Spruce Pirate

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.

Tirfors are great. The wee "Tirfor type" copies are pretty good too, not quite as robust as the genuine article, but good value for money, and seem to punch well above their weight (as it were). If I read it right you're looking at an outlay of about £30 for the wire puller, I would have thought for that money it's well worth a punt. I've only used one once, and to be honest it wasn't much cop, but for £30 I would consider adding one to the tool box, it's light as a feather and, like everything else, once you've got it you'll find a use for it.

One younger sister, got two boys myself.

Done.

It's either that or watch Comic Relief!

While I agree with most of the sentiment in this post, I can't help but feel that doing something is still better than doing nothing and that events like comic relief, live aid, etc still raise both money and awareness. Even the political issues you raise wouldn't be being discussed on here if it wasn't for RND. At the risk of ruining my image as a miserable git, I quite enjoy comic relief.

Hi All, I have a couple of large logs available for milling in west Strilingshire. One beech: c. 1m at the butt, relatively little taper, c. 10m length. One oak: c. <1m at the butt, some taper to >60cm, c. 10m length. One beech: c. 60cm at the butt, c. 50cm at the tip, c. 5m length. These are from a clearance / firewood job, but seem far too good to put the saw through (with the exception of the 2nd beech). They are basically free to anyone who wants them (I've had what I need from the job), would probably suit a woodmizer or similar. If anyone's interested, or you think you know someone who might be, pm me through here. I can get some photo's or arrange for you to come and see them.

Not a chance - seen too many things stand up very quickly when the top's taken off. It would be a great ride though. It shouldn't be that hard to track down a platform.

How to plant a tree? Green bit up, brown bit down - job done!

I did have a pair of the Oregon Waipoua, but only type A. They were OK, but they didn't stand the test of time very well, outer material ripped quite easily after a short while and the gusset went pretty quick (maybe should've got a bigger size?). I also found them pretty hot for type A's, despite vented material round the back. All in all, its the usual complaints I have about saw trousers. I think the Oregon Fjordlands are better. Can't comment on the SIP's, almost had a pair once, but they weren't in stock in my size. I know a few folk who've used the Hi-Flex and they seem pretty durable.

Not very good with links, hope this works, its the best I could find. Set up of sling isn't very clear. To roll tree to right, pass sling around the back of the tree, pass right end through left and choke back on itself, the further round the tree it is choked the more turn you'll get, if you've got the length in the sling then wrap it a couple of times. To roll to left pass left through right and wrap. Hope this makes sense.

Yeah, they're great. Just need a bit of respect when starting, if you're used to new saws with a decompressor they've got a real kick.

Turning a hung up tree out, or winching the butt back?

Bloke I did a bit of work for years ago told us a story of his brother doing a bit of fencing somewhere up the hill around about Dalwhinie (middle of nowhere to those of you who don't know), anyway they'd stopped for lunch and taken shelter in the back of a peat hag, they were doing a fence next to a path at the time, and left all the tools (saw, hammers, pliers, etc) lying on or next to the path. Two walkers came up, saw the stuff, one turns to the other and says, "isn't it amazing, anyone could just lift that saw and be off with it". At this point a voice booms out from the peat hag, "no they (expletive) couldn't". Walkers apparently had a brown trouser moment. Point being, just because you see something that looks unattended, doesn't mean that it actually is.

Always local if possible, especially for saws and the like, but I'm quite lucky with local dealers. I can walk in with a saw and pretty much get a problem fixed there and then unless its major. Yes they're slightly more expensive than the online boys, but money in their pocket puts money into the local pubs keeps one of the local rugby team in the area and so on. If I get a saw from 400 miles away I can't walk in and get instant service like that, and, frankly, I don't really care about their local pub or rugby/football team. That said, if service locally was p*ss poor, I might look on-line.

I couldn't agree more. There now seems to be a lot of duplication and I'm unsure whether my old units cover some of the new ones. If anyone can help clear this up I'd be grateful.

Hazel? I remember collecting nuts for seed years ago from what was basically a scree slope. It wasn't solid rock, but there wasn't much soil around, more or less loose rock. I've seen Scots pine and aspen growing out of rock faces before now. Any indicators to tell you what woodland type it should be if its ecologically important?

I suppose somebody has to like it! It's made me a fair bit of dosh over the years, but I still hate it.

Surely its still more important to get the cuts and practical aspects like sharpening right. So long as you know that TPO's, felling licenses, Conservation Areas, etc exist and you need to ask about them you should be OK. You're being assessed on your competence to fell trees and work a chainsaw, not apply for all the relevant licenses and permissions. Be aware of the legal stuff, but make sure your cuts are right. Oh, and good luck, hope it goes well.

This may be a silly question, but what type of solic rock? Rowan, for example, seem to be able to grow quite well on a cliff face, but if you're talking about a severly compacted site, like an ex quarry, I wouldn't be sure what could get a root down. Willow perhaps? Pretty sure (if you really need to plant something, rhododendron will grow anywhere but please don't do it!

I get all my hi-vis stuff from HVW (Hi-Vis Workwear) on-line. I think they do a full range of railways compliant stuff. Google HVW and have a look on their site.