Andrew Gale

It'll be the IOSH route I should think, not sure if that'll make you an officer but it should furnish you with enough knowledge to fulfill your companies requirements. Just my thoughts by the way, I'm no specialist; I looked at a similar course a while back but didn't take it any further due to ongoing study commitments.

I was thinking down those lines

3rd image looks Malus like but the 1st image showing leaves opposite looks a bit like Acacia...........

Not the prettiest but with that mpg that'll do fine; knock up a hard top or tonneau cover and you're sorted

Phellinus robustus tends to be associated with Oaks a bit more although can be found on a host of broadleaves; I'd be more inclined to go for Pehliinus ignarius, host tree is willow.

I had an 05 too, and I use the word had in the correct sense; I serviced it regularly, although not as much as you Stubby probably every 15k, but it still gave up on 115k. Attempted a rebuild, got it going but it was never the same; got shot of it in the end Good luck with yours.........

A healthy rooting environment will help maintain a healthy tree; you could start by decompacting the rooting area and placing well rotted wood chip mulch to aid moisture retention and increase nutrients etc passing int the soil. Stress will predispose the tree to the condition so it's important to maintain a stress free zone as much as is practicable; it's been very dry recently coming out of an excessively wet period resulting in ideal conditions for the fungus.

Often wondered how many trees were felled to accommodate the houses on the estate the huggers lived in. Bob Ah, you forget the old adage, 'Do as we say, not as we do'

It never ceases to amaze me how many people there are who's sole aim is to be miserable, argumentative and a general pain in the proverbial. I think most people believe that any form of work involving physical labour whether it's tree work, builders, road sweepers etc, reduces us to sounding boards for their own inadequacies. I had 2 teachers move men at work signs and ignore barrier tape and when I shouted at them to move before they got a branch on their heads they told they I can't talk to them like that, they're teachers........

You have no idea; what made it worse was my client had found out a few months earlier that he had cancer, had had treatment and was very slowly recovering, the last thing he wanted was stress and his neighbour heaped a shed load on him:thumbdown: Had an interesting 'chat' with a nosy neighbour earlier this year too; I rolled up on site, the trees owner was away but I had a full spec, the neighbour turns up questioning who I was and bearing in mind my company is printed all over the van I thought this was a daft question. I pointed out that I was to look at a bit of tree work at which point they get shirty, 'what's going on, why, what the hell do they think they're doing blah, blah, blah'. I didn't say anything, told them to talk to their neighbours when they get back to which they start taking photos of me and my van; so I start taking photos of them in return, that didn't go down very well but what the hell:lol:

We've had a few over the years; many years ago I was threatened with 'I'll bring a ton of bricks down on you if I find out those trees were protected'; note he didn't know either way.... (they weren't by the way). The most recent involved a client wishing to work on 2 neighbouring oaks. Now we get the trees owner to sign a letter, detailing the tree work, saying they are happy with what we are proposing, the tree owner did and my guys duly turned up to do the work. Thirty minutes in I get a call saying the guys changed his mind; I role up on site, have a chat and the guy says he didn't have his glasses on when he signed the letter; we arrange a new specification. I go back on to the site I'm surveying only to get another call from my guys saying he's changed his mind again; I role up for the second time and sure enough the guys changed his mind. Incredible.......

Hi Stubby, that wasn't in Midhurst was it? I was quoting in Midhurst last year and I was accosted by some moron giving me the third degree how all us tree people are bastards and the lowest of the low. My wife was with me helping me find the trees (terrible site plan) and he started on her, suffice to say he was told in no uncertain terms to jolly well go away before if nose starts bleeding........

I think we have a winner........

I had a pair of Gecko ally with the velcro pads top and bottom; had them for 8 years before they got nicked but they had years left in them. Ref flip line, I like the New England 5m with a distel knot; it seems a lot more flexible than the other makes. Personally can't stand the captive grab at the ends so never bought one with that set up. Just a personal thing but I always set by flip line with the distel (and my work position second line) on my left hand side (I'm right handed), this reduces the tail end of the flip line getting in the way of the saw, both chainsaw and silky.

My wife drives an 02 CRV petrol and she's very happy with it; just passed 150'000 miles. Serviced regularly and can easily seat 4 with a full boot. We've driven it to Scotland and the Lakes on a number of occasions, nice high seating position. We came from a Freelander but that was the infamous K series engines, and yes, ours went pop.

Now there's an image....... Mines pretty much grey, been going grey since I was about 19 with the odd grey streaks appearing; now it's a case of spotting the dark stuff..

But is that your choice or is it nature giving you helping hand.......

Sorry forgot to say 'Thanks for bigging me up Stubby, no pressure.....'

Peter Thomas Trees: Their Natural History is a very good place to start (a 2nd edition has been produced so get that one); any Mattheck for decay and bio-mechanics stuff, a ruddy good ID book, Collins for example. The AA do a nice range of ID books too but as btggaz says, the college should provide a reading list

Ref the cards, your name on one side, the apology stuff on the other. We've used the strip type key rings before, the clients can keep their shed key etc on them. I suppose it depends on where you are, I'm in a rural part of West Sussex with big houses; the oldies love this little gimmick. Keep the sign writing simple; there's a firm round my way that's gone way over the top in my opinion, looks too busy and you lose what you're trying to say. Good luck

I tended to use one sling as a bandolier and place the spares on that, the ground crew knew that when that sling was on the ground the group were sent back up.

In my opinion magnetic can look a bit iffy, now that's purely my opinion, I'm sure there a number of guys'n'girls on here who use them and get on wonderfully with them, so my preference would be sign writing; all of my trucks are sign written, even my wife's car has a business logo and company name of the spare wheel housing. Another option we've used, but tended to fall by the way side is to get some 'We're working close by and would like to apologise for any noise and inconvenience' cards made up and drop them into the neighbours of where you're working; looks kind and conscientious. We've also used signs placed outside of where we're working with a similar theme apologising for the noise blah, blah, blah. Another option, and this depends on how much cash you've got knocking about, is to have some pens or such like made up with your company name on them, pop them in with the quote or invoice, again its getting your name out there; you need to make yourself a better option than your rivals. I've also been accused of having too much sign written, T shirts, sweat shirts, base ball caps, fleeces; you name, it if I could put my company name on it I did. I could go on for ages and I would like to apologise for any of you who dozed off during this reply...............

Not sure where my posting has gone but from an advertising stand point truck sign writing is always a good place to start, once done it's free advertising. Get a good web page made up (if that's the right phrase); if you're techno minded do it yourself and save a few quid. Look into Parish magazines, mail drops, there's loads of options; spend the down time as a positive and blitz your local area with flyers. A good tip told to me a few years ago was, with your smart sign written truck drive to a NT site (or such like) and leave it there for a few hours; gives the impression you're working at the place. I've never tried this so cannot comment on whether it works, but at this stage of your business it will be hard work, you will be undercut, you will lose jobs; as Stephen says 'Welcome to self employment'.

I tend to have a number of differing lengths making the set up more adaptable. I think the smallest is 0.6m and the biggest 1.2m.

You've got to admire his ingenuity........