JaySmith

Epping Forest - behind The Warren:001_smile:

A nice Oak from our patch - named Quist's Oak

Yep that's correct David, the lottery funding/bid paid for the Teupen as well as a new Chipper and the addition of us apprentices and another 3 arb's as well. As you've said the money is part of the 5 year plan in which COL receives funding for work on the Veteran pollards, wood pasture restoration as well as education and training within the local community. Part of the money has also been used for the refurbishment of listed buildings and vistor attractions. If anybody is interested the link below gives a break down of the HLF funding/project:001_smile: Branching Out Project (HLF) Bid

A lot of the Veteran Oak's and Beeche's that we work on have large amounts of decay and aren't always safe to climb so the Teupen is useful, we've got a truck mounted one as well but the reach is only 16m (Iveco) and isn't 4WD so can/will/does get stuck:001_rolleyes: There's a second hand one for sale in the link below, 4 years old and a snip at £100K There's a few pics on there as well 2006 TEUPEN LEO 30T Lift - Boom For Sale At MachineryTrader.co.uk

No probs, I think it was between £120 and £140k new or there abouts! I work for the City of London same as David but I work out of Epping and the terrain we track it across is pretty sketchy at times but it copes well and has been used all through the winter in the slush and the mud. The tracks can chew the ground up a bit but if it's in the woods then it can be smoothed over - obviously a different story in Mrs Miggin's garden! If you hire the machine with an operator then they'll be able to advise and get it to site for you easy enough, we sometimes have to set up on steep banks/uneven grounds and it always self levels well - it also has a manual overide for each leg as well. We transport ours on a flat back trailer pulled by a Valtra (about 100hp) and is yet to get stuck or struggle. The Leo 30 has a gross weight of around 4 ton from memory so is a big lump. Like I say if we are out in it tomorrow I'll try and get some shots/video of it being tracked through the forest so you get the idea and can see the ground clearance.

Controls are easy on the Teupen's, only takes a while to figure them out and the boxes are remote operated so no wires or leads when tracking through the forest and you can be about 25ft away. I'll try and get a few pics of the control panel if we take it out on Monday, bucket isn't a bad size either with two men and a saw and the reach and range make it easy to get right into the crown or go up and over and then drop into the top. If you look on the Teupen site they did have a case study of somebody using one for tree work. The Leo 30 is a great machine: 100ft reach, 360 degree turn, fixed outriggers, good ground clearance etc etc

Sounds good David looking forward to coming down. The guys from Ashted and City Commons were over the other day looking at some of our Veteran's an ideas for some of the work they have planned. The Teupen goes out most days, we have one that the COL own and one on short term hire which has now gone back, as you know we've got three wood gangs so one gang goes with the Teupen while the other two climb or do wood pasture work to mix things up a bit. The Teupen is mainly used for the large Beeches, Oaks etc which they deem a bit risky to climb becuase of decay or size. It's an awesome bit of kit but does take a while to load up, track to site, set up etc but the reach and scope of the machine is excellent and one the larger Beeches that we have it is probably quicker than one or two climbers in the tree:001_smile:

Hi Matt, At work we use a Teupen Leo which is tracked and we have to track across so really dodgy ground being based in a forest and haven't had any issues with tracks coming off or rough ground. With the Teupen 30 that we use it has a decent clearance level between the base and the floor and the outriggers are build into the feet. We place is on uneven ground and always finds it self levels fine. It has a near 360 degree slew and just over 30m reach with the gib up. Overall it is agreat machine - has plenty of reach, easy to track across dodgy ground and is simple to use - feels rock solid too!

Hopefully I'll be able to make it down too, got the outlaws coming for lunch but as it's only 10 mins from mine should be cool

Recently got some socks from Blacks on the High Street that have extra padding around the heel and toe, guy in the store said they are designed for builders and people on site as the steel in the boots can draw heat away. I wear a thin pair under these padded socks and they work like a dream for me, no more cold toes!

Take a look at the Lantra website under the 'landskills' section. They were offering up to 80% towards course fees, but this does depend on where you are, which course/ticket you do, what work the company you work for does etc but is worth a look Lantra - LandSkills

Yep will do David. Sorry to hear that about your new guy, lets hope he gets back soon and is bearing up ok, must be terrible for him. Snow has hampered things a bit this week! I'm getting plenty of saw time at the mo as we are doing a lot of wood pasture restoration and holly clearance. Been clearing the ice on the lakes and ponds with the keepers for most of the time and doing maintenance and firewood the rest of the day. I will put a few pics of the kit up when I take a better camera into work as the phone one isn't up to much.

Not that bad down here, just loads of ice made it into work every day so far, a bit of snow and ice and the country grinds to a halt!

First time I've used it, not impressed:sneaky2: Have to dig out the receipt, in my defence it could well be the atmospheric pressure over the Kent countryside:biggrin:

A few more

Yeah cheers guys, the good thing is the range of work - whether it's clearing a few acres of holly or using the Teupen's for a 100ft Veteran it's all learning and the more the better IMO I had done some farm work whilst studying so was used to machinery and tractors I'll try and post a few photos as I'm sure David will agree the City does have some nice kit and hopefully it will keep the thread active rather than me just using Arbtalk to obtain info

Hi David, happy new year too, see you were working on New Years Day! Things are going really well, the work is varied and they let us crack on and get the experience using all of the toys - arm fed chipper, forwarder, Teupen, felling etc which is good and helps build up the knowledge and experience. A lot of the work we are doing at the moment is from the Teupen lifts doing the Beech, Oak and Hornbeam's under the keystone tree scheme so not had a lot of time to practice climbing. Hopefully moving into the new year I'll get more chance to practice the climbing. Capel is fine, back there in a couple of weeks for the CS31, at the moment I'm the only one from Epping on here, been trying to get the others to sign in! All in all I am glad I went down this route as the experience I'm getting and the training is excellent, much better IMO than doing a crash course or a 100% college based course and hopefully this will put me in good stnading for the future:thumbup1: How's things over the 'north' going take your guys will be busy when you get back?

Work for City of London at Epping Forest - apprentice Arb -so mainly forestry work:001_smile:

Hi mate, near Meopham up by Gravesend so not to far at all:001_cool:

Hi Plippy, Mick sent us a messgae re Sunday so said I'd come along, looking forward to meeting a few guys off of here:thumbup1:See you guys Sunday

Agree with that, I am doing an apprenticeship at Epping, only four weeks into it and they already have us using the Valtra's, long arm grab and chipper, forwarder's, firewood processor's etc, probably wouldn't have got to do this in such a short space of time at college! A mate of mine did an 'intensive plumbing course' which is fine in the workshop as everything is laid out square and nice and neat and tidy but as you are let loose on the public and round to an old house with rickerty pipe work things look a little different - the same with tree work in a way I suppose.

Hi David, Not sure if it is James who does the course, he's the guy doing the Arb apprenticeship but it's just a guess. I'll see if I can find out when we are back at Capel towards the end of the month and ping you a message

The newer ones that they make do tip which is useful but as you say don't think this one does

These are the ones used by Jims Mowing the gardening franchise company. I helped a guy out who had one of these, they are pretty well made and the compartments are ideal for strimmers, trimmers, chainsaws and kit.