JimM

Standard mantra isn't it! "Ask not what I can do for my country, but what's in it for me"

Agree. Bear in mind that the NPTC courses want a maximum of a 15" bar. What he does next with the saw determines whether to go for a 346/550 or jump to a 560. Tree surgery I reckon the 560 would be the mutts for end of day general ringing up, with a 15 or 18 fitted. But if it's woodland work and he's going to spend the whole day swinging a saw, then the 346/550 is a more comfortable saw weight-wise, with a 13/15 bar. Being a bit lighter does make a difference. And they will pull an 18" bar

It's working for me, Stevie. Next time you're up here you can try it out.

Husqvarna UK have passed my concerns on to the Swedish HQ.

I think you'll find the Scots prices are for hardwood, with softwood being more common at around 45-50 per cube.

Thought about this one long and hard. Roni has had 2 batteries drop and I've had 1. Following the response by Husqvarna I think the safest option is to submit a RIDDOR to HSE.

My email back to Husqvarna tonight is not subject to any restrictions on my part and may be copied and re-distributed as any interested party sees fit. "Thank you for your email. I had absolutely no doubt that an inspection of the battery would reveal no manufacturing defects that by themselves would cause the battery to drop from the T536LiXP chainsaw. The issue is that when the battery is SECURELY mounted within the chainsaw, a bump on one of the latches can leave the battery in a partially insecure state. Subsequent pressure on the other latch, if bumped against something, then allows the battery to drop. It has taken many working evolutions of the saw for this issue to come to light at my business, and you are aware that another business has also had batteries drop from their T536LiXP. The issue you now have is that there IS a risk of this replicating and you have to decide whether you need to take engineering action to resolve the issue on the climbing version of this saw, by manufacturing a more effective securing latch. There is obviously no danger to treeworkers from a battery dropping from a back handled 536LiXP (unless it is used in a tree). Myself and my colleagues will no longer be using the T536LiXP in the tree unless we have a secondary method of retaining the battery in place, eg tie-wrapping. This will be covered by an amended Risk Assessment. I thank you for the replacement battery. Yours sincerely, " What are your thoughts Roni? Trading Standards or HSE?

In this modern age I don't think people employed in customer support roles get any training in communication skills. They always seem shocked when you take them to task over it.

Watching Big J at work. Even with my Protector Pros on I still only come up to his shoulders! Quality day getting to see him set up an elm to mill in half. Great weather too.

Mine went on Monday morning. Interesting to see what the response is. Expecting a replacement battery, but it's how they regard the dangers of the batteries releasing when in the tree that is of more interest to me.

That's a thought you need to get out of your head. Don't mistake rugby banter or inflammatory press headlines for anything more than they are. I have no doubt that many from the Northwest or Northeast of England would have the exact same view as Scots, Welsh or Northern Irish, in that it's the skewed management from Westminster that is disliked. Why another runway or airport in London, when Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow or Edinburgh could be expanded to share the wealth? Why HS2, when Scotland's main arteries in the north are still connected by single-carriageway roads? Somerset has great transport infra-structure doesn't it? Oh, maybe not. It comes down to self-determination and for the Scots this referendum is seen as a way of balancing things up. Devolved powers have reduced some issues, and in the event of a No vote I could see more powers slowly become devolved to the Scottish parliament. But that will not remove the feeling among so many Scots that Westminster will still be holding the reins, restricting our region's growth while the south east benefits. So, hatred for the English? No, I don't think so.

Sadly there is too much scaremongering on both sides. Which will get worse as the referendum approaches. I can already picture the news featuring blue faced eejits coming out of polling booths shouting "Freedom!" These will be fools who have not made a carefully considered vote. I view a Yes vote as similar to poking an ants nest with a stick. Absolute turmoil to begin with then things settle back down, not to status quo but to a new settled state to cope with the 'damage' inflicted. I reckon the most common phrase spoken by millions on both sides the next day will be "Oh sh?t" And then people will just get on with managing/ dealing with the new situation. Don't run from the problems, but instead seek to resolve them. I'm still sat on the fence at the moment, but business issues certainly are at the forefront off my mind. What will a new vehicle then cost, who can now supply me with parts at a reasonable price, will my assets become devalued, how much more tax will I be hit with? But is it too tempting to poke the nest with a stick to see what happens?

I agree. I also wonder why anyone would approach a windthrow tree area and not have a winch in their possession. The other issue with bigger trees is that if you are on soft ground (which is often why it's wind thrown) and you use Dadio's method, the resulting butt will spear deeper into the ground, invariably amongst the root system which, if it won't roll out then, will make it a nightmare to winch back and out. Even worse, a limb catches high up, preventing the stem drop, and the resultant butt swings in towards the tree it's hung on and leaves it floating above the ground. I've created both scenarios, through laziness in not getting the winch out, pure and simple. It's not big and it's not clever.

Did you use it?

I think it will be a close call but not something that will come to pass. But if it did you could probably expect a direct read across if it doesn't presently fall under Scots Law. Bigger firms up here are adopting FISA, so I would expect FISA (Scotland) to come into being. TPO's are managed by the local councils so no change there. I imagine there would be plenty of test cases in Scottish courts until everything was copied over and written into Scots Law. I would also expect 10 laying chickens for a sheep.

Rain, drizzle, and then more rain. First time in over a year I've been soaked to the skin by lunchtime. Our thoughts today though were with all you guys down south who've had to put up with it for weeks on end.

Surprised you've not equipped Pete and the boys with them :-) Go on, you know you want one Bob.

Protos....grin. I believe Yvonne at Clark Forestry has sold a lot of the forest version.

Have to disagree with that. Yesterday we dropped 15 mature Limes, a mature sycamore and a scots pine, all 40 - 50ft. Site clearance at Speyside High School. All had to be felled yesterday (change of plan) before the kids came back today and all the heras fencing got in the way. We chipped all day today, and tomorrow will finish by 11 latest. All with the 13/23. Not a massive site, I agree, but it certainly demonstrates what you can get out of the machine. The premise when I bought it was that everything over 5-6" is firewood. You should see the timber fairies come out the woodwork when we start a job up here, but there is a big market for stoves in Moray. So a big beech dismantle is a lot of firewood for us, and the Greenmech can easily cope with the rest. Yes, I do dream of a Quadchip, but the reality is that we just cant justify it when the little beast we have does so well.

If you can stretch to it get the diesel. That extra bit of oomph does make a difference on a bigger job.

Hi mate, we have the older version too. The 13/23. We opted for the twin roller and diesel option right from the off. It's a little beast. Sitting at 160 hours now and we've changed the discs once. With this diesel twin roller option it can handle a great deal more than the spec suggests. We got it serviced on schedule by the local dealer and it's running great. 6 hours running today on lime and scots pine and it just pulled in everything. Great on wet leylandii too. If I lost it tomorrow I would replace it with the 130 without a qualm. Fuel consumption changes markedly when the discs are blunt, sharp and we get about normal three days out of a £20 tank of diesel. Hope this helps.

Settled on getting Jameson poles. What's the favourite pole pruner head for it? And has anyone modified the hayauchi saw for it?

Used this method on Tuesday past on a Sitka. Wanted the lumps to jump a fence below, about 3ft from the stem. About 60% gob, level back cut. Dropped four 6ft+ sections over and clear from the fence. Chuffed to bits, plus it was a sunny day. Cheers Reg.

I can replicate the latch partially opening all day. As soon as the other latch gets touched the battery falls out. My money is on Husky hoping to duck this one.

Big thanks for the recommend. Climbed ZZ on BT today. Much, much nicer than 13mm. Very noticeable difference in self tending. Cheers mate. And all the best for tomorrow.