Spruce Pirate

This thread moves too fast! By the time I've finished typing there's always a rake of other replies duplicating my thoughts!

Even if they're not hollow, a bore cut should get them down with a 24" bar. It needs to be a REALLY big tree to be unable to bore it and fell it with a 24" bar. If you can't get a 36" bar for the 395 straight out of the box then just buy the power head and a bigger bar and chain separately. Personally I'd look at getting the 395 with a 28" bar and chain, then you've got it, and get the bigger bar and chain (plus probably drive sprocket due to different pitch) for occassional use.

I run a 660 on a 30" bar, but wouldn't go much bigger than that for any period of time, even though they say it will take a 36". I think I would treat the 395 the same way. It maybe says 28" max in the catalogue, but pretty sure it would pull a bigger chain for occassional use. 385 certainly runs a 28" bar with no problems.

OK, so I've now looked on the link and found its 6,293km. Should've done that first. Well done.

Out of curiosity, how far is that? How long has it taken?

I like the big Stihl bar. Previous one was a Bahco, which broke. Never tried the Oregon for comparison, but would recommend the big Stihl.

I think this is the point I was trying to make in my fist post on this thread - Ant, you appear to be competent to make the decision if you need to use the brake or not. In the context of a professional ground saw user I find the habit of clicking on the brake after every single cut excesive and this is what I seem to notice about the way saw use is taught these days. I was thinking about this thread on Friday (had a rare Saturday off yesterday) and did find myself using the brake more often than I thought I did. Not sure if I'm just getting soft as a result of this thread or if I normally use it more than I think I do. Still no one has explained why putting it on with the right hand is so dangerous. Could somone please do so as I genuinely don't understand?

Isn't that why we're all in tree work - the glamour?

I totally agree with this, I'm much better using the brake in a tree - I think a greater sense of self preservation kicks in. Maybe I am too old fashioned, or not concerned enough with my own safety on the ground, but it's the way I was taught and has become habit. I'm not saying I never use it (slopes, awkward situations etc as said by others), but I'm certainly not as keen on it as the guys who've done training more recently, and yes I've been refreshed, and yes it did come up during that too. I still don't understand the problem with putting it on with your right hand (I normally use my left wrist by the way). Putting it on with your right hand = right hand not on throttle = chain not spinning, so what's the problem?

If the idle is set properly and the chain is tensioned correctly and the saw is in generally good conditon then don't need to use it all the time, and yes I agree it does slow you down. I also don't see what's wrong with knocking it on with the right hand if you're holding it in your left. The chain shouldn't be moving in that situation as your hand won't be on the throttle. Constantly having the brake on seems to be a modern thing, all the new guys seem to do it. When I did my ticket I asked if I needed the brake on in addtion to having the saw on the other side of the tree when moving branches and was told no, it would be a fail as the saw is in a safe position anyway - in other words if you were "competent" you needed to know when to use the brake and when not to. Now it seems to be brake on to start, brake on to move an inch, brake on to fuel the saw. Seems to be a good way to wear out chain brakes to me.

Good point - well put.

This thread makes me sad. Has it really come to this? That an experienced operator cannot show another person how to operate a tool because they must ensure that they don't end up in court or held liable if something goes wrong? I fully appreciate why people say that you should in no way offer training (indeed, you may be liable yourself if you say anything else!), but still, just sad really. It is a pretty poor reflection on our society if you ask me.

Is this for felling? Only asking, as the noise of a 2' tree falling will probably negate the silence of the saw.

Agreed, was being overly pedantic with dates in 1st post.

For what it's worth, I think this is very true. Provided you are only showing someone how you work to industry best practice and that they understand they are not being "trained/instructed" I don't see how you can be held liable. I might be tempted to get to know the individual a bit first though, to make sure they're not a complete half-wit, or didn't get the money to but the woodland by suing their driving instructor following a shunt.

Were they still making 262's in 2003? 560 gets my vote, I did like the 262 though, never used a 357, but heard very mixed reviews of them.

Start up yourself - then see if you can get a borrow of his tipper and chipper.

Always got a TM co in but have had to do the permit application myself, 3 different councils + Transerv (Trunk Rds). Normally have to do a Road Occupation Permit and a Traffic Light Permit, both easy to do, a bit of duplication and need a total of up to 4 separate maps. Design of signals never been needed for me as it's always been simple stuff, but TM co should be able to provided this if needs be. Consent/Permits can take as little as a couple of days if not traffic sensitive, up to 30 days if it is traffic sensitive. Keep the permit in the site pack as you need to be able to show it to police, council officials, etc if required. Should say, this is Scotland - as usual, things may be different in England!

As a rough rule of thumb, 3 times bigger on the ground than standing up!! :lol:

The devil's in the detail. It is to be used as a lever, as stated, not as part of a lowering system. That is, you put the sling on the end of the section being cut, do the cuts, then use the sling to increase the leverage you have in removing a hand-held section. The sling can also increase your grip, for example in smooth barked species without any suitable branch stubs to grip. You can then remove the sling before chucking the piece to the ground. As, when you have removed the section, the sling will be supporting a load it will need to be LOLER'd and suitable for task.

Two trees are always in a row - straight line from one point to another. To be a true "row" there must be at least three trees surely? Surely therefore the legislation is subject to some form of challenge? Don't know who would be meeting the costs. In all honesty, I can't see this as being altogether a bad thing. There are several examples I can think of where overgrown conifer hedges do form a nuisance and it would not be a bad thing for their owners to have to cut them back, 2m is still a substancial screen after all. Also, all the 80' oaks that are going to start being cut? If they are actually blocking light I would suggest that they are too close to a property anyway, and some form of reduction, or even removal, should be in order. I live about 30' from a 60' oak and a couple of horse chestnuts, about 45'-50', in no way do they block the light or cause nuisance. For the law to be applied does some sort of assessment by a TO or similar not need to be carried out? Will this not weed out the more vindictive and ridiculous demands for trees and hedges to be cut? I have the feeling we may be waiting for case law to take over on this one to get a definitive answer.

This is a really good thread, thanks to all who did the research. I've been arguing this with clients for a while now - always with success - based on conversations with a couple of trainers, but its really good to see the replies from NPTC and HSE back this up. Thanks again.

Thanks for the info Lozzatrees. We do a bit of work for Wildlife Trust and some stuff in NP area, so it's not impossible that I'll be asked about it. I kind of thought it might be a "how long's a bit of string" type of a question. Good info though, thanks.

Always, always, always have a banksman. I had a jogger on a path last week, asked him to stop, got ignored, so stepped in front of him and told him to stop. "Oh, but I might not get going again, ha, ha". Yeah, says I, as a big chunk of wood falls out of the tree, but if that had hit you you'd really have had problems getting going again. I think he got the point. Same story day before yesterday with a bus. He decided the light had been red for too long and that the best thing was just to ignore it. Lights were red both ways, but normally we put someone in the carriageway on either side of the drop zone to intercept the idiots. Again, bits of tree falling onto the road seemed to drive my point of red lights mean stop home. I could go on, I've got loads of these.... It still amazes me how stupid people can be though.

I've never done, or been asked to do coronets, but I might be asked. What's the time diference between doing a normal target pruning cut and doing a coronet? I do a lot of jobs on price, and if we had to spend a lot more time doing coronets it could throw the prices out a bit.