Paul Jenks

My lads have them. I've looked at others and these seem to do the job very well. Of course it has been a pretty dry year so far. Also they don't much like wearing waterproofs in the summer as it's soooooooooooo bloody hot and sweaty. There are little touches that set them apart from the competition, one of which is having the scratchy, aggressive bit of velcro facing away from your neck, unlike some others. Also the the arm lengths seem to conform to standard human dimensions.

Spelling mistakes and syntax errors notwithstanding.

Beat me to it. I was just going to say use sthil instead.

The Romans used to have about 20,000 hectares of willow pollards across the South of England for fuel for foundaries and for livestaock fodder. If I can get my hands on the book I read, Forestry Commision Publication, I'll post it's title. If you travel down through Northern France you'll see many oaks that have been cut off at about 30-40 feet high and stripped of limbs. The re-growth is used for fodder in harsh winters. I forget what the technical term is. The definition of a pollard is covered in this thread and it's in the new BS3998. Also, it's a term used by many to mean either managing an existing stem with lots of regeneration growth on it by cutting it all off periodically or simply cutting the top off a tree to create a stem that may develop regeneration growth, to be managed, may die, or may develop regeneration growth that eventually grows into a lapsed pollard or tree. This is an attempt to take a little of the heat out of the discussion, which is ever going to be a battle between the purists, the realists and the ignorant. For the record I sit firmly in the camp between the realists and the purists.

I've heard also that there is a move by some clients to not allow conventional chainsaws in MEWPs. I think it's because of the drop starting. So these are just the ticket for street tree lifting. Not very practical fo chogging down though.

We use Stihl Bio. Expensive and easy and no problems. The blokes ballistics smell bad enough without getting second hand chip fat all over them and the seats in the trucks. When I first started we used to use second hand engine oil. Carconogenic, I'm told now. Also, as it has no anti-fling properties it goes everywhere and as it generally has minute bits of metal and sump scrunge in it it'll wear our pump, bar and chain.

Manna

Depends how big the house is I suppose:lol:

We have a camon for the small ones and a rayco for the bigger or easier to get to stumps. Most of the hire companies use the camon. It's not self-propelled so can be a bit rugged on the user. It's light so easy to manhandle. With sharp teeth I'll tackle anything with it. Had it six+ years and the old girl is still going. It's had a few new bits and bobs and looks like a six+ year old contractors machine. The rayco is the 25hp petrol super junior and is a bit of a jesse really. It's a big thing for what it actually does. Had to replace the engine after 1100hrs and the toothed belts go annually given the number of users and the lack of respect it gets. If it's just one user and they have a bit of sense it's a nice machine if not pushed too hard. Bully it into stumps like you would a big diesel hydraulic one and bits break. Camon<£3000 Rayco approx £10k For a first machine I'd go camon every time.

See what I mean.

We do them a bit and we have one in Henley-on-Thames to do on Wednesday. We usually push to have any works done in the winter though every so often the client wants it doing sooner, so there is a premium on it. The leaves and the seed pods are, as was said above, horrid. Whether you are working in the canopy or on the ground. We use pretty good goggles that completely seal the eyes and top notch disposable masks. Of course, when the leaves are on it's usually warmer so it's doubley obnoxious. Suffer the heat and sweat and do try not to take off the mask and goggles whilst in the tree and use an airline or blower to clear yourselves off before doing so. Also check the radiator on the chipper periodically as it gets blocked quite quickly with the fine hairs.

There is an old Turkish saying that goes something like,'I used to complain I had no shoes, 'til I saw a man with no feet.' I'm not making that post to belittle the stresses I know people feel. Stress is a strange and misunderstood beast that manifests itself in so many different ways. Reflexology was and is a way I have of keeping grounded. Also a herbal tea called bedtime tea. It has camomile and other stuff in it. Try a box for a couple of weeks and see how you sleep. It's amazing. It just helps the brain wind down a bit. I've even bought boxes of it for staff members. I use it every night. Shame it doesn't stop the kids from waking me up though. Easy to get back to sleep.

You're not required to enter details about start pionts and end points. The tacho is there to record the drivers hours, time in the vehicle, breaks etc. With the tacho cards you have to get a digital downloader. More expense. The cards we've got seem to fill up pretty quickly so if you use it regularly you need to down load often.

CRB has to be initiated by the body for whom your company wants to work. You don't just go to CRB and get checked. Technically you have to have a seperate check commissioned by each client who requires one. I.e. If your company expects you to work in a school. a housing association or 2 and a hospital you should be checked by all of them seperately. In reality one check will usually suffice. If the check comes up with a chequered past your employer may be asked by the companies for whom you are going to work to produce a risk assessment and management strategy to monitor and audit behaviour whilst working on their sites. In summary, get your mate to be honest with his employer, and get him to help with the risk assessments etc. Then when the past rears it's slightly disfigured head they already know what to expect and how to deal with it. When I had mine done the risk assessment paperwork came back from the county council asking whether a)I'd notified my employer of the offences and b)If not why not. I replied that whilst interviewing myself for the position of managing director of my own company I didn't feel the need to remind myself of an offence of breaking and entering when I was 14 years old and felt that the likelihood of this being an issue in the persuance of my day to day activities was doubtful.:lol:

Really?Send us a postcard then.

You sure you've not been at the cash machine. That dye is a git to get off too. So I've heard.

Heat the room a bit and more of the moisture will stay in the air and be extracted with it rather than condense on surfaces. Better insulation will help with the condensation too. Also, there should be some way for dryer air, preferably warm too, or at least not cold, to come in at the same rate as the extraction. And don't spend so long masturbating in the shower.:lol:

Yes it was an oak. I think there was a bit of decay from some historic landscaping damage. I'm guessing the thought of building a suitable kennel that had the capacity to self-support and stay watertight from the random bits of timber scattered about the garden, or using the discarded fridge-freezer was out-weighed by the solution that ultimately presented itself after a couple of hard earned beers one night.:lol:

I think he used a new type of resistograph that Stihl market as something else.:lol:

The purists are gonna hate me but. It's still quite a young tree and despite what the books say young beech trees respond quite well to pruning. And before you all start on me. Of course it has to be done carefully and you'll end up with a thicker foliar cover etc etc blah blah. We've managed trees and even gradually reduced the size down over a number of years. As soon as you go down the road of management pruning you will need to be made aware of the ongoing/future issues and costs that will arise from canopy pruning. If it was in my garden and it was that close I'd probably give it a haircut. The other options are live with it getting bigger or remove and replant.

The dog kennel stayed. And we left it high enough to retain its structural integrity and maintain a suitably dry habitat for the resident mutt.

Check out the Canon G11, Better than the G12. Semi-pro compact. 20x zoom 10+ megapixel. takes a 16gig card. All the camera you'll need. Been borrowing one for a few weeks. Awesome pics and not too much delay on the shutter. Amazon £270

I believe it was already a bit decayed, but, personally, I don't think the tenant carving out a dog kennel was the right thing to do.

False steer. Sorry the mods took the 3rd on off. Keep trying. The answer will be up shortly.

Not the first 2. Wouldn't like to pass comment on the 3rd.:lol: