Bolt

Sub contracting may require a load of expensive gear, insurance, and enough cash to cover you till the money starts coming in. You will still need to find enough work, and you may get dropped like a stone at any moment. If you are fully kitted out you are well on the way, if not it is a gamble. If your name is out there already, go around the companies once more and offer them the subby option, but I wouldn't shell out too much unless you have some more positive offers of work.

Or car door, according to your other post. You must be gutted.

Is this the same as working with smart people and thick people?, because if so, I think I do this as well :-)

Perfect, and we could stash whats left of my posessions in the back

Nice. Would you describe the front bumper as friendy? I may watch out for you when I'm about with the bike / pram

An insurance policy and willing customers with money, I guess. I like how you are thinking

The only consistant thing in my life, is my ability to take a perfectly OK situation and mess about with it. Therefore this is not advice. Some people choose the academic route from life. Hang around in seats of learning, learning more and more about less and less till they know everything about nothing. They then trot into a job and earn a nice wedge, or pass what they havent forgotten yet on to others. This all seems to me very boring until you get to the 'earning a nice wedge' stage, but the problem is many have got too boring by this stage to enjoy it. Many tree people choose doing somthing you enjoy, straight out of school. Instant gratification, with some cash thrown in. The problem occurs when you start thinking that maybe there is a little more. All to soon, those educated types are 'looking down on you'. sod 'em Feeling disatisfied as others get 'better' has always been a curse of mine. I carry along nicely for a month or 5, then something happens, and I become very dissatisfied with my lot. I then sign up for OU courses, cast about for new jobs or embark on 'becoming a chainsaw instructor' missions. After a while it all dies down and I am happy with my lot once more. This is the problem with being in an industry that is basically great, although individual situations leave a lot to be desired at times. It's just too easy to put up with it and plod along. Here is the saving grace of the tree industry... Its easy to tack about in it. In my time I have been a piece rate subby. An employer. An employee. A freelance instructor. An assessor. A contract manager. A H+S auditor. A sub contractor. In hind sight no move has ever been a mistake, but I do regret that sometimes I didn't move sooner. Loving your working life is a great gift, but it can come with a heavy burden. You certainly have a presence on arbtalk, I can see why you shouldn't have an equal one in the real world. PS. I got many £K from the OU to support learning towards a degree. It ain't going to be an arb degree, but it'll be a degree all the same. It should be in the bag by about 2017 (unless I get dissatisfied in the meantime) Ha Ha.

My, Tony! That really is a big saw. Not sure I would trust myself with a chain that long, let alone other Arbs! Plenty of sharpening fun for a few moments carelesness. Welcome, by the way.

A close shave. At first I thought it was a younster, but I suppose they don't have the red bits. Could have been worse. Could have been Ants, Hornets etc!

When I started, the bloke I was with reckoned you had to earn your "Thorn Ticket" before you could climb anything else. This was mainly gained in Hawthorn, with a bit of Holly thrown in for contrast. His logic, (he said) was that it was very hard to fall out of a thorn. Hmmmmmm.

Arbclimber has invested £3K in a comfy sofa. Jonsie has invested in inflatable seating (and thinks we all should do the same :-). Treequip is making fun of the men who puts little flags on their cars. TimberCutterDartmoor can't understand why we would invest in the production amd purchase of this tat (especially when there is Merlin V12's out there to be had). Hama is off fishing. Whats you view on football (especially world cup football). Is it what you live for? Are you going to shoot your TV / are you going out for a looooong long time? Are you only interested in world cups?

There is an obvious joke to be made here. So I wont.

O yes, I see what you are saying (now I have read your post) Fair point, you are quite right, its all silly.

I guess tha goal post are there to show the "safe area", and will therefore include a nice margin of error / distance. It would be a bit pointless if they were positioned at exactly the point where things got, shall we say, interesting. I shouldnt think it wouldn't matter of they were made of metal (just like the trucks passing beneath them)

Near miss reporting... Tool box talks... Re training... Risk assessments. I suppose they all have a place. The problem is, although they are useful in some situations, they are not that nessessary in all situations. For example, The HSE investigate accidents and mishaps in all areas of industry. They observe that in the majority of situations that they investigate, a (recorded) risk assessment was not undertaken. Thay note that where a risk assessment was undertaken (or recorded), accidents / incidents did not happen. They conclude (and publish the "fact") that not doing a risk assessment led to the incident. Are they correct? Of course not. Its a simple case that if you are diligent enough to do a (mostly pointless) risk assessment, you are also diligent enough to do other stuff "right" as well. (moan moan moan, rant rant, need more wine)

Time to put the neat, un-tarnished lawns behind you, Mr Blair, and find some proper sideslopes to track across:001_smile:.

Can't call it a wee chipper any more tho' What is the correct term for something thats a lot bigger than Wee?

Can't believe you are are re-railing the thread talking about chippers when we are talking about Spitfire engines. Have you no soul? What we really need is a Spitfire engine T Shirt :-)

Come on. This is the council we are talking about here. I am sure thay have a bean counter (or maybe two) to keep track of exactly all that expense. IMO, if the council has to spend money on trucks, it may as well be arbtrucks (that will be released amonst the rest of us in a few short years )

RR V12 Merlin. I defy any true brit who hears one pass overhead to not have the hairs on the back of their neck stand up.

When it comes to sitting on the sofa, your dog can't take a hint

...or record yorself a nice video as you work:lol:

Keeping the "spare hand" well out of the way 'eh? Or is it just ready to push the back of the tree as she goes over

If only it was as easy as two copper nails

could? or should? I would have thought 14" would be more than enough. As for the chain, If you know about chain pitch and gauge, it should be easy enough to find yourself a replacement. (though IMO, I reckon Stihl chain is the best). If you don't know about chain pitch and gauge, you are best to take the saw to a shop where they do (proper garden machinery type shop) and ask them for one to fit. At a guess its 3/8 inch pitch, .050 inch gauge and goodness knows how many drivelinks (should be stamped / printed on the bar). All the best...