Andrew Barrett

Barry, I still don't understand how ART can sell the Positioner on its own without rope but Petzl can't do same with Zillon? Also, how can Petzl sell the ZigZag on its own which is for main anchor use, but the Zillon - which is only for positioning use - has to have its own special rope?? Doesn't make any sense to me... I recently bought a ZigZag and like it but find it is rather tight on my 13mm rope. I currently use an 8 metre 11mm rope with hip bag for my lanyard. I want to move to a mechanical lanyard adjuster but I like the 11mm rope for lanyard as no need to have it thicker for pulling (just takes up space/weight). I also like the long lanyard as I can use it as a temporary 2nd anchor point above me, too. So, not only do I have to buy the Zillon with a rope, but I can't buy the length or type of rope I want. Looks like it'll be the ART Positioner for me, then...

That's what we did with our towed Jensen 530 we bought from Redwood in Dec 2012. We agreed a reduced rate hire charge for up to a couple of weeks if we didn't keep the demo machine. Prior to that I had hired Charles from Arbrep Services's then eight year old hire Jensen 530 with 700+ hours for a week so I could be sure what a well-looked after older machine would be like. I couldn't agree more strongly with Dean Lofthouse re: using a chipper for only even a few weeks. I thought our last Timberwolfs and Greenmechs were great after even a few months. We'd got rid of both of them between one and two years from purchase. That's why I went to such trouble with the Jensen - didn't want to get stung again. It has been a big relief to have a really good workhorse machine that doesn't go wrong. I have thought for some time that it would be interesting if nobody was allowed to comment on a chipper on Arbtalk unless they'd owned and used it for at least a year!

I've used a 540 owned by Sean Tynan on here twice about a month apart. I've found it to be a PITA. It's great when it's running - plenty of power (though no idea why it doesn't come with dogs). But as soon as you stop it and try to start it again you're fiddling with the choke and the primer bulb and pulling away. Very annoying. I had a 201T for a short while that I got rid of when I found a satisfactory new-ish 200T. I would say the 540 I've used was just as annoying - but for different reasons (201T lacked power).

The guy I work with normally has a small head and was unable to get a climbing helmet to fit him properly. He got one recently that is better. I think it was a Petzl one he got from a rock climbing place and he's managed to get ear defenders on it but not a visor. But he uses a pair of mesh specs instead. If you send him a message he'll be able to tell you exactly which helmet he bought. He's "SEAN TYNAN" on here.

I agree with putting up prices. If you reckon you provide amongst the best customer service in your area you should be amongst the most expensive. We have increased our prices significantly over the last 18 months (albeit from a lower-than-they-should-have-been start point) and we have been surprised how little difference it has made to our quote acceptance rates. But it makes a big difference to how much money we have left over after expenses and how much we can afford to pay our help.

Thanks for giving me a good laugh!

Hi. I've had one of the standard carb 261's for about nine months and really like it. It cuts faster than our previous 260's. However, I got one of the new 261 C-M's a few months ago and I don't like it. It doesn't idle properly and there is nothing to adjust! It has been back to the dealer once and it didn't make any difference. I've been told how to reset it - and that didn't make any difference either. It's going to go back to the dealer again when he's back from holiday. Pain in the backside.

My uncle is 78 now. He was still climbing into his early 70's. At age 74 (and needing a new hip) he dismantled a sycamore whilst I was out of action after I fell out of a tree and dislocated my shoulder. He started doing tree surgery in 1965 and did his three week tree surgery for foremen course at Merrist Wood in 1971. He still goes out quoting, does some fruit tree pruning and helps us with sharpening (still better than me!) / tidying up when we're v busy. He hurt his back in 1978 and was told he'd have to give up manual work!

The habitat destruction aspect of our work often makes me feel bad - and I think it's great when you can do the opposite. Well done! Would certainly appreciate updates on how she (he?) goes...

Thanks for all your replies / suggestions everyone, but I think I can't have explained myself very well in my initial post. I have no problem climbing and dismantling a tree like that and we have plenty of very experienced people available to do the actual manual work. My uncle is still working and he started taking trees down in the 1960's! What I'm more interested in is people with experience of Kretzschmaria and in particular a tree like this one with Kretzsch on the stem rather than the roots, on both sides of the stem, at a graft line and at a weak fork.

Hi all. I'm looking for some advice/ comments on the best way of dealing with this tree removal. I've attached photos of the tree that I hope will be useful. I recently spotted a medium-sized copper beech infected by Kretzschmaria deusta very close to and overhanging one of the busiest road junctions in a local town. The junction where the main stem splits into two also looks a poor shape to me with a line of possibly included bark. I have brought the tree to the attention of the council tree officers and they are of the opinion that the tree should be felled as soon as possible. They've said when Kretzschmaria infects the stem rather than the roots and where it is present on opposite sides of the trunk the tree is usually in a bad way. So, I'm keen to quote for the work, but I'm having some issues with the job method and thus pricing. Because it is such a busy 5-way junction managed by fixed traffic lights the tree officer has suggested we do it on a Sunday which is fine. But he also suggested we should be very careful shock loading the tree (i.e. with normal rigging operations) and said that a crane would be a good idea. If you were undertaking this work would you assume that the tree could fail at any point during the removal operation? I.e. would one need to consider that the tree could fail whilst the crane was attached to it - possibly pulling the whole crane over into the junction? Are there tests one could do (e.g. taking core samples) that would inform such a decision better? I have contacted a traffic light company and they have told me that the local Highways Agency would not countenance completely closing that junction - even for short periods - and suggested coning off the road lane nearest the tree. That would be fine if the tree was not considered at risk of failure (i.e. normal dismantling) as the branches only overhang one lane. But if the tree did fail at the base it would reach right across both lanes of the road nearest and possibly right into the middle of the junction if it went in the wrong direction. The tree is weighted towards the road. What do you think?

I sold the firewood as cordwood/unprocessed for £100 total, delivered locally to a friend who doesn't mind having conifer wood. Total approx. 2 1/2 tons. If it is fairly low quality firewood I normally say to clients that it is not worth us processing the wood as doing it at a tree surgeon's hourly/daily rate means that the cost of processing it by hand would work out at about £100/ton and they could get better quality split wood (hardwood) delivered for the same price.

Surprisingly little damage to the main house: just a few tiles, guttering etc as far as I could see. We took away almost two tons of chip, about two and a half tons of wood and I reckon the rootstock weighed about half a ton with all the soil and roots attached. Whoever built the summer house it was mainly sat on built it strong!

An interesting job we did last week (ably aided by Sean Tynan on the ground, who is also on Arbtalk). I added the pictures in the correct order but I'm not sure if they'll get scrambled during upload. We also had to arrange to get an overhead power cable supplying the house disconnected and a generator fitted whilst it was off. It felt strange doing the climbing as it wasn't safe to use a positioning lanyard in case the tree rolled off the summer house or caused it to collapse during the work. I had a top line into an adjacent Lawson Cypress - using a retrievable pulley choked around five thin stems as high as I dared in the previously topped tree. It was pretty windy when we removed the tree and the top of the adjacent Lawsons I was roped off was moving around in the gusts lifting me up and down by as much as a foot and a half. It nearly pulled me right up and threw me off the opposite side into the hedge more than once! We supported the end of the main stem off the next tree and used two pulleys so that we could use a winch horizontally to lift the trunk up and over the house oil tank and lay it down on the deck (after removing the top). I'm interested to ask how others would have done this job if there was no tree next to it to put a top support rope in. Even a crane would have been very difficult as there was an exceptionally narrow driveway entrance and further unshielded overhead power cables running parallel to the road that would have been between the crane and tree. Also the road was a narrow (though fairly busy) two lane with a blind corner that would probably have required complete closure to allow crane to operate. I'd also like to ask peoples' advice about a choice of rope for specifically for winching. I don't want to buy a new set of pulleys to use with winch cable but would like to be able to use a heavier winch with confidence with a very strong low stretch rope. Does anyone have experience with dyneema ropes?

Cheers Stephen. I'm surprised you expect it to have depreciated so little from new. We bought a new chipper for £19k inc VAT four months ago and if I sold it now I would expect to take a 20-25% hit - even with careful use and low hours. Am I missing something?

I didn't think you had the Iveco 4x4 very long from new, Stephen. Why did you sell it / are you selling it so quickly? Your depreciation loss must be crippling.

Tony is quite right - though he didn't bother to explain himself very well. So is the other guy who mentioned quantitative easing. If Cyprus take, say, 10% from depositors' accounts is is clear what is going on. On the other hand, we live in a country that spends significantly more than its income (about 9% each year in the UK at present) and they raise part of that money by literally creating new money. As a result interest rates are lower (definitely) and inflation higher (probably) than it would otherwise be because they don't actually have to give people (creditors) enough interest to actually persuade them to fund their borrowing. So, if the interest rate on your savings is, say 1%, rather than the 5% if the government didn't create money, then the government is 'taking' 4% (for example) from the value of your deposit each year. But they are doing it quietly, in a way that most people don't understand. This has happened and is continuing to happen in the UK. So we're no better.

Hi, I didn't consider the Vermeer BC 160 because I'd seen some videos Theocus posted on Arbtalk (at least one of of which has now disappeared!). He's had a few of them as replacement machines because of all the problems he had with his BC 200 (I think). The performance of the 160 appears to be very poor and his 200 very unreliable (at least initially).

If you don't mind either then just choose 'I don't care'.

Hi all, My groundie ended up with the contents of the 260's oil tank down his leg yesterday. This has happened to me more than once - and to my uncle. Who likes the new fancy caps and who would prefer the old fashioned type that are always done up when you think they are? I'm trying to set up a poll but never done it before so bear with me if I muck it up.

I've used / demo'd two different Quadchips (both a couple of years old) on three different occasions and I had the same problem each time with the chip not reaching the back of the chip box with any thicker/green stuff (cypress, etc). The back part of the truck filled up when the front was half empty, then it all started pouring out onto the ground. And no, I don't mean a little bit of chip/dust on the floor.

I had one on demo for a few days at the end of last year. Good points: excellent, wide feed rollers; flared wide feed hopper; safety bar nice and low below hopper so no/few false trips. Bad points: chip went everywhere around the sides, and over the top of our (admittedly small) truck, underpowered engine (22hp), too thin/flimsy metal for feed hopper. Over the last year we've also tried/demo'd: Greenmech Arborist 150 and Quadchip and Jensen 530 (both fixed cone-shaped hopper and folding hopper versions). We bought a new folding hopper braked Jensen 530 weighing 830kg in December. We've had a few minor niggles so far but overall pretty pleased. All four different guys who've worked for me on the ground since we bought it have commented on how well the Jensen 530 works/chips/pulls material in. Including the bloke who often works with a Greenmech Quadchip for another firm.

I've just bought one of the three available on eBay. If anyone is interested, after I've used it for a bit I can let you know how I get on.

No one has mentioned employers' national insurance contributions which are paid by the employer on top of the headline salary rate. The rate is 13.8% above about £150/week. My rough calculation suggests this adds about £5/day to the £65/day pay discussed previously. My understanding is that employers' national insurance contributions are the main reason why HMRC wants people to be employed rather than self-employed sole traders.

Thanks for the informative/helpful post James. I was just about to place an order for a Pulleysaver today. I use 13mm rope, too, so would I be better off with the ART Ropeguide instead? One of the things I liked about the idea of the Pulleysaver was the Pinto pulley with space to attach another pulley underneath to create a mechanical advantage system for getting back up easily. Can you do this with Ropeguide?