Joe Newton

I hope you didn't pay... Talk us through how you chose the contractor and the experience start to finish.

Yeah, I could do it. Drop me a PM with your details and what you need inspecting.

And you were a "malnourished anarchist". Yet we're all still friends. Feel free to return fire. I'll call you something new next week.

I know mate. I just enjoy pointing out you're a dinosaur. I've got a lot of time for old school, when appropriate.

I'd with an MBS too the equivalent of 10 tonne, those slings would be slight overkill for that legnth of bailing twine you're rigging with 🤣

Give Beechwood a call. They're not far and generally pretty busy.

I'm still gutted I've had to retire the 200t you did for me. I could buy a new crank case and rebuild but I'm loathe to when you can't get an OEM pot any more

Yeah i agree about the bark box. A mate put one on his 500i and it may as well have had an ASBO. The 3 that I have (2 now the 200t is beyond economical repair) sound a bit lively but aren't noticeably louder than stock. They pick up way faster though.

I disagree, as long as the porting work is done within the tolerances of what the saw can handle there's no reason why they shouldn't last as long if not longer. Most saws are restricted by noise/ emissions. It's amazing what you can get out of them if you're not bothered by any of that.

Cheers Steve, I'll be a big boy and lug the 500 around until the parts arrive 🙄

How do you figure that mate? My 2 oldest saws are ported.

Probably needed to phrase the question better.

My 357 rattled an exhaust bolt free a while ago. Got round to sorting it this evening and found that half the exhaust gasket has gone AWOL. Will I get away with running it without for a few days while I wait for the part or is it best to be patient?

I mean it looks wrong and I hate it, but I can't see how it's any worse than my fixed bollard with the ratchet.

I was trying to recall who told me that anecdote many years ago!

I can't answer that. Static ropes made to EN1891 standards - RopesDirect Ropes Direct WWW.ROPESDIRECT.CO.UK Looking for safe, certified static ropes? At RopesDirect, our static ropes are ‘Type A’ classified and... Here's an interesting link on the required standard for low stretch ropes like the ones we use. It states a minimum melting point considerably higher than that of dyneema (around 145°)

Correction, Dyneema isn't bad for UV, I might've been thinking of Technora. Another UHMWPE fibre. Dyneema has a very low melting point, which makes it unsuitable for rigging due to the heat generated through friction based braking systems like bollards etc.

The problem with using a "dynamic" rope (lets assume it's been tested against the correct standard for rigging operations) is that when theres not much room to let a piece run, that stretch goes against you. Its why we use more static ropes for rigging and try and keep the force to the rigging point to a minimum via dynamic lowering techniques, i.e letting the piece run. To the best of my knowledge, arborist rigging line will be tested against a different EN standard than winch lines, which need to have very low elongation. I could dig out my LOLER handbook but it won't be this evening I'm afraid. Different rope materials have different properties too. Dyneema has very low elongation under load, as well as being very light for its high breaking strength. It doesn't resist abrasion or UV degradation well though, and wouldn't have a great cycles- to- failure rate for repeated shock loading.

Rigging lines for arb work are generally "static". Any rope will have an amount of elongation under load though.

So I asked the same question of one of the blokes who helped write TG3. The answer was no. 11 is the absolute worst case scenario with the rigging point way below the load. Any lower and the forces were less due to stretch in the rigging line dissipating the load.

Gotcha. Worst case force multiplication factor is 11x the load. That's in the case of Rigging Point Below or "Negative rigging"

https://youtu.be/CH1YwShhx0I?si=eYJ-urx8Qdfxai1J Watch at your own risk, old timer. Don't want you suffering an aneurysm this close to retirement.

I love that it Mick's opinion, negative rigging with a pulley block and fixed bollard constitutes 10/10 complex rigging 🤣

You're such a pikey.