Paul Jenks

Multi-purpose 3-section Ladder Premium 3x10 rungs, Length extension ladder 3,1 - 7,3m Height of stepladder 3 - 4,8m | Ladders | brennenstuhl We use these. Pricey and good

It might come from the saw owners using bio and non-bio. They're not supposed to be compatible. We've been using Stihl bio for ten years and have no problems with gunk.

If you've got the space and can afford it, it is always a good idea to keep a second machine. Even with a new one bits fall off and break. Your old machine has earnt its place at the back of the workshop, owes you nothing and won't affect your PnL. Having a spare to bring out in case of a breakdown or part failure can save a lot of time and money. Also, unless you go for exactly the same machine again, you may find each machine eats different types of brash better. Hedge clippings and ivy may feed into the older machine a little easier so you use that one for those jobs.

Na. We didn't use the heli in the end. We were going to use it for the wood extraction but it was such a small garden and the tree, a big(8' across at the base) horse chestnut, didn't lend itself to stropping bits quickly. From memory it would have cost about £1kph. The travel time from their base was only about 10 minutes. To justify using it we'd have had to have all the wood in 700-800kg bits stropped and ready. As is usually the case the garden was a pocket handkerchief and the tree was over 50 metres from the road, through the house so a crane was a none starter(insurance premium of £10k+). Took 5 guys a week.

Nice one. Those heli pilots are pretty good. Shame we have tighter lifting limits in this country. Only one tonne as opposed to two on the continent. It does limit the usefulness of heli extraction. We have a company just round the corner from us that does this type of lifting. We had CAA approval for an extraction in North Oxford but the weight limit tipped it over the edge on pricing. Ended up with the wheel barrow option as posted earlier

Varnish Try this

I forgot to mention juice. Along with the standard food we regularly make juice. Evening is usually a pint of carrot, lemon(skin on), beetroot, apple and ginger Breakfast, (only on the w/e as it makes noise and wakes the kids), is a juice/smoothie. Pineapple, kale, ginger, celery, cucumber, apple, avocado. Recently my juicer packed up and it's amazing how crap I felt not having it. Upgraded to a bling Sage Nutri Juicer Pro. Feel great again. Just waiting for the household to wake up before embarking on my daily dose of goodness.

We didn't have twins, though did have three kids under 4. I tried helping with the night-time feeds and it nearly killed me. Get into a routine, especially at bedtime. Get rid of the TV and drink camomile tea before bed. Communicate and ensure you get some decent sleep through the night. It sounds sexist but she will be able to manage if you take care of some of the day to day stuff. Make sure she and your eldest are well fed and cared for and she'll care for the little ones. Do the basics, washing, washing up, shopping, cleaning. Get used to being a zombie for a couple of years and be diligent with theirs and your feeding and sleep patterns. Don't neglect your eldest. The remarkable thing with love is its inexhaustible capacity to grow and there will be an abundance in the household. Ensure you tell your boy he is loved even though the wee ones require a little more time at the moment. Oh, and your partner.

30% seems a rather arbitrary amount. Does the report give any lengths. Before carrying out any works I would want to be sure of the exact dimensions of the sections to come off and what is to be retained. A heavy reduction is likely to upset the tree and the symbiosis of the tree/fungi relationship and a light reduction, (30% foliar) is unlikely to mitigate the hazard. Ensure you have a detailed specification for works agreed with the owner and the report writer and carry out the works diligently and precisely. That way the indemnification lies with the report writer not the contractor.

ART ropeguide 2010 150cm | F R Jones and Son This is what I use

We concentrate on treework. Being financially better off isn't the key driver. Fulfilment is. I enjoy what I do and so do the guys. I'm endeavouring to create a legacy that will run and evolve itself with or without me. Yes, there is an element of wealth creation. I'm content with the bills paid and a bit to buy nice things if I want. Focus on what you enjoy and do it well. It's all fine and dandy thinking you'll spend your life earning a pot of cash to spend thru retirement. Life is a journey. It doesn't have to be a struggle and more often than not folk realise this too late. I could have got into building and development back in the 80's. Glad I didn't as with my gung-ho attitude I'd probably have asbestosis or some other building related disease. Also, I don't like the character of most developers so not sure I'd have liked myself.

What Stubby said

I wash mine with warm soapy water and inspect regularly. Seems ok to me, doesn't slip and self-tails better. (I use BT too.)

Muesli for breakfast Sandwiches, (olive ciabatta meat, tomatoes) Salad and or pasta meal for tea Supplemented with the odd muffin or danish. Between 3 and 8 litres of water and tea/coffee

I've spent a number of years beating adaptability, metaphorically speaking, into the guys. They are now a pretty resourceful group and yes, I do learn a lot from them too. The point about learning how to apply knowledge beyond the primary function of that knowledge, 6x7=42, is well made. The dualistic way people are taught to do things stifles invention and lateral thinking.

Discuss your options with the client. If they are worth working for you may be able to get part payment up front for materials and some of you labour costs. Most builders etc will ask for 40% up front. Or endeavour to get a few short duration jobs that'll pay straight away and dot them in throughout the longer projects. That way you'll get a steady, if meagre, stream of cash.

Wasn't astro turf was it? Some of it is very good. Not sure how to put it down though.

Following on from a comment from Jamie M on a recent thread I felt the need to share this. When carrying out operations that fall outside the scope of 'normal' in the tree or on the ground, I endeavour to explain to all the guys around me what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, how it might be done another way and what I base my decisions on. This may be before, during or after. The older and sometimes wiser ones amongst us will know there is more than one way to skin a cat. Many of us learnt our craft before any form of institutionalised regime labelled it. I am very positive about the way the teaching of arboriculture has dragged the industry forward. There are always head scratching moments where no amount of training will get a job done. Introducing my team to the data in my head derived from a few years of trial, error and success in a controlled way is, in my view, a sound way to convert a good technician into a master of his or her craft. Slavishly following someone who is more adept at a skill without knowing the empirical learning that built the skill will likely end in someone trying a task that is beyond them without knowing the risks associated with it. It may work or it may not. Without analysis, is it learning?

Just added it to favourites

Learning Life's Lessons Through Adversity This does mention god once, which is unfortunate as it's not about religion, it's about learning.

I used to use the arm protectors when they first came out. Apart from encouraging cut and hold because of perceived safety, the saw tended to skid along the sleeve and grab your wrist if you got it wrong. Fortunately, this only happened once and I was quick enough to release saw and branch to get my hand out of the way. Never wore them again. I still cut an hold from time to time and am much, much more careful about it.

Depends on how hungry you are

We only ever use head torches and headlights. It's no use having too much light as the climber is blinded and/or the groundies can't see what is going on aloft. Good hi-viz clothing with intact reflective strips and decent led head torch. I use a bike light that has several brightness settings. The brightest is 320 lumens and this is good for inspecting though too bright for working. Get ones with usb charging.

We're either fairly busy, very busy or mental. I suppose if we took no more work on now we'd see ourselves through to the new year. However the purchase orders keep turning up. Managing clients expectations is key. Some get lost in the process, though this is rare. We have always endeavoured to look after our existing clients. Most will wait, though some will always have real emergencies, (highways, MOD, nuclear, etc) and so we tend to always retain an element of flexibility. We have about 4-6 months of work in the pipeline so I hope none of this comes through to be done before Christmas. God help us when the mad March spend kicks in.

There's two issues here. Firstly, if you do a bit of work with the big saw, get a new one. Secondly, open a human dialogue with your mate and express how you feel about the situation. Not what you think, what you feel. This way you will exorcise your hurt, anger, annoyance, without dumping it directly on him and eliciting an automatic defensive response.