castanea

Wet rain today.

Saw this over on arborsite. Simple solution, seems to be attached with ratchet straps so wouldn't need to permanently modify the tailgate.

Big shot over the top, basal tie off and access SRT. Decent anchor installed up top and start peeling the ivy back out the crown and down the stem a ways. The ivy looks too thick to leave unnatended for my liking.

If no kit for SRT and no mewp then a brutal climb up the ivy itself is in order. Usually its not to bad when it is mature like that, many crossing ivy stems creating handholds and nooks for toes. Silky saw can swipe away most of the greenery thats in your face. Clip in on the way up where you can, use the bigger stems of ivy if needed, if there is not too many chances to clip in make sure you use a retrievable anchor so that once you've climbed more than 500mm above it you can still get it back.

Looks worth a climb and a prune on the ivy. Have fun.

Blowing a hoolie. Batten down the hatches. Wind rain and a bunch of back leaning poplars to pull into it.

Would recommend cs30/31 and a first aid +f course. Driving license with towing. Then let everyone in your area know you are there when they need an extra pair of hands. Get grafting, learn along the way. Once you've a few years work under your belt I think you will be in a better place to choose a course.

There's an awful lot of folk with a college degree and a romanticised view of the industry.

Really good. Nice pace and variety of camera angles. Exceptionally smooth rigging. Great job :-)

Brave man. Would be happy with that if the chogs were being freefelled but in this situation where he is rigging onto a compromised stem I can't understand why expose yourself to the risk.

One of the bigger chogs could have been rigged badly by ground staff, shock loading the system and combined with a potential defect unseen in the stem cause the stem to fail. Looks like the climber would have had ample time to cut the gob whilst his 11! groundies processed the timber and hauled it up the driveway. Unnecessary risk.

If you want to establish a permanent path that requires little maintenance in years to come then you'll need; small tractor w flail to clear scrub, 3 1/2 ton digger to cut in the path and dig out root balls, x tons of type 1 brought in on a dumper or track barrow followed by x tons of winddust to bind it together and give a smooth surface. Dress the edges with the digger on the way out. All levelled off by a vibra plate/roller.

Or you could just walk it with the brushcutter /tractorflail combo every 6 months.

I'd do that for 300-350. Me plus 1. Won't be late home.

Surely by removing the tree which was using a lot of the moisture in the area, the ground will naturally become more moist.

RIP

Sad.

Had a few close shaves on the ground and one richochet would have been all it would have taken to make those events life changing.

Thoughts to family and friends. Thoughts and power to the climber too, peace.

Picked up trees; their natural history and small woods: how to manage and grow them, for a quid out of a charity shop a while ago. Cracking bargains, always wander through my local shops book selection when I'm passing.

Looks alright for that particular application. Anything bigger diameter it wouldn't work. If it gets stuck probably be a bugger to get out again.

Also looks heavy. No thanks

That is stunning. Look forward to see the end result

Interesting...been getting on fine with my pantin but I do get the occasional kick out, esp. at the beginning of a climb. Will look into these alternatives

Just get a new one. Save yourself the time and bother and get on with other stuff till ndd from any of the online retailers.

Just crack on. Always find the bad weather gives me more energy. Worked in some bad conditions but as long as you got stamina to keep going till it gets dark then should be fine. Funny to see the softies when the weather turns.

Brilliant.

Are you sure you need a full road closure?

Deep tissue manipulation/massage from the Physio. Cost me £40 and was given a bunch of stretches to help, its possible to do the massage yourself once you've felt it done properly.

Its painful when done properly, and tender for a few days after but within a fortnight I was back to drinking milk straight from the big carton in the fridge. :-)

+1 for Roger Philips as a great visual ID book. Also the Collins tree guide is always in the truck or somewhere close by, an invaluable reference. There are a couple of books I would like to add too.

First is 'the NEW SYLVA' by Hemery & Simblet, a revamp of Evelyn's discourse on forest and orchard trees. A truly brilliant book. One for the coffee table as its huge, the layout is clear and it is peppered by beautiful original pencil drawings. I really like this book.

Second I can reccomend 'Tall trees and small woods' by William Mitch. A comprehensive book about the complete woodland and each species role and compatability within it. It goes through various nurse species, which trees will thrive in any given soil conditions, good edge trees, habitat species, planting spacing, conservation of old woodlands and future proofing current woodlands through genetic diversity and using seed stock both native and from further afield. An excellent in depth look at all aspects of small woodlands.

Lovely lines in that

I wear Oakley's for driving most days, their vr28 polarized lenses are so easy on the eyes and the definition is great.

Whilst working I will wear a set of stein with the dark lenses, definition not so great but they cost f all, don't steam up and stop crap going in my eyes. Might get a yellow lenses for more overcast and windy days.

Who said it had been bumped over a fence???

Not me OP said it had been dumped at the edge of their woodland. Presumably from the property adjacent, can't picture the gardener lugging grass cuttings anywhere far.

If there isn't any boundary fence then it should take even less time to give them their stuff back.

You could have lobbed it all back into their garden by now.