Dilz

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!

is there any real significant difference between a lock and spiderjack? on the speal the spider apparently is better for subtle adjustments and such. is this the case??

tachyon rope?? thats new england isnt it - istantly put off that due to past experiences ith new england ropes - found them far too dynamic, if i had to pull myself up a big tree after cmming back down or throw lineing i would be knackered and only be 3 inches off the ground after having g to take up all the slack! i take it lockjacks arent too good on larger diameter ropes then?

you can have a groundy pull up a big saw using a standard pulley, been doing it for ages, thats why i have skinny arms!! i was thinking today, i'd swung on a twin stem tree out from a stem to the other and scrambled along a branch upside down to get that last piece of dead and realised that i didnt have enough slack to reach by about 10 inches and just teased the vt so a i could reach it; would a lockjack be able to offer you subtle adjustments such as this? also what ropes work best? a the momment i use a 12mm treerunner rope - i've used it for 3 months and it looks like its a year old! time to replace that cambium saver that went missing i think....

hi all! i climb on a VT with just a normal pulley, have done for some time, and now i need a change. Problems i'm having at the mo are far too much sit back when foot locking and hassels with setting up secondary anchor points. climbed on a lockjack with a 11mm blaze once last summer, worked well but didnt like the feel of the rope or the fact it was on a relly windy day! never used a hitch climber but know they are a damn site cheaper! any advice and past experiences using either or would be cool:thumbup1:

pics will have to wait for a bit - i've lost my usb cable for my camera!! Yep thats right no chipping although we do have a chipper, it rarely gets used! my ears have never been so good! i climb mostly pine, oaks and the biggest birches i've ever seen! as for the cold, well you can always go to Goa till spring! just starting to think about using gloves to climb in, but its going to be fun when it gets to -20 and the sweat can freeze on your face!

The company is based just out side stockholm but they now hold contracts that cover all of sweeden and are planning on establishing a full new setup in the south near to Malmö. so drunken weekends in denmark! i think the pay is good - not the best you can get as subby back in the uk but its regular and all your saws trucks fueld etc are provided by the company - for an experienced climber that start basic is 200sek an hour plus your overtime of which there can be lots plus more when you work on the rails (at a guess from what has been discussed in the past an extra 6000sek a month). The work on the city side of things is pritty standard stuff, a bit of rigging here, a bit of a reduction there and a lot of spikeing up and smashinig down pines, apparently work on the rail is easy but it depends on whta side of things you will be working on as alot of the work is simple spike up smash the top out, fell done, and thats all some people are capable of doing, the more skilled you are the trickyer the jobs you will be given. There is plenty of opportunity with in the company to develop, becomming a crew leader, training new employees, some surveying. but what is need most at the mo is people who can climb trees using a rope and not just off spikes - there are plenty of lumberjacks already here!

sorry dont know either those guys. beer is expensive and there are lots of hot blond women, got to love the ones with the wet look spray on jeans and knee-hi pirate boots! New turn of events, it has been brought to my attention that subbys need to be VAT registered to satisfy tax inspectors in sweeden that you are leggit and not fiddling your taxes (pain in the arse i know) but we are setting up with another company based in the UK that are VAT registered and basicaly you sub to them and work out here - and you can still write off you costs out here against your end of year tax bill.

wanted lots of climbers for upcomming projects covering the whole of sweeden working on rail contracts which covers both forest work and work in private gardens, city contracts and other private arb work. I have been with this company for a month and they have made my move to sweeden as smooth as possible and are genuinly concerened with the welfare of all their workers. Yes its going to be a bit chilly over the winter but there is the summer to look forward to as well as crashing around the woods on a snow mobile and treking up to lap land to do some snow boarding and check out the northern lights. Anyone interested should e-mail [email protected] or if you have any other questions send me a private message and i'll try and reply asap although my internet access is a little sporadic at best.

looks like no one has then. been clibing on it for a while now, once adjusted its comy as an old slipper, my only problem with it is the attachments for the chainsaw, the stiching looks like if you swing an 880 from it it will just fall to bits. apart from that, good harnes.

just bought the Abies 2 (i think) by antec, not sure why, it was agood idea at the time and i guess i'm sick of climbing with my old heavy weaver. any body got the Abies? anything to look out for? only climbed a small maple with it so far - after about and hour of pissing around with the straps to stop me losing a nad:blink:

cheers, the translation is a bit weird but you can kinda peice it together

Hi, As things stand at the momment i'm going over to Sweden in a fortnight for a two week trial with the company 'Trädfällarlaget'. Any one heard of these guys before or worked for them? i've checked out their website but can only look at the pictures and guess at what all those words mean. But a heads up on what they are like and what work i'm going to expect out there would be great.

Never know till i give it go! when can i start?!!

insurance policy!!! i dont have one! ha! not because i'm a cowboy - i've only ever been full time employed through other companies so never had to worry about it, mind you there have been a couple that probably didnt now i look back on it! i guess ineed to check with the guys in sweden if i'll be covered by their insurance.