Dan Curtis

On a couple of occasions recently I've come across a few freelancers and contractors who are unaware of their obligations when it comes to insurance. A lot of this seems to arise from a confusion and mis-definition of the term "subbie". What I do for a living is climb and cut trees. I am self employed, own my own vehicle to get to and from site, provide my own climbing equipment, saws, rigging equipment etc. I am hired on a day basis, for as many or as few days as the company who engage my services need me to get the job done. By definition, I am a freelancer or labour only sub contractor. As a freelancer, I'm neither required to have Public Liability nor Employer's liability. I am in essence, an employee of another contractor for the day. A "subbie" is a term often used to describe people who do what I do. Another definition of a sub contractor, or subbie, is a "bona fide" sub contractor. This situation is very different. It would mean a self employed person who takes on the whole job, on their terms and timelines, with their equipment and the staff they choose to use. They would submit an invoice to the main contractor, who in turn would submit an invoice to the client/tree owners, usually with a mark up for their own profits. In my circumstances, the individual or company that engage me and my services for work are LEGALLY obliged to hold Employer's Liability insurance. Currently, Public Liability insurance is not a legal requirement. In the instance of a Bona fide sub contractor, the sub contractor is the one who is required to hold the insurance. It would cover the people they hire to help them carry out the job. (such as freelancers) So, a warning to all freelancers out there. There are a few contractors who I have come across who are trading without Employer's Liability, sometimes by confusion of the term "subbie", sometimes by sheer arrogance and ignorance. You can't always tell by their name, reputation, nor are they going to be the "******" or any of the other derogatory things I expect people will have in mind. Some of these people advertise in reputable places, so don't go by that either. It is prudent imo to check the insurance of people who engage you for work. If you have any doubts, DON'T work!

No, you don't need PL insurance. One thing to check for is that your prosepective client has EL insurance. More than once recently I've come across companies trying to hire me for the day, without having the necessary insurances in place themselves.

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I wondered why he was struggling to pull by hand but had the skid to do it:confused1:

Make a button on the website that works like the participated part of the app. Be great to just click and bring up the threads you've been contributing to

I had one that close last year walking the dog at dusk in the woods. I kept as still as I could and the deer and dog ended up nose to nose, sussing each other out. The dog got scared, she was only a couple of months old and ran away. The deer just carried on it's business and wandered off after 5 minutes or so.

Or just a prussik with a Munter/Italian hitch backup if you want to keep it simple and don't own a figure 8:001_smile:

Took about 5 minutes once I satdown and had a think. If you add a throw bag instead of a retrieval line it'll remotely retrieve

I changed over to tree gaffs for a wellingtonia takedown and never changed back. I much prefer the longer ones now I'm used to them. As has been said, they're great for ivy clad trees and I find it gives you a better swivel point to get yours toes against things if you need to on a skinny pole.

Been playing about with various ideas for retrievable redirects, this is the most basic I can come up with so far. Have a look and see what you think.

The "slaice" is a softer splice type affair, which runs better with an O-rig should you be that way inclined.

I said a few things here about ropes this morning mate, just my two pence; http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/climbers-talk/68475-rope-me.html I use a 60m length of Tachyon from time to time, srt it's not an issue for me as I can set the tail whatever length I like regardless of BA/Top TIP. If you plan your climbs I don't see why it would be an issue DdRT but would perhaps be a bit heavy when you do need to move it in a 7m tree!

That's nothing, I've had a guy turn up for work one morning drunk and coked up:thumbdown:

Nod has a reel I believe

Having said all that, my current rope of choice is Cougar Blue, the firmess and size are just about right for me. It's not the hardest wearing and some have reported issues with quality control. Expensive to boot. But I'd still recommend it

I'd go for New England Tachyon over the Teufelburger, seems a firmer braid and more hard wearing. Great for DdRT, but a bit bouncy for some SRT. If you're coming down from 13 I'd stay around the 11.7 mark, any smaller and you may find yourself getting cramps in your hands and forearms from the size difference until you get used to it. Blue Tongue I find a bit too abrasive, but other Yale 11.7's are fine imo. Poison Ivy feels like a bigger diameter than it is, and may have issues self tending with mechanical devices like the ZZ until the device has some wear. If I was to go back to DdRT I'd probably use Samson Velocity, small, firm, great in mechanical devices. Though it is 11mm, so may not be the best rope to go straight to from a 13mm.

Ian Flatters

I've got a few pairs of Airstreams and I know what you mean. I find that the firmness goes with enough wear and the tread grips fine once it's been softened by use. How much wear are yours getting? I would've thought after 6 months they'd be fine. I wear mine probably 10 or more hours a day during the week, 4/5 hours a day at weekends so they do wear in quickly for me, both at work and hiking, walking the dog, pottering about the yard. A month is enough for mine to loosen up and grip properly

Any chance of seeing pictures of the homemade wrenches?

I just put my left foot on top of my right toes with a right pantin on. Gives you double legged power with half the cost!

Battery, gas can, two blokes looking the wrong way? Am I getting warm?

I may be way off the mark, but could it have been a previously (now gone) crossing limb? It looks to me like the mouth type shape where the stem has attempted to occlude and get hold of the crosser, then in it's absence filled the void?

Do you think your anchor tree was big enough? Looks like a goodun!

:lol:

He could get a job as a crane driver and do it everyday! He did seem a bit heartless not replying when they were talking on the train.