Ian Flatters

Thats cool. I was just wondering how you keep the levels up (now i know). Im also quite sure they will pass quite comfortably as they did during the re-assessment when I was doing some tree palnting for you. Well its good to know that you are re-assessing as needed and deemed.

I know your challange is to gain awereness through expansion is the key and like i've said in other posts i respect the AA and how they are making a change. Although i do have a final question which when looking at a contractor in the east which has changed is still AAAC although the company was tupied over (only the employees) and all the kit was sold. You might call it a buy out of such. How come they stay a AAAC? surley a lot of things have changed during this process? How do you ensure in this case that they are still at AAAC standards? It would be the same kind of princable for a small AAAC which say was using 2 freelance climbers that passed your criteria then moved away. So 2 new climbers come on board are there work standards as good as the other 2 and how would this be managed? Just something that came into my head when i bumped into some guys i know today.

Good effort:thumbup1:

Only once when we had that windy spell in 2007 6 of us went to removed a huge beech that had fallen across the main road from earlham park. About half way through the job one about 30m down the road fell across it too (only a medium sized one) they both had merip noted on inspection in previous years. other than that i've only ever attended the aftermath. Does a larger climber on a horizontal Tree of heaven limb count? It was very funny to watch.

What about pipistrelle's?

loved the picture of a real load of wood.

Let me just start by saying this isn't a AAAC go for it or a AAAAC not worth going for thread so please don't turn it into one. My question is simply what real weight does the scheme give you? I've seen it in the yellows and whilst talking to two of my clients about the extreme costs they charge (yellows) i mentioned the little AAAC bit. The 1st didn't have a clue what it really ment and the second said i saw that and assumed they would charge me the earth. This followed on in both cases them asking who the AA were and are they like 'Gas safe'. When i responded no not at all there an association and have no government weight like a 'gas safe' program does. One then went inside i think kind of confused but the other raised a valid point to why would anyone pay money for a sticker that only you other tree men would understand? (i apperciate this gets asked a lot) Just something i've noticed recently more so as i have been looking at the smaller contractor criteria. I know of a few firms near me that i see doing a higher level of work than a couple of AAAC firm. Not saying that the AAAC firms are doing anything wrong. Surely you should be aiming to get these guys on board so ifs its being sold as an achieved level in arb why are they not knocking your door down to get on the scheme? Is there some kind of loss in the marketing of this to show them the bonuses for joining it (i know you mentioned the scheme is recognised by some other recgonised schemes). A bit of praise I appreciate and am very grateful the AA have also listened to the smaller masses too and have started to give a level playing field stopping the bigger 5+ man companies having some of what i awlays though of as an unfair adavantage. I do intend to apply for the AAAC scheme when i feel my company is in a suitable position to gain from its scheme in the future. I hope this reads ok, Ian

Umm im a bit confused, you say your 'topping' the trees prior to felling or are you turning them into poles before felling? If you topping surely there will be some branch structure for you to run you main line over and descend via DRT?

They are really good and very good with price when i add things to the policy too. Sounds like a good price too.

Tony, i have PI & PL as a package from trust i think my PI was around the £700 quid mark for 2,000,000 cover. Although if a contract i had didn't tell me it had to be that high id probably have it around the £500,000 mark. I did get a quote from some others but found trust to be the most helpful and even called me back at a time to suit me unlike one that thought i must be at home at midday (left 4 messages mon-thurs)

Another Trust vote here, Cameron Yeo is very good to deal with.

I must say i do find the prison sentence has some comedy flair to it. Prisoner 1: What are you in for? Prisoner 2: I tried to rob a bank, You? Prisoner 1: Blimey! a bank jobby. Im in here for murdering a bat..... Prisoner 2: Ummm...ok?????

I'll never forget the comment one of the young lads said to the instructor; 'So if we find a bat and no-one sees and we throw it through the chipper does this mean we just carry on as normal'. I wanted the ground to open up and his jumper not to say that we worked at the same company. Although the instructor was a little bit caught off guard and quickly moved onto Guano being a key factor in smelling for bats.

I can, i think hes got everything apart from two things 1) An employer who sees his drive to better himself/ the employers company. 2) A somewhat large amount of money free to put himself through it. Im sure in the near future Tony will be writing books and be one of the regarded forefathers of modern arb-ecology. Heck i do consultancy and i defiantly think his understanding of fungi decay strategies is far beyond mine. He will get there.

Don't forget tho even disturbing a bat is breaking the law. If i worry about the tree and bats i get the local 'bat man' in to write a report then its all his fault if i find one. Although im sure id still get fined somehow with these government budget short falls.

Interesting i thought it would of been more for the client.

Sublime! and one of my favorite Jezabels song too (a little peace). Great Find.

I didn't vote because im kind of 50/50. With the consultancy i do im expected to understand the clients needs/worries. I do however take ecology in arb quite seriously and wherever the risk is low enough to allow standing deadwood or even leaving a tree with deadwood i try to. This could also include looking at the clients proposed development plans and removing either felling or if the site is capable transplanting trees (although realistically the latter isn't normally budgeted for). As a cutter most the time it will lie with the client, maybe i can convince them that a 40,50,60% reduction isn't the way forward. Sometimes they think they know best because they can use Google! Recently we went to do a job which involved a nice 15% reduction on a Atlas Cedar, 10% on a Judas AND nearly 50% on a cherry which really was a pollard in the end. The cherry i wouldn't say looked good in anyway but had always been topped and lopped by the next door neighbor, so it was hard to convince/explain that there is a better way. After all his neighbor hammered it and it continued to grow why wouldn't doing it again be fine. I think most the time the client has a clear idea of his/her goals with the tree and it can be hard to convey whats best for the tree. Sometimes the client is stubborn makes a decision on then has to change the plan. I.e. Me, testcricket and frosty went to do 2 30% reductions on 2 Oaks. When we got there the client had, had them thinned/lions tailed that summer with little or no light gain. So i suggested leaving the furthest oak which luckily hadn't been thinned and removed the nearest thus giving the 'Client' all the light they would ever need. So was my best interest in the client or the tree? In this case i would say both, Client gains his much wanted light and the second tree is allowed to develop naturally and untouched. I apologize if this reads poorly/rambles/repeats/repeats/rambles.

:thumbup1:

I would of added music to accompany the photos. Nice pics and you got some good rigging jobs. Maybe a link/address to your website/contact number on the video as its available on youtube too?

Same here.

Id take a guess that you fall under the Broadland Council area then? Never charge for it. I normally will make a phone call to the council before i go to the site so i know whats what. I tell the client when im on site having a look, then the choice is there's if they go with me or someone else. Once accepted i fill in the paperwork. Why would you fill it in before you get the job accepted??

I give one day a month to help community projects, princes trust projects and 2 old people who can't afford to have hedges cut. I actually get a good feeling for doing it too, the time laspe video job was a free job for a rugby club. Plus once a year i go visit the 2 old people from the village grew up in and cut there hawthorn hedges back. Nout wrong with giving up a few hours to help people out.

Site Specific Risk Assessment

3 times in 11 years. The 1st time was clearing a fallen dead sorbus, a group of long eared bats exited as we cut the stem up. The tree had landed on the ground blocking there escape. (i think Mr Sorenson was on that job), 1 pipistrel under some bark on a dead poplar and another under some ivy.