will.morris

You wait til you hear her voice as well! I appreciate it is a marmite topic, but if you turned the lights off and played it by ear it was like being in bed with Cheryl Cole Larvvvv ittttt 2 years of living in student halls full of geordies was absolutely amazing

Oh god not this again lol She is a 'good' friend from college. Sheridan

Thanks bud Damn that must have been a kick where it hurts I've kept myself single for the last 2 years on the basis I did'nt want to get tied down as I did'nt know where I was going to be living after college in Newcastle.

Btw ... It was obvious it was going to rain at some point today, so why do you think they did'nt just start with the roof across to save this delay

Bloody british weather lol. Awesome game as you say Tony

I'd say mid 20's, 21 is probably a bit young, in rowing my coach always used to say 26 was the peak age. But it depends on your lifestyle obviously, if you spend your 20's drinking and smoking and then your 30s being a sports fanatic than you'll clearly become a lot fitter .

I think there is some really interesting posts in this thread, Andy, your mentality and your attitude is just incredible given your situation, I take my hat off to you There is also some really naff and IMO ignorant posts from people that have been lucky and are doing ok, good for you, but don't speak down to other members which may be as good as, or even better arborists than yourself but are just not getting the opportunities they need. NEED being the key word, peoples general view is they can't keep up with living costs, not that they can't afford a new sports car. It varies on so many different factors, its simply not a case of saying 'man up' ... that won't satisfy landlords, this is about DECENT people genuinely struggling to make a living from the trade, don't insult their intelligence by telling them to stop moaning. From a college leavers point of view I can agree on just how hard it is just to get in with a company. But I also know people that qualified at the same time as me and are now on £80 a day climbing full time, I'd be more than happy with that but I got lucky in that I'm off to start my career properly in NZ this summer. So to everyone that is struggling, try to hang in there, it is tough for a lot but a positive attitude may carry you through. Arbtalk should be a place for arborists to help each other, so come on guys, it could be you in their situation, treat others how you'd wish to be treated and have a heart!

I rate the Distel highly its a great system. VT is brilliant but I found I had to experiment with different cords, lengths, wrap numbers to be happy with it.

Really nice to see a post like this mate, good on ya!!

I think you'd be surprised if you look into NZ. There are companies out there that take on college leavers as this is what I'm doing this summer. Worth looking at if you are after a big change in lifestyle, all started for me because I got sick of searching for work here and getting paid peanuts when I was offered any.

Saw you at the arb show from the tshirt and thought it was a good idea! Best of luck mate!

I had a crew cab transit tipper to use to and from work when I worked for a landscaping company. Was great to have, saved wear and tear on car and obviously fuel. Was done on a word of mouth agreement so paid nothing.

Fair play! Thought that might have been the case so I tried to say it nicely Cool job mate

Sorry to state the obvious but it looks like your a good 50ft of the deck, with a saw and no helmet

No trousers are going to make you 'safe', so its best to have the mentality that any leg hit is very bad ... just be very careful, I often feel people use chainsaw trousers as a false security.

Not at all mate. 38 is about proving you can get to places in the tree safely, it is not judged on speed. Keep at it and enjoy it

...£30 will keep you going for a long while on hitch cord, had to say it sorry

Why are people bothered about the bar paint lol? ... People that are, do you also get out husky orange touch up paint for when the body of the saw gets scratched?

I'd daisy chain the end of the strop up if you do go for 5m otherwise you'll be forever getting it stuck in forks/on stubs and thats really annoying!

I always think about this when I'm putting a lot of tension in a winch . I know the handle is designed to fail first but doesn't bear thinking about if it did happen.

Cool Do all competition climbers use toe spikes opposed to normal climbing spikes?

No strop? Climbing kit is very much personal choice so whatever works for you mate. Do you know what sized trees you'll be climbing? You might be better off with a 37m

Firstly congrats buddy Was a similar thread very recently that hit the nail on the head about what to do when starting out. Basically arrive 5/10mins early with a positive attitude, get stuck in loading the tools, leave the phone in your bag, be ready to go at the end of any breaks, help others when you've done your job. Just work hard, anticipate what you should be doing next .... and enjoy it! Best of luck!

Tree surgeon was probably not allowed to use spikes and given the tree anchor points were probably sparse, totally understand why he would'nt want to freeclimb it.

For company drugs tests is it just a pee in a pot thing or do you have to give a blood sample? Will have to do one if I get the job for Asplundh NZ.