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Spruce Pirate

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Everything posted by Spruce Pirate

  1. Spruce Pirate
    Part of the problem with our current H&S culture, the best RA's are done on site talking through what's actually dangerous with the guys on who are going to do the job - not signing something that says you know that the ground might be slippy and that chainsaws can be dangerous to satisfy the need of a manager who needs to document something. There comes a point where you give up on it and just sign them to get it out of the way, I think this becomes counter productive: RA signed can stop thinking now. Much better to talk through stuff on the ground, but you can't document it so managers and the HSE don't like that. :thumbdown:
  2. Spruce Pirate
    PUWER 1998 I think. Requirement for all employees and self-employed to be trained in the equipment they are using. Only applies at work obviously. Tom, Dick and Harry are free to do as they please on their own time, as are you and I and everybody else here.
  3. Spruce Pirate
    I had the exact same conversation at work the other day, so I'd be interested in recommendations too.
  4. Spruce Pirate
    £300 sounds pretty reasonable to me, but a quick trawl on the likes of eBay confirms that you'll find many working for a lot less.
  5. Spruce Pirate
    Are we to understand from this that people buy conkers???? Surely this is an old wives tale in itself?
  6. Spruce Pirate
    We work to 5.2m (17') above the carriageway and 3.0m (10') above the pavement (footway) as a minimum. That's what it states in the LA guidance. In reality we sometimes go higher depending on client's spec or to prevent future problems.
  7. Spruce Pirate
    Yup. As it says, a plan for controlling pollution.
  8. Spruce Pirate
    Depending on how comprehensive you want to go might include: Emergency Plan Pollution Control Plan Accident Reporting Forms Copies of Certs I'm assuming your RAMS includes all grid refs, contact details, nominated supervisors, nominated first aiders, evacuation procedures, muster points etc, etc. These could be individual documents if not included in RAMS. I'm also sure that there's other stuff could include that I've overlooked.
  9. Spruce Pirate
    I used a 365, a 576 and a 390 on a job last December. 365 was mine the other two belonged to other cutters on the job, but were to hand on a busy day, but only used them briefly. The 365 and 576 were both on 24" bars, the 395 on a 28". The 576 was better than the 365 on a 24", but if you're doing bigger stuff the 390 was the best of the three, got the revs for snedding too where a 395 struggles slightly.
  10. Spruce Pirate
    The last four winters as I remember them locally: 13/14 - Wet - Very 12/13 - Windy - Very 11/12 -Non-descript 10/11 - Cold & Snowy - Very Every one of them was predicted to be a "bad winter" beforehand.
  11. Spruce Pirate
    Every year I hear predictions of bad winters from farmers, foresters, weather forecasters, etc, etc..... I think some people just like to predict doom, despair and disaster. Some winters turn out bad, some not so bad; I've yet to hear of a reliable way of telling - whether its berries, a good harvest, a wet spring, solar flares or whatever. We'll have to wait and see what this winter brings.
  12. Spruce Pirate
    An average of between £150 to £165 a day sounds alright, accepting that it is the gross figure. Forestry is hard graft.
  13. Spruce Pirate
    Is that up behind Callander Tom? Looking up towards Venachar, or am I imagining it looks familiar? Good job, regardless where it is.
  14. Spruce Pirate
    What's to happen to them? Are you just dropping them and leaving them? Drop and sned fully? Drop and partial sned to get them to lie flat? Cross-cutting into set lengths? Cross-cut into random lengths? Do you have a rough stocking density? How much variation in size is there? Are you doing the ring-barking as well? - don't underestimate how long it takes to do it properly. Are you going to be expected to get any really small stuff that's regenerating as well - getting in to hand pulling and lopper work, very unpleasant and time consuming, also easy to miss trees and then have to re-visit to put right. More questions than answer's I'm afraid As far as very rough estimates go I'd guess anywhere between 0.2 and 1.0 ha per man day dependant on stocking density, size and spec. Hopefully the busy bits balance out with the empty bits and you can average it out. For the record, I always find these kind of jobs horrendously difficult to price.
  15. Spruce Pirate
    Phase One is very broad brush, we did it a college as part of the ecology module. Its a good starting point for getting into ecological surveys though. Are you doing it through Echoes?
  16. Spruce Pirate
    What an interesting table . Or am I just sad? Has anyone measured the angles for chip and logs?
  17. Spruce Pirate
    Out of curiosity Tim, how much does it actually weigh? Health and Safety will bankrupt this country, causes more delay and cost than anything else.
  18. Spruce Pirate
    I don't think it would work on P. ramorum as it's an air bourn infection which enters through the foliage and causes the tree to die very quickly. From what I know of P. lateralis it's a soil bourn infection which enters through the roots and is slower acting. Hence soil treatment may have an effect.
  19. Spruce Pirate
    I helped out peeling Scots pine poles for a log cabin years ago. We did it all with drawing knives from memory. Keep them sharp, straddle the log and just keep peeling. It was hard work as I remember it. I think you can buy a debarking spade from Stihl, not sure where to get a drawing iron.
  20. Spruce Pirate
    I like ours, it's pretty good off road, it does a long journey in comfort, you can seat 7 in it (albeit at a squeeze), fold the seats down and there's loads of space, it tows well. That said, it has to be serviced regularly and it's had a bit of money spent on suspension and steering recently. All the points mentioned in previous posts are valid too. Bear in mind that the newest Td5 you'll look at is 10 years old now, there are probably bound to be a few parts needing maintained. Our current one is 15 years old, but still good to drive and got a bit of life left in it. MPG-wise it will do 25 - 31, 31 only on a good long run with little weight an no trailer.
  21. Spruce Pirate
    Assuming you already know how to plant a tree? Emergency First Aid at Work + F, which is what I presume you've booked yourself a place on. For the FC you need to make sure that your squad has adequate first aid provision, which generally means at least two members have a EFAW+F cert. I think the FC prefer all on site to have the 1st aid cert. Quad ticket if you're laying stuff out with a bike. PA1 will be required for planting treated trees on FC sites from next year, not sure about private. I don't know if PA6 will be needed for FC or private. If you want to pick up other stuff through the year then PA1 PA6 will let you do spraying, this is needed for all operators. Strimmer and brushcutter tickets would be an advantage for other work. Same with chainsaw.
  22. Spruce Pirate
    I have an IPAF and NPTC CS39, this has, so far, been enough for our clients. If you're operating a two man team in the basket I think you would get away with the MEWP operator holding a relevant MEWP cert and the saw operator holding CS39 (but this is only my opinion). You would need the protective screen between the saw operator and the MEWP operator.
  23. Spruce Pirate
    That's the one Mat, I knew if I mentioned it someone would know how to find it.
  24. Spruce Pirate
    As I understand it - and I've been wrong before - it is perfectly acceptable to use a chainsaw from a MEWP if you have CS39 and an IPAF or LANTRA or NPTC or any other recognised MEWP CoC. The reason for CS47 coming into being was that some operators wished to use a chainsaw from a MEWP but did not have the relevant climbing certificates. There is an old thread on this on here somewhere with a link or reference to the HSE confirming that in their opinion CS39 with a recognised MEWP ticket is acceptable. I'd put up a link, but I'm still pretty computer illiterate and don't know how.
  25. Spruce Pirate
    Count me in - you can add my travel and subsistence expenses in to the quote. Have a look on the members directory on the FCA website, there might be someone on there who can help you out.

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