Mark_Skyland

Glad to hear it works well with your setup. I have to mention the following, I have spoken to Petzl and as earlier stated in the ASAP user instructions it should be used with a fall arrest harness, I will leave that as it is. In regards to comments about the absorber deploying, it takes a lot of force and it is a progressive action, ie it doesnt drop you two metres as soon as it gets to xx amount of force. It wasnt designed for tree work but then a lot of the devices we use werent either. Unfortunately the two rope climbing system is here to stay and I hope it goes no further otherwise it will be full body fall arrest harnesses, CE Certified climbing systems only and the level of IRATA training that would kill most arb firms off.

That is a very good point. Some info from petzl about attachment points below. https://m.petzl.com/GB/en/Professional/Choice-of-harness-attachment-point-for-the-ASAP I will ask one of the petzl tech people but it does look like full body harness only.

I will give you a call as it requires an asap sober (energy absorber) to connect to your harness. There are two types, Standard sorber available in 20 or 40cm, I recommend the 40cm to keep the asap a bit more out of the way, or the sorber axess which allows rescue ie two person rescue with a max 250kg Petzl Asap'Sorber Axes WWW.SKYLANDEQUIPMENT.COM <p>The ASAP’ SORBER AXESS energy absorber may only be used with the ASAP... Petzl Asap'Sorber WWW.SKYLANDEQUIPMENT.COM <p>The ASAP’ SORBER energy absorber may only be used with an ASAP or ASAP...

Thanks. Will keep a look out tomorrow and see if we have any festive items to throw in

I dont know about more knowledge but a lot of the irata gear would be near useless, read, would be so cumbersome and tiring to use in tree work that the comparisons (that the HSE are making) between tree work and rope access can be seen as ridiculous. Last time I was climbing professionally was a bout 4-5 years ago, I only ever worked ddrt and I have never tried srt. What I would take from the irata side of things would be the petzl asap (the lock version) which is used as a backup device and in the right conditions can sort of be forgotten about. The device will follow you up and down the rope, to a fashion and then lock out in the case of a fall, a bit like a car seat belt. How well it will work in the tree is another thing as its a totally different environment than the side of a building or a roof top that the HSE are comparing our work site to. Trying to ascend on two ropes using a combination of the current tree work ascenders seems maybe not impossible but very close to say the least, well in a commercial environment anyway. Ive spent the last two days shouting at the kids while trying to put and keep the christmas deccos up hence my poor and not as I wanted full reply, and im feeling far too festive to engage in a full anti hse rant.

Me too! I would like to add a lot more to this thread but not at this time of night. It is a huge step back for the industry to say the least.

I can certainly relate to that, especially at this time of the year! Have had machines sitting in the workshop for 4 plus months, they will be soon be sold to recover costs, it will be interesting to see the outcome Hence why im changing our terms in the new year.

Not seen him in our shop thankfully. What was he up to?

Hedge trimmers seem to be the first battery product to replace the petrol equivalent. Im not surprised tbh. I would use a battery hedge trimmer in a heartbeat compared to a petrol machine.

Although I am possibly biased the hendon ladders are brilliant. We used them when we still did tree work and it must be at least 99% of customers usually say "I wish I had bought these years ago"

There are a lot of fake plugs about, just like everything I suppose. I must have replaced a good couple of hundred ish plugs over the years and have never had a dodgy one. There are plenty of fake ones on eBay and the likes, hence the increase in issues I guess. I would ditch the 372 if it has a Chinese crank and cylinder, it isn't worth the time and cost sorting it out. Non oem parts are hit and miss at the best of times. Why on earth anyone buys them is a mystery to me! If a machine is worth repairing then it's worth repairing properly. Having said that I know quite a few people trust their lives on non traceable ppe so I guess there is always a market for cheap products.

I don't bother replacing those springs anymore, just use a pulley from the non easy start version. It replaces both pulleys and gets rid of the spring.

We all put a lot of effort in and then anyone can go along a buy this for less than £90, can cause just as much damage as the the husky/stihl equivalent. 26cc 10" Petrol Top Handle Topping Chainsaw - Free Bar Cover & More WWW.EBAY.CO.UK The Parker 26cc 10" petrol top handle topping chainsaw has a 10" blade, which makes it perfect for topping or trimming... I've just had a look at around 5 different listing for top handle saws on ebay, between them over a 1,000 units sold, thats a lot of Mr/Mrs homeowner adding to the HSE stats.

Its just because of the high number of accidents with them. Plus I guess in their eyes there isnt any reason why you need a top handle saw.

That would be too easy and they couldnt charge you for using a useless tool!