Andrew Gale

All I'm going to say on the matter is look into Accountax as Aardvark has suggested.

Lets face it, the FA kits off the shelf are pants, and as has been said, removing the contents and adding fit for purpose materials is what counts. My guys have army field dressings in their trouser hip pocket (as well as harness FA kits) and although I agree ref getting the casualty to the ground before administering first aid, having a dressing that can be administered by the rescuer whilst in the crown is paramount.

Has the form of a Cherry plum aka Myrobalan aka Prunus cerasifera; probably wrong though

Dave worked for me for nigh on 7 years, indeed he started his tree surgery career working for me; I've known him for a long time and found it really rather distressing watching that last night even though I knew the outcome. It does raise a rather interesting point about the plastic covers over sewn and spliced areas of rope though; had a bit of a tool box chat at the yard about the subject at the end of play today.

If you can afford it, buy the TruPulse; it measures your distance and works out the height of the tree from two angles plus many other attributes - makes life a lot easier. I've also used the Haglof digital clinometer which is great but requires you to measure the distance you're away from the subject tree, as you would need to do with the Suunto.

I recently finished my Dip Arb L6 with Tree Life (can't rate them enough) plus I run a tree surgery company employing 4 full time, 5 if you include the office, 6 if you include me, so a fair chunk of time needed quoting etc. The only advice I can offer in terms of doing the study work is to accept that you'll be working well into the night, every weekend and early mornings - I would get up at 0500hrs twice a week and do an hour or so before I'd go to the yard; if you want it enough you'll find the time. In terms of what it's given me, I'm working with 3 well respected consultants and accruing my own consultancy work. Hope it helps

Not sure if it's been suggested already, but Talisker Storm is a cracking drop; managed to finish mine off far to quickly..........

It was more the blokes family who would sue apparently, according to the copper......

The first time we got turned over 8 years ago I made a suggestion to the police officer who came to visit that I'd install a poacher alarm (the type used by gamekeepers that fire blanks) to scare the w*****s off who've just broken in. The officer then informed me that if I did that, and the bugger breaking in subsequently had a heart attack and died, I’d be responsible for his death and I'd be in front of the judge.............. Best bet would be not to use blanks and have a deep hole available......

Well done, glad the re-take went well; Guy's a good bloke. I'd definitely recommend Tree Life; I passed my L6 Dip Arb with them this year and they know what they're talking about.

Photo's?

I'm a sufferer too; take a look at the Seal Skinz, I had a pair jonks ago and they worked well. I always found that once I got going and the core temp was up it soon passed but the moment I slackened off it came back. Now I sit on my gloves driving to site (I'm not wearing them at this point.....) and put them on straight away once on site; I've even taken to directing the vans air vents away from my hands whilst driving to reduce the air flow over my delicate pinkies....

For my Level 6 Diploma in Arboriculture's independent research project I looked at how well known BS3998:2010 Tree Work - Recommendations was and whether it was being adhered to. One of the things the results showed was how different the NPTC questions regarding BS3998 were from the standard proper and how little the NPTC questions actually related to BS3998; so I would hazard a guess that your NPTC tickets won't have given you sufficient training in the BS3998:2010 Tree Work - Recommendations respect. But as has been mentioned by Btggaz and Paul, BS3998 doesn't apply to felling and BS8545 applies to planting; for your future professional development I'd suggest you got a copy of BS3998:2010 and work your way through it, alternatively Tree Life do a concise version for £30.00 (I think) which is very good.

And it that location, stunning....

Is a cracking photo, but I'd say the trees are Araucaria heterophylla - Norfolk Island pine

Hornbeam......... Seriously though, my first thought from the intact log was apple, but the sawn section does look like Horse chestnut

The removal of deadwood is exempt from the need for a notification letter; however, I would always inform the local TO in case curtain twitchers hear chainsaws revving etc. Also keep in mind that 1 x of the D's has been removed (DDD), it's now only dead or dangerous; the dying has been removed from the exemptions.

I think the Woodhorn Group also need an account set up, may be wrong; Stubbs Copse is the best, pay by the m3 and no account needed

I stopped advertising with them yonks ago and have never looked back. In my opinion a good web page, a good general advert for local village magazines (that kind of thing) and a well sign written truck, plus company livery for your team is all that is needed. Get your name around as one that produces good quality tree work and the calls will come flooding.

I've been using Richard for years and I can only echo TCD's comments, always helpful and very knowledgeable too, as has been said, not many of his kind around.

I have a beard and a couple of years ago I turned up at a house to quote for some work, upon opening the door, the lady shouts out to the family in the back of the house "Yep, he does have a beard". On asking why she shouted that out, she pointed out that all good tree blokes should have beards and that they wouldn't trust one that didn't..... Suffice to say we got the job

Try Howard King, not sure of his number; he has a huge woodman chipper, an awesome machine.

Weaver pruning saw scabbard with built in secateur pouch as TreeSmart says; as long as you don't do anything silly like invert yourself they stay where they're supposed to. If you put them back into the pouch the same way every time the leather does form a memory around them. There is a make of pouch where a second line can be housed that also has a pouch for secateurs, I think it's made by Silver Bull but I may be wrong.

I don't think there's ever a correct time to go it alone; it happens when it happens. I was working for a tree firm 5 days a week and doing my stuff at weekends; this went on for about 8 months before I couldn't justify the stupidly long hours I was doing so I left the tree firm and did my own thing. The important thing is to have a game plan; what, when, where and how. Write it down and stick to it as best you can (although this will fluctuate with local conditions etc) I did fencing to mop up quieter times but concentrated on the tree work as my main area; 18 years later and we're busy, busy.

In my opinion there is good advertising and bad advertising, and not much in between. Keep it simple, don’t baffle them with lots and lots of ‘stuff’; this part of the business is to get them hooked, you can baffle them when you’re on site. The following is, for me, the key areas of advertising, in order: 1. Vehicle sign writing – clean and concise; if you have a logo use it, but the important bit is your name and phone number. Remember that drivers abusing the speed limit, loud music etc can all be traced back to you, so get your boys’n’girls to drive carefully. 2. Matching, sign written worktops – a clean and presentable work force goes a long way; if your trousers are ripped to shreds what does that say about you…? 3. A good advert design – simple, to the point with your company name, phone number web address and email (I've tried the bar code scan thingy and it was useless). The above advert can be used in village magazines and directories etc, but keep it the same; familiarity is key 4. A good, simple web page – use the Google words thingy/tag words (I use a web designer for this so pardon my ignorance on such matters) 5. Face book and twitter pages – all good, get as many followers as you can 6. On site information – we've used a sign reading ‘We would like to apologise for any noise and inconvenience caused’; then follow it up with your contact details. This shows that you have taken account of the neighbours 7. I've also used a system of generic letters reading ‘We’re currently working for your neighbour and would like to apologise for any noise and inconvenience, if you would like any help with your trees, please do not hesitate in contacting the office’; and post these to the 4 immediate neighbours before you start work. 8. Having someone to answer the phone – when my wife starting working for the business 6 years ago, our calls and subsequent booked appointments increased by 50%; and I put this totally down to the fact that there was someone to answer their call, not an answer machine. There are call-answering companies who can do this for you and email you with the contacts to call back when you’re back in the office. Anyway, just my ramblings…….