Treeation

Locate the centre of the crown once you have your top anchor and always keep that centre in mind your mind (keep on reverting back to its position as you move around the crown later on in the job). Then look around the top section and spend some time deciding a good height where theres lots of side laterals roughly/at least 1/3 in diameter of the proposed pruning cut to prune back to. Remember this is important as the pruned branches have a better chance of survival if you do this and you want to avoid stub cuts as much possible. Once you have a rough height to work to always try and get above that cut line its sooo much easier to be cutting below your head than above it. So good anchor point is key. When cutting the top remember its only the very middle that is the highest bit so start a gradual slope down as you meet the sides of the crown. Once at the side try and distinguish on the lowest limbs on the tree a suitable reduction point to aim for. Imagine a curverd line joining the already pruned top section down to that lowest limb reduction point that you have chosen. Prune down the sides to that lowest limb. Work around the sides to complete a quadrant that is visible to your groundie so that he/she can see easily wether your cuts are in/out also completeing a quadrant as close to your chipper will also allow you chuck to prunings more easily out the crown and improve overall job efficiency. Sometimes I start my quadrant around the back of the tree so once I get my eye in I know the money shot (generally the side that will get the most visual profile) will be looking its best. Once you have a completed quadrant section just keep on goin around the sides..it should get easier at this point to see the shape. I always take a decent set of poles with me to cut anything upto 20 feet in height. This saves a bit of time and fatigue and its easier to see the shape from the ground. Try your hardest to get right out on those limbs. The best reults come from those who get right out into the tips. Be flexible, patient, always look up, down and around - im constantly trying to map that 3d dome in my head....I quite often draw imaginery lines with my hand to try and match up the shape of the dome...must look pretty wierd to onlookers...a spaced out tree hugger doing tai chi in the trees....but it really helps me and I havent been sectioned yet!

Bloody Hell Jo, really glad you and anna are ok. Must of been terrifying as well as all your equipment getting smashed up..hope you get a good payout from insurance....did you get down to glasto at all or did you just sack it off?

I thought that when I first saw the pics....looks like turf has been possibly laid over some of the butresses?

Surely removing the co dominant wouldn't really reduce the height out of striking range from the neighbour.

Surely you are best off getting an arb consultant or decent arborist to have a look and put your mind to rest?

Hey lake, I did my pti 3 and half weeks ago still haven't got results yet. Good on you for getting back on your horse...im sure you'll nail next time now you know what to expect. .good luck!

Cool vid!! Nice tunes as well

:thumbup1:

Many thanks sean all good learning

A bit from mathecks encyclopedia of body language of trees

Im studying to be a tree surveyor and thought it might be interesting to share some of my finds over the last few months. Would be interesting to see if anyone else has any photos of defect symptoms/ body language. So heres my first one, more to come.... Pic 1 - large progessively leaning mature oak on woodland edge. Showing signs of fibre buckling on compression side as tree folds its bark like a concertina. Pic 2 - tension side showing some bark loss shown in areas free from moss

Thanks David, a good find then by the sounds of it! !

Never seen it in uk, anyone ever come across in uk?

Found quite a lot of the what I think is the above on a trip to Slovenia. Mainly on conifers stumps in mixed forest

Tidy!

Possibly bjerkandera adusta - smoky polypore

Looks abit like silver leaf fungus (Chondrostereum purpurem) although according to "Diagnosis of Ill-health in trees" - "The fungus causes sapwood decay in many species (e.g Salix, Populars) but does not kill branches"

Hi ty, well done for being part of such a worthy project . Sounds like your running costs are pretty fixed so maybe think about charging a bit more and also look at other income streams. Have you explored selling on seasoned wood? If you have plenty of hands on deck could be a nice income supplement. I have a branch logger for my business that helps to improve profit margins by converting non conifer or leafy brash quickly into netted bags that retail as kindling for £5 a bag to public which goes hand in hand with amy firewood business. Or if im converting on site to a customer I chrage £2 a bag. The machine can convert upto 45 bags an hour with 2 guys running it. Bags cost 20p and an hour running the machine uses about £2 of petrol. The other great thing about this approach is its very resourceful way of brash management and you can generally leave all the converted brash on site that saves time and hassle.

That is nice and light. How did you get on with your machine?

Hi anyone know how much the Camom C250 weighs?? Struggling to find any info on the web. Thanks in advance

Very interesting point. how would one go about determining wether the column is confined or not? And do the saprophytic species or Armillaria have the same black rhizomorphs as the parasitic species?

Although, photo 1 does look suspiciously like honey fungus rhizomorphs. Maybe honey fungus is present as well as the flammulina

Looks like velvet shank. Flammulina

Hi, I am off to this course. It sounds awesome and really looking forward to it. still places left if anyones interested, Simon Scottings (course tutor) details are below. Advanced Tree Inspection The course is designed for those aspiring to carry out tree inspections at a professional level as well as to consolidate and update the skills and knowledge of inspectors already practicing at this level. The two day course places emphasis on gaining practical experience of carrying out tree inspections and identification of defects on trees. Areas covered will include:  Understanding the legal framework in which tree inspections are carried out.  Professional standards and duties of tree inspectors  Interpretation of the body language of trees and the VTA method  Collection of data and recording of observations in the field  Evaluating tree risk  Making decisive management recommendations within appropriate timescales There is a Visual Tree Assessment (VTA) lecture given in the evening at the end of the first day. This will cover areas such as the established principles of VTA and an update on latest research. The course will be limited to 14 people and we are planning to hold the first course on 30th November- 1st December 2015. The location of the course would be at Pembrokeshire SA62 4AS Cost: £270 for the two day course, lunch and refreshments are included. Picton Castle, The Rhos, Haverfordwest, If you are interested or have any further questions please contact me on the following email address: [email protected] Simon Scotting N.C.H. Arb N. Dip. Arb. Tech Cert (A.A) Registered Lantra Instructor and Approved NPTC Assessor [email protected] / tel: 07816 162213 Burton Chapel Knighton Lane Stogursey TA5 1QD

Im assuming the OP is referring to leaving big fibres standing out the hinge?