JaySmith

Can’t help with whether they will be any good drying timber but there must have been some crazy parties going on in the club with that diameter rope and a load of dehumidifiers!

Bees in the Uk are endangered but not protected. Have only removed one tree that was home to bees, used hessian sacks around the hole that they went in and out of and carefully rigged the section down - they were not happy! We have a local bee keeper near us who will come out and take the swarm if it is at low level and I’ve used their protective clothing to prevent getting stung. They need to get the queen with the swarm is my understanding. Guess you could use a thin metal probe/spike to measure the extent of the decay but I’d expect a few unhappy bees! Have a look on the British Bee Keeps Association as there may be links to guys local to you how would come out and take the swarm away if needs be. At what height is the decay pocket?

I would have thought that the leaning tree that has been stripped would have less force placed upon it and if you like ‘safer’. Bit like if you hold a bag of sugar at arms length, you may be able to do that for 3 mins, if you did that with a 5kg dumbbell you may only be able to manage a minute for example as the force placed upon your arm is far greater. Where you have significant weight on a leaning stem stripping some weight out of it must be less likely to fail as there is less weight on the lever arm if that makes sense. I know what you mean when you say that the crown may be providing balance and dampening and also the tree would have compensated for that growth but if I’m on a real leaner or a compromised tree I always want to remove at least my weight to make things more tolerable! I probably haven’t articulated it that well but I know what I mean, I think! [emoji23]

Maybe should have said less weight that would be more accurate than force. The laterals may dampen the movement a little but on things like connies the lions tail on the top may also catch the wind more after you’ve removed the lower growth. Did a mouldy Sycamore the other day, leader for the tie in point was new growth from previous topping and the stem had what looked like poor attachment points with little reaction wood so I took the top out first before working the rest to minimise the weight of me plus the top on the anchor point. Yes the pole was then a bit more ‘twangy’ but I was fine with that if that makes sense. Everybody has their own ways of doing things and I guess there is no right or wrong way (as long as it’s done safely and with knowledge/experience applied)

Ever tree is different, often if I’m working a busy evergreen I’ll go up and clear a path around my rope to allow me to get out onto larger lower limbs and may also nip the top out if I need to lessen the force on the anchor point or if the tree is in a sketchy way for example but more often than not I’ll tie in then come right down and work back up and take the top out last. Also all depends when the boys want to stop for dinner as it’s often nice to break the back of the job by stripping the crown and then do the timber after lunch. As others have said taking the top out does make the tree twang a bit but often no biggie. Sometimes, especially when rigging it is isn’t possible to snatch the top out first as it will get hung up all over the place and really please the groundies. I’ve worked plenty of Lombardy’s in the wind and taken the top out first, as Mark says it makes it feel like you’ve won already! Did some leggy conifer reductions on Friday that were on the top of a hill and I was getting battered by the wind so I took the top out when I tied in the came down further to remove the laterals. Often it’s a tree by tree basis, personally I don’t mind spiking up a skinny pole and snatching the top out as I’m relatively small but understand why some don’t like rocking around on a 4 - 5 inch diameter stem in the wind!

Same here, I sent Spud a 550xp Mark one that didn’t run well at all and had it sorted and ported while it was there. It’s like a completely different saw now and runs better than it ever has done. Only issue now is people queue up to use it onsite as it’s a little ripper!

Very true mate, sounds very similar to the position I was in. I always thought cash was king and in years gone by you definitely got a far better deal of you had cash in your hand - fact. Think you hit the nail on the head with the ‘salesman commission’ thing, I guess they get a small personal commission for an outright sale and then bolster their money with add ons like finance/lease deals, accessories, GAP insurance etc. It was always worth going into the dealers at the end of the month/quarter or financial year as they all have targets to hit and may be hungry for a deal. As you say topsy turvy and sounds like all the dealers are doing it.

Not a silly statement? Didn’t say they refused to sell me the truck for a cash sale, simply said I got the impression they would have preferred to sell the truck to somebody who wanted to take out a big finance plan that’s all. Having worked in sales in a previous life I understand the sales cycle and how things work and got the impression that they weren’t interested in a cash only sale by their actions and their diversion techniques. As we know they get a kick back from the finance co so this was probably increasing their margin on a tight deal.

Indeed, on the plus side it was 0% so I kept the money in my account earning a small amount of interest and I got the truck I wanted and they must have got a kick back from the finance co. Personally for me I just prefer to pay for things outright when I can as I’m often over cautious but can see the benefits of financing kit if you are self employed keeping your money in the bank

Yeah I wanted to buy the truck outright with no finance attached to it but was given a better deal if i took the finance and then paid it up/cancelled it off after 9months. Normally I’d of walked away but they were the only dealer with the older version single cab in stock that I wanted so I was caught between a rock and hard place

The banks at the back were savage for the groundies, had three on the deck for this one and was about a further 65m to the chippper at the front down a narrow access. Plenty of targets for me to avoid like air con units, irrigation systems and ground lighting but I’d rather be up there than on that drag!

When I brought my L200 5 years ago I got a better deal by accepting the finance and cancelling it after nine months (shortest term) than if I paid cash for it. They all but declined to sell me the truck if I wanted to pay in cash, got the impression they would have rather passed up the sale and sell it to somebody who did want finance🤷‍♂️

Little Field Maple reduction reduction that was on the wonk over the guys new office. Top was dying back so had to work with some sound timber. Was prob harder than I would have liked to have gone but he was adamant about how hard he wanted it and the client is always right ah?!

Yeah I know the ones you mean, very similar to this one. Mine has a little winch on the front to pull things like scissor lifts up but has a multitude of uses. Obviously not as robust as an Ifor or Brian James but fine for woodland work or carrying a small grinder

I brought this Motiv trailer to go behind my pick up and to use with a quad. It’s relatively small but is handy with the fold down ramp and can carry a small grinder or timber etc. Easy to push around and move if you get stuck and is rated for road use as well. I did think about fabricating some mesh sides but haven’t bothered thus far. They come up on eBay every now and then as they seem to be used my MEWP hire companies

I am in Kent relatively close to SE London so probably similar. Subbie wise for grounding I would think between £100 and £140 per day depending on if you just want to drag brush or if you bring more to the party such as running jobs on the deck and making the climbers/boss life easier. For me a groundie who is mustard is worth more than a bad/inexperienced climber. Climbing wise anywhere between £140 and £190 per day depending on what you can do, how good you are and who you are working for. IME top end money would be for you to climb anything that comes your way and supply full climbing kit, 200t and possibly a light rigging kit. Bigger saws large rigging kit normally a few quid extra

If you are handy like that then that could be the way forward, only issue I would be concerned with would be the warranty if there was one still valid. We do live in such a throw away society where I’m sure that soo many things go to landfill could be fairly easily fixed and brought back into service and as a generation we are loosing that ability to mend and fix things (myself included). Agree that on some big contract jobs like Crossrail, HS2 etc compliance would need to be taken into account with regards to tampering with machinery but can’t see how they would enforce it. On some sites they don’t even know what your ‘shredder’ is let alone if it had been tweaked! With things like the LEZ trucks have to comply because of the ANPR cameras picking up the reg of the truck but much harder to enforce on a chipper/trailer.

A firm I work for has a tracked 230 diesel with the old more powerful engine, this went in for service and we were loaned a 230 with the newer engine. There is definitely a difference in the two of them, the anti stress appears to kick in much quicker and the infeed seemed less aggressive. It’s all about change and adapting, when the 200t was phased out everybody moaned about the 201t but now we’ve just got used to them and my newish ported 201t isn’t a million miles away from my old stock 200t. There’s a big choice in the sub 750kg market but unfortunately a lot of them appear to be petrol, for what it’s worth the slightly older engine 230 would get my vote if you can find a decent one that hasn’t been abused (too much)

A good idea that you are considering removing the concrete, especially if the tree is already ‘stressed’ by the poor pruning it will be using its energy and stores to deal with that. Giving it a little helping hand may be what’s required. I’ve done something similar on a mature Yew tree that had been concreted around. We gently broke up the concrete trying not to damage the roots, it’s important to not damage the small fiberous ones that take up water and nutrients as well as the larger ones that provide anchorage. Some of the roots we were dealing with were very near the surface so hessian webbing was used to protect them and a layer of mulch used over the top. The hessian was removed at a later date. This was done in the summer and we didn’t want the roots to be scorched so the webbing was recommend. At the end of the day as long as the roots aren’t left exposed to the elements or direct damage occurs to them then removing the concrete can only have potential benefits to the tree. I’d use a well rotted mulch/soil mix to allow water, air and nutrients to pass through. Just don’t use freshly chipped wood chip if poss

Hailo ladders are decent and that’s what the firm I work for now use. Previously I’ve had Zarges Skymaster and they were better built, more robust and felt more planted in my opinion. Zarges however are quite a bit dearer by comparison.

No reverse sensor?! mine hasn’t even got central locking or electric windows, about as basic as it gets! [emoji23]

I’ve had a 2014 single cab l200 4work from new. I only brought new as it was a similar price to second hand as the model was changing and the dealers had surplus stock so managed to get a very good deal. It’s served me well and never ever missed a beat. I’d buy another l200 when the need arises and have been well impressed with it. I just make sure I service it every year without fail, just the usual oil and filters even though I only do about 6,000 miles a year and hopefully this will see it going for many more miles. As somebody else said I’d look at a variety of makes and make a choice on condition, history and mileage

The small Silver Bull bag may be suitable at 21 litres. Obviously not as durable as some of their other products but if it is going inside another bag for most of the time would probably fit the bill silver bull white mesh bag s | Sorbus International WWW.SORBUS-INTL.CO.UK Silverbull Mesh Bag - MY230: SilverBull Mesh Bag (White): Built to the same dimensions as the, ever popular, standard rope bag but uses a high tech breathable Airflow, mesh fabric.

A guy I do some days for has a new BR800 and it’s an absolute beast. He has it as he does some grounds care as well as tree work so suits his needs. For me I find it too heavy and on full chat spins me around but I am relatively light, sure if you are bigger it wouldn’t be an issue. It is heavy on the back and may stifle to get into some tool lockers. For large takedowns and stump grinding it is a game changer, however if you are doing multi jobs in a day or small gardens it could be a bit of overkill. At a previous firm we used the BR380 which for me was a good compromise as it was lighter, easier to transport but way ahead of a hand held BR86 for example

Tree roots in the built environment by John Roberts, Nick Jackson & Mark Smith has a section on de icing salt (p214 - p220) if you have that book as well