sloth

Looks like Ganoderma australe from where I'm sitting. Bit of a concern up near crown break and with what looks like a recent and sizable branch failure.

And a lovely warm hoody it is too

You don't need inviting- simply sign up at http://www.arboristdirectory.arbtalk.co.uk by clicking on the 'advertise with us' tab. Easy peasy

A quality post, summed up well. Good shout on coring the tension rather than compression side- your own idea or picked up elsewhere? My thoughts are perhaps a resi drill either side would be more representative of overall tr ratio, and leave a much smaller hole than a core. However I (and I suspect you too) would be loathe to drill/core in the first place after seeing this VERY common body language on a native oak; if targets were a concern a little tickle of reduction would most likely be sufficient and a similar price to testing. Where have you been Tony? The lunatics are taking over the asylum!

Nice one Mr Blair very impressed and fingers now crossed

PM sent

Can't really lend a pdf, try your local library. Or if you want to know something specific I could look for you...

Definitely not me! :eek:

Thanks for all your help, here is the result. It's my first published article of any kind, so quite pleased...

Interesting info, thanks. P fraxi, or Rigi was my initial thought. Not convinced though, and I've never known either to smell of marzipan...

Hi all, a bit boring compared to the big guns and not as novel as the tiny ones with attitude: Any suggestions to improve performance from my 6 ish year old ms290 farm boss? For its weight it's fairly gutless! Oh, I dont have a dremmel

Has an air of Fomitopsis pinicola to it, surely not?! Does the smell of marzipan give you any clues David?

Is it a lunge?!

Done Re issues: Q3 & 4 seemed very similar, I couldn't see the reason for both. Also, I'm assuming from the stated reasons for the survey you are only interested in including trees in an urban environment? Sorry to pick, but you did ask! Why are you doing the survey?

That does sound silly! Did you have to use the stylus?

Ah well, that's not a bad price, I thought ipads cost more than that. I've never used the motions myself but have heard good things. What didn't you like about it?

If your going to buy an ipad and a decent case mighg be worth looking at rugged tablets. Theres a good range for not a lot more than ipad plus waterproof case. Check out Motion and Getac rugged tablets, both available with either Windows or Android, I think. Another bonus would be you could ditch the handheld gps as the rugged tablets can have it as an option, and only have one bit of gear to carry...

Sorry for the late reply, forgot about this thread. I seriously miss the climbing too, and the saw if I'm honest! I use a Getac ps236, I like it. The battery lasts all day, gps signal is no problem, I think 1-3m is given, and hpod (if it means anything to you?) reading is normaly 0.7-1.8 average. My only gripe is its size, to big really for anything other than a large coat pocket- but thats because it also works as a smartphone and is fully rugged, which has saved it dying when I dropped it jumping over a water filled ditch! It was a second hand ebay buy, but I think I'd look at the mobile mapper range for a similar price next time, as I think they also use Glonass (Russian) satellites to improve accuracy. I'm loving the Pear gear, and I really can't find fault with the customer service - absolutely top notch Map wise for safety surveys I find their OS based .mpd files ideal, I did try a few .dxf OS tiles from eMapsite which was cheaper. Trouble was the files were huge and I had to fiddle getting it to display clearly on the handheld. The team there are very helpful converting cad dwg files from architects, which I suppose is my only gripe - ptmapper won't accept standard cad files, so you have to ask for dxf files (which are much larger than the equivalent dwg) with exploded blocks, which just confuses some architects!

Wow! He got lucky!

In my experience there is very little call for climbing inspections, and I've not yet felt the need to use picus etc. I imagine it's a service you might offer when very established with a large client base that are willing to pay for it, as it is so expensive to buy in the first place. My first set up for 5837's and condition surveys was tapes and a notepad, paper maps and a selection of coloured drawing pens, and lots of time copying from paper to excel. Long winded but cheap! Then on larger sites I used an arbor cad technician to draw up TPPs etc, which knocked profit a lot. Now I do it all in house using pear technology software and a handheld gps data logger, very pricey but easy to use and no faffing with paper and pens. Hope this helps, Kev

Ok paleophiles, a question or two... My wife was diagnosed a short while ago with multiple sclerosis, since then this its been recommended we see this, which is very interesting From what I understand its similar to / based around the paleo diet. I am however naturally sceptical of anything new and voodoo-ish. Some of the menus it sounds like you're all eating are scarily similar to the Atkins diet; which I believe caused serious health issues long term. Have there been any longer term studies on this paleo diet, or is it another fad like the fasting for a day thing last year? And what is wrong with carbs/grains etc? Surely they'd have been available to paleo-people, just not in vast farmed quantities. Also most available fruits, veg and meat have been selectively bred to the point they probably bear little nutritional resemblance to foods of old. I expect very old or wild varieties would be best to eat, but how to source them without foraging or growing your own (which I guess would be preferable)? And then there is the question of your own ancestral heritage/geographic history. Do the foods your long ago ancestors had available have any bearing on what your body may have evolved to use best? Ok, that's more than one question I'll just ask one more - would you be entirely comfortable feeding your own dependent children a strict 'paleo diet'? Thanks for reading! I look forward to your views...

PM sent, Mr Bosun

Yes they are getting quite old now! There have certainly been significant advances and new P&D's on the scene. Do you know who is updating it?

Hi Scott, are the changes major? Or will my tatty old copy do!?

This threads getting on for two years old! Hopefully one way or another this tree has been dealt with...