Arborist Sites

I know what you mean, we put in for a large land survey job, it was an awful site but a jobs a job. We put in 14K, two other companies put in 16k the company that won put in 4.5k ...... What an absolute joke, this will take 2 men three weeks at least with surveygrade gps and robotic machines (45k of equipment). The client was gob smacked and said he will send me the completed plans to have a look at to see how good they are. Cant wait to see.. Its not only arb that this is happening in

I have a client who has 50-60 mature pops which run the length of a new housing estate, there was adequate protection specified in accordance with BS 583, council put planning conditions in to protect these trees, 3 years after construction was complete trees showed decline, upon investigation major root severance and compaction had occured including site arrising/scrapings pushed into rpa. When the council was approached they said they were powerless, however a solicitors letter with a copy of the tree report stating the negligence and damage to the trees resulted in all removal cvosts being paid by the developer.. The problem is you can produce these reports and councils can put forward the planning conditions, however the councils dont have time to check on them. In the case mentioned earlier i would ask that the tree was removed and area replanted as part of the purchase deal. Alternativly, you could buy the house and then take it up as a negligence case and hopefully get it removed....

Andy, we use digiterra and arcmap now for field based data collection, we do alot of general gis as well and need a really flexible product. If i had to recommend one over t'other i would go with digiterra every time as you can use it on your desktop as an office based system as well.

Pm me if you want, i have a copy of pocket gis that i dont use..... Out of curiosity how do you like arcmap, we have upgraded to 8.0, its a big leap IMO from 7.1.1

Hi Andy, unfortunately its not really geared up for this side of the pond, however it is free and parts of it can be used and then married up to an excel sheet with the rest of your data. Only probs is that makes it a pin in the A on site and then back at the office.

Watch this space for an i-pnone app with tree survey and risk assessments etc.

I love the pic of the lab in the bed thats way too small

Yep John i agree the Cert Arb is already there but if myself and you was to stand at the front gate of an arb show and ask everbody through the gates who was the industry representing body in the UK i bet that 90% + would say the AA.

This is the industry body John and should represent everyone in the profession, not pick and choose. If a company with 2 chaps wants to show its commitment to arb and be able to advertise this they shouldnt have to go through what the larger companies do as the majority of it wont apply. Maybe the AA should look into something like the ISA with the certified arb, they could advertise this on there trucks etc and Mrs goggins could go on the AA site and see what it means etc, surely something like this has to be the way forward I would personally see this as the way to start to shut the door on cowboys with no insurance etc and finally move the industry forward out of the stagnant and confused mess it is currently in...

No worries Paul, it is great to finally have a voice from the AA on here and hopefully you will pass on some of the concerns of the smaller contractor. I think the hardest point in the future for the AA is how are you going to represent the smaller firm, these chaps cant afford the AA approval costs and if you was to really push AA approval you would be potentially forcing these chaps into a corner further dividing the industry and degrading the quality of tree work as a whole. (i really dont envy your task) Maybe you need to start some sort of half fat approval for smaller companies so that they can show there commitment to safe work practice and overall work quality.

I know a number of larger corporate companies/organisations that only used AA approved contractors as they thought the were guaranteed good value and quality work Once they had the pleasure of the smaller arb company they now use these as i have been told work standards are just as high if not better and rates are lower as they reley on repeat work and word of mouth for new jobs.... I personally think the AA got most people's backs up when they marketed it as an eliteist (sorry for spelling) thing. All you have to do is drive around and look at the quality of work... The AA wont ever be able to police work quality, just the H&S side of things IMO, If thats so why dont you just go for ISO registration its much more valuable and widely recognised. Speaking to AA approved contractors it seems that it is generally an excuse to raise prices, however in the current climate people will go for the best quality work at the lowest price. NOTE: The above comments about work standards etc do not apply to everyone in the scheme as i have also seen some excellent work.

I have trained our email to filter all the bank ones out, we also get the HMRC ones etc etc. I mentioned the courier one as it is turning into quite a successful scam email, it is designed for as soon as you open that zip file the keyloggers load onto your computer....

I got a warning about a rather nasty email, The email is sent from UPS about a missed delivery, the email has a zip file and tells you to open it to look at the paperwork etc. If you do this it downloads a program onto your computer and has keyloggers in to get all your access codes and passwords, there is also lots of other nasties in it Just a friendly warning as it is quite convincing, also it may say other courier details as well....

Did you take those pics out rossendale way ?

Sorry photo of plum taken this last week, pics 1,2 & 3 were taken at an early point, trying to find out.

Photos were taken this week, i am happy with the plum as that was what i was thinking, however the tree in pics 1,2 & 3 is getting at me as i initially thought larch but when considering it hemlock popped in there, as both have now been suggested ia m even more confused

A few of a big oak, pics dont do it justice as the weather was i bit rubbish.

I have had a report come through with some pictures of trees and they are down as different trees to what i think.. What are your thoughts. Pics 1,2 & 3 are the same tree Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Pic 4

Yep the old quick chips are similar except for the colour and wheel trims, the chute is different as well..

Gandini, right colours anyway and turntable makes me plump for that

Sorry there was a typo in the above..... It was meant to say does NOT give you a ticket to check cavities etc, be warned if you did you would be boardeing on breaking habitat regulations... Should check my replies before posting............

2 years if you are commited

Simply blame the environment agency and say that as a business once you process any timber it belongs to you and is your responsibility to dispose of properly etc etc etc. Afterall depending on who you speak to at the EA it might be the word of the law on that particular day. Maybe that will put them off, an idea anyway...

See answer within the quote in bold

Unfortunately bat people are very narrow minded and you will really struggle to get a bat trainer as arborists are regarded as bat killers ! in there eyes. If you are lucky enough to find a trainer you will then be required to train for at least 2 years so you experience work of the differing life cycles of bats. The short courses esp the AA one is a bit of a con as it doesnt teach you anything that you cant learn off Bat Conservation Trust . the course also does give you a ticket to check inside tree cavities etc and many who have done the course were under the impression they could and unfortunatly have been dreaking the habitat laws....