tree-fancier123

Its a good thing there are some woodland tpos in uk, or more big trees would be lost, a few plants and animals move in from surrounding areas increasing biodiversity, but you cant expand the habitat of mature native broadleafs that are a century or more in the making

When youve found the need to spend another three grand one of those predator 661 chainsaw stump grinders you could poke about on the roots

I also saw the Makita is most powerful out of those ones, if its quicker it may be less wear on your shoulders, or more? Perhaps it has class leading anti vibes

I appreciate you can fell 70 percent big native trees in an area, leave a few scattered about and smaller oranisms colonise the previously shaded understory, what gets me about mankind is every square meter of woodland is seen as a resource. Theres no scope for owning something without needing to 'improve' or make use of. At least it wont be another housing estate just yet.

so if biodiversity is a numbers game you could hit the jackpot by making it so lots of different small organisms flourish instead of a few big ones. Kew gardens must have high biodiversity, compared to the woodland it must have been before man arrived

Have to agree with this - there is something to be said for looking at woodland not in terms of 'management' , but as nature. A properly managed woodland should look like one did before man evolved. Of course, man has evolved, so it's only natural you'll want to steal a few trees for heating or building

if people become aware that topping is universally bad is there another term that I could use to sell my service? Lopping? Trimming? Surely a holm oak or sycamore wouldn't have rotted as bad if brutally topped by a non arb approved 'practitioner' like myself?

Can be retopped safely from a helium balloon, probably much cheaper than a mewp

Seems theres good money in it in China - some are using a helium balloon to get up there. New ticket on the way - chainsaw from a heium balloon http://www.sixthtone.com/news/1001195/the-life-and-death-of-a-pine-nut-picker

they aren't as big as that one, and a did have a plan using something what Johnny Walker on here used to call a floating rope, basically you could have something round the trunk at various heights below the top anchor so if the top comes away you take a fall, but only as far as the next sound anchor. A bit like the rigging fishing pole technique. You're right I do need to get back up there while its still a silky job, was kind of hoping they'd have moved house

you do have a good point there - that is a fair size one and even if its halved it would be a dangerous job to retop in 5 years time without a mewp. I like the ladder height option - the mature trunk is a garden feature the owners may want to keep

I halved a row of them by my mums place, 4 years on there is about 10ft new stuff, I don't doubt they've got rot pockets already, but so what? They still like the tree line and don't have the worry of storm damage.

Bandits don't exactly sell for the cost of the engine, steel and components either, assembly costs must be dear in US

most of the cost of a removal is getting rid of the crown - you could ask for a pollard at 8ft where it forks just above the fence, then if the regrowth is strong you can cut it yourself off a ladder every 3 years, possibly worth a try

thanks for sharing - that top image is helpful to me, as I want to show a customer what can happen to oak when ganoderma takes hold. Last autumn I found a large bracket around the back of a tree, hidden near a fence. Foolishly I cut the bracket off the tree thinking ' don't want that horrid thing releasing spores onto any nearby pruning wounds'. It dawned on me afterwards that the bracket would be required evidence if a consultant was ever called upon to assess the trees. It will probably grow back in the autumn, but the tree is in a parking area, so I will have to write and inform the owner of the risk. If I send your picture too it will illustrate the risk. Don't think I will be volunteering to clamber on it. Russian roulette. Do you remember the story on here of a lad working in the states who was asked to do a dead red oak and told his foreman he had stomach ache, foreman said are you sure? then got his own spikes on and knocked it out in 20 mins, came down drove the truck out on the road and said 'now chip it' to the 'coward' who had to drag it all the way to the truck. I would rather be an alive coward, possibly. The foreman got away with it, but another arbtalk tale I rember of a climber in germany where a dead beech collapsed on him, is now paralyzed

maybe consider a van vault in the corner somewhere at home indoors, at least for the powerheads. It must be possible to have a box, not necessarily a secure one, indoors at home, with some kind of gasket on the lid, so petrol fumes aren't a problem

If you set a prussik on the tail end of your mainline and an anchor at the top of trunk (as a backup if branch breaks), could you then use your ZZ and your lanyard to go out along the branch suspended from underneath it? (and cut with Silky) Too risky? What diameter cuts?

I haven't tried an angled gearhead on my HT131, but it looks handy

not if you don't mind being hit on the head I have taken the HT131 up the tree if there is no suitable anchor, the big Stihl polesaw is expensive, but worth it. It extends loads. You can use them dangerously from a tripod ladder under the cut to get more height ( nibbling the branch back) Or a good set of poles like the utility guys use, with the pulley pruner for upto 30mm or so, then the saw head. Sometimes they rod a tree and side it up without even putting a harness on. Of course if there are lower branches underneath that you can stand on even better.

it annoys me often you've made a funny comment that other people can understand, but I don't get what you mean. Are you saying 'thought' is irrelevant and we need hard science, or that thought is in the past tense and he will have to update his thought after being properly educated, or something else entirely, or what? BTW I read that exclamation marks should be used sparingly, just thought I'd mention that, in case you're ever tempted to overdo it

Its a nice island with comfortable climate, plentiful flora and fauna. If you believe the boffins the early settlers arrived here millions of years ago unshaven and could have quite easily gone elsewhere, as there were no passports Edit - maybe it wasn't a proper island when the first hairy apes were mooching about?

Mauseth - Botany: An Introduction to Plant Biology. This is an undergraduate text c800 pages. It is in its 6 edition now and over 60 to buy new. An edition from the end of last century is probably good enough to start with and from £10 second hand on bay of thieves or Amazon, or 'free' via criminal deeds electronically I started reading Botany For Gardeners, but gave up because it seemed too dumbed down, then started reading Mauseth and gave up because its 800 pages to get through and my van needed fixing... The nitty gritty of how plants work is physics, chemistry and molecular biology. The microscopic and submicroscopic details of the physical world are fascinating and I too hope to learn more in future Also Hirons and Thomas - Applied Tree Biology, for more focused treatment, good info on planting

good info - I like the benefit of being able to finish in a downpour if needs be. How do you get on in neat gardens hiding or losing the spoil? Do you try to ram some back in once the repair spur is fitted before concreting or just luz it under a bush when no one's looking?

although the dear breakers can be lighter, what I was getting at is can you pay a lot more for a much more powerful electric breaker that digs it out quicker? Possibly ending up with an even heavier machine than the Titan. I agree the Titan is such good value that in terms of profit per £ spent it seems a no brainer. Actually looking at the specs of the biggest Bosch it is rated at 60J impact energy, compared to the Titan at 45J, so maybe it wouldn't justify the cost, not like twice as powerful. Also weighs 29 and a bit kg, bit of lump. Edit the Makita is even more powerful with 72.8Joules impact energy (nearly twice the power of a Titan). If I get a big fencing job I may look to hire a Makita and a JCB beaver to compare - if I can even drag them out the van that is

Im surprised the amount of fencing you do, but if a thousand pound machine doesnt pay back with increased productivity, then less attractive. On a nerdy note, the energy ratings impact i seem to remember the titan is quite high. The big Bosch looks good. I would like to try top of the range Bosch and Hilti, just to see if its quicker. I also prefer flat chisel. Wonder if a slightly wider one 600mm long like a giant bolster available. The point ones seem too slow sliding off lumps in the hole. It does seem mad to spend 12 times a titan on just one, but if its like on steroids....