JimM

What you want to do now is get yourself on the Cs34,35 course. It does need 32 first. A couple of ghillies at an estate over my way did it alongside me a couple of weeks ago. Great course and would have taken any of your worries away and given you the right ideas to tackle it. Well done for sorting it and thanks for the description and pictures.

Paintwork all looks good on the sills, mate!

Hi there, I was sold an MS290 new back in March and used it for my CS30/31 training. The course supplied beasts if you didn't have your own saw were 346XP's. I used the 290 through June and July on general tree work on an estate. It started fine every day, and still does. It is heavy for it's power though. I then got hold of a 346XP and the difference is tremendous. Slightly lighter, but feels a lot lighter due to its shape and balance. It makes snedding MUCH easier as it seems to rev up faster. You feel as though you have to wait for the 290 to get to speed, even though its probably only a few fractions of a second slower. I still use the 290, mainly for cross-cutting firewood as it's a steady plodder and it remains in my van as a back-up saw. After a days use, the 290 will leave you tired, but the 346 certainly won't. Summing up my experience with both mate, I would try and get a decent second-hand 346 if you can't manage new. The 290 is OK, but it's not for everyday forest work.

Let us know how you progress with it Sandy. Pics too.

Laughing. Hoping to purchase a 576 from Jonesies new emporium when I go visiting next week. Love my 346 but want something a little bigger for the windblow etc

I find one measure of malt Scotch poured over the wound to one measure drunk works quite effectively. Hope it heals quick for you.

Is there anyone nearby that can get to you to have a look see and offer help? There must be a couple nearby used to playing on the A82! Can you get hold of a suitable winch to control the stem when you sever the rootplate? I wouldn't dare touch the crown first. If the tree decides to sit up as the weight changes, you and a revving saw are going to do a superman act straight into the nearest morgue. My best advice Sandy is to have someone with good experience of that kind of windblow to come have a look.

Last tree's a beauty. Having just done my 34/35 on Scots Pines it gave me a bit to think about. How high is the base of the stem off the ground?

Awesome!

That's good to know. The little monkeys always bounce back quick. Hope tonight is just as settled. Always family first, mate.

Very smart. Have a good Christmas mate. All the best for the New Year.

Tickets bought. Great work and Merry Christmas, Steve.

Clark Forest is a bit of a drive from Glasgow, but if you're considering trying Irvine, you may as well spin round via Dumfries.

Impressive stuff. The last shot is superb.

Money went through this morning. Santander don't allow first payment of a new transfer to go through "fast". 3 to 4 days for it. Nor do they appear to allow fast transfers to be more than £300. Just pants. Personal banking is with HBOS and I'd rather not have all my eggs in one basket, but I'm not staying with Santander. I know what you mean about just using it as a machine, but this one's a bit unfit for purpose.

From what you say Mark I might see my payment go through sometime tomorrow. Will look in the morning and if it's not gone through it'll be grumpy time in the bank.

Yup, and when they fail they get propped up by the government, while everyone else collapses.

I asked the same of my accountant. Apparently a couple of banks have taken the hump with customers doing this. When they figured it out they charged business banking fees retrospectively. How true that is I don't know, but happy to follow his advice. Got to believe someone at some stage. It's why I'm on this forum

Skyhuck; Had selected fast transfer of funds from Santander to HBoS. The money should have gone over in 2 hours. 2 days later the money is nowhere in sight. A transfer in the opposite direction went in in less than 2 hours. I opened a business account on the recommendation of my accountant, to make transaction accounting easier and separate from personal banking. I am praying that this isn't a sign of future hassles to come. I want my worries to be getting my tickets, gaining experience and customers, not the added woes of banking issues too.

Plus 2. Ron Clowes is an absolute gentleman. Very helpful. Did my 30/31 assessment. Fochabers based. Malcom Moore (Treewise) near Elgin just taught me 32,34,35 and was good value. Plus I passed yesterday Both of the above have decades of experience and well worth spending time with.

Bump. Recently opened a business account with Santander. They've just lost 250 notes on a transfer to another banks account. Is this a symptom of things to come? Anyone else having nightmares with Santander? If they don't resolve this quickly I'm banging out and trying somewhere else.

It drives well, although certainly tail-happy in 2wd + unladen around corners. Will be putting it through its paces tomorrow morning when I'm in the hills in the snow. I would have been happy with a lower spec, but there aren't a lot of supercabs about and it would have been daft to say no to this. Look forward to seeing yours sign-written, Rovers.

Guess I wouldn't get off so easily in my new toy! Couldn't resist this one. Pretty good nick for a 5 year old. Was going to bin the Mountain Top metal tonneau until I found out how much it was worth. Will be stacked carefully when not in use

Gobsmacked when Chris Evans played my kids school's version over two mornings. There's only 29 in the school and they gave it laldy. How proud was I?! Please support this one guys and gals.

Thanks Mate. That was exactly the kind of reply I was looking for! I've bought it :-) Seen a Witter bar for £73. Looks like a lot of discounting going on just now. Was going for just the ball, but reckon I'll opt for the combo like yourself. Cheers for all the replies folks. Jim