Shane

Leaving it (safely) jacked up with axle stands would be fine. Just make sure (obvious I suppose) the wheels are kept elsewhere

On a serious note it seems like a good idea, have you contacted the local churches? They must have a local boss (bishop?) you could contact and maybe get some contacts. It's a good idea, if I were you I'd keep a lid on it.

Last time there was talk of a grave-diggers strike, we had lots of panic dying round here.

Come to Worthing you'd be in work for ever! Mind you its a bit of a (sorry I can't bring myself to type it) .... end job.

One of the local guys in Worthing went out first thing the morning after the 87 hurricane and bough every chainsaw in the town! The diy warriors couldn't find any so what could they do? After he had earned a fair wedge 'helping' everyone out he then sold chainsaws to them so they could cut up the timber for burning. So - set your alarm clocks, credit cards at the ready.

Latest from an echo dealer - they have a small bit in the linkage (a kind of short 'scrificial' shaft) that is designed to fail before the shaft is shafted. It costs £15.00 to replace. Sounds like a miles better design than the Stihl. Sarting to look like I've bought my last deutch shaftencutter. I hear an echo in the distance.

Had a call earlier asking if I would be free to clear up the tree IF IT DID BLOW OVER in the coming storm. Must be my first hypothetical booking ever. She then phoned back to ask if I would go round today and take the top out anyway! By this time the rain was lashing and wind was increasing - so I suggested she wait and see what happens rather than spend money on the assumption...

It's looking like the 265 might be the answer then.

18 Stoner, Do echo suggest irts safer to use the 265 extended? I've just set up a new thread asking about long trimmers, then I stumbled across this one and your post is 90% of the answer I was looking for. Thanks Shane

We are often asked if we watch Axmen and if we work like that. You have to laugh. We have been known to reply 'I never wanted to do this for a living - I always wanted to be ... a lumberjack!'

What about grinding the stump?

I try to let the revs drop before applying the brake. Snedding is an area for debate. If you are keeping both feet fixed and just 'swinging' the saw it would drive you nuts to put the brake on after every cut - however if you are lifting the saw over the stem TOWARDS your side, even if you don't move your feet, then I'd like to think I would put the brake on. I know I'm a bit of a clumsy git and I probably trip over in the brash at least twice a day. Don't think I dare move without the brake on. If I see any of my guys moving without the brake on I scream at them.

Confession time! Forgive me Father for I have been using my Stihl HT75 telescopic pole with a hedge cutter attached. My local dealer has told me many times that this is a bad idea because there is no clutch provision in the drive train in case the cutters meet an immovable object. As ever I always know best and have continued to abuse it for reaching really high hedges - AND - I've got through three sets of the telescopic poles in the process (the engine itself is still going strong). At over £200 a go I'm getting fed up so I'm only going to use the chainsaw attachment from now on. Is there a decent hedge trimming set up that will do the job? I understand that the echo 300 (which comes with the chainsaw as standard) can have a hedge trimmer attached which should not impact on the 2 year professional warranty. Are there any other ways to get something like a 4mtr reach? Even with this we are often on the top step of a 12 step s/ladder so nothing shorter will really do. PS - I don't think the set up on Steve Blair's avatar is for me.

Shouldn't have had it fitted at Halfords.

OOOOeee!!! That looks like it could have been a lot worse. Still very un-nice though

Thanks for your comments everyone - not really a guaranteed right answer but certainly some sound principles to adhere to. Easylift, thanks for the good wishes for my mum, it's looking like an operation will be required so the other stuff fades into insignificance really. Thanks again Shane

Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!

I don't like Mondays (cue for a song there). They say crud happens in threes. Last night my mum turned up at the door in loads of pain. I took her to the local hospital (shes been in worsening pain for a few days since she fell off her bike). Got there at 8:00 last night and at 5:15 this morning (still in A and E) they concluded she probably has a cracked hip. They are keeping her in for further checks. Hopefully thats my three dodgy things over with - maybe cancel the rest of today. Mind you, my mum's problem puts the planting and haggling customer issues into perspective. At least Monday is over now. Let's see what Tuesday brings.

After the planting fiasco this morning I thought the day couldn't get any worse = wrong:sneaky2: While I was finishing typing the other thread a 'customer' phoned me. We've done loads of work for him over the years always a happy bunny. Over the last year I've spent many hours writing reports and TPO apps for him so he could finally get permission to remove a couple of protected trees ans tidy up some others. With site visits, phone calls and writing up I'd say 6-8 hours - all for no charge because we were going to do the work. Some months ago he got approval - subject to a bat survey. He has finally found someone to do the bat survey but they have mysteriously offered to do the bat survey AND all the work for the same price as I had quoted. So he phoned me to see if I would knock £500 off my price top pay for the bat survey by them and then I do the work. I'm speechless (most unusual) maybe willing to knock a bit off but it looks like he's shown them my quote and done some haggling. Thinking maybe I should not budge on price and remind him of what I've already done - but it is 6 days work with a long established customer. I know if I was replying to a message like this I'd say the guy is a ..... and not the sort of customer I need anymore - and maybe he's bluffing anyway??? Aaaargh:thumbdown:

It's not just the mobile-dwelling fraternity who do this there have been numerous rogue trader programs where house-dwelling blob-life do this. If they can prove whose waste has been dumped, maybe the home-owner who employed them in the first place should foot the bill. I believe this has happened in some instances already. This would make people more likely to consider disposal license issues etc. when selecting their contractor.

How do you know the horse didn't die there? Maybe like the elephants, when they get sick they wander off to the nearest lay-by to die.

The only other thing I can think of to 'discourage' and make safe those who insist on coming through is a hand held air horn - operated by the head groundie! The procedure, purely on safety grounds, would be to give a blast as close to the transgressor as possible. This extremely loud noise will be heard by the climber (even above the chainsaw noise) so he will know to stop cutting - and will even know where the danger is. Thie would only ever be on the grounds of safe working practices and NEVER to cause any discomfort/embarrassement to the person ignoring other warnings. It can even be part of your actions on the risk assessment! The only down side I can see is that the person may need a change of underwear, but as long as our documented procedure is to make their safety paramount I guess any court of law would consider that you did all you can and the act was not malicious. I'm off to get one on Monday.

Stevie Ray Vaughan just does a brilliant version of a Hendrix classic. Chill out music! [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxS3Z_oshmA]SRV - Little Wing (Lorelei, Germany '84) - YouTube[/ame]

The engine alone must be worth most of that. Dont really NEED it but if I lived closer I might be tempted. Good find, sir.

Peope are creatures of habit. Round our way we are often told things like 'This is a public footpath and I am a member of the public' 'Ive used this path for 60 years and I'm not going to stop because of a few sticks' Dean is spot on, we live in a litigative society and who knows, those who do come through the barriers are the ones who would be looking for a claim. Given that we know what people are like, based on the evidence in this thread we must assume the worst and work accordingly. As a previous poster said people see us as being in their way on their territory. Whatever happens, if the courts are going to support this 'claims for morons' approach we must alloow for it both in pricing and work methods. It's wrong - but it's how it is. Until it changes be extra careful.