5 shires

Here you go silkster....I was going through my iPad to delete some photographs to free up some data and came across a few pics I took,here are you and Jon mendips the first year Arb Show was moved to westernbirt(2015)..5 years ago were does the time go and how things change. And a couple of you In Arboritem & Tetbury

No stubby...it must be Friday you been in the sauce already??

As the title says does anyone else carry binoculars in there kit? Since I have been climbing I have always carried a small pair of binoculars with me...have 3 pairs in various kit and rope bags...if anyone doesn’t have a pair you should get some as they are a great addition to your climbing kit,helps look for hazard branches and good anchor points etc and or nest,squirrel drays etc.you can spend quite a bit on some of these smaller ones but there are always some on the car boots and flebay for not bad money and as with anything of good value and quality the heavier the better.

Totally get what your saying lumberjack and I wasn’t trying to be funny or say anything negative about how you were removing that limb,and I gathered that you were taking the whole limb back to the main stem the,perhaps I should have worded and described my comment in a better way and should have added that obviously remove the limb in sections by the method I would use...and yes as I asid I like your 2 working rope set up I didn’t mean to derail the thread..so apologies if it sounded like I did.?

All looks very professional lumberjack but if you don’t mind me saying very much over kill for that particular job...and i mirror what Mick said...I would have thrown a line over the branch you are anchored onto and pulled a small rigging or old climbing rope over it with a spring carabiner on the end,wrapped round limb were you are standing and pulled rope right so the biner runs up and holds tight against the limb and used a pole saw to make a small cut till the limb starts to fall and then pull in..not knocking how you have done it and great double rope set up but as they say there are many ways to skin a cat and I reckon you could have saved yourself a couple of hours.

No problem silkster we will and I’ll sort something out that can tast your new SRT skills...am only small scale and stay within my capabilities and leave the very big stuff to the guys who have teams...i’am always busy and love doing the domestic stuff and steer clear of company work...love having a chat with the old lady at the end of the road over a cup of tea type jobs.

Really like that, simple, effective and clean. Job well done. Do you do your designs on cadd or just draw them. Hi Harvey thanks for that yes I have designed gardens for many years all by hand on drawing broad which I brought form a retired draftsman 30 years ago...I don’t do many designs now as they are very time consuming so just do a A4 design not to scale but gives the client a 95% good idea of what it will look like. i do about 2/3 garden projects a year now as aposed to 10/12 when I first started as I do a lot more tree work now probably 80% of my work now are trees. i will never give up the landscaping as I love to be creative which is something you don’t really get with tree work unless you are a carver and or make things out of timber and or wood.

Nooooooo only wearing for work buddy??

Thanks for that mate?keep it on my belts when wearing normal chainsaw or my Arbpros..have the original petzl serrated on my harness.yes have used it loads it very good...you can generally tell by the feel and weight when something is good quality and this knife for the money has the looks and fab quality.?

Well you will be surprised as I was at how much it is because i’am Lime most that I wouldn’t spend silly amounts on a knife bet enough for it to be top quality and Gerbera have a really good name and the design is very pleasing to the eye..it was £27.Boom?

Had looked at a few over last couple of months saw this and loved to weight and feel if it and it’s top quality engineering and none of the other knifes I looked at supplied a little sharpener...quite smart.

Been looking at getting a new knife and finally decided of this,it’s a Gerbera with a little sharpener and a new leather pouch,like to have a decent quality knife on my belt at all times.

Hi All sorry not been posting much but nothing really to post at mo as not be able to get out much over the past few weeks..was looking at starting Waevera training towards beginning of February but the weather has been that bad all the fields around me and beyond have been waterlogged and just mud bathes,I have done a little water work with him but nothing that is worth posting really. was planing on doing some intense dummie training this weekend but again the weather has put paid to that,have learned long ago that when the weather is bad training isn’t much fun and there is no point in going out for the sake of it,so it’s been mainly just keeping up has fitness and building up his staminer and muscle with him coming out on jobs and just having a run and being around other dogs and people as it’s important to have a dog which is friendly towards other dogs and there owners. we were out again today doing a clear up job in Market Drayton and i managed to get a photograph of him,I took a few but most were crap and blurred. so this is Weaver who is now just over 6 months old and to say he is like a tornado who be an understatement,he is like no other dog I have had which were all Spaniels and I thought they had energy but this sprocker has 3 times as much and if I can harness it and train him to an above standard he will be a smashing little working dog.

Thanks Reg for your reply’s and yes generally in life the one s who brag about doing extremely difficult or way out kind of things are the ones you find are in the next county when things get real and the ones who say nothing and keep out the limelight are the ones who get it done.spot on Reg..and really think about coming over before to long.???

Hi Gary...hope all good with you buddy and thanks for asking..yes he’s coming on well I will post some photographs of him tomorrow,the dummy training is going to plan but the weather has got in the way really,one the fields are so waterlogged and mud everywhere which just doesn’t make sense in getting him wet and cold every 5 minutes.plus I have been flat out busy last 5/6 weeks which he has been with me all the time..he has grown so much and has so much energy compared to what my Spaniels had...he is a tornado and full on.i will be doing more intense trianing when the weather turns.?

Bigger harder trees come with the territory when you have more years under your belt but the years soon roll by,may be bit late for you this year but i’am sure you know all about the APF...May be when you can find the time you could come over at the beginning of a year when the APF & Arb Show is on in the same time there is also Cutters & Climbers which is usually around April time so there is 3 in April,May & September ...next time will be 2022.

Knowing all the facts of course helps and ya early starts and long hard climbs take it out of your body and we’re not 20 years old anymore,you need to get over here and have a chat with the lads over here you have so much to give and I for one would come to hear your experiences.

Well just heard that the government are in talks with the Chinese to come on broad with the HS2 project and have said they will get it done in 5/6 years and for less money....and you know what they will do it as well.

Listing to you talk Reg seems like you missing the buzz or just fed up with doing what you do? You sounded so down and dishearten with the whole thing or may be you were piss off waiting for the traffic to clear and wait 15mins..to us mear mortals who may be on occasions do 100ft May be 120ft watching you do what you do is fab to watch,but I know what you mean about posting stuff,there are only so many times you can film your self cutting a branch and or limb and rigging some difficult tree over a house. sometimes telling someone and explaining how it’s done and how you feel at the time is a good listen have you ever thought or have done seminars and lectures about your experiences? I must admit the only thing that I have watched and makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up is the Heliloggers and how they remove the trees once they have been processed to a standing stem....may be it’s because it’s something that I will never ever do.

What vehicle you thinking of getting then silkster?

Thanks for all the feedback and examples of what some of you have used this cut for...personally I think it’s a pen underrated cut and in a lot more circumstances should be used but the tree needs to be in the right Proportions and correct surrounding I for one wouldn’t attempt a spear cut like the guys in some of the clips show...they looked scared shitless and not in control of the situation and or the tree.

Been doing a lot of wind blown/storm Damaged trees over last few day,nothing major or big but was thinking bout different type cuts possible to remove/fell a tree and was wondering how often any of us use a Spear Cut apart from smallish trees and or branches and got me thinking has anyone used this cut on a decent sized tree and if yes what was the circumstances and the out come?

I have never been a protester or ever felt like marching for any reason in my life before but i’am feeling really upset and on the same level so angry about all the ancient woodland and ecology distruction that will happen when the HS2 rips through our ever decreasing country side and let’s make no bones about it that’s basically what will happen and yes the good people of the HS2 project will say they are doing everything by the book and relocating certain plants,newts etc etc etc but the fact is ancient woodland is exactly what it says on the tin,Ancient which means that a lot of the woods & or forest are 400 years and more old and they are irreplaceable but we all know it’s been rubber stamped now and that’s it so time to say good bye to some beautiful scenery which we have had for 100’s of years and will be gone forever man made landscaping and planting is not the same as a natural wood land or forest...sad times and I for one feel sorry for the genarations of this country who will never know the true beauty of this once green and pleasent Land.

Love the number crunching and when you break it down like that it makes even worse reading and yes how come in every other country when they build there roads and or railways it costs a fraction of what it does in this country and it takes us 5 times longer to complete which is were the answer lies,the longer a job takes the more it costs..simple maths really and i’am crap at arithmetic but even I know that.

It’s all been done very back handed by starting the infrastructure well before it was really given 100% go ahead and spending billions already so it was dam near impossible to pull the plug on this part of the expansion(notice they started in then south and not in the north?.i won’t drag this out by commenting on this subject week in and week out but I just wanted to get my view in writing because some how when you see it in words and thinking someone else might just read your views some how it makes you feel a little bit better even if the people reading it either agree and or disagree.