Sean.S

Hi all, Looking for someone to come with me to do some bat tree assessments as a groundie (must have CS38 / Tree Climbing & Aerial Rescue unit) in the next week. There will invariably be future work doing the same. If you're interested please contact me via email as I may forget to check this: sean [at] aewc.co.uk Please include your experience and day rate. Cheers Sean

Bump - Now available this week coming (12th - 15th May)

Hi all, Just moved back to the Bath area and I'm looking to fill some dates before my main contracts kick off for the year. The usual: Over 5 years experience climbing, 4 full time with a LA and 1.5 years as a subbie. CS Units: 30, 31, 32, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41 Brushcutter, Hedgecutter, Chipper Full climbing kit. No rigging kit or saws (unless desperately required, I'm yet to be asked to bring my saws but it's good to specify in case!) More than happy to run the ground as an experienced climber. Available from now until around the 12th May. Asking £120 a day. Any questions please ask. Contact Sean on 07917356880. Cheers

The SJ's self tending that everybody thinks of when using DdRT is lost when transferred to SRTWP - as you're almost never pulling yourself up on the rope above the device. Most of the time you're pulling the rope through the device from below, so self tending isn't a factor that comes into it. The zero sitback, however, does. The only time that self tending really comes in to play is when you're working a dense crown with a ladder like branch structure - if you clip on your chest harness/bungee/neck loop and just climb the tree, the rope falls straight through the device. I haven't used a SJ / RW combo, I have a knut tuned so that it has almost zero sitback and will fall through when climbing as I just mentioned. Just something to think about. The other question is - what is the SJ rated to, load wise? Obviously it is designed to hold one half of the load (when used DdRT), so putting a full load on the attachment point seems a little dodgy (as in SRTWP), but I'm sure I've seen some drop tests on here that show it holding up?

Bump again Been super busy but scheduled work is coming to an end now. I'm free this week (w/c 12th Aug), and w/c 26th August. If anybody needs a hand please feel free to email or call: s.shereston[at]gmail[dot]com / O7917 356 88O

I usually set up basically the same system as demonstrated in the Treestuff video - except for the rescue "kit" is just my second climbing rope already in a grigri. As just mentioned - I don't like the 'no panic' feature of the F8. Although this means the rescuer has to be at the anchor to tend the grigri, fact is if I'm hurt enough that I can't lower myself to the ground I don't care how I hit the ground when I'm being lowered (inverted, with the rope running round my leg, etc), as long as I get there ready for the ambulance it's all good. It's just as quick to set up the base anchor system with that already in it as it is to set up a base anchor without (well, pretty much!) I have a spare short prussic with a spring gate revolver to attach above the grigri to feed the tail through to create a hauling system in case I need lifting. Only time I've ever seen a rescue scenario in which the casualty was "okay" but couldn't lower themselves down was on a pole. His back locked out and he couldn't step up or down and had to be rescued (lifted) using a false crotch.

Bump Had a few phone calls, trying to fill up a few more dates. I have some days free in the week commencing 1st July (2nd and 3rd July, could potentially do the 4th) And again on 19th August (whole week) I also hold NVQ2 in Countryside Management, done my fair share of brushcutting, path maintenance, stiles, gates, fences (post and wire / rail), etc. Willing to travel for a few days in a row. If anyone would rather email some dates across so that I can get back to them my email is: s(dot)shereston(at)gmail(dot)com Cheers, Sean

Hi all, Looking to fill some gaps in the diary if possible I have 3 years experience working with a LA, and half a year self-employed so far - mainly doing surveys. Also been working as a part-time instructor at Kingston Maurward in Dorset for the past year, with the Level 2 WBL Arb students. NPTC units 30, 31, 32, 38, 39, 40, 41 Also chipper, stump grinder Lantra hedge cutter Experience (though not ticketed) in chapter 8 road signage stuff Own PL insurance and climbing kit. I only have one ground saw at the moment (346xp). Full driving license and own transport (cat B) Based in Bath but can commute. If anybody has anything or can point me in the right direction it'd be much appreciated. My mobile is (zero)7917 356 880 - if I don't answer (phone stays in the van when I'm working) then leave a message and I'll call you back. Text is also fine. (I've written the phone number like that so crawler bots don't nab it and send me crap) Cheers, Sean

I run a hitchclimber with a mongoose carabiner - from gate to spine I have: Wrench tether, left leg of hitch, hitchclimber, right leg of hitch. Mongoose goes into bottom hole of the HC, chest harness crab (120mm lyon sling with a sentinel) clips onto middle hole of HC. If I want to switch to DDRT all I have to do is lanyard in, take my weight off main line, take wrench off rope, open gate and wrench comes off without having to remove anything else, spliced eye goes on next to gate. Done. I don't bother with a second crab for the spliced eye/wrench - really don't see the point in having two oval crabs on the hitchclimber. Just adds slop and more potential for side-loaded crabs (unless you use the rubber pinch things, but they're a faff). Yeah the wrench sits off to the side - but it doesn't make a blind bit of difference to how it runs. I tried it with a pinto, with the wrench in the middle of the setup - but if you want to switch to DDRT you have to take everything off - and risk dropping / losing the pulley unless you clip your lanyard onto the becket or something. Then the legs of your VT unravel and you have to re-set it. Seems more hassle than it's worth.

According to the top H+S man at DCC you also have to climb with ONE chainsaw glove on to use a silky (because... silky saws can only be used with one hand?!? because a chainsaw glove will stop a silky....!!?), wear goggles when using a chainsaw, blah, blah. The list is endless. Dragging logs up a bank is a pretty grey area. You're not supporting the entire weight of the log. What about when you winch up a root plate - you're supporting possibly a large chunk of the weight of it? Or holding on to the stem to steady it while you sever a stable root plate? Or winching over a back-leaner? All supporting some/most of the weight - but you're not LIFTING the object in question per-se. Technically tail lifts and the mini-lifts that highways have would be classed as lifting equipment - does that mean that they're going to start getting LOLER on all the highways vans too?! Nope. It all comes under PUWER as has been previously stated. The vans are inspected regularly and signed off properly. The kit which requires LOLER is already inspected bi-annually (annually for rigging gear). You are required to keep an inspection checklist for most of your equipment and report faults immediately. The grounds mechanic will also have checklists on this stuff. I know the Rangers H&S stuff is a lot less regulated in comparison to DHO (I've worked for both) but it's all changing now under the new umbrella. So welcome, and try not to worry too much about things like this - you'll get used to it (and ignoring the 'scares' that go with it).

DCC's Tirfors never get LOLER'd man. If you started trying to get them into a LOLER cycle you'd have to get all the vans (winches) done as well - as you use them all for the same stuff, none of which is lifting - it's all pulling (not supporting). Same as a tag line.

+1 for the hedge cutter and brushcutter. Long reach hedge cutters are sometimes even better as you don't have to get so, err, involved with the bramble or have to bend over so much to cut it low. Stick the long reach on the brushcutter harness and bob's your uncle

The other way to stall a runaway diesel is to empty a CO2 fire extinguisher into the air intake. If the engine was still running after your guy rolled it, you won't necessarily find oil in the air filter as it'll have been mostly burned. If the switches weren't working.....how did he shut it off in the end? Very bad practice to start a rolled engine straight away as it can hydrolock. Treat a rolled engine in the same way that you'd treat a water flooded engine. Unless it's only been on it's side for a VERY short time, and/or if you can crank it over by hand (ignition OFF - breaker bar on a pulley bolt) and it turns two complete cycles without locking up / significant resistance. If the drive belts were smoking there'd be obvious damage on them. You'll probably never know the exact cause (operator error vs machine) unless you have an extremely recent service checklist stating oil level okay/topped up and you know it doesn't burn THAT much oil normally. Or - you could replicate the incident to see how it behaves

Had some today on a windblown Sycamore. Not as sweet as I'd hoped, but I forgot my water today so a few of these did me right

I did, yeah. I left just before Christmas though, to graze pastures new. Do miss that lot!

I took out the Walnut that was by the bridge in the first pic Sure that footpath on the left leading up to the road wasn't there though - is it new?

How many of you are using wire fids exclusively? I set myself up a kit for about £9. £7.99 of that was the sailmakers palm. Got given a couple of needles. Whipping twine was £1.50. Bought a knitting needle and a crochet hook from a charity shop for 50p to use as a marlin spike. Making my wire fids out of old guitar strings = free. Done 6 eye splices so far, so kind of getting the hang of it. Only thing I can't help but keep thinking is that it would be so much easier with a proper fid?! I've started using the knitting needle to put the cover into the core as that's the easiest bit, and the pushing action works so much better than trying to pull it through. I just taper it, put the needle inside up to the tape at the end and push it through. My last splice I used it to put the cover into the core as well, though it took a bit more doing as I kept punching the needle through the tape. I got it through in the end though with much less effort and damage to myself - which is more than can be said for the "progress" I made trying to pull it through with the wire fid (mostly swearing and torn-up palms, followed by the fid pulling out of the cover with the core still inside). Can anyone shed any light as to why they're using wire instead of hollow/solid/whatevertheyrecalled fids?

Cheers guys I'll get myself a metre or two of the clear adhesive stuff

It's very much dependent on you councilors though. In the same way that Joe Bloggs wants all his trees TOPPED, and he doesn't want to listen to your "technical talk" - "just cut them flat at gutter height an' I'll give ye £50". There's nothing a "good/qualified" tree surgeon can do about that. It's the spec. You can try to educate, but in the end you either take it or leave it. The main problem is complaints. Council TO's don't get phone calls about how lovely all of the trees outside people's houses are. They get complaints. TORRENTS of them. Unfortunately this seems to lead generally to sub-standard recommendations for work, because they can't be bothered to fight their case any more.

Well I made a tether this weekend, made it to same length as the HB one (35cm) for testing. First splice and I'm now addicted Turned out alright - got both eyes the same size although they could have been fractionally smaller: https://www.dropbox.com/s/cohfq4t3l1xrbhl/IMG_20130216_231447.jpg Local Chandlery gave me some heat-shrink tubing, but it was very thin. I used about 4 layers of it, which has made it kind of stiff but it's not as good as the thick walled clear stuff you guys are using. Been looking for some but can't seem to find a supplier of the thick walled stuff that isn't a b2b seller (large quantities only). Can anyone point me in the right direction?

These sort of spec's are another reason I just left my council job. Absolute butchery on a regular basis. Do it properly and you'll get sent back to "finish" it. Couple of months previous to my resignation I reduced two sycamores to how I felt they should have been done (they didn't need doing AT ALL so I gave them a light tickle to show willing) and they were subsequently felled as they were still "too big".

How short are those tethers?! Are you guys running lj/sj's? Is the shackle for a bungee neck strap? I've been using a wrench with my hitch which is pretty short (54cm cord) and the 35cm stiff tether from HB doesn't give me masses of room so I couldn't see a tether that short working for me... Got my wrench through today and my plan for this weekend is to get some splicing kit and make a tether for it as my first project.

I want to have a bash at this myself soon, got plenty of welding wire as I do metalwork as well. My first "project" is going to be a stiff tether for my yet-to-be-ordered rope wrench, which I plan to make out of some Marlow Boa I have lying around. Watched the NE double braid video, and had a thought - when he mentions a "short fid", how do you know what a short fid is on your home made jobbies? What lengths are you guys using?

Had to prune a few apple trees today so I had a chance to give this setup a whirl. Normally my cord is 54cm from the middle of the "eyes", but that one is a bit longer (probably another 10cm) so I tied a knut to keep it close. I normally run a VT with 2 wraps and three braids - nice and short and very, err, responsive? Works well. I've got a few metres of Marlow Boa to use up when I come to replace that cord though, it's 10mm and I don't think it'll fit in there - the Sirius is tight enough.

Haha! I'm not being tight.... I AM tight! Also, you probably can't see from the pic but I like my cord really short, and I've never seen an eye to eye short enough.