Tom10

Seems your going to need it I vote you buy an acre of land and build a wood house

Hilux

I see F R Jones now have the Stein Vega harness in stock. Who is going to be the guinea pig then? Or is there already an early bird that can report feedback? Seen it at my local arb show and liked it but didn't get to give it a test run. I know they haven't yet made a seat for it (but hear this may be put into practice soon) retails at £200 + VAT ish. I did like the really cool shackles on the bridge and also the little tool clip areas are adjustable to go to whatever size you wish... cool ey?

Ocean Poly comes as 90cm as standard - sufficient to tie a distel with 4/5 wraps. Easily reachable and controllable. The stein copeous Eye 2 Eye comes as 75cm as standard - I find this too short for mainline but perfect for lanyard.

Get a seat for it (which as far as I know effectively turns it into a dragonfly) which you should of bought in the first place Have the leg straps quite tight to stop them riding up too much

Stuck on page 69?... Not the worst place to be stuck...........

Hard work day in day out, dragging conifer is boring, it rains when you don't want it to, you always hit a nail with your chain on a friday afternoon when your nearly finished, the chinstrap on your helmet irritates your stubble and tea out of a flask is not the same as a cup. But - its a brilliant lifestyle and keeps you fit better than any gym. You need a good strong pension plan in place as you cant go forever in the industry. You've picked a bad time in regards to trying to start - the market is quite flooded with out-of-college guys and companies undercutting and bringing values down, and there's an infinite amount to learn before your any good. In terms of investment it can be as little or as large as you want - If you gave me 20K I could iron it out for you tomorrow and you wouldnt have anything amazing. However a few thousand would see the foundations (basic NPTC courses, PPE, a chainsaw, a reliable set of wheels to name a few) and other equipment can be hired, borrowed and subcontracted from other arborists in your area after you start a working relationship with them. I would suggest offering yourself to a local reputable company for experience... If your lucky and get an opportunity with the right people you will see a huge cross section of work and gain a basic understanding very quickly of what goes on day to day. I could write a book in response to your post as could most other people on here, however getting out there with a contractor is really your building blocks to start thinking from.

Buckler gloves are cool, long lasting and grippy - about 15 quid a pair - get mine from local agricultural dealer. But - to be honest I really like Showa thermal gloves (the grey builders ones) extremely grippy on rope and I find them really comfortable and good with vibration... and at like £1.50 a pair you cant go too far wrong. Immensely warm in winter and last for quite a while I say this after spending 30 something quid on all singing all dancing ones that were cold and fell apart.

Wolverhampton (WV8) - consult his website in his signature

Sweet idea, but agree ironic!... It would be nicer if the logs that were made out of it were nice firewood - but IMO it burns quickly and smokey anyway (easy to split though) Look forward to seeing the outcome, please post a pic if you do something cool with it (but dont bother posting a pic of a pile of logs if you cant do anything else with it )

Bloomin Wikipedia I have seen posts made from it but they're pretty rubbish. Not very sturdy, break and crack and........ there's better timber for posts in general. not sure about matchsticks a Wellingtonia 8ft at base should produce a fair few matchsticks! Its uses are better served aesthetically with jobs that dont put too much strain on the wood. It really does produce lovely deep red timber and I would love to have a use for it... ie cladding a summerhouse or something pretty! Logging it seems sensible for this chap to do given circumstances. Be nice to see it pus to something good though

?... IMO the tree is not ruined and does not need felling The reduction is too harsh as already stated but no so much that it will not retain health and a decent shape. There's good points to this and bad points - but he had the confidence to post it on here and get criticism and feedback. He admits and states this is one of his first reductions. The tree will hopefully shoot epicormic from mid branch and with a little further (and better) maintenance the tree will be absolutely fine. I agree with you new people to the industry need to work alongside experienced arborists for knowledge but this chap (if you click on the link to his website) already clearly has a very good horticultural business in motion and adding a professional arboricultural side seems a very good idea if he is interested in trees He needs to get in touch with local, experienced arborists and gain experience but to say it is ruined seems harsh. I bet if this had been a known guy on this forum that posted this pic everyone would say ooh thats a bit harsh but hey decent shape and decent work. Were picking up on the bad things because he asked for feedback. To say it needs felling would not be my advice. I see worse than this daily from 'reputable' companies.

I have just read it is 8 foot at base - so fair point - it wouldn't handle in one go... but some strategic chainsaw work to reduce it in size would mean it can still be milled by a lucas on site (i chose this as a simple example as they're very portable and would neatly fit in a back garden with little access.) Obviously choice 1 would be extract the timber and mill elsewhere but this seems to be unachievable from the original post.

Always a market for a wood so individual - albeit a very niche market, if someone has a purpose for it, it could be a go'er as its not that readily available.

And I will if your in the East

Where are you based?

Ironic - The TO's 'green' decision to keep the tree which will affect your clients attempt at being 'green' with their solar panels! Whats more important, trees or solar energy? IMO the TO's decision sounds good but I understand your predicament. Although a good crown thin should be sufficient to allow their panels to work? Good luck

I see your issue. I guess you have 2 choices - 1 - arrange a portable mill (Lucas or similar)on site and remove in your desired milled planks - as you will not be able to move the timber to the mill, you have to move the mill to the timber! IMO with the right man on the mill and the right men carting the timber this wont take a massive amount more time than crosscutting and moving as usual. Obviously you have the problem of paying someone to mill it (usually 350 ish per day) 2 - go nuts with a chainsaw and remove as usual, shame not to be able to arrange something more dignified than firewood for this immense species but thats life. Good luck in whatever you manage to arrange. Tom

Will come off very nicely on a decent mill. Produces a lovely hearty red timber (as you would expect) Bark is very spongy and will peel off readily while milling. Lovely looking stuff for the right purpose (I have know if for cladding the outside of a building before in 6x1 planks) Would be a better experience milling it for a purpose rather than cutting the poor old beast into quick burning smoky firewood Good luck

Good points - very good first reduction, nice consideration for pruning back to growth points, decent shape Bad points - arguably too thinned as mentioned above I would of tried to of left growth mid branch as well as the end growth point to create a better shape in future as the tree reacts to your work, not crown lifted which would of been my choice, although a decent shape its not perfect. Very good though - theres working 'arborists' that do worse than that on a daily basis I assure you. Be interesting to know what you charged for this (without being nosey) and if the customer had other quotes - newbie pricing seems a hot topic on here. I also personally consider chainsaw trousers minimum standards when climbing (even if not using a chainsaw) Good work. Tom. ps - Put the ladders back in the garage and only take them out under the cover of dark and only use them when you realllllly reallllly need them

Please don't heavily reduce the silver birch at this time of year. How you price your own jobs can only be worked out by you. IE distance to travel, fuel costs, insurances, chipper / trailer hire if neccessary, cost to dump arisings, and cost of a subbie groundy that you will need both practically to carry brash, eye up your work, and to rescue you if you get stuck... and also he is required under work at height regs. He needs to have a minimum CS38 but if you require him to cut stuff on the ground the 30/31 also. 1 days work in my book and I would price it at around the £300 mark. Good luck...

As soon as you get down and pack away your harness and ropes - grab a rake / blower... sure way to be asked back!

Hama - you need to stop climbing trees and make a million from writing a book, or being a lecturer!......... Reading your posts is like reading greek, backwards, upside down, after a few beers........ great knowledge

Is this is Norfolk as per your location? If so, where abouts? Doesnt look very norfolkey Cheers