Bing!

I should make it clear... The OAR in the pic is on Ddrt, and works a treat.

The top roller is only .5 mm smaller in diameter, it releases and bites cleanly. No creep, if I bounce around deliberatley I can get it to creep a bit but it takes effort, not bad considering I am 14 stone plus kit. I can probably post a picture but the video I attempted would be of no help to man nor beast, even I cant work out what was going on and I filmed it... The picture makes more sense if you are familiar with the O rig setup, my spliced eye is fed down through the ally ring on my bridge then up to the carabiner at the bottom of the Bulldog OAR. I will try and get some better shots. The nice thing about the Bulldog and the O rig is you can set the bulldog arms length away from you and get a good arms length of upward thrust, instant bite captures the progress without having to lock off with your arm to tend slack.

I can vouch for the 'sturdiness' of the dogbone wrench, it really is a cracking bit of simple kit. I would love to give a full review of the wrench but I am spending most of my time scooting around with the Bulldog OAR. Using Tachyon/teufelberger tachyon I use 2 swing arms and a slightly smaller top roller, set up on an 'O' rig it really is a breeze to ascend/descend on. I'll give an EG, we have a errr, slightly portly young lad shall we say, who using hc etc struggles to get more than 10-15ft up, straight ascent with no aids, with the OAR in 'O' rig the boy monkeyed up like a natural, really am loving it. Thanks Gordon. Bing! Forgot to say, the dogbone wrench is my daughters, she just lets me play with it.

Now thats how a deadwooding should be done.

They have not taken ny cash yet, was just going to sit back and wait. I currently use a basic chest ascender tied to my boot. Nice.

I've been waiting for my right foot pantin since my order went in on 18th JUNE!!!! One email saying they are on there way, that was 2 weeks ago.

If you are taken on the books then no probs, if it's a bit of cash in hand work here and there then it may be a concern if something goes wrong! If there is no full time employment try the part time angle, on the books, 2-3 days a week for a couple of firms, if your lucky and which ever arb type college near you hasn't churned out another 20 plus keen as mustard, still living at home potential "I'll work for peanuts because it's such fun and I love it" types. Sorry, cynical side popped out there.... If you have your own life/medical insurance just check if they are fine with you working over 40ft (if you go down the climbing route), seems to be the the height at which things get difficult with non arb insurance companies. Bing!

High hedges, I'm sure it's two or more trees, anything over 2m and so can be cut down to that and the odd term "evergreen or semi evergreen tree", which could be said to cover deciduous, ish, maybe....Hmmm Sheesh, just cut the green meanies down.

I think the high hedges legislation (section 5 of the anti social behavior order, an ASBO!)come into play if you are affected by the high hedge, any TWO trees together constitute a hedge, boundaries make no difference. You can be 5 houses down but if it impacts your light then it's game on for the ASBO. It is a long winded process before you are told to reduce, the complaintant has to prove they have tried everything before it goes to arbitration. If no luck they will insist you reduce to as low as 2 m, if you don't do it they can enter your land, do the work and charge you, oh, then you have to maintain it at that height...... Probably best to top them before it goes that far. ; )

Spare a thought for the poor schmo who lives in the shadow of these behemoths, have the pests down and get a native or two planted. You know it's going to be cheaper and easier in the long term. As a sane human I loathe these "trees", as a tree surgeon I love them, every year trim and top, trim and top, trim and top etc etc cha ching, cha ching. IMO, Bing!

Do you use a Petzl navaho? I'm still trying to coax my pigeon squabs back out from somewhere up inside me.... I only went 10 foot up the tree. Didn't have time to chafe. Bing!

Everything as above, all good points. Our one experience of an ex soldier was a torrid one, right from the off he was happy to point out he had little respect for us, after all "what have you done?" Constantly reminded us of his tours. We're an easy going bunch but we did find it hard to impart knowledge to someone with zero interest in what we had to say, this job is just hard graft and nothing more, any can do it, so I was told. Not so confidant on a rainy day and I offer to show him around the very open crown of a plane tree. He doesn't work for us any more and he is no longer in tree surgery. There can be a career ladder if you are willing to put your head in the books, for christs sake get onto tree idents asap, even if it's only the top 20 common ones you will work on. We have a 18 year veteran groundy who cant tell his arse from an ash, VERY FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!! One little point to note, check out your fellow workers cars, who has the flashest? My guess will be the company owner. Hhmmm, why would that be? Bing! Oh, don't just rely on the boss/company to pay for your tickets/training, CPD etc, sometimes it doesn't happen. If you want "IT" get up and go and get it.

Well there seems to be an overwhelming lean towards a pick up, or small van, thank you Harvey/Peter. The battle between Want and Need will continue for a while yet, as long as it doesn't end in some rash decision brought about by a tortured mind, resulting in a prius with the roof cut off parked in the drive. Thanks for opinions/suggestions, some of which may or may not be taken on board before being totaly ignored. I'm off to my bed. Bing!

We removed a Very large cedar some years back and the quote was £7500 plus VAT, we had the lot, lines down, big crane on special matting so as not to sink, lorries galore and plenty of "up for it" lads who were keen to get in on killing the monster. I worked my arse off on that sodding tree, the sheer bulk of wood/brash and the concrete filled butt destroyed our profit, I think we just broke even. With hindsight we would have walked away, I didn't even get any photos.

Point of order chaps, no vans were mentioned in the line up, I gave you the choices : )

And Rich is black balled for the Prius suggestion, even in jest.... A real motor would run on fossil fuels, better still, rare dolphins and pandas and lubricated with freshly squeezed seal pups.

This is more the dilema, do I need a landy or do I just want it? Navvy, you'll have to wait till I decide which way to go before I divulge the whereabouts of said Heavy duty dropside.... There seems to be an awful lot of support for the wife on this one, I may just try and delete the thread and not ask again. I've scrapped the score sheet before she finds it.

I have access to transits, this would only be for my transportation plus tools, occasionally the chipper or trailer but not a full blown working vehicle. Logs/wood and scratchings at the end of the day maybe. I shall mark you down in the "agree with wifey" column Rich, thanks for the input. Wot No Landy lovers out there?

25 miles each way, not a major trek and all major roads. Takes me 30-35 mins in the fiesta but alot of my own work is near to home within 20 or so miles, again no real trek. But a real pain in the ass when I have to wedge everything into the back of the Fester van... Am I being too finicky?

Ok chaps, help me decide. My old motor is on the way out, T reg fiesta diesel van 195000 miles, not well..... So, do I get a 110 HiCap land rover for my run around/tool carrier, Or a Jap pickup? Or a 110 heavy duty that has a drop side conversion (have found one local, as you do)? get the 110 HiCap with a view to convert to tipper in a year or two Get a jap pick up, or the Heavy duty 110 then convert to tipper in a year or two? Now I would love a LR but the toughest terrain will most likely be bumping up a kerb, but they are fun with so many things to bolt on, wifey suggested the Jap option as it's "more practical" (yawn), but she is right. The wife also suggested that I would most likely get a very good transit for similar price (£7k-£8k), but I intend to use it mostly for tools and towing, we have transits, again she is right but not much fun in being practical. Should I be sensible and wholly practical (jap option), or be practical-ish,pricier to run but fun and go Land rover? Bing!

You're just teasing me now........ ; )

Will the ali be hard anodised (natural or black) for extra protection or standard anodised (all the colours of the rainbow) to appeal to the shiny kit crew? Steel, high carbon and hardened or soft to allow for a spares market to spring up? So then, when do I get a prototype/mk1/freebie to play with? If you're a little shy and not sure how to ask, just blurt it out.... : ) Bing!

Looks interesting.... Let me guess, not in the uk for another year or three, has to be CE approved (another year +) and will cost eleventy million pounds? If your looking for someone to test it real world style send me a prototype and I will abuse it as a piece of shiny kit should be...... Seriously, I like the look of this. Bing!

If you do endup around Chch try out by banks peninsula, Te whare karakia Onuku marae is where me and the wifey got married. Lovely place. 4 weeks is not going to be enough, on my first trip I went out for 2-3 months and stayed 6................ Then I went back again for longer, never should have come back. If you like to surf check out Raglan in north Island, left hand break and said to be the best in the world, just not in the pishing rain and ridiculous wind!! You'll love the place. Bing!