Spruce Pirate

Call yourself a woodcutter? Just get if felled! 😂

Drew Graham used to do big stumps with a big mulcher on the back of the tractor and used to go all over. Not sure if they still do or not but could be worth a try.

Bless you! But how do you say Saoirse?

Our kids have always come to work for us. They don't always like the work, but they mostly like the money. Different rates for different jobs depending on circumstances - how much is in the job, how hard they actually work, etc - which has always been explained to them. I think it does them the world of good.

Probably a lot of habit in this but when climbing, which I very rarely do these days, I normally use the chinstrap as it's on the climbing helmet and I'm used to it. When on the ground I never use one as it's not on the ground helmet, I never have had one on a ground helmet and don't see the need. I don't really find them comfortable, but they're not mega uncomfortable. Never had a problem with helmet falling off my head. Occasionally they're a bit faffy, but mostly I've got bigger problems than adjusting a chinstrap. All that said, I wouldn't want one on a ground helmet as I just don't see the need.

😂🤣😂 While I don't disagree with the advice to buy proper stuff, to say it isn't expensive........ 😂🤣😂

Is there a difference? When I did the ticket it was one ticket covers all manually fed chippers. That was NPTC and did two training courses but only one ticket back in 2014.

Are you trying to say the log bullet is less glamorous than a helicopter???? I think not!

When I worked for them as a student back in 98/99 it was the same definition of a quarter as above.

He's not been on here in ages - probably living in a caravan in Argyll and not had any phone signal for a year! 😂

Lynch pins! I don't know how many times I've snapped one on my finger or how many more times it will take before I learn! Tonight's stupid, easily avoidable headache was smashing one of the kids Easter chocolate bunnys over my forehead to break it for them. Chocolate rabbits are surprisingly hard!

Depending on who you're working for you'll need to do it. Forestry wise there's very few folk who accept you working for them or on their ground without a valid refresher or upskill. A few smaller contractors working on smaller estates and on the fringes maybe, but all the big players insist on it. Tree surgery is, I think a very different animal. As far as it being a recommendation, I think as far as HSE is concerned a "recommendation" is a little more like an instruction and you would have to do some pretty slick talking to explain why you haven't followed their "recommendation". @slack ma girdle I've never met anyone who wanted to do a refresher. I've never learnt anything on a refresher, nor has anyone I know. This is only my personal experience. They are a box ticking exercise, another overhead, albeit when you look at it on a cost per day basis it is pretty minimal. I wouldn't employ anyone who didn't have one, but that's because almost everyone we work for insists on them. I don't think refreshers really serve any valid purpose, I don't believe they've had any real impact on reducing accidents which is why we're now getting hit with logbooks and such like. On the other hand, I wouldn't employ anyone who I considered actually dangerous. I'd imagine most of us have come across a few characters over the years who would fit into this category, and most of them could easily pass a refresher course with a five year ticket! Overall I think its a waste of time, unless perhaps you've had a ten or fifteen year break from using the saw, in which case it might come in handy. If you're cutting all, or most of, the time you know what you're doing and it won't do you any good other than being allowed to work for the big firms.

DNO may not give a shutdown unless you've got a Permit to Work, or they might send out their own crew with a Permit. The latter is rare in my experience. Yes, I was simply taking the piss.

I'm guessing electric ones! 😂

I did a bit when I first got them, but they stay tight and secure. They've lasted as well, can't remember when I got them, but its a number of years ago and they still seem in good shape.

I've got a couple of Quick-Fists on the roof rack. But no pictures.

U2. There will be others but they're the first that spring to mind.

No bother, it is somewhat surprising to see FISA getting to grips with reality! I've mostly used a 20t Clarke bottle jack with adaptor plate, but I have used the Treemans a couple of times. The Treemans is definitely a nicer product, the spreader plate being attached is great but the biggest difference seems to be the amount the ram advances with each pump of the handle which on the Treemans is a lot compared to an ordinary bottle jack. Unfortunately the price is almost prohibitive, certainly hard to justify against an off the shelf bottle jack and a plate. I'm pretty sure Calum has the Treemans, the Clarke Forest and a Borntrager jack so he'd be the man to ask how they compare.

Non tree specific jacks have been used for felling for ages and have finally been recognised by the powers that be. Provided certain criteria are met the jack falls within the allowed scope - you can't modify the jack but it must have a removable top plate which can't deform and must have a collar attached. FISA Technical Note 001 _ Tree Jacking - August 2021 (1).pdf

I've a 2.4 and it does about 30ish on a long run if that's any help. Dips into the 20's on short runs or if towing a trailer or if you're doing a lot of miles in lower gears in the wood.

Can you do 39 without 30 / 31?

I got a Portable Winch version. Great bit of kit, really useful in the right situation. I got it from Jones before they went bust, don't know where/if to get one now. I like it, but if I had my time over I'd get one with a clutch if possible, although the Portable Winch does have the advantages that it's (relatively) cheap and runs on any rope, normally a retired climbing rope.

Never used the wee skid-loaders, but would reiterate what others have said that the mini-digger is a great tool in the woods. If you're worried about tearing the ground up you can always work stuff out slowly with it so you're only tracking over the ground once. Take material, slew round with it and stack it as far as you can reach, track back and repeat. Works well with logs, wouldn't think it would work so well with brash. You can also reach over and around things better with the digger I'd think, so you could lift over a fence with it rather than having to track around it with a loader. All depends on the job I suppose, in an ideal world you'd get both, and a tractor, and a unimog, and a lorry, and a lightsabre, and, and, and, and........ My list of things I need seems to be never ending!

Our old accountant reckoned I could buy a Rolls Royce as a work truck as a sole trader as the HMRC test is slightly different for sole trader vs company, but a) I couldn't and can't afford a Rolls Royce in roadworthy condition and b) it wouldn't be very practical. The theory still stands though, you can buy anything for work if you meet the criteria, although I'd still check it out with the accountant if I actually wanted to do it. (note the old accountant was perfectly trustworthy and the only reason he isn't still our accountant is due to him being deceased rather than any dodgy advice he gave us about vehicles)

Yes, they do. But some also get hotels, depends who you're working for and where the site is. It's been years since I was staying away in the caravan, but it used to be OK so long as it wasn't all the time. Most folk I know tend to get a mix of jobs close to home and further away so they're not staying on site year round.