

Yes for a few courses, guys I work with have also been on his courses. Excellent tuition, quality set up and he really knows his stuff

Pretty much, I would say the workload of the level two is about a quarter or maybe a third of the level four as a guide

I did my level 2 through HCC before starting the level 4. I would do the level 2 first as it covers some of the basics that are expanded upon at level 4. If you have lots of experience already (not practical experience) then you may be ok starting at level 4 but I am glad I did level 2 first

About £60 from treesource if I remember correctly

I would say the best chipper we have had was a sub 750kg. It was a Jensen. A530 had hardly any maintenance on it and it went on and on. Admittedly you had to prepare the brash for it. We've hade big heavy Schliesing's that weren't without fault and our current forst loves to shake itself loose, we are forever tightening bits up. I guess that they are all much of muchness and it will come down to who does the best deal, who's closest etc.

The RFS cert ARB is a good course and can be done with the HCC college for around £350 if I remember correctly. This is home study and can be done at your own pace to fit around family life etc. It is a good entry level course and will teach some of the basics and covers a broad range of topics. Aside from this the lantra basic tree inspection course is also worthwhile and will help you with a basic understanding of id and faults. Download some of the free tree publications on tree survey and risk as they will give some good background understanding. The Arb Association also run courses on pest and disease and basic tree surveying, check the AA website for details. If you can get a copy of BS3998 as well and read through that. With regards to the CS units don't necessarily rush out to get all of these in one go. Chipper ticket, stump grinder, 30 and 31 will give you a head start and maybe some employment, the rest can then follow and maybe an employer will pay towards the climbing tickets if you show commitment. If you have anything extra such as machinery maintenance experience and a b+e licence then this will be advantageous

Thanks for the kind words David. Are those pics of me? Don't remember climbing that tree over at the Heath?? I remember we did some work on a large Ash in the morning which I think Phil? climbed. Those pics, if they are me look like Casper showing me some climbing bits and bobs. I thought that we climbed some Hornbeam's in a glade when I came over? Yes was a shame I couldn't have done the apprenticeship at the Heath but I don't believe there was an opportunity at the time if I remember correctly. I think the two sites offer very different propositions, at Hampstead you guys are more focused on preservation, decay detection and the ecological side of arb. You also seem to be a lot more focused on risk management, probably due for the nature of the site and high public access. A lot of your stock seems to be better managed and so the need for reactive works may be less to some extent as it has been more proactively managed over time. By contrast Epping is more focused on the forestry side of things and playing catch up with the management of the veteran trees so things like decay detection don't really happen as freely as you promote them. Saying that my time at Epping taught me a great deal and allowed me to learn things quickly as there wasn't the commercial time constraints that we have in contracting. I tried to find the area that we climbed and that large Ash when I was up there a few weekends ago but couldn't seem to get my bearings, although it was six years since my visit! I would recommend the COL to anybody who gets the chance, you'll learn a lot!

COL is an excellent opportunity to learn and earn at the same time and also learn without the pressures of the commercial environment. Was probably the best year in arb I have had thus far. Good to see your new recruit is doing well!

Possibly Lime

Your post is very judgemental/insulting considering you don't even know me or my work and as far as I know we have never crossed paths before. In answer to your questions the work was part of an initial job pack, we did the first few days then handed the pack back as it was economically viable for us a business. The council concerned apparently get this all the time, there words not mine. Contractors try the work, can't make it work as the rates are poor so hand the work back. As a guide some of the work included reducing over mature Oak's on a red route in London for £258.00 per tree. At no time did we work unsafe in order to get work done, we are a good AAAC who try to do things by the book. It was not ultimately my decision to make as I do not own the firm, I am a crew leader. Your statement 'am I an arborist you puts yourself and others at risk if the monies not good' is personally insulting. You don't know me or the work I do. In answer to your question no, I am not hence why we sent the work back. For what it worth I've spent about £5k over the last two years on my own CPD out of my own pocket and strive to do things correctly and advance my knowledge. Yes we do have a choice who we work for to a certain extent hence why we don't work for that council anymore.

How so? I've seen and worked to the prices so not making it up. As a contractor who worked on a council contract the rates were unsuitable.

Yes partly. In reality how many firms have the capacity and the resources to set up a site like Rhys has there? Yes on occasions we have when it was required by the client but 9 times out of 10 we set up correct tm with cones, signs and barrier tape etc and go with that. But if you've got a little crown lift to do on the side of the road would you go to the extent that Rhys has? Probably not. I'm not saying that it's right but that reality and the nature of the beast. Yes there are firms who cut corners but I think we personally do everything we can to make sure we are doing things as far as is practically right. The reason I was asking if it was a council job is that the trees are so badly paid guys HAVE to cut corners to hit targets. We subbed some work off a well known contractor as they couldn't get it done by year end and ended up walking away as the pricing was an absolute joke, I think stevie wonder had priced it up on his way back from the pub! I don't envy the guys out there doing that work.

Quality set up there Rhys, which is an example of how to do it, unfortunately the reality is we don't often get the time or budget to do what you have done there.