Gary Prentice

First mistake. Next we'll be asked for all that before lifting Mrs Miggins Apple tree from over next doors garden. Still I suppose it keeps some office dweller in employment.

The change away was an extraordinary decision by the HSE. There was a paper around at the time, commissioned IIRC by the HSE which concluded that, after testing most of the 3way crabs available at the time, they were actually less safe than a screwgate. Go figure. Almost every self-locking Krab I've ever used has malfunctioned and failed to automatically lock on wet slimy trees at some time or another. Mechanism gets filled with crap and stops working until cleaned. And because they are automatic the climber doesn't necessarily instinctively check them unlike a screwgate where you naturally physically tightened it.

Think I remember there was an uproar about felling whole groves due to infection, simply removing growers livelihoods instantly. ADB seems to have been widespread before it was even recognised. What's worrying locally is that nothing is in place to deal with it yet. There's no guidance online from LAs, other than what published 4-5 years ago. Nothing at all about how it affects the timber, how it can't be ignore or anything. I asked this week how planning were dealing with apps to fell infected ash, how much of the crown needed to be infected etc before they'd automatically consent removal. Nothing, they hadn't yet conceived any policy/framework to deal with it. This is our real first year seeing it in mature trees but the rapidity of it's spread through some trees is astonishing. In Denmark it was reported that mature trees might stand for up to ten years. Some of what I've seen are unsafe within twelve months just because of the size/length of the deadwood.

Have you looked at Treelife's website? I know that they run a few each year (and they're really good)

I'm f**k*** glad I've more or less retired from climbing. First off, there must be something seriously wrong with the training in this industry if falls are occurring due to anchor points failing. Simply put this means that the climber is unable to select a suitable anchor point or his working practice is such that somehow he is imposing loads greater than himself on the pre-selected anchor point. I'll predict now that this new practice will lead to more failing anchor points in rigging operations than there is now. Secondly, the fact that other industries operate with two lines at all times doesn't really translate into a three dimensional ever changing object like a tree. Pretty much every other industry requires an operative to gain access to a fixed position to carry out a task. It's often the case that after this task is done that's the end of the job. The multiple movements/re positioning required in our work is pretty unique and just doesn't translate. Rather than using experienced or new climbers to demonstrate two line working a better idea would have been to use IRATA trained climbers to show how they'd manage moving about in a tree. This seems like a huge step backwards creating more problems than it solves, a knee jerk reaction based on inadequate information/data to show a problem that isn't actually that much of a problem that changes need to be made.

Definitely! Saves those 'misunderstandings' (intentional or otherwise) that spoils things. It doesn't have to overly complicated either and becomes invaluable at times.

Think that the firm I used to work at run/runs a 28. Can't remember any serious issues with it at all like you've recorded. Belts were good as long as you were really careful on their alignment, seldom needed looking at after fitting new ones and tensioning again after the first few hours. Batteries were never an issue, apart from once when an electrical fault was discharging it when it was turned off. Think we just replaced it with an off the shelf item. Engine, like most lombardinis I've worked on was A1. Keep up with maintenance and forget it. Only problem was the remote control for a period, it would just disengage the cutting wheel and then fail to connect to the machine again. Messed about reading manuals for the controller/receiver but never found the cause. I think I went through all the electrics re-making connections/ cleaning ground connections etc and it came right. Think you've been really unlucky with a friday afternoon special.

I'm just a bit thick today As an aside and not wanting to derail... I had a beech a yr or two back with KD. If it went it was either going into a lake or through a 3m drystone wall/ ancient lake pumphouse and across a little used B road. I proposed a picus to establish the extent of decay, contacted a very known consultancy firm whose attitude was don't bother testing! KD + Beech + FELL! Client never came back to me and AFAIK it's still standing. It would have been nice to have tested it then and maybe monitorred it's progression. (crown wasn't indicating any loss of hydraulic functionality at the time)

As Steve said we don't come across Olives here much, but if you post some pictures of the symptoms you'll probably encourage some comment. Not 100% sure but I think to date that this disease hasn't arrived on our shores 'yet'.

Is that 'ring' on the same plane as the actual test Steve? Or a foot or two lower than where the sensors were placed?

Good clients are hard come by, unfortunately some just need a little 'educating' to continue the relationship. Personally I would have tried to have a chat about the problems that they've created and then then say that I was introducing a contract and a more formal approach than previously. (taking the sting out of the equation a bit ) As an outsider I can see both points of view from what you've written and can see why they might like to hold back before committing themselves. You want them to see your point of view but understand theirs too. I'd really try to work with them if they are that good a client/provide a significant volume of work, maybe work together that any start date can be moved, with enough notice either way that it works for both of you. Hope you can work something out so that you keep the client and go forward in a mutually beneficial way.

Seems like there are a lot of unknowns with this disease, so every ones experiences and observations are useful and would go towards a better understanding. Good idea Paul

Any history of nearby fires?

I don't get this! I could kind of accept that local to the point of infection there may be some changes in wood characteristics but even with advanced dieback within the crown I can't imagine it would alter the base of the stem. My thoughts are based on how trees react to the DED fungus, compartmentalising infected twigs, tertiary and secondary branches - a progressive compartmentalisation process. I imagine that ash reacts in a similar way. Could it be that as the vascular function diminishes with the loss of foliage/water uptake the lower moisture levels reduce the strength of the wood fibres in tension? I dunno The FISA guidance I read this week (IIRC) focused more on not using wedges for felling due to the vibrations causing dead limbs to fracture. Can't remember much about short grain when felling. EDIT. Would/could drought conditions alter 'fibre strength'? Could there be a relationship there?

Train the dogs better! You've only yourself to blame

Cos it takes so much forethought that when you're buying something, that you have to pay for it.... So rummage for the purse, pick through the change etc. while everyone queuing behind is quietly seething All of the above normally being accompanied by a good long chat with the cashier - delaying everyone else even longer Really used to boil my.... Until I came to think that this exchange might be the only human interaction that the old girl/fellow actually had all day, before toddling off home and sitting in front of the TV.

Taphrina alni - Wikipedia EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

You'd probably be perfectly justified in pushing him off....

Why would you wish to advertise that you were going to Chelmsford, anyway? I'm not hating on the young, just saying that although the culprit often is of the younger persuasion, in my case it was the other end of the spectrum. Personally I think it's extremely rude and ignorant to impose a supposedly private conversation on everyone else.

People are simply ignorant and it's not just the younger generation! I sat in a waiting room this week and had to endure the loud conversation of the old biddy next to me - as did the rest of the room for probably ten minutes. What is wrong with people? The problem is that I'm too polite to say something (like S.T.F.U.)

Where are you located? Many trees in the UK are suffering drought stress from last summers 'heatwave'

The obvious conclusion is that the yanks are either considered much more expendable by their Government than we are by ours, or that they are much more skilful in the use of dangerous cutting implements than we, as a nation, are The US always seems a lot less restrictive in their governance and much more reasonable in allowing their people to harm themselves (and others).

Wow, a tree owner prepared to spend money in an attempt to retain a tree! Normally the process is to try to remove self-girdling roots because eventually they'll restrict the growth of whatever they are wrapped around and so reduce or prevent the growth of new vessels to allow water uptake. Sometimes you can see the part of the canopy that the restriction is affecting. I would think that this tree was pot bound when it was planted, with roots that had grown to the edge of the pots before diverting to continue round and around the circumference. Because these were not severed or eased out and spread into the planting pit they have continued to grow until the tree stem has reached a diameter that they begin to 'strangle' it. In an attempt to retain the tree a lot of those roots look like they would need to go. You would have to decide which by considering how much anchorage function they are providing as well their water uptake role. Be too ambitious and the crown dies back or the tree falls over, don't do enough and the stem constrictions affect the crown anyway. How much time and money are you prepared to spend? On what may eventually prove to be a doomed venture? A cost/benefit analysis would probably come down on the side of remove and replace. I'd suggest looking at getting something planted and established as a replacement now if possible. You could try some careful root pruning yourself while waiting for the new tree to grow and you 'may' actually eventually be successful (but I doubt it) and end up with two healthy trees. BTW, I wouldn't trust or be giving cold hard cash to anyone who says that they can definitely save that tree. There are no guarantees with trees.

But there does seem to be, or it's being suggested that there is, some link between Chalara and colonisation by other pathogens. Whether Chalara in basal shoots opens the door to other fungi or what is still being debated atm. There's lots of reports of trees with only slight foliage colonisation that are really unsound due to unexpected basal delay.

If I'm understanding you correctly, I think this might be more to do with core strength than the actual harness. And I'm not be derogatory before anyone starts. Some harnesses with low points of attachment seem to require a bit more input on the part of the user to maintain an upright posture and allow you to easily tip feet up if you just relax yourself. (you won't fall out of a correctly adjusted harness - don't worry) I'd encourage you to persevere with what you've got, if that's what you have got, because when you start climbing everything feels odd anyway, the whole experience, so the quicker you get used to your gear the better. Then you can start to focus on the 1001 other things that you have to do and are going on around you. Good luck.