Luckyleaf

I thought the petioles looked to long for the negundo but I will go with that cheers fellas 👍

Im stumped........... species anyone ?

What rigging do you use with your Hobbs ?

hmmm , and now the GRCS is looking tempting

I use a 16mm Samson stable braid rope, mostly for lowering when dismantling, however I have used it lots of times for assisted fells, recently we had a large monterey to dismantle in a confined space, we left the block in over night.....40m asscent in less than a minute with no effort required So you can use it pretty much for anything you need it for and its not going to be the weak link with average strength of 7500kg.... that will probably come down to your slings or krabs. Obviously with the forces you load onto it, especially when snatching are un-recordable so apart from visual inspection of the rope you can never be 100% sure of what damage if any the rope has, unlike you climbing ropes. ps you need a good set of shoulders and throwing arm if you was thinking of throwing it into position

With regards to a winch, tirfor do a good light weight winch 1.6tonne which is probably best for what you are describing, use that with endless slings of appropriate strength to the situation. Any rope you use for rigging or related operations is used purely for that and LOLER 'd once a year, never used as part of your climbing systems !! Hope this helps 👍

You will have to use a winch on cs32 (medium trees) and on cs34 (wind blown) or at least you used to have to when I did mine was 8 years ago however !! The assessments might have changed since then. The NPTC unit literature is freely available on their website, should tell you in there. You also have and assisted fell on one of the electro arb tickets, can't remember which one though can't remember using a rope to assist on any of the units, however in practice quite common !

Wish they would run one down the southwest !!

I like the look of the dual and the price over the Hobbs !! Thanks all much appreciated !

Ive been using a ISC block , whoopie sling and a buckingham portarap for my lowering for quite a while now, whilst im reasonable happy with it (apart from the odd nearly ripping your arm out of the socket moments) and just to keep up to date with things ive been looking at the stein double bollard with the pre tensioning arm, any of you guys using this system ? or the single bollard one. pros and cons anyone ?

Get yourself Hilux ! 3L D4D if you can. I can't fault mine and with a few extra pennies spent on it the engine is more than capable of pushing out 260 Bhp enough to tow pretty much anything !

PPE - helmet with ear defenders and visor, gloves, work boots. And away you go. If I was you once you have some money saved up find somewhere you can do your NPTC cs30 (chainsaw maintenance and cross cutting course) a 2 day course will cost you around £300 then you have your first ticket. But use a silky in the meantime.

Thanks 👍👍😄

1. Is hedge cutting a year round business it can be but look at Hedgerows Regulations 1997 and Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 regarding nesting birds. 2. Realistically what is charged and how do you work out what to charge ok your just starting off, don't try and price for a hedge "off the top of your head" chances are the hedge will take longer than you think ! as your just starting think about £20PH they includes getting rid of the arisings unless you can talk your customer into keeping them. Just be aware of reductions .. ie customer wants hedge reduced and 2' taken off the top, this will take longer than you think and you will one day come across a customer who waits for you to nearly finish a reduction then ask "do you think you could take a bit more off?" thats my personal favourite. 3. What equipment would you recommend I need A HEDGE CUTTER, pair of stable steps, PPE, Something to transport yourself & tools and any arisings that you clear. a small silky, broom or blower or both, dumpy bag to collect your arisings. First Aid kit for when you slip and turn the hedge cutter back on yourself ! and some basic liability insurance 4. Where could I learn quickly the different types of hedges and how and when these should be cut the internet, related books and experience that you will gain in time 5. What's the best way to market my business? you would probably do well with some flyers, just get some small ones printed and start walking the streets posting them !! and maybe an ad or 2 in the local news agents. PS YOU SHOULD HAVE CHARGED YOUR UNCLE ! NO FRIENDS OR FAMILY DISCOUNTS IN BUSINESS, you are not a charity case period!!! take your time and remember to book the next cut in with the customer even if its 6 months time, be reliable and you will get the repeat business and more from word of mouth. in no time at all you will be earning £400-£500 a week if you put the time into it. and good luck to you !

Since I changed my company t-shirts to almost hi vis "orange" ive had a few more close calls with the little blighter's im wondering if they are attracted by the colour !! might have to change back to black (or paranoia), had one land on the back of my wrist a few weeks back....i froze thought about it..........and bailed :flybye: I know what a big girl !!!, was left we a 1 inch scar on the top of my head from the last one.

Yes it has a mobile and tablet site, just watered down version that enables you to link to the main site also...works well I think

HORNETS !! :scared1: I HATE THEM, im sure i can hear them even with the saw running, i got stung by one a few years back that lodged its self under my helmet (head !) it bloody hurt

Okay, so you have a choice really of what type of website you use or have built. If like you say you want to add pictures and text etc yourself which was my old site, then you will probably be looking at a Wordpress php site or similar, Wordpress sites are a blogging template site essentially but can be used as content management sites also and made to look very professional and clean. To set up a Wordpress site and design it to your corporate colours will make it stand out from the rest Or have one built from scratch! a site that is totally a bespoke build that can include everything bar the content management system which basically means The designer does the updates to text and images which costs next to nothing unless you want a site rebuild but you still have full access to the hosting and the site files. This option gives your company a completely unique web presence, your site will not be a template that has had work done to css to change it slightly to look different if you see what I mean. This option is around £600 but this gives you home page, about us, gallery, contact us pages and is designed to work on desktop, tablet and mobile. The Wordpress will work on different screen sizes (which is a must these days) but uses a semi responsive design which might not always sit completely central on certain screens, so it looks okay and is usable but the second option is actually designed specifically to fit the all screen sizes. A good designer can also speed up your 1st page google presence with SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) on the site. This costs an extra £150 Also, just so that you know if you decided to go with a bespoke websitetb the designer would need to know if you wanted the SEO option at the outset because SEO is not just about good keyword generation theses days, search engines look at page names, image titles, website copy, preferential background colour, text etc in order to give better and more accurate searches so they would design specifically towards SEO and 1st page google searches aimed at your catchment area. This can save you quite a bit of money with adwords and takes around three to six weeks for the search engines to start picking you up on a new site build. So if you want to edit the site yourself the Wordpress option is the way to go. Or the second option for a bespoke build that your designer or any other designer for that matter handles the updates on. Okay, so I hope I have made myself clear and not confused the issue further for you. Let me know if you want any more info. The bloke i used is Gavin Munnings who owns stonkcreative it took him a couple of months to build my site and TBH I was a real pain in his ass with changing things. Mine has been up and running for a couple of months now and getting a really good response from it, it's not quite finished as it has a few stock photos on it, which I need to update with my own, which is a bit of a sore subject with myself at the moment as my delightful ex wife decided to destroy my computer when we split !, which i subsequently lost all my photos vids and customer profiles for the last 8 years !!!! Ahh happy days ! b!!!!h. Never the less it should be fully complete with new files and vids within a month or two !! Take a look at mine and see what you think:) http://www.ace-arb.co.uk Gavin's the designer contact number is :- 07796 677299 http://www.stonk.net

It's an older list from last year that has been given to me David but I'm sure I will get in upto date list when merrist wood give me a joining pack .... Hopefully !

Tree development and protection [A/503/3324] Tree Life AC Ltd 2011. British Standard 5837: 2005 - ‘Trees in Relation to Construction’ National House Building Council (NHBC) Chapter 4.2 – ‘Building near Trees’ British Standard 3998 : 2010 – ‘Tree Work – Recommendations’ National Joint Utilities Group (NJUG) Vol 4 – ‘Guidelines for the Planning, Installation and Maintenance of Utility Apparatus in Proximity to Trees’ Arboricultural Practice Note 4 – “Root Barriers and Building Subsidence” Arboricultural Practice Note 5 – “Shaded by Trees?” Arboricultural Practice Note 12 – “Through the Trees to Construction” “The Law of Trees, Forests and Hedgerows” – by Charles Mynors ISBN 0-421-59040-8 Tree Preservation Orders: A guide to the Law and Good Practice’ Principles of woodland establishment and management [F/503/3325] “Woodland Management – A Practical Guide” by Chris Starr ISBN 1 86126 789-4 “Urban Forestry Practice” – Forestry Commission Handbook 5 ISBN 0-11-710273-3 “Creating and Managing Woodlands Around Towns” - Forestry Commission Handbook 11 ISBN 0-11-710328-4 “Wildlife Conservation in Managed Woodlands and Forests” E. and J. Harris ISBN 0 86380 206 0 “Woodland Conservation and Management” by George Peterken ISBN 0-412-55730-4 http://www.forestry.gov for a multitude of useful downloads, including:- ‘The Management of Semi-natural woodlands – Practice Guides’ – Nos. 1 to 8 Tree related damage to built structures [L/502/3327] National House Building Council (NHBC) Chapter 4.2 – ‘Building near Trees’ “Has Your House Got Cracks?” by Freeman, Driscoll and Litttlejohn ISBN 0-7277-3089-4 “Subsidence Damage to Domestic Buildings” by Driscoll and Skinner ISBN 978-1-86081-977-3 “The Subsidence Handbook – A Practical Guide to Subsidence in Domestic Property” by The Subsidence Forum - no ISBN Selection, planting and design with hardy nursery stock for amenity and landscape purposes [L503/3330] “A Field Guide to the Trees of Britain and Northern Europe” by Alan Mitchell ISBN 0 00 219213 6 “Trees in Britain, Europe and North America” by Roger Phillips ISBN 0 330 25480 4 “The Tree and Shrub Expert” by Dr. D.G. Hessayon ISBN 0-903505-17-7 “Hillier’s Manual of Trees and Shrubs” ISBN 0-7153-8302-7 British Standard 3936 Part 1 – ‘Specification for Trees and Shrubs’ Horticultural Trades Association – ‘National Plant Specification’ and ‘Handling and Establishing Landscape Plants’ “Principles and Practice of Planting Trees and Shrubs” by Gary Watson and E.B. Himelick – ISA ISBN 1-881956-18-0 “The Planting Design Handbook” by Nick Robinson ISBN 0-7546-3035-8

ABC Awards Level 4 Award, Certificate and Diploma in Arboriculture - Suggested Reading List Woody Vegetation Formation and Physiology [D/503/3316] “Modern Arboriculture” by Alex Shigo ISBN 0-943563-09-7 “Trees: Their Natural History” by Peter Thomas ISBN 0-521-45963-X “Photosynthesis” by D. O. Hall and K. K. Rao ISBN 0-521-64497-6 “Tree Roots in the Built Environment” – ‘Research for Amenity Trees No.8’ ISBN 0-11-753620-2 “Field Guide: The Identification of Soils for Forest Management” – Forestry Commission ISBN 0 85538 559 6 “Soil Types: A Field Identification Guide” by Stephen Trudgill, Field Studies Council ISBN 1 58153 196 3 “Up by Roots: Healthy Soils and Trees in the Built Environment” by James Urban ISBN 1-881956-65-2 Tree biomechanics and maintenance [M/503/3319] “The Body Language of Trees: A Handbook for Failure Analysis” by Claus Mattheck and Helge Breloer - ‘Research for Amenity Trees No.4’ ISBN 0-11-753067-0 “Principles of Tree Hazard Assessment and Management” by David Lonsdale - ‘Research for Amenity Trees No.7 ISBN 0-11-753355-6 British Standard 3998:2010 ‘Tree Work – Recommendations’ Pest, disease and disorder identification [M/503/3322] “Principles of Tree Hazard Assessment and Management” by David Lonsdale - ‘Research for Amenity Trees No.7 ISBN 0-11-753355-6 “Diagnosis of Ill-Health in Trees” - ‘Research for Amenity Trees No.2’ Tree Life AC Ltd 2011. ISBN 0-11-752919-2 “Diagnosis and Prognosis of the Development of Wood Decay in Urban Trees” by Francis W. M. R. Schwarze ISBN 978-0-646-49144-8 Principles of tree management [T/503/3323] Arboricultural Association Guidance Note 4 – “Visual Amenity Valuation of Trees and Woodlands – The Helliwell System” 2008 Capital Asset Value for Amenity Trees (CAVAT) by Christopher Neilan British Standard 3998:2010 ‘Tree Work – Recommendations’ “The Law of Trees, Forests and Hedgerows” – by Charles Mynors ISBN 0-421-59040-8 Arboricultural Practice Note 11 – “Trees and Hedges in Dispute” http://www.communities.gov – various downloads:- - ‘Tree Preservation Orders: A guide to the Law and Good Practice’ - ‘Hedge Height and Light Loss’ ‘Health and Safety Package’ – produced by the Arboricultural Association ISBN 0 900978 40 6 ‘Safety at Street Works and Road Works – A Code of Practice’ – ISBN 011551958-0 http://www.hse.gov free downloads available for:- - information relating to all health and safety legislation - industry best practice - AFAG leaflets Businessballs free online learning for careers, work, management, business training and education: find materials, articles, ideas, people and providers for teaching, career training, self-help, ethical business education and leadership; for personal free downloads available for all aspects of management “Veteran Trees: A guide to Good Management” by Helen Read ISBN 1 85716 474 1 “Veteran Trees: A guide to Risk and Responsibility” ISBN 1 85716 508 X

:thumbup:all sorted now thanks Ali

Does anyone have the reading list for the L4 diploma ??

I agree with you Pete , it's all very well having specialised blood stoppers and tourniquets but without the correct training they can be very damaging if not used correctly. I have some UK military spec tourniquets which to be honest are very good and easy to apply even on your self ! fortunately I have received the correct training to apply such equipment so I would have no hesitation in using them, should I have to do so. Most first aid courses are quite basic however there are more specialised courses such as a combat medic which is very in depth and deals mainly with.. response to major trauma. In my quiet times of past I have contracted as anti-piracy gun boat crew off Somalia and throughout the Indian Ocean and It was obviously a must to have the correct medical knowledge.