Mat

Please also consider that the HSE has prohibited activities that involve a chainsaw operator sharing a 'mewp basket' with another person unless specific controls (such as a physical barrier) are put into place. If you are chainsawing from a MEWP, its probably best if you are in a situation where you can operate it yourself.

If you are OK on chancing a fiver, buy yourself a copy of this: People who were interested in the Use of MEWPs in Arboriculture also loved spending a fiver on this you will see that it is chock full of stuff you were never told on an IPAF or CS39.

Link>> http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/training-education/38524-chainsaw-mewp.html

In an ideal world (and I will use the old CS numbers for clarity) to use a chainsaw from a MEWP you will require 'CS47' The pre-reqs for 'CS47'are: A 'MEWP ticket', such as IPAF, NPTC or LANTRA. 'CS30' - maintenance and cross cutting 'CS31' - felling 'CS39' has been shown to have very little value as a 'chainsaw from a mewp' equivalent.

There are many reasons for doing (or sending staff on) training. Whether or not attending a LANTRA or IPAF training session, or passing an NPTC, LANTRA or IPAF assessment can be considered as 'adequate' depends on what it is exactly you wish to gain by doing it!

Hi Arran, I was trying differentiate between A) an assessment and B) a training course. When you are assessed, you are telling and showing the assessor stuff. When you are being trained, you are being told and being showed stuff - hopefully with the opportunity to practice and consolidate your learning as you go. A stand alone assessment (such as the NPTC one in the link) is normally a few hours of the candidate being questioned and providing some demonstrations. The assessment should not provide the candidate with any information, instruction or training, and should be therefore viewed very differently from an actual structured training course (such as the ones provided by LANTRA and IPAF).

CS38 (as was) is of no use for using a chainsaw from a MEWP as this is an aerial rescue unit, and does not cover any form of chainsaw use. There are no 'CS' units any more, but NPTC do a MEWP assessment: NPTC mewp unit This is just an assessment, whereas, both LANTRA and IPAF integrate their assessments with training. Bare in mind that health and safety 'law' requires employees to receive adequate training - simply passing an assessment is not proof of adequate training.

If he is still working at 70, I reckon your husband has a good 10yrs of work left in him yet. Get him a nice light chainsaw with heated handles for his 70th birthday, and tell him to get out from under your feet.

Rather than the usual 'air ambulance', how about http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/general-chat/67310-disaster-arborist-team.html http://www.dartinternational.co.uk/

i don't suppose there is a nice tall tree behind it and a empty bit of old lawn in front of it, by chance?

I see what you say buddy, the harkie can holds 6l Fuel - 3l oil.

Indeed, if it is 6l, it is an apparent contravention of the Petroleum-Spirit (Plastic Containers) Regulations 1982 [section 3.1 (b)] :-)

Ahhhh yes Mogs. such fun and games until.....

I was more concerned for others that may emulate you (without the benefit of your mogs unique failsafe systems ). Luckily accidents only happen to the other fella.

Fair point - you were indeed asking for advice. I go for hot soapy water on a regular basis, and then dry thoroughly (as in totally dry). You can now check for wear of contamination by seeing if the gate locking mech is smooth - or sticky - or gritty. You may need to repeat the washing drying stage again a few times before all the dross is removed. as long as the gate close now feels smooth, you can check the actual function by opening the gate and letting it slowly close. If it fails to close now it is either due to wear (and they do wear quite quick) or a limp gate spring (which they are probably born with). If everything is working good - you could puff in a sparing amount of graphite powder but it should not really be necessary. Popular options... 1) (my personal choice) only by carabiners that are manufactured with really strong springs - I like Petzl ones - but 'rock exotica' ones also seem strong. 2) Never buy on line - go to the shop and only buy carabiners that work properly from the start (test every one before you select it as loads of carabiners 'fail' before they even leave the shop IMO) 3) Go for the quick fix of a cocktail of WD40 and graphite powder - but don't be surprised that you carabiners don't function very good. Its a lot more complicated than using screwgates - that's progress for you.

I don't want to appear 'nanny state-ist' But... Why would you post that picture? or even... Why would you stand there in the first place?

The gate on almost any carabiner will self lock if you... What you need to do to really check it is functioning is to... ... but then I guess you know that now If you 'check' nothing else on a day to day basis, check your carabiners - they really are the most likely thing to fail to function and let you down. alas, if only there were such a thing as a screwgate..........

Take your time and enjoy it. It is soooo much easier than getting your basic felling ticket (as long as you get really good work positions).

With a freefall cut, the wood you are cutting is probably heavy, so you cut into the compression wood first and then the tension wood (you don't want to trap your saw). With a handheld cut, It does't matter if your saw gets pinched as it is only a bit of light, manageable timber. In fact, with a freefall cut, it is an advantage to get the saw 'pinched' in the undercut, as this shows you have cut enough - this is why you cut into the compression wood last. Piece of cake. :-)

Naaaaaah, I didn't mean forgetting how to do it for the assessment, I meant that many people pass the assessment by doing it all good, and then forgetting the theory and doing it 'wrong' forever more!

Step cuts.... Freefall cut: undercut first then top cut either towards the trunk (inboard) or towards the tips (outboard) Handheld cut: top cut first then bottom cut towards the tip (or side to side as already stated. Should you learn and then forget how to do a proper handheld step cut, you risk spending the rest of your tree cutting career looking a bit of a dweeb :-)

Facelift provide IPAF training so,as Paul said 'pan industry' and internationally recognised. Just a thought though, is the training for 'tree work' as 3b is self propelled boom lift, which is OK for hard level sites, but not much use anywhere else. IPAF 1b is for static vehicle mounts and 'spider lifts', which are more normally used for tree work. :-)

Sorry bud, that was not aimed at you at all. Just my usual unfortunate comic timing - honest. I was having a poke at the arb industry in general (then I thought better of it after last nights LOLERfest and deleted my post). 10 out of 10 for doing the quote thingy though, otherwise you post would have looked very strange indeed!

You are playing devils advocate here??? Damn, I thought I was playing devils advocate here

I don't use rigging gear any more, so it really affect me, but... Page 11 of the LOLER acop defines “accessory for lifting” as lifting equipment for attaching loads to machinery for lifting One of HSE's definitions of machinery is: an assembly of linked parts or components, at least one of which moves and which are joined together, intended for lifting loads and whose only power source is directly applied human effort (Taken from the machinery directive) A number of rigging devices meet this definition (Stein dual bollard / GRCS etc), so, just maybe, all 'accessories' used with these should be under a 6 month scheme of thorough examination?