WorcsWuss

Thanks Pete. Veg.. of course.... on both scores!

Yes please, as you suggested.

I have 2 halves of a 35m rope which I nicked with the saw, I cut it in half and sealed the ends, presto, 2 short ropes for little pruning jobs. I think the premium ropes really are New England [i think the Teufelberger Tachyon is the same?] Yale & Samson...? Like you, I have Marlow, 11mm Aeris, good old English rope!

Ha! Know the feeling!

Depends what the long term plan for the area is. If it were me, ash will produce firewood in the medium term, oak a nicer tree but any productivity is seriously long term. Thinking about future care, an ash is more likely to require work whereas the oak will more than likely just meander through the years without giving trouble.. If you don't want to do anything or gain anything other than a nice tree, take the ash out now and forget all about it. If you need some timber, leave them both go and take one out later when the situation calls for it...

Thanks everyone who has taken the time to complete the survey so far, and to all those who go on to do so. I'm pleasantly surprised by the responses so far and I think it bears out my initial ideas.

Fair point, forgot that's not America! Thanks all!

As part of my research & business plan, I've whipped up a little survey to start to gauge the market. If you could spare 2 minutes to fill this out [only 10 multiple choice questions] that would be much appreciated. Climbing Hardware Purchasing Survey

Some of you may have picked up from the http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/climbers-talk/38362-hitch-climber-am-i-just-big-fairy.html thread that I am working on a piece of hardware to be used in hitch climbing systems. With the kind permission of Steve I have opened this separate thread for the following purposes. 1. To canvass Arbtalkers for their opinions [quite vague at first I'm afraid] 2. To ask questions to which I don't know the answer buut I'm sure someone here will.. 3. As a portal to ask for you to complete surveys for me to help with my business plan. 4. Once it gets to a stage where I can show you what I've come up with, you'll see it first here! At this stage all I have is an idea, some early design drawings and a basic business plan. I am going to try to develop this into a market ready product myself but time will tell what will happen, I have had some discussions with a couple of well respected figures from down 2 different routes I could take. Right now, the idea of developing something myself and building a brand and business is quite exciting and I think something I need in my life, so that's the avenue I'm going to pursue. So, thanks in advance for your help and support on this.

Likewise, I want to try a few out as well!

I would have thought that at 40 feet tall it will be pretty lightweight stuff so you should be able to drop the top 10 or 15 feet in one go onto a pulley mounted a few feet below, should be plenty strong enough... unless there's fungal or rot problems which is very probable with the bloody things... I'm always amazed at how strong trees actually are though... Or go for the stunt fell.... single track lane, that's a huge target! And not a massive tree, climb it, prune as you go up, tie a line on it and go for it....!

Good news...! Did I hear someone say 'cut off their hands'...? Oh, just the voice in my head!

Oh, how long's a piece of string...! You're going to get very persuasive responses to this championing all manner of harnesses. Popular ones seem to be Petzl Sequoia, Tree Austria Duo, Skylotec Kolibri, Treemagic, Treeflex, Treemotion... However, all the harnesses sold by the arb kit suppliers are good and have their place but you will really need to try them out for yourself based on budget, user size and type of work you're doing. Sorry, probably not the most helpful response! Basically, I think they're all pretty good!

Development of my solution to this is picking up a bit of pace now..... anyone who moves the hitch away from them should love this... if it works of course....!

Treehopper at the moment but when I find time to try a few more back to back - toss up between Kolibri, Harkie & Austria Duo I think - I'll be taking one of them on for anything which requires longer periods of hanging around....

Mileage can often be secondary to condition these days... a car which has been driven sensibly up and down the motorway and serviced on the button will be a far better buy than a car which has been driven 2 minutes down the road and back every few days and not serviced at all, even with a fraction of the mileage. If the money's right and the condition and servicing records hold up I wouldn't be worried. I bought a Discovery with 185k on the clock and I can honestly say it was less trouble than my brand new hot off the line BMW.... Do your homework and get a good deal, there's no reason for it to be any worse than a car twice the price and half the mileage...

I'd be curious now just to find out how much of an arrogant devious sort this woman is who has waited till her neighbours are away to get a tree felled which presumably blocks her view or light.... Go along to meet her. If she's a pleasant old dear who's genuinely in fear for her property, suggest she approaches the council or police. If she's utterly vile and trying to pull a fast one using you as a scapegoat for her own ends, contact the police and tell them exactly what she's been trying to do...

You are correct of course, another guy I know was out there managing med equipment manufacture.... I believe branded goods manufactured for Western companies are to the same standard as they would be anywhere, it's home grown stuff or run of the mill alibaba type wholesale which is made on the cheap, and cheaper and cheaper as time goes by. Either way, I disagree with the principal of having everything made in China because it's more cost effective..... I want 'Made in England' stamped on my stuff!

A friend of mine is in engineering and has used Chinese factories. His son worked for Vince Cable carrying a the survey he did of British industry a few years go. This type of story came up again and again in the survey. You place an order, the first container comes, you check it, it's all good. Second comes, all the same. After a few containers you stop checking the content so rigorously. Eventually, something fails underneath a customer. When it was returned and examined the steel was found to be a fraction of the thickness it was supposed to be. When other examples were investigated further, the tube was found to have been getting progressively thinner with every order. The Chinese aren't the cheap tat supplier we take them for, they're canny business people who think nothing of shafting Western customers.... They have got the market so well sewn up now they can get away with these things. How long it will last though I don't know... I actively go out of my way to avoid buying Chinese made goods, it's difficult but possible in most cases, just takes homework and, sadly, a bit less for your money initially. In the long run I reckon it makes good sense on various levels though. IN know that many things - iPhones etc - are made in China and are 'good' products, but these things are actually quite disposable and we wouldn't hang our life off them. [i don't have an iPhone!]

Dibond is strong but I can't see it suiting this application. It's quite heavy and it's quite bendy. It's used for making signs principally...

Never had you pegged as a One Direction fan....

They will be for me when I make my millions....

Because the vaccine used would show as a positive reactor in any subsequent TB testing so 'all' cattle would appear to have TB. As it stands, infected cattle are slaughtered. I don't like it but that's the way it has to be sadly. I do believe that the only way to stop countless otherwise healthy cattle from being slaughtered down the generations is to control the badger population in the same way. It's not practical to test every badger & cull selectively so the only choice open to us is to reduce numbers and then let nature take it's course....

Eventually it will settle down I'm sure. For too long we've been slaughtering cattle really for no good reason other than to appease some rather vociferous animal activists. It appears that public feel that since cattle are bred for meat, killing them in huge numbers isn't the pitiful waste of life us farmers seem to think it is. Slaughtering infected cattle is easily done and essential. But reducing the numbers of badgers at the same time to reduce the chances of the disease flaring up again seems essential as well to my logical brain.... A good day for cattle I reckon...!

I'm for it... hopefully they'll get it set up country-wide before we lose ALL of our cattle!