Pedroski

Nah, I'm not worried about him doing that - he's happy with my call and refuses to deal with anyone else even though I did suggest he get other quotes when he was surprised by my first quote for work for him. I must have done something right.

No danger at all. It's really nice apart from a few really small dead branches. We've already pollarded 3 pops in his field, there are a couple of nice beeches and some nice pines. There is this really nice pop, and there is another pop that really could do with felling - it's dead wood from about half way up its 120ft height and has been hit by lightning. I'd rather he put his money into losing that one!

Kicking myself at the moment. A client wanted a poplar felled. It's a nice looking one, well balanced one, 70ft+ with a nice crown. He is concerned because some of the crown is over the road, and the tip of a lower branch is very close to a phone line. He just wanted it felled, and left in the field for him and mates to clear up. Anyway, I went and suggested just a lift so there is nothing near to the phone lines, and removal of the few dead bit in it. I pointed out that it's a nice specimen of a tree and that as there is heaps of space around it, that it would be a shame to lose it. I talked him round and I think that's what he is going to go for now. And the reason I'm kicking myself is because the job is so simple that we'll have it done in a couple of hours, whereas the full job would have been a day..... and work is quietish at the moment. All because I didn't want to be seen as a tree murderer I've done myself out of a heap of money! I'm actually tempted to tell him I've reconsidered and felling is the best option!

Something you need to bear in mind is that doing courses with a high theory content with a qualification at the end, i.e. NVQ this or that, demonstrates that the student has some intellectual capability, can study and complete course work and pass exams. So the qualification is transferable and might help the student get a job in an area not related to arb, or help them get onto a HE course at uni. There are uni courses and jobs where they ask for a number of 'A' levels or equivalent, and an NVQ3 is equivalent to 2 A levels. From that perspective, it's a good thing. Doing a bunch of CS tickets shows you know how to handle a chainsaw safely, climb and fell trees etc. But you can still be intellectually challenged and perhaps not suited to anything other than practical tree work. A CS ticket is probably equivalent to a 25 metre swimming certificate on a job app for something not requiring chainsaw use

They should do that on The Cube! Brilliant.

Actually, I wonder if it cold be anything to do with the Bielski Partisans. They rescued Jews during WW2 and spent more than 2 years living in the forests. Link Bielski partisans - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia from Wiki: "Organization The partisans lived in underground dugouts (zemlyankas) or bunkers. In addition, several utility structures were built: a kitchen, a mill, a bakery, a bathhouse, a medical clinic for the sick and wounded, and a quarantine hut for those who suffered from infectious diseases such as typhus. Herds of cows supplied milk. Artisans made goods and carried out repairs, providing the combatants with logistical support that later served the Soviet partisan units in the vicinity as well. More than 125 workers toiled in the workshops, which became famous among partisans far beyond the Bielski base. Tailors patched up old clothing and stitched together new garments; shoemakers fixed old and made new footwear; leather-workers laboured on belts, bridles and saddles. A metalworking shop established by Shmuel Oppenheim repaired damaged weapons and constructed new ones from spare parts. A tannery, constructed to produce the hide for cobblers and leather workers, became a de-facto synagogue because several tanners were devout Hasidic Jews. Carpenters, hat-makers, barbers, watchmakers served their own community and guests. The camp's many children attended class in the dugout set up as a school. The camp even had its own jail and court of law.[4] Some accounts note the inequality between well-off partisans and poor inhabitants of the camp.[5]"

I've had a thought. The link the op put up, Poland's Mysterious Crooked Forest : Big Pic : Discovery News, says the 400 pines were all planted about 1930. allowed to grow for 7 to 10 years before, before being held down to the ground. I'm wondering if perhaps they were held down to create a large open space in the forest (the surrounding trees are all straight) for some purpose during WW2. I'm not sure if many arbo-sculpters would have been thinking about bending trees in the middle of WW2 - I reckon it's a military thing.

Chippygeoff, I'm glad you posted on this thread as I hadn't seen it before. Looks amazing that does. I suppose arbo-sculpture is the sort of thing that you need to start at a young age if you want to see how it turns out!

I can imagine. How many customers offer you orange juice instead of tea or coffee? PINK!!! I think would be a good colour in some areas down here though.

'Tis a good looking truck though. Definitely easy to spot, in fact I can see it from here:thumbup1:

They look like a decent bit of kit. My mate has got an iphone case he paid nearly £40 for and it's only splash resistant and dust resistant. Bleedin' great big clunky thing as well.

Agreed. If I was offered stuff in part payment for a debt all I'd be interested in knowing is if the item I took was worth more than the part of the debt it was covering. Definitely NO change! Can't imagine a finance company repossessing a car, selling it at auction and giving the debtor the difference....

Well, one of my favourite colours is orange, for its sense of fun..... HOWEVER, the negative psychological effects of orange are that, psychologically, it is a sign, or points toward, deprivation, frustration, frivolity, and immaturity. Too much orange suggests frivolity and a lack of serious intellectual values (http://www.colour-affects.co.uk/psychological-properties-of-colours) I don't know anyone who would go round in a truck with heaps of orange over it, apart from the AA and EOn, do you? Our truck is mainly green, which is good for the following reasons: "GREEN. Balance Positive: Harmony, balance, refreshment, universal love, rest, restoration, reassurance, environmental awareness, equilibrium, peace. Negative: Boredom, stagnation, blandness, enervation. Green strikes the eye in such a way as to require no adjustment whatever and is, therefore, restful. Being in the centre of the spectrum, it is the colour of balance - a more important concept than many people realise. When the world about us contains plenty of green, this indicates the presence of water, and little danger of famine, so we are reassured by green, on a primitive level. Negatively, it can indicate stagnation and, incorrectly used, will be perceived as being too bland." Not too worried about the negatives, I offset all that with my happy smiley energetic relationships with clients

Best thing is to avoid going above your ascender.

Anyway, MUST GET OUT MORE - I'm going to look at a tree for a client, with my lack of AAAC membership and lack of tree quallies! Actually, I should be able to tender for council work so long as I make it clear on the tender app that tree works are subbed out to AAAC members.

Yep, it's a cop out by the council as AAAC membership means the council can assume all insurances etc in place. Even without AAAC, and all these other associations, there's always been a "club". The Rotary Club!

Well, in theory, all AAAC firms should be treated impartially and they also have a big advantage in the tender process compared with non-AAAC firms, and if the council requires AAAC then the non-AAAC firms won't get through the tender process anyway. And if AAAC membership is required by the council as a qualification to get through, that's their prerogative. I'd put money on their being some really crappy AAAC firms, despite them supposedly being the "cream of the crop" as I read on one AAAC member's web site. It's annoying, in the same way as Check-a-trade membership being seen as something special. Everyone is getting forced into a corner of buying into this that or whatever scheme! Maybe something could be done about it as it is anti-competitive and creates an unlevel playing field. I'm not sure that that's legal!

What OMT is saying is that by only considering AAAC members for tenders, then the council is doing something which could be considered to be "reasonably practicable" from the point of view of their duty of care etc. If a homeowner then tries to issue a claim against the council for liability, then the council's insurers can reject the claim on the basis that the council has done everything that is "reasonably practicable" to ensure all goes smoothly. Any claim would then have to be against the firm carrying out the work.

What's the problem with toothed ascenders on climbing lines? They don't cut the line if you fall on them so they save you, they don't slip when you ascend on them, they work well on wet and muddy lines. Yeah, they pick the sheath if you don't fully release when removing them but that's it. Whereas cammed ascenders can actually cut the line in a fall and drop you to the ground. And any line that has had a significant fall on it should be scrapped anyway. Not sure what the prob is. Apart from the inconvenience of having to completely remove the ascender to rapp down in case it catches.

It's impartial only in so far as anyone is free to submit a tender application, and each application is supposed to be considered on its own merits and supposed to represent best value. However, the impartiality bit kind of disappears when the company submitting the tender application have useful contacts and have done work before for the LA. Also, it would seem, that cheapest price can often trump best value. Another area where the impartiality disappears in when the LA include something along the lines of a a "minimum turnover of £9m" in order to oust an existing firm and to enable another firm to come in from outside after buying up a load of smaller firms.

It's quite simple. All work that is open to tender is detailed on the LA web site (see the one I linked to above). It is up to the company who wants to tender to submit the application for the works that are up for tender. The LA won't just write to a company asking if they would like to do the work for them.

Yep, that was a good read and plenty to think about. As they say, "Different strokes for different blokes"....

They can be set so they run free on the rope with no drag at all (completely self-tending and there as back up for you) so you can move up and down the rope using your hitch. They also have a cam so that they can be set in place on the rope yet still slid along it. You can use it to unweight the hitch if the hitch has gripped tight, and then rapp down on the hitch. And you can use it as an ascender in combination with the hitch for climbing up the SRT line. It's dead easy. And with a lanyard the rocker makes for really precise work positioning.

That is the problem. Unfortunately it is often of little concern to those who come up with regulations to reduce emissions. Same with electric cars really - they still need energy to move around, and that energy production required to charge them typically causes pollution, but it's not seen by the people around the electric car. And as Normandy Lumberjack said, the batteries are a big problem with thousands of acres of land destroyed by pollution from mining and extraction of the metals in them.

Only because he won't be able to stop with it all chipped into the back of his Range Rover, what with his knackered brakes and all.