JimM

Woohoo. Shiny stuff inbound then. Can't beat it. Cheers for the update Rob.

Cracking day of sunshine. Big toy and big tree to play in. And then Stevie appeared with Second Breakfast. Great help and advice, Stevie. Cheers.

Stevie, contact Spence, Speyside Firewood on 07950 033063 or 01807 500709. He's working with me in Elgin tomorrow morning doing a beech takedown. Surprised the stove installer didn't recommend a supplier.

Like big slings too. Great for big stuff felling with a winch. Especially for turning windthrow trees when they're hung up.

What a day Jon. 2 degrees first thing then working in tshirts in glorious warm sunshine by 10am and stayed like that all day. Bit different from Wednesdays hooley.

Gave up at 1:30 today, Jon. Torrential rain and 50 mph breeze stopped play. Drier tomorrow, but still strong winds through to tomorrow morning.

Gusting up to 50mph up here today with rain and hail showers forecast. In the woods felling elm again. Nearly time for the heated handle switch. :-) Stay dry folks.

Big elm day today. 4ft. In a wood, but with a river behind. Climbed to take the back weight off and winched over. The bottom right collapsed as it went over, you can see why. Not a lot of holding wood left, so it went fairly sideways. Absolutely covered in burrs. It was like climbing a rock face.

What a cool looking stove.

Yes a fan of stoves... and stove fans. Our Ecofan is shifting the heat out of our living room door quite nicely, where it can then get up the stairs. Our living room is open in to the kitchen, which when the oven and stove were both on became unbearable. The Ecofan cured that. Get a genuine one though.

Can all the LOLER inspectors please put their hands up? Shame it took a few pages of discussion before they started coming out of the closet. Good post nod. Jim (not a LOLER inspector)

Earlier this year we dropped by Clark Forest to do some shopping on the way home. Along with our purchased goodies, Yvonne gave us a couple of double action krabs as gizzits, stating they would be handy for tools, but not PPE as they were not triple action. I found this a very responsible position to take. Whilst I sympathise that a purchased bit of kit has been failed, regardless of semantics, with HSE recommendation that triples be used perhaps that stock line could be replaced with a suitable TA item. When I'm spiking up a multistem and it forks, that flip line or lanyard on my side D's undeniably becomes the primary attachment that stops me falling whilst I re-attach my climbing line. It's PPE. The side D's on the TM harness are listed as PPE and rated the same as the other points. When I'm climbing normally and doing a changeover with a standard lanyard, it is my primary form of PPE while I reset my climbing line tip. So it's a pity the kit was failed, but I have to side with the LOLER inspector and suggest that the lanyard krab is replaced.

Just had my kit LOLER'd. The box says "Is the equipment safe to use? Either YES or NO" Separate box "Details of any part that has or may result in a defect or details of any remedial action required" Two separate areas. I threw my MEWP harness in - the answer to the first question is NO and to the second part "Not a tree harness". Bear in mind that the LOLER inspection is relevant to the industry you are in. The MEWP harness quite rightly failed the tree work LOLER, but would pass if put in to the relevant inspector for MEWP work. To my mind the double lock should fail for the same reason. It may well be serviceable, but industry safety requirement/best practice is for triple action. Spiking up a pole even with two lines, if you are moving around a limb then that flipline will be your primary line as you reposition the other line above the limb to carry on up. Pete McTree does LOLER, I'd be interested in his comments.

A while back there seemed to be a bad batch of Haix, but my Protector Pro,s are still going strong since I got them at Jonesies open day, 22 months ago. Wear them for spiking and any wet jobs, including Stevie's summer snow. Bone dry today while standing in the river in Dufftown. But I do like my Cofra boots. Crap in the wet after about 6 months, still in one piece after 2 1/2 years, but really comfy for any non-spiking work in the tree, plus you don't feel like Herman Munster when walking in them.

Can you buy them online?...................

LOVE IT! 25 years in the military and its only now that I really love getting out of bed in the morning. Lots of shiny toys, satisfying work, plus pies, pancakes and bacon rolls from customers. Come home knackered, smelly and the biggest grin on my face. (unless there's a stack of chains to sharpen!)

One of the best troll topics I've seen so far!

Loving mine. Certainly feels more aggressive in the cut than a 201. It's got the screw caps which I thought was a bit strange considering the oil filler cap on my T536 is a flippy style. At least the Stihl can rapid oil filler fits it, just sits a bit awkward as the opening is slightly recessed.

Miss my Zigzag a lot, especially on sticky Sitka dismantles. I even considered making the 500 mile round trip to pinch Silky's prototype when he wasn't looking :-) What rope were you using with it, Silky? The first one tended ok on the 13mm blaze, but others kept saying that the slightly thinner rope was the nuts for self-tending. So money set aside for Zigzag2 AND a new rope perhaps.

Back on track. Been using Aspen exclusively in my Stihl blower, strimmer and now in my T540. Spent 6 hours yesterday with a mates hedge trimmer on normal mix and felt dizzy all the way home. To be honest I'm not finding the cost too much of a burden. Main saws are still on mix though.

PM sent, Jim

Best of luck with them, Dan. My mate got help this year through them.

Should have joined the Navy, but the flared trousers were so 70's and out of style.

BetheBoss scheme. Royal British Legion provide loans/grants to ex servicemen starting their business, depending on circumstances.

Wonder if they have put a couple of different specs out there for trial? It would make sense. Plus explain differing pictures.