Dilz

Well having just spent the last few hours talking to those in the know i'm making progress - my situation is a bit tricky becuase its a swedish company that owes me and i'm back in the uk for a while sorting out family stuff, i Have done the whole agreement thing - i sat down with the woman in charge of all the staff and finances and we reached an agreement; all was well, we even discused the fuel and came the conclusion i dint owe anything. - i have been chatting to my Svenska buddies and have come across the correct legal doccuments regarding our current situation etc and we are now co-ordinating out efforts as i type this. - i know that the reality is i cant give him a good kicking - but it wont stop me from wanting to give him one. As for knocking of the price of the fuel...well i doubt he will accept that as a reason to give me my money and also he's wee wee taker. as I said i aint the onlyione in this boat - and i know that he has done this in the past (found this out after i started having my current issues), and he will continue to do so until he relises he cant get away with it. I havent been caught out this time as i got a signed contract for the period i worked, doccumented everything, hours etc - i'm not that green regarding these matters - it bugs me when people try this kinda stuff on - i had one bloke accuse me of stealing all the climbing kit he leant me - including a big hefty weaver harness (still the best for chogging down the big stuff imop) even after i got my mate to go in to his yard pick up the kit he said i nicked and put it on his desk he still with held £100 from me - an amount that is completely pointless trying to claim through the courts.

Just for a note - Haix protectors in Sweden are known as 'them boots those crazy brits all wear'

Haix protectors are the best boots - once broken in - though from what my buds have told me i may try some of the fancy pants Menidls.. i got over two years out of my pair of haix...

hmmm.....just had an e-mail - i will not berecieveng my money owed from july before christmass because the knob who owes me it is saying i owe him a few miles of diesel.about 100 quids worth which i dont..from October. He owes me 3k, which is for me, rather a lot of dosh to be owed......i feel a new profile pic comming - this time the ax will be in the guys flaming Head!!! RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHH! (que kicking the cat and throwing the toys out of the pram, the doning of a pair of purple shorts etc..) - Who the hell does this bloke thinks he is? ! Surely there must be some by-law stating that on principle alone i can stomp on his face till it's a puddle of mush??? --- perhaps i'll wait for the annoyingly long and drawn out legal process to take its course, then at least i'll get my money eventualy and not be in toruble with the police......then he wont be expecting it

Is that more experienced climber tend to do the more dodgy trees? Is it that we have gotten away with it for so long that we become complacent? Or are we just playing against the odds, this is a high risk industry, and the longer you are on the tools the longer you are exposing yourself to the risk. If you work for a company and they arent adhearing to HSE, srite a letter to them documenting your concerns, if things arent set straight then report them - its an awesome job but it aint worth getting yourself killed or crippled to line the pockets of some one else. I met a climber who took a fall - was in hospital for a long time, he boss gave him snap gates and battered old kit - hence he fell. Seen a climber fall because he was really tired and didnt notivce he hadnt clipped in right - had the head of safety (!!) in one company cut his left fore arm - rushing to get a job finished on friday - that was a real wake up for us all when we saw him in hospital, - he aint ever gonna be the same top quality climber he was before. I have a few luck escapes as i'm sure alot of people have had (spiked up a matuure oak - felled out a big top 25 - 20 ft it was frozen, the bloody thing craked and tore past my flip line - i'm still not sure what happened but i had a few bruised ribs) - In sweden they dont have the same regualtions for private tree work - i have seen a company spend a saturday getting people to spike to death living trees take off a couple of branches and then the next monday they are put out in pairs dismantaling trees, i'm suprised none died but quite a few have got a few bruises and and scars to show becuase of it. Also i think its really important to note that at the end of the day it is your responsability not your bosses if you do something dodgy and you or some one gets hurt - you cant get any comp if you slice ur leg off with an 880 with no chain brake becuase you should know from your NPTC's that you shouldn't be using it, no matter what they say, and if some one else gets hurt you'll be in the firing line as well - stand your ground, becuase as soon as you let your boss get away with it once, he'll expect you to do it time and time again.

I see a lot of International Jobs requesting ISA certification, i'm thinking about going for it mainly because its been an age since my ND (which is rated as level 3) and i reckon it will be a good refresher.

Good thread! I havent had any experience in boosting myco's in the soil especialy with trees. Although i do know it has been attempted to grow truffels by planting trees inncoculated with the right fungus. I see the term healthy soil being used alot... and i reckon it depends on your point of view as to what a healthy soil is. I reckon the application for recovering arable land is a good one. These Heavily fertilised soils that have seen repeated years of mono crops do not contain the same mycro's as mixed crop sites on the basis that because the soils are heavilt fertilised there is no need for the tree / plant to form a relationship with the fungus as it has no trouble getting all the minerals and such that it requires. Perhaps it could be an aid to monocultural forest plantations.... any links to any papers showing that boosting myco' levels in the soil of newly planted trees reduces the risk or mortality??? I recenlty read in an issue of New scientist that a study indicated that plants including trees could some how communicate through mycorrhizal conections....alerting each other of fire, disease, arborists and any other threats

[. I tried putting a sling with a crab in it near my cambium saver and clipped the tail of the rope through the crab then descended out of the tree. When you go to ascend again. you just haul yourself up with the 3:1 advantage you have set up. Its really fast and might save some energy but just a bit of fun really. I have on occasion used the same idea for branch walking when you have to drop down through a fork, if there is a suitable branch above the fork you a dropping through you set your sling and gear on that loop the end of your rope through and then drop down and then if you have to climb back up through that fork then you can just pull on the rope and haul yourself back up - you can get fancy and use this as a redirect also - its not something that i use alot but yeah these little tips and tricks are fun to try and you never know one day they might come in handy

i met a jammy sod who got all their PADI Qualifications up to Instructor through the dole but this was many moons ago - i also complained because the dartmoor ranger job was only open to people who had been unemployed for 6 months - i'd be on the dole for 2 weeks so it meant i couldn't apply

Some collages will give you free education for an ND / NC and depending on your background you may be elligable for a paid busarie (i dont think that is spelled right) which can cover you accomadation costs and food, you can then also apply for hardship grants as well as try and get a bit of work experience pocket money. If you live away from home and have worked before you will have no diificulty in getting the grant, if not then it depends on your folks income - i got onto a 2 year ND - when i was 21, been working since i was 16 left home at 18. I got the whole deal food accom, an ND and 5 Nptcs out of it, as well as a hardship fund of about 700 over 2 years, ontop of that i was earning from 40 - 100 a week working - and when i tell people this they all call me a jammy sod and they are right! - I will reccomend getting a jobas groundy if you can - it will give you a taste for the work, because it isnt for everyone. It will also look good if you apply to a collage. Or if you want to keep ewarning you may be able to get tickets through your work, though you will probably have to sign an agreement to stay working for a period of time e.g 1 year after which you'll get your next ticket etc. I worked down in oxford for a souple of years - if you got transport try Jenks Oxford, they are good with their training - in two years i got my cs 40/41 chapter 8 supervisor, arboriculture and bats IPAF MEWP and first aid refresher - though i would say - if you can get in a decent ND course where you are staying in halls go for that coz its a blast! especialy as most collages doing arb are agricultural collages and often have equine course and that means Horsey Girls

Glad to hear it i've been doing this for a few years and i'm still learning new tricks, and i am in no way putting down gettting qualifications, mine opened up so many doors - i've just had the missfortune of comming across a couple of bad eggs recently - on the whole most of the blokes i have worked with have been sound - this isnt the kind of thing you get good at over a few weeks - i have mates who are plumbers who have been saying similar things about people do crash courses and then getting out of their depth - i have chilled out some what since my rant - especialy as it looks like i may get my money before the end of the year and i found a bottle of sloe gin hiding at the back of the drinks cabinet - the world is a happy place again

Awesome!!

True true, they aint really worth the waste in energy to be sure. but some times its good to get things off your chest when you are feeling pissed, better out than in - splitting logs is my usual out let

The main problem in deep snow is clearing around the base then minding the snow drop from the tree as it falls and finding the saw when it has vanished in a drift:001_rolleyes: i lost a winch for while once - took off the tree moved it to one side, snedded the tree i just pulled over, went to help my work buddy with a really bugger of a hung tree, it was snowing so much that the winch was buried and all foot prints covered - i love it!!! better than working in a Javla mygg nest!

The coldest i put my spikes on last year was -27C the snot freezes in your nose! I found oaks become death traps when felling out big tops. when its cold like that i wear a set of ski goggles - keeps the snow and wind out as well as the saw dust, and a neck rag tube thing that can be pulled up to make a balaclava that fits fine under the helmet. I managed to get hold of some decent seal skin gloves but they arent so hot for pruning but dismantles are awesome - you got to take care of your hands because its in these kind of conditions you greatly increase your risk of getting Vibration damage - Get a good rope bag so your rope aint in the snow so much. and clean and dry your kit, dont leave it in a van out side over night! and carry a back up friction knot on your harness coz if your knot freezes - it wont work!

Seeing as 90% of those who know me call me Dilz, and in fact are suprised when they find out this isnt my real name - my real name is Tom and i started in tree care in 2001, Lets just say its been a rough last couple of months subbing having to work with undesireables, a situation that isnt helped by the fact one bloke i worked for owes me £3k (dating back from July) and as i'm sure some of you are aware if you go through the proper channels it can be a long and drawn out procces to get sorted - but it is slowly getting there. I guess i used my original post as a kind of virtual punch bag. So yup i'm on a stint of RnR and will be refreshed and ready for next year

DOnt know if this is in the right place as this is going to be a bit of a rant, but i just need to get off my chest to all cocky gents (they know who they are!!) who i have had the mispleasure with working with, who come out of a intesive course or just get their tickets and think they are the dogs nutts then start wining that they are tired and their hands hurt as soon as a big saw get tied on to their rope, or stand their offering pearls of wisdom to blokes who have been doing this work hands on for many years, and then start bitching that they dont like raking up and 'they didn't spend all that time and money to feed a chipper - well heads up! most of you are not very good and the only ones i have come across who are any good from these crash course are a) in the minority and Also to some one else to whom this concerns - 1 year out of doing an ND does not mean you have been there and done that and in no way should you be in a postion of training up people to work in this industry. what else whilst i'm on my soap box - oh yeah Stihl! what is going on with your chainbrake handles? they made of porcelain now or something? also the next man who subs me in than complains it took 3 experienced climbers two days to do what he could do in half a day is in for a cuddle! - ( i know for a fact this bloke has never put on a pair of spikes and cant even sharpen a chain - oh yeah thats another thing - the next bloke who picks up my clibing saw to sned a tree blunts it and then chucks it down is ino for a cuddle as well in fact any gents who blunts a saw and leaves it for some one else to fix - oh yeah and back to some of you crash course people! learn to sharpen a chain!!! i mean really learn! that running a file across half aint gonna give you a sharp saw - and to the gent who broke far too much stuff if you by chance read this - stop making up rubbish excuses as to what and why it went wrong! man up admit you balls it up and stop wining about how it wasnt your fault...... and on that note i'm off for a beer then a holiday

wells have a good rep as far as i know, there are other companies out in sweden most will give you a trial week if you give em a call, though there are a couple of companies worth avoiding - tradfallarlaget for one...

Hey, well i've met this chick with a smoking hot ass, she lives in the states, and i'm looking into ways i can go over and work. At the momment she lives just out side Dallas, and there aint a lot of tree works or trees. We been talking about Heading to North Carolina. Anyone got any contacts out there or info about obtaining work visas and such, coz right now i can only stay for 3 months at a time and i'm not allowed to work legally.... any help or info and general pointing in the right direction will be much appreciated.

going to buy some new spikes - buckingham or bashlin??? choices, chioces! i guess spikes are spikes but if any one has any info advice that would be great! i also would like to be able to change the gaffs on them with ease, i like short gaffs as i find my self climbing on skinny stuff alot, but when those fat pines and wellingtonias need doing then big is best.

good advice - have found from a few weeks in it that, drying ropes fully is a must, a prussik loop works better, so have one for back up. keeping moving, staying out of the wind, good clothes - baselayer, insulation layer, company t-shirt, micro fleece + windstopper jacket. Snoods are the best (tube scarf) you can set them up as a balaclava with just your eyes showing, or just round your neck and fits well under a helmet, ski goggles also are good can completly cover up your face. Glovewise, well still not sure - am planning to try thermal glove liners with marrigold washing up gloves - these are grippy and water tight so when you put your hands in snow on the branches they dont get wet, liners keep you warmer - though can still be a bit grim. Fleeced lined insoles in my boots, thin socks with ski socks over the top. As for the work - dont rush too much - i have found branches shatter with just the a tap on top with a saw.

looking for any heads up advice for climbing in regular subzero temperatures -10 +, my recent expereince has lead me to decide that drying out your gear is real important - after 15 minutes last week my rope was stiffer than my flip line, my VT was a popice and didnt grip and gates on my grabs were covered in ice..... any advice on what to watch out for and what gear is good to have would be cool.

prusik??? - i know lets get some 3 strand manila as well and spend the day twirling around in the air with sore hands! only kidding different things for different people, anything thats going to make my life easier is worth anyamount of money in my opinion especially if you are climbing trees allday everyday! - bought my hitchclimber today along with a pantin foot ascender - dropped my hitchclimbr in the mud..... so does anyone use the spider jack? and yes Mike you are right i'm not going to be happy until i have bought a lock or spider and some tachyon, and maybe a unimog.....

when i tried out my mates lock jack i didnt use the toggle but rested my hand over the top of it and used my fingers to release it, they only thing i found, and found really annoying was getting the pressure right for small movements, one gram of pressure to much and zip................ It would be nice to try a spider against a lock, just to compare. Will be buying a hitch climber tomorrow along with some much needed ascenders, and perhaps some tachyon, maybe a positioner....i can see this going the way it always does - pop in some where to pick up 10meters of prusik cord and a tub of chain oil and then a smokeing credit card later i'm wondering what just happened but not really careing too much as i have lots of new shiny toys!