JimM

How about a 70's 4-position lunge. Kecks courtesy of Pfanner Arborist.

Sending mine back. The big question is - spend the money straight away on new shiney from Justin, or bank the cash and wait for Zigzag2 ?

The T536 is good for takedowns Eddy, up to the point where a petrol saw becomes obvious. For me so far, that's where I swap to my 346 or use the 020/201 for a bit. You could argue that why not start with a 201 etc and stick with it for further down the tree. But what the 536 does is give you a good period of pleasant, semi-peaceful working before its time to roll out the noise. It'll get a good load of branch wood out, when the cuts are spaced out time-wise by you moving around the tree and the saw isn't expected to go balls out repeatedly chogging. It's early days yet though, so time will tell whether its robust enough to last as long as the other top handles.

I guess Eddie was up in Forres, as the dealer there has a new promo stand. Just waiting for them to restock though. Do like using it in my blowers and strimmer/brush cutter

It definitely has limits when it comes to balls out use. I certainly like the ease of refuelling it when up the tree. :-) and it's a pleasant saw to use. But there's a definite moment when you realise it's time to go petrol and your fairly peaceful climb is at an end. Let us know what the problem turns out to be, Roni.

Think you might be right.

Had the same problem with a cedar on Thursday, but wasn't risking a throwline to height because of power cables not that far away.. Ended up alternating climbing line and lanyard part way around the tree and leaning away from each to stop the rope sliding off. Slow and tedious. Once i got to height I was even more glad I hadn't thrown in, as the branches were brittle as hell and wouldn't have taken my weight for long.

Nice!

Ho hum! Grin!

Likewise, but the inside unfortunately gets condensed to hell and freezes too.

Not pleasant I agree, but if I didn't do that I'd have been driving blind up the street this winter on umpteen occasions in my Ranger. And pouring warm water over the windscreen is recipe for a nice crack. However, in the OP's case that's past history. I wouldn't tit for tat letter-wise. Just give him a stiff ignoring. There's more important things in life. Next time he complains, tell him to rent a timeshare in Afghanistan and then he'll realise just how lucky he is in life.

I'm running a Brian James 10x5.5 tipper behind my 07 Ranger. Great trailer. Swap to the aluminium floor and you gain another 80kg of load. We put some thin ply around the inside of the cage for chip. Feels a lot lighter than the equivalent Ifor when towing empty.

Tim, look for the arb firms around where you're going to live and offer yourself up for unpaid work experience during your resettlement leave etc. After that its all about proving yourself up for it. In the meantime get yourself on a course. Tkf does 30,31,38, 39 (new equivalents) plus business training. Make the most of the funding you can get hold of. ELC and SLC's. put that lot together and you become a useful proposition for a firm to take on.

Contact TKF Training, Holmfirth. They have great courses to suit ex-service and you can use Enhanced Learning Credits to help pay for your course. Just back from there and there were 3 RAF, and 2 army on the course.

Nice vid. Clever set up to get the reflection.

Nice little saw. Got hold of one just over a week ago and really pleased with it. Quicker off the harness and into action, whiney but not annoyingly so. It's not that much lighter than a petrol topper, but somehow it feels lighter on the harness. Cuts well, but needs a better chain than the 90. Certainly more fun than the Echo's that were the alternative.

With you on that. Fitted rubbers on it the other day, but will leave it in the bag and run a normal hitch till Petzl come up with further info. Pity.

I'm doing training this week with 4 other ex mil guys with some more in training in the next couple of weeks. Motivated, happy to be outside, not being shot at or being directed by idiots. Get hold of them, give them clear, concise training and you've got a good workforce. Let the xbox generation go to MaccyD's. (Please note that other games consoles are available)

Thing is, you need to fund CS30,31,32,34,35. (Not digging out the new equivalents), first aid training and PPE to get 1 new person started. 4 weeks to provide that? £2-2.5k per person. What college is going to provide that as part of a curriculum? Most initial forestry courses take a year, lucky if the students see CS30 and maybe 31 in that first year, get disillusioned and give up. I've seen this already. They don't want to sit in a classroom, and classroom hours are barely 3 days per week in some cases. Colleges want to bulk out courses to ensure trainers get paid for an entire year, not just 4 weeks. Bear in mind that the above produces cutters, not planting, forwarder skills, tree ident and management, chippers, etc. Plus you are looking for young lads and lasses that want to work on the land, not earn Ferrari owning wages. Most kids at that level won't be able to afford their own PPE, saws etc. and cutters wages won't help towards that much, will they? So risk that expense, motivate the youngster so that he/she stays the course and doesn't run to MaccyD's for a physically easier job. Solve the above and you'll maybe get more kids into forestry. Or all the military lads that have been hit with redundancy?

Won mine in the Arbtalk Christmas Raffle, Scotspine, so maybe sit outside your perceived group of purchasers. A Hitchclimber setup was in my online basket before I won a Zigzag. I sure as hell wouldn't have spent that amount of money otherwise. As an older member of this fraternity, I want to see the facts. I've spent many years in the military seeing the well respected BBC get stories very badly wrong, so nowadays how information is presented to me is very important. "A friend told me..." isn't enough to rouse my interest. It's a piece of industrial work equipment and should be used with care and respect, like all the rest of our kit. I liked Petzl's response and await its further findings with interest. A bit tongue in cheek, but in the meantime if those of you who are retiring your Zigzags want to sell me them, I'll offer a decent price as long as you sign a statement saying, "I wasn't a bell-end when using it"

Cheers Bob. See you tomorrow.

Facts, not supposition. Nice to see Petzl's response. I've found that after work around a tree, the zigzag upper carabiner has become cross-loaded. Re-orientated it and worked on or descended when finished. So, ordering a couple of the little rubbers to see if they will keep the upper krab properly orientated. And no YouTube, awe-inspiring fast descents. I looked at the mini strop setup, but wonder what the jagged edge would do to that with the forces involved?

Climbed on mine today for my CS41 assessment. Shortened the bridge on my Treemotion first. What a difference that made once it started self-tending.

Use a camelback, but only sent up when I need it.