jarborist

' Yes I have actually 60ft beech was probably the biggest so far. ' wow. Always heard about forum opinions but still genuinely amazed paddy you offer yours so forthrightly. No ill will meant. Good luck with it all.

'just saddens me now most sites and life in general is ran by idiots with risk assessments trying to justify there positions in life by making up and justifying what ever stupid idea that pops in to there head because they have a degree. ' 'Therein lies the problem IMO. People who are in charge of governing an industry’s safe practices, with only limited practical experience within the industry.' 👍👍👍 Speaking to a lot of them over the years. They have a weird arrogance right down to how they talk about arbs in general (although they would call themselves arbs too). Note to self : Need to just keep cracking on with my own thing.

👍 Although I imagine they may not have that exact agenda. They just don't care. I've been trying to use two lines as often as possible. (not tried it in conifers yet) I've found what most of us knew: you can do it. It's often very awkward . It doesn't often increase safety. It's interesting where it can be useful. But overall it can increase the danger in quite a few scenarios. Just like a lot of things (eg. More tickets for everything) I can't see it reducing accidents. If the hse spoke to some arbs who work maybe they might find some better answers to reducing accidents.

As Mark said, but as mick said too - not so practical as you hope it might be.

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Would take up lux on his offer. I have a stein trolley. Put off getting one for a long time due to cost. Went through loads of sack trolleys in the meantime. And the stein does way more options (bit like the Chinese offering). It's heavy but weirdly once its loaded you don't notice it. From your initial description it's exactly what you need. Watch regs video on how to use it and the you see the options.

If you have any chance to practice climbing before the course, do it. The same as you've likely done on cs38. Pick a few branches. Work out best routes and best rope management. Get to branch, anchor on ready to cut. Also then imagine you've cut that bit off - how do you then manage ropes to move back along branch, anchor, cut, repeat.

Turn up on time, raking, throwline, no phone use, all good tips. The books mentioned are all good but also all old. For tree climbing the arb assoc have a new tech guide. Drier than jepsom but 20years newer.

Everyone who's used mine when it's working agrees. And yes, agree with the rest of comment. Cos round me at least most folks are being put off by the downtime.

Iron mike. I think your succinct post might be right - wish you were wrong.

lux, Very sorry to hear your woes (and Gray git) - was hoping I was an exception. I bought an ST6P a year ago and the list of issues is very similar to yours from start to now (110hrs- double you ! ). I had a Jensen A530Di before for 14years (small outfit , used only 3 days a week) and owner operated so it has minimal abuse. Jensen was still pretty good when I sold it. Bought a Forst 1) as its British 2) thought they would have copied the best bits of Jensen as I bought mine from them originally 3) emissions. 4) sucker for a free beer at the show . Ironically I wasn't bothered with being below 750kg, just didn't want it over the 850kg or so of the Jensen. As I say very similar list of woes with a particularly spectacular threatening handover thrown in at the start. (as you say some good support following all the breakdowns which is appreciated but certainly no recognition of mistakes on their part and too many...............). Was feeling particularly despondent just before xmas when I got a chirpy call from a sales rep at Forst asking for feedback. I laughed and asked him several times did he really want feedback as I had a lot. He insisted he did. He suggested 1/2 way through the chat/rant that I write it all down and I said I would rather not and he said no problem tell him on the phone. I did ,he said someone would contact me . Email followed from an other saying could I write it down and again explain all the issues. I said i'd rather tell them on the phone, again. He replied to say he was travelling all the following week so couldn't take comprehensive notes(which seems a bit weird to me ) - could I write it down. I pointed out that they had contacted me , asked me for feedback and I had even suggested they might not want it. Another email saying they would try and ring me the week after (before xmas). Nothing as yet......... I know my own business is not perfect. I know we all have issues this year . At the very least why bother phoning me for feedback ? Little bit worried that my 14 years of saving to buy this chipper might not have been well spent. Been planning to write the email. Good luck lux. You sound very reasonable to me - hopefully they will be too. Forst . I think a lot of us would like to back you , but ...............??

To Rich. Agree with the sentiment........

Job well done Jon. Great video. Unless you mind will use it for training here too . I've been meaning to do similar for years - never done it. So very well done and thank you. All clear and correct!

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Am was guessing same as you Paul. Sometimes you think it's around something and turns out it's not quite as you imagine when you get up there.

As Joe said. As opposed to 'bone fide' subcontractor which eg they are given job sheet and go to site with their own truck chipper and groundsman. In my experience, as both freelance climber and employer if its relatively small some climbers feel Bad and sort it themselves and if it's big it's the main contractors job to sort it, but in law as far as I know : responsibility is as Joe said : same as if there's an accident, same reason you need employers liability even though he's not an employee. This is all pretty recognised clear in law now I thought - the nuance comes with how in charge of the job the climber is.

Pete. Short answer - no. To expand answer will end up fairly lengthy. Get an arborist who recommends the same pruning and he will explain it all. If he recommends something else then it's a moot point.

Mick, Can only go with my experience and observation, yours is obviously different /wrong ?

Agree with mtt tr. Bit of reduction, lift, thin but all lightly , should give you 3 years at least. Won't get swathes of light , yes you have to do it again , but it will give more light, and in my experience in this sort of situation works far better than a heavy cut .................its all a compromise.....................Just don't then be tempted to cut it heavier next time and the time after. Stubby has a point too.. move the greenhouse.

Dan Maynard - I struggled to remember the zeppelin as well , until I heard an alternative name the 'b & q ' knot. After the occasional bit of frowning I haven't forgotten it since. Those who don't know it, you make a b with one end of rope and a q with the other , and then you are almost there.

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Don't disagree with any of your last post mick D, including the vibes part, . (when I said 'its a fairly hard job I was talking generally definitely not this particular job).

Always interested how quickly tree surgeons say other tree surgeons have over priced a job, when in another conversation they will be pointing out how we can't charge enough with our overheads , and lack of recognition of skill. It happens on here a lot and on site too where one firm will say how expensive another firm is (usually based on one or two prices they have quoted against - not the others where the quote was too low/just right). I certainly don't support the rip off costing at an extreme end, but £500.00 - £1000.00. We should all wonder - how far is the tree surgeon travelling ( I know I sometimes get recommended and when I say on the initial phone call - no problem, but obviously it will cost more than someone local as I am far away the client sometimes seems surprised) , where's the tip site , and as Struie said in this example we don't know how long the drag is. I know even without felling it wont take long to dismantle , - but there's a fair amount of debris there. Yes you can do another job, but a lot of firms will need to tip off first, narrowing the timescale for further work . I definitely over fret about not wanting to over charge . Does the op mean £1000.00 including VAT ? We also know that we all have different angles in running trucks etc (big, small, 4x4) that mean we win on some and lose on some jobs, but that doesn't mean we over priced it - for us. Overall , unless its an obvious complete rip off my impression when we slate others is sometimes we are , at least unconsciously, saying - hey I'm really good I can do that quickly this other person is charging too much cos they cant do it as quickly. When really a lot of us wish we could charge more cos its a fairly hard job and it would be good to be able to keep doing it without working at 100mph every day and get some recognition for some effort involved - and that's without discussing getting rid of arisings, and the true , or perceived cost there. In the end this is a member of the public , and we all know how often people think the work should be done for the timber and a beer , why further that with all the negativity ? Struie I think you gave a great answer - and bit more succinct than mine . Jess - good luck with it , get a few quotes if you are not sure.

I ve found a few of the stein trousers to be really good in hot countries.

Basically what Dan blocker said. Done some similar and the ones I still see survived. The ones I dont see - don't know but suspect they are fine. Often hand dug the edges but as long as you tidy them up ( old handsaw etc) - it's all similar. Hope it goes well.