Jump to content

Log in or register to remove this advert

Spruce Pirate

Veteran Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,076

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Spruce Pirate

  1. Spruce Pirate
    Art Deco Zebra Skin Rug?
  2. Spruce Pirate
    Couldn't agree more - had two recently qualified lads start in the last year. Told each to cut 3m down to 12cm - totally blank looks, no idea what I was on about, had to explain about lengths and top diametres. To go slightly back to topic, one of these is now getting quite good and looking to do more tickets, the other hasn't picked up a saw in probably 9 months. The worrying thing about this is that in my world he has a ticket and so clients will accept him as a cutter, despite being extremely lacking in experience, on the other hand, if I take on a cutter qualified in 1995 who has not been refreshed since they will not. This seems crazy to me, but that seems to be the world we live in.:thumbdown:
  3. Spruce Pirate
    Council guy is wrong - NPTC certificates do not CURRENTLY expire. The change of numbers does not affect their validity, it should be possible to find out which of the new numbers are equivalent to 10 & 16. Refresher seems to be the big thing at the moment, I have two clients who insist that all operators are refreshed every three years. If you were to do a refresher course it would be in the equivalent units, probably 30 & 31, you should be able to get a refresher certificate to go with this. I have heard that re-certification may be introduced, ie we would all have to re-sit our tickets every 5 years. In my view refresher is not a bad thing - especially for the more infrequent or part time users, but recertification is a totally different thing. I'd be interested to hear other peoples thoughts on this or if anyone else has heard anything.
  4. Spruce Pirate
    I think there used to be a pick up version of the Mini where the lights were in the sides of the pick up bed, but the number plate was in the centre of the tailgate. I think the plat used to be hinged along the top edge and secured with a clip at the bottom, if running with the tailgate down you released the clip and the plate hung vertically. It was presumably legal to transport a load with the tailgate down then, but legislation may have moved on a bit since Mini last made a pick up.
  5. Spruce Pirate
    How long is the MOT? Check the chassis and boot for rot too. If you have to pay to get the welding done you could easily spend another £1500 giving you £3000 for a motor that's almost 20 years old. Old Discos are great vehicles, but they need to be cheap as chips to buy.
  6. Spruce Pirate
    Instant garden looks good when its done, but in my experience even 6' standards will sit for a while, and generally grow more slowly. Putting in young trees is therefore my prefered option as they're cheaper, easier to plant (and replace if there's a problem) and catch up the standards quite quickly. If you have to go for the larger trees compost is not a bad idea, I've done a few this way mixed in with the soil, I think it gives better aeration. I was always told to make sure and water them in well, particularly in dry weather, if you get a dry spell after they're planted make sure the owner knows to water them as well. Its a few years since we did any, but I think the last time two of us did three trees in just over half a day, including cages. Don't take that as gospel though as I think its at least five years ago and the memory's not always that hot.
  7. Spruce Pirate
    Talk them out of planting 6' trees, put in 40-60's instead, pence to buy, planted in minutes, they'll take a couple of years getting to 6', but in the grander scheme of the lifespan of a tree what's five years or so?
  8. Spruce Pirate
    Yes, I meant raising the dish up, not neccesarily on a pole. Point being, it was deemed much more acceptable to fell numerous large, established, albeit exotic conifers, rather than simply raise the dish up the wall or onto a roof. Didn't, and doesn't, make much sense to me.
  9. Spruce Pirate
    You would think. But my experience suggests that it is actually easier to spend £000's and remove the trees than to stick a dish on the end of a 10' pole! It was good work right enough, but common sense didn't seem to enter into it.
  10. Spruce Pirate
    Up here we apply to SEPA, so presume its Environment Agency down south. One license per business, you can request as many ID cards (credit card size) as you like, for £5 each I think, then keep one in each vehicle. Don't think you have to carry the ID cards though if its only green waste, but not totally sure, might be different in England anyway.
  11. Spruce Pirate
    I assumed there would be something, otherwise polis and Vosa would be queing up every time a show moved. Thanks for the information, satisfys my curiosity.
  12. Spruce Pirate
    There seeems to be a lot of knowledge on here regarding towing and the law. I watched the circus on the move tonight, they seemed to have quite a few rigs towing double drags, ie a unit towing a trailer with a further trailer hitched on to the back. I always thought that this was illegal in this country, unless 1st trailer is hitched via a fixed link such as 3-point linkage. Can anyone enlighten me further? Is it a special circus rule?
  13. Spruce Pirate
    One of the boys got one about a month ago, has quite a lot of trouble starting when hot. Not sure of cause. Not been looked at by dealer yet.
  14. Spruce Pirate
    I thought it was only 5% to domestic end users, if a commercial end user (for example a pub) it would be 20%? Anyone know any different?
  15. Spruce Pirate
    Are helmets VAT exempt as well?
  16. Spruce Pirate
    Yes, in whatever form - pole length, discs for self splitting, split, green, seasoned, by the bag, by the trailer load - if someone wants to buy it I'll sell it.
  17. Spruce Pirate
    I spent the afternoon working with a still saw (disc cutter, or whatever its called). Found myself doing the exact same thing with the phantom chainbrake everytime. Nice to know I'm not the only one.
  18. Spruce Pirate
    Ooops, I read back, instead of black, thought you were on about sign-writing.
  19. Spruce Pirate
    Glasses all the way, can be a pain when they get dirty or if it's really wet, but they also help keep saw chips out of your eyes. Don't like the thought of poking around in my eyes for lenses and nowhere near brave enough for the laser surgery. Also I'm not that blind, so if they do get wet/dirty/steamed up I can function without them.
  20. Spruce Pirate
    We normally use a sticker kit from the interweb for signwriting the Landrover, not sure how well this would work on an ifor thought as it's not smooth.
  21. Spruce Pirate
    Someone should tell NPTC.
  22. Spruce Pirate
    Husky 254, a bit tired now, but still runs and works occassionally if there's a problem with the other saws.
  23. Spruce Pirate
    I only do logs as a by product, but sales well down over this winter. I put it down to mild winter and people having easy access to wind fall due to all the winds. I've spoken to two other suppliers recently, they both said sales well down on last, and previous, years.
  24. Spruce Pirate
    Quite agree, 346 with 13" bar is fantastic. Best combination has to be: small saw 13"/15" bar, medium saw 18"-24" bar, large saw 24" - 30" bar, HUGE saw 36"+ bar, plus climbing saw 10-14" bar. You can never have too many saws.
  25. Spruce Pirate
    While scrolling through all the posts on this has been very entertaining... I'm confused. If consent is being sought for a thinning, then surely the competent, and relevant authority is the FC, not a LA? LA would only be a consultee to FC on a felling license application. Am I wrong? Never heard of the contractor being a condition of approval. Thinning would be silviculture, not arboriculture therefore what has AA to do with it, as stated somewhere in previous posts FCA would be a more relevant body.

About

Arbtalk.co.uk is a hub for the arboriculture industry in the UK.  
If you're just starting out and you need business, equipment, tech or training support you're in the right place.  If you've done it, made it, got a van load of oily t-shirts and have decided to give something back by sharing your knowledge or wisdom,  then you're welcome too.
If you would like to contribute to making this industry more effective and safe then welcome.
Just like a living tree, it'll always be a work in progress.
Please have a look around, sign up, share and contribute the best you have.

See you inside.

The Arbtalk Team

Follow us

Articles

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

  I accept