fatharrywhite

Quote

Hopefully we are moving to a situation where we are addressing the real problem (deer and lack of their predators in this case) so we don’t need to use plastic guards.  Woodland Trust have totally stopped using guards.

I worked in Denmark quite a bit & they used to fence everything off, they do the same in Scotland on bigger jobs or the gamekeepers shoot the **** out of the deer.

Quote

Sometimes, the specification is to use 1.2m tubes for conifers, hazel, and hawthorn etc. Totally the wrong choice. But I, just get on with it nowadays.

Do the conifers make it in your experience?

Quote

Spruce and pines need air flow otherwise foliage will go mouldy

That's what I thought, & 1.2metres seems like a long way for a conifer to grow to put out some branches when normally they grow outwards before they get to that height. 

The company used to order the smaller mesh guards but have gone exclusively onto the taller tubes recently because of deer damage. I think they're getting the advice from the Nursery who don't appear to know all that much about trees either.

A large country estate I do quite a bit of work for has some tree planting for me most years & they organise the trees & materials from the nursery. The last few years they've been getting the 1.2 metre tall tubes as there's a deer problem but the thing is that they're expecting me to plant softwoods like Spruce & Pine in them which doesn't make sense to me- although admittedly they have been supplying special ones with slits/ airholes in them. Can anyone give me a 2nd opinion on this? I would have thought most conifer trees would have no chance in that environment.

Wood Cutters wanted for ongoing to permanent work in North Lincolnshire. Rates negotiable dependent on experience but also prepared to give training to somebody  capable & willing, phone Stuart 07803508705 for more details.

When are you planning on doing this?

Whereabouts in Scotland please?

Whereabouts in Lincolnshire?

Can give you hand one weekend if you want- would normally do about 300 a day tubed & staked.

Try holding the tip of the tree while you're stamping them in- people have been sent down the road for less.

FISA has an entirely different meaning if you're familiar with the Danish language. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fisse

Does anyone have/ know of any Birch regen sites that need managing or respacing? Ideally the Birch should be around 7-9 foot tall & quite densely growing so it's straight. It gets used for making the jumps at Horse Racing events, in return the owner gets the woodland managed i.e thinned out free of charge. Ideally I'm looking for sites that are reasonably accessible in the North of England but anywhere considered.

You don't say what's in the rest of the woodland but we used to plant a windbreak/ shelterbelt for wildlife on the borders with bushes like Hawthorn, Elderberry, Hazel mixed with Oak, Cherry, Birch etc.

Some of the gangers in the travelling community seem to have plenty of work, the downside being that they may not pay you or let you leave. However they would probably provide food & accommodation which is maybe more than can be said for a job with a zero hours contract.

My dad used to say that. There maybe is work out there if you look for it but I've worked for some total p***ks over the years who wouldn't even pay you if they didn't have to & don't give a monkey's about safety etc.

But if you do the refresher YOU are up to date AND have more experience! I will refresh in another few years and I will foot the bill, why? Because I will be up to date, I hope they do it like the UA tickets, where you refresh the highest one, but I doubt they will, but it won't bother me, because I would still need to do 32, 38 and 39

 

 

Sent using Arbtalk Mobile App

The people here who will suffer the most will be forestry workers who are still mostly self employed, who aren't really paid that well & don't have customers they can pass these costs on to. I read in the papers about a year ago how the UK lumberjack comes out no.1 for jobs that have seen wages falling in real terms over the last few years.

It's like passing your driving test- you're assessed to be reasonably competent but I would have thought most people learn more though being on the job. I've worked with lots of people in the last couple of years who've just passed their test & can't sharpen a saw, I was probably the same.

Tree surgery might be different but given the Forestry Commission policy of putting jobs out to tender & given we've just come through the biggest economic crisis since WW2 I could imagine there's quite a lot of contractors out there operating on fairly marginal incomes.

Won't this tend to favour people who've just passed their tickets recently rather than people with experience- from a safety aspect who would you rather be working with?

Think I've heard about plumbers having to retrain even though they've maybe got 30+ years experience. The point is that the people who devise all this & push the theory don't do the job everyday.

Contacted several companies last week about getting on some courses but nobody's phoned me back- are they running businesses or what? If the idea is to take the industry into the 21st century then the infrastructure should be in place, this is s**t.

I've been working on Forestry Commission sites all this year & I'm not aware of any efforts by them to make sure everyone got the memo. I just found out because I started working for someone else & my details got passed on as part of the risk assessment, they're f*nnies.

For some reason I'm reminded about being told not to run with scissors.

If the powers that be are really interested in making the industry safer surely the Forestry Commission, Tilhill etc. should be prepared to put their hands in their pockets as well in pricing jobs to cover all the extra certification. I contacted someone for work through this site who was offering £85 a day- if you're running your own tools & transport that's barely subsistence.