will.morris

...I don't think we need to ask what you gave it out of 10 I went to see Dredd in 3-D last night that was a cool film. Some cool gore slow-mo 3-D effects of bullets making exit wounds in peoples faces Skyfall came up in the adverts and it did look very cool indeed

Yep your correct, not allowed rope wrenchs or steel strops. Not supposed to have vented helmets either but they're not that bothered about that, I get away with my stein. Apart from the top handles you have to use an attached mitt on your left hand, I personally think it makes it more dangerous as you cant throw the saw if you trip or if you had to quickly jump away from a falling tree. Who do you know from Asplundh?

They don't do it to this extent very often apparently but we do aerial rescue once a month, only 1 crew on site though no supervisors/group meets. No set dates either we just fit it around the work and tell the supervisors when we do it. I had to do one about 40ft up a huge park gum, single line rescue on 8mm prussik, feel the burn... Really the rescue today was the only judged category, the work climbs/footlock were just to give the supervisors an idea of what level people are at as we have a few trainees and with me 4 new english guys that they've never seen climb before. Was good fun though, lots of banter (free pizza ) and was cool to see that there are some pretty awesome climbers on our firm... I need to grow a pair if I want to attempt some of the jumps the real good guys were going for

At Asplundh today all the crews on the south auckland contract spent the day having our climbing assessed by the fleet supervisors. We had to do an 18metre footlock, 2 work climb trees and an aerial rescue each whilst the powers that be stood in observation with a clip board. We were given no warning about it as we only got told when we got to the yard, the assessments involved inspecting our kit so I suspect thats why it was just thrown upon us. It was a pretty intense thing to be thrown in on as I've only done 4 weeks work here so far! Did alright though and everything went my way for the rescue to me relief as I'm sure thats something that they'd like to see. I wondered if any of you guys big firms or small private companies ever get randomly tested or test you staff? ( It was essentially a paid days rec climbing but with a serious edge and the company bought dominoes pizza for everyone )

Awesome responses/help thanks Asplundh do have their own mewps so if we really could'nt do it we could have called those guys in. They do all the powerline jobs though so would need a good excuse to take up their time to keep the bosses happy.

Bro that made me feel ill just thinking about it! Literally just yesterday I bought one of the smoke visors for my lid. I've always worn glasses but you always get those times when your just doing a tiny bit of chipping/cutting and your glasses are in the truck so you go without, sods law thats when something like this could happen. Hope it clears up quickly mate

I have that with a piece of prussik Cool post dan, always good to reinforce the importance of kit inspection.

...I think I spend too much time on facebook, I keep going to 'like' comments (Steve - new feature? )

Cool thanks guys! It didn't feel very safe underneath but I did it on the basis that I couldn't really slip from that position. The sections were pretty small so probs wouldn't have hurt me badly but it still didn't feel like good practice. Weirdly its not something I've had to do before, I've worked on leaning poles but I've always had an anchor on a neighboring limb/tree. Had to get through it, as tempting as it was just to bosh off lumps but it was right next to a fragile bus sign/pavement. Rigging would have been a bit overkill and I would have had to spend even longer in some questional work positions Pegs were'nt an option unfortunately because it was towards the lower end of the tree before where the first branches were. The thought of slipping with a top handle 1/2ft from my chest seemed more concerning than a lump landing on me but have learnt from this so cheers

Looking good guys

Hi all. Had to take down an ash at work today and I have to be honest I struggled when chogging down as the stem was on a big lean. I tried standing on top of the stem (felt like I was going to gaff out and that the strop wasn't going to hold me), sideways on (too awkward) but ended up doubling up my strop and standing on the underside of the stem. I got the stem down but it wasn't particularly comfortable and I felt at risk from the pieces coming down on top of me. I'm on a 3month probation period here in NZ so I really didn't want to say I couldn't do it, hence I battled through Just wondered if there is a different way to deal with leaning poles or if they are just a pig to do!

I can appreciate that as they do cost a lot of money but if they are'nt just saying it to cover themselves and you end up with 3 less pints of blood due to being unprotected then I'd say its an unnecessary risk - much in the same respect as seat belt usage only affects you in an accident. But hopefully you'll never have to find out anyway Looking at it from the other side though people in hot countries don't wear c/trousers.

You might not be saying that if you strike them with a saw, the manufacturers must state it for a reason.

Cool I'll have to check that out Went for a rec climb with a mate from work up at One Tree Hill Domain (Cornwall Park) yesterday. Its like an arborists playground, big gums, massive spread oaks Camera batteries died early on so I only got a few pics unfortunately but will defo be going back as quite a few of the guys from work go there regularly. Its also one of the contract parks so may have to work on them at some point Checked out the Auckland Botanic Gardens on saturday so I'll put those pics up as well

When we took down that big pine ? That was literally THE first time I ever put on a harness I'd laugh now if I could go back and see the cross-cutting I did I can remember at the time thinking I'm rubbish at this lol my cuts that were supposed to meet were a good 6" apart Or was this the job when we had to zipline over an outbuilding pretty much directly into that big fire Those were my first 2 tree jobs, both with Andy ...when I couldn't tie a bowline or marlin spike Good to hear from you buddy and thanks

What more could you possibly ask for The hiflex did get good praise from the horsey girls in my college days On a serious note yep they do rip pretty easy but I think they're fine if you keep on top of them, i.e don't leave them to rip more. I would'nt get them if you do a lot of hard ground work such as bramble clearing etc. I'd rather have a pair of trousers that are nice to climb in and replace them slightly more regularly then have some ultra hard wearing trousers that weigh a tonne and are restrictive.

Well that was easier than I thought lol ... has it always resized them for you or is that a new thing These next pics are from the Hunua Falls/Ranges about 40mins south of Auckland city centre. I photographed the Cossey Dam which was built in the 1950s but had a lot of work done to it in the early 2000's and provides drinking water for the Auckland area along with other dams in the ranges. There are various walks signposted in the ranges, they range from 20min loops to 3/4 day hiking trails, the one I did was called The Massey Loop and is supposed to take 3 hours ..... the fact I got very lost and maybe had to contact the search and rescue team for advice deep in the bush for advice is not important .... took me just under 6hrs to find my way out lol. These are the Kauri trees at 'Kauri grove', I need to go to a different woodland to see the monsters as these are clearly not that big

Cool thanks mate . Will try a few now. I want to go down to Taupo soon to do the 19km Tongariro alpine crossing walk to experience 'Mordor' from LOTR so that should be a good photo opportunity and I'll keep this thread alive

Would somebody with better pc knowledge than myself be able to explain to me how to put up multiple pics in a decent size please? The files are jpeg straight off my camera so I'm guessing they're pretty big ... I hate computer stuff Thanks

Get yourself out for some recreational climbing if you can (not on your own) and practice little moves like taking your hands off everything, start to jump off branches from a small distance at first and witness how your gear does its job. A lot of new climbers hold onto the tree too much with their hands and always have their rope super tight, with just that bit of extra slack you can move around so much easier (no more than about 50cm though). I was terrible for both these factors when I started climbing and I would say I'm now competent for most jobs but by no means a great climber or particularly fast. Lack of confidence is a vicious circle, the longer you look at a situation the more tense you become so its often best to have a burst of braveness and go for it, unless its particularly dangerous of course. If your in an awkward position and you need to use a saw don't just rush it to get it over with, think about your work position and how you could improve it, what could you strop into that would hold you a better position etc. Skill and speed comes with time and practice mate, I'm still learning everytime I go up a tree, in my first 6 monthes I really wasn't sure if climbing was for me but I kept pushing myself and I'm now loving climbing big trees in NZ. So what I'm saying is keep pushing yourself, stick at it, calm yourself down when you feel uncomfortable and just hang in there, it WILL get better.

Awful to hear . No doubt Kirkley Hall college in Northumberland (where I studied arb for 2 years) will have it up in the arb workshops to highlight the dangers as they have other arb related death newspaper story up on the walls. Quite rightly so IMO to illustrate the dangers to potential future arb workers, especially being local. My thoughts are with the family and friends. RIP

You forgot you had a saw lol? ... thats like saying I met up with a girl for coffee and forgot I had a wife :lol::001_tt2:

I did my cs30/31 back in feb 2010 and can confirm the maximum guide bar length allowed IS 15". I turned up with a 16" bar on an ms260 and they did pull me up on it but they let it go ... dare say with a different examiner or turning up with a 20" bar may be a different story though. Trying to demonstrate decent bore cuts on a small tree with a 20" bar would just make your life harder anyway. ...examiner was telling me at lunch that he once had a lad turn up with a top handle fail.

Thanks for all your support guys I'd be lieing if I said I had no moments when I thought I wonder if this is the right thing to do, will I be able to hack the big stuff etc ... long way from home if the brown stuff hits the fan but no regrets whatsoever, just have to keep pushing myself wayyy out of what I'm comfortable with until I'm used to it I guess! 2 years in Newcastle before I left was my personal challenge to test myself if I could just get up and move away on my own so I knew I could deal with that side of it, though of course there are still many people I miss. Coleman: Will keep that in mind thanks buddy Tied into Asplundh for 12 monthes but visa dependant I think this country is where I shall remain ... half tempted to try ozzy but thats a different story. I'm still yet to do a massive gum just yet but I've done a few medium sized ones that I'll upload a pic of when I put some up. Its company policy at Asplundh that everyone goes out once a month and practices aerial rescues which we did on a gum that was about 70ft. I'm already learning the importance of a decent throwline shot with them though because the limbs can be miles apart. I'm now off back to Hunua to venture out on a 3hr hike (or tramp as its called out here) which will take me past the waterfall and into the forest which is supposed to have some decent sized kauri trees. ....by the looks of it though I'll be getting wet! Armed with the camera of course! I also have some impressive shots on Mt Wellington volcano overlooking Panmure basin, the Asplundh depot, the skytower as you look out over the city and close ups of the volcanic rock as you can stand in the very heart of what is still an active landmark! I'm going to visit my great uncle in Hamilton soon as well so I'll see what I can snap in that part of the country ... then maybe visit my friends family in New Plymouth if she comes over from the UK hopefully around christmas time. Albedo: Fishing may as well be the national sport out here its extremely popular, never fished in my life but its on my list of things to try. Enough text, time to go out and get some pics to upload Take it easy!

Hi all. Have been offline for a while as I moved out to Auckland, NZ 3 weeks ago yesterday. I came out here fresh out of college following a climbing interview back home in the UK for the american company Asplundh. I'll start off by saying what an absolutely breathtaking country it is over here, I have'nt touched the surface of things to see out here yet but I've done the east auckland beaches, been into the city centre and stood underneath the skytower and travelled 40mins south to see the spectacular Hunua Falls. But as I say ... far far more to do! Work wise it is nice and varied, as its a council contract we do have to go and do street tree deadwooding/crown lifting which can be a bit tedius but its all experience. I've just finished 2 full working weeks and last wednesday I got chucked right in at the deep end and had to deadwood 2 oaks in a park that we measured at 105ft and 116ft ... bit different to what I've ever climbed in the UK as a student and trainee climber haha but I managed to push myself through it. I was given a crash course in SRT to access the trees which I was very thankful of and now for big stuff I don't think I'll ever use DRT to get up ever again... I changed over to DRT at the top though. Can't wait to see what challenges await on monday and to anyone thinking of coming over here either to work or for a holiday I would say make it happen, its awesome!!