Bolt

Slings is a good shout. Step cuts on the sides is a good shout. Also have a go at doing the top cut first, and then the bottom cut outboard of the top... if it doesn't go, cut a little more into the bottom, never the top. Never fails* *well, I guess it may fail if you are particularly kift

Good on you fella! Clearly a rear handled saw is the tool for you! It is good to see that the current training and assessment regime is working for at least one of our kind. :-)

Regardless of the whys or wherefores, a number of lads have recently set out to work in the morning, to do something no more challenging than we do everyday, and have not gone home to their parents / wives/ girlfriends / kids. It seems a crying shame, and my heart goes out to all those involved. I am not convinced that simply telling people not to do something (when we ALL know that that thing is being done on a daily basis) is really working, is it? It doesn't hurt our industry to take a little introspective contemplation of ourselves, and consider if we (as in our industry) really are 'the best that we can be'. Collectively, I give us 4/10. That is for steadfastly looking the other way.

well, if we don't get our act together, maybe stupid little 'rear handers' will be all we have left available. At that point, I either go 'black opps' or I quit. :-)

Also needs to include: Swivel office chair / child's swing Methods to cool you chainsaw trousers down in summer walking like a Ghostbuster

Sorry Kriss, I may have misinterpreted your point. Is it that you think we get leaf blower training but not (proper) 'topper' training because leaf blowers present little business business to the assessment organisation, but they don't want to chance a hot potato like an 020, because they see some 'court time' potential? If that is the case, I don't really think our industry, and the youngsters who are entering it, are really being served that well.

But that's EXACTLY my point. A leaf blower qual? What an utter waste of NPTC / Lantra committee time. Was that REALLY the most pressing need of our industry that day? Don't think so.

Maybe it IS good. Maybe it IS clever. Maybe you have developed a simple set of techniques that mean that the reason you don't 'get got' is not chance, or luck, but somethings called skill, technique and work positioning. I have seen people cut-and-hold all day with such a superb technique that I can see there is minimal risk of kickback or laceration to them. I have seen people using a topper two handed and they have scared the shyte out of me the whole time they have been up there. I can't work out if they are going to cut themselves first or their rope first. One handed use (and, dare I say it, cut-and-hold) CAN be done safely with skill, technique and work positioning but we pretend it doesn't happen and look the other way, whilst we busy ourselves developing hedge trimmer qualifications. I respect (and expected) you highly valid view regarding training, but I think we are looking in the wrong direction currently. Why not train stuff, if it CAN be done safely..... seems a little selfish of us not to.

This is in no way a personal dig, I just fear that the coroner missed a trick. Up a tree work positioning is everything. With suitable techniques and work positioning, you could work one handed all day every day. What a shame we don't teach and educate the things that workers actually do EVERY day!

I think it a touch unfair to pin it on the instructor. Our industry has dedicated training and assessment for leaf blowers (leaf blowers! !!?!! ffs) but no dedicated training or assessment for toppers. Why do you think that is?

I did my cs39 with a Husqvarna 61, but that was a long time ago!

Baffling indeed. But be that as it may, If you go on a LANTRA 'CS39 equivalent' training course, you may (if you wish) just use a rear handled saw. For any aerial 'CS' assessment (LANTRA or NPTC) you may (if you wish) just use a rear handled saw. Top handled saw use is only covered in a couple of theory questions.

Nope. It does not in the slightest. No NPTC assessments require the use or demonstration of a top handled saw. I guess it's a nettle that no one has ever has the nuts to grasp!

As has been said, a hellish experience for all involved I am impressed that, from what I have read, so few one hander a top handled saw. My experience is very different. It is strange we have so much training and assessment in this industry, yet nothing that requires you to be trained or assessed with using a top handled saw. I wonder why that is?

Check out the Workplace (health safety and welfare) regs 1992 if you want a more legislative view on the subject. http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l24.htm

I don't think that's a rant. It's totally to the point and needed to be said. I don't know about all those who wear a poppy as a fashion item once a year, but I know that most who will be standing silently in the cold / wet tomorrow will be thinking of a whole lot more than the curiously titled "glorious dead" . I feel for those affected by Paul's death, this will always be a tough time.

I couldn't agree more. The Britain of WW1 is an eon away from the Britain of back then. The world now is so shrunk. Back then, lads who had never even left their village were taken and dumped is a nightmare that even now you could barely comprehend. I can't see how you could cope with that, even if you do survive. And by Christ did some of those old boys survive. Tough tough nuts. I remember watching Blackadder goes forth back when it first came out on the telly. Although classic British telly, I watched every episode with the growing unease that the series was soon going to have to come to an end, and there was no way that final episode could be anything but disrespectful crap. Somethings just aren't for comedy, and I could not see a way that it could get concluded without leaving a very bad taste in the mouth. What they in fact did with those closing moments was genius, and in my opinion, one of the finest bits of British telly ever broadcast.

The harness will have to fit you. If you try and fit yourself to the harness, you will have an unpleasant time. The only way to find a good harness is to hang about in as many as possibleasy before you die. The rest of the kit is just selected by choosing the colours you like.

I'm in. 'Can't be arsed to' is not considered a valid option in this house.

I am not sure that TCD is too likely to respond unfortunately, but I would put myself into the ring and declare an interest as I am an old git with rose tinted specs of happy-go-lucky times past. If you can get happy snappin', that would be great.

Can you / could you? If the question is whether or not you would be able to 'get it past its LOLER', that depends on the whim of the individual examiner. For me, It would need to be in good nick, properly identifiable and with a paper trail back to its origional purchase. Should you? Whole different question...

I wonder what the explanation is for the puns stopping.... I guess it's because there are just no other supermakets. I can't think of any Mor risons.

More likely to be soap in a towel. Think I'll pass up on the blanket party, if its all the same......

tbh, the real joy of being self employed is all the money you can place lovingly offshore and then borrow back.

Oh yeah. Now I look, I see the leaner droppin in the first second of the clip. Missed that first time around. Was the general consensus also that as well as a great running commentary, the bloke filming it did well to not do what most people do and point the camera at the floor when it all kicked off?