Gavint

Hi all, I'm trying to figure something out. A peculiarity that I have noticed working professionally in tree care is how unbelievably oblivious, entitled and belligerent passers-by are when it comes to barging through tree care jobsites. Like, you can have everything officially closed off, with barriers and lights and noise and big equipment and groundies, and still they jog or bike or walk through without looking or deviating course or announcing their presence, and then get snippy when you say something. Is this a uniquely German, or a universally international thing (hence asking you UK people!)? Has this gotten worse over time, particularly since the advent of social media and smartphones? Has it always been this way everywhere, and I've just become a grumpy old man (darn kids these days!)? I can't imagine ever walking through a closed off jobsite where machines and people are at work, but it happens to me every day multiple times. In fact, the people who look up and communicate are the exceptions. I actually did a count. How is it in the UK? Do people just walk under you and then give you shit for saying something about it? Or walking behind you as you're backing your truck up? I swear everyone has a death wish.

I've rented lower powered stump grinders, usually dull, and they have been a b*tch to use. Looking at getting one next year, saw a Laski with a pivot on it at a trade show this year, 23 hp Kohler motor and self driving for about what I'd be willing to shell out. Anyone use something like this? Happy with it?

@Trailoftears, Post-industrial country about sums it up. Congratulations UK on dropping your CO2 emissions though! You all can feel good about that, I'm sure Don't worry, Germany is well on it's way to joining you, so you'll have company soon. You started a trend! First to industrialise and then first to de-industrialise. Germany 2nd place in both. Thank the Greens, drivers of progress towards environmental utopia, where we will all live in harmony as we catch cow-farts to protect the atmosphere. Who needs heating fuel when we can have recycled dog-hair jackets?

ETW is standard here, somewhat equivalent to a successfully completed trades apprenticeship. So, journeyman level. Municipalities will demand that an ETW be on site at all times. It goes further to ETT (European Tree Technician), which is like a trades master certificate. I did both, found them to be great courses. There are prerequisites to take the ETW course though - climbing certificates A and B (base and chainsaw), chainsaw license, 3 years work experience and so forth. You can get the equivalent in a 7-month or 1-year course called Fachagrarwirt in der Baumpflege und Baumsanierung. Same level, same knowledge, just more German sounding, which appeals to Germans. This one is officially equivalent to a 3-year bachelor's degree though, (ETT isn't) so there is that.

Thanks! You mean they shake you about more than a Worky Quad would do? It seems to me the tiny size of the machine makes that inevitable. I was considering a Bobcat or a Ditchwitch stand on loader, but they're too long to get turned around on the properties I have to work in. What do you use?

I mean safest in terms of risk to the applicator, bystanders, pets, wildlife and damage to the environment. Herbicides are useful tools when used correctly according to laws and safety regulations, and when the situation warrants it. 95% of the time you don't need to fully get rid of perennial weeds like bindweed or goutweed, you can just mow them down and when they resprout, do it again. In cases where they must be controlled, like when you're planning on planting perennials or something in that spot you have two options: Herbicides or soil replacement. In this case, 30 mL of a targeted Round-Up application is far less damaging to the environment than the diesel fumes, CO2 emissions, nitrogen release, soil ecology damage associated with soil replacement.

Which systemic herbicide do you know of that is safer? I'd totally be interested.

On vacation in Italy, in the Apennine mountains not far from Florence in May this year. Right where we were staying was a copse of I'm guessing 600 year old chestnuts, some with over 4 m circumference. The whole area is abandoned cultural landscape, with grown over coppiced oak forestry with these ancient chestnuts thrown in for fun. They would have been used by the hill farmers as a source of food for generations. They're being encroached upon by the surrounding forest, new oaks growing up through them.

Yep - leopard moth. That's a crazy pic.

I use Husqvarna even though Stihl's headquarters is like 5 kms away from where I live. Husky tools are ergonomic and professional grade. Go battery - 2-stroke is the way of the dinosaur in small tools. Straight shaft trimmer and a pro-grade hedgeclipper, charger and 2 batteries. You're in business for under 1,5k. You don't save anything by buying homeowner grade crap, go with pro quality stuff straight away. I'm still using my first batteries, blower and trimmer ten years on.

Bindweed is a toughie. Like other perennial weeds with extensive underground root networks like thistles and goutweed, you will only compound the problem by digging. The only practical solution is a systemic herbicide. Glyphosate is the usual go to as it's the safest, but it will require multiple applications to defeat it.

Interesting topic, looking at getting a machine like this in the near future. Was at the landscapers expo in Nuremburg last week and saw a really cool looking alternative, made in France, with tracks instead of wheels, and with all the usual attachments available, Microbull from Micro-Pelle: Bienvenue sur le site micro-pelle.fr WWW.MICRO-PELLE.FR Conception et fabrication française de micro-machines destinées au terrassement, au tp, à l'élagage, au curage de boxes à chevaux, ... Click through a bit and there is a catalogue in English. Anyone tried one of these things out? They're a bit more expensive than Worky Quad, but are quieter and seem pretty robust. Love to know if anyone has experience with these machines. Apparently the market leader in France.

Hi all, I'm on the lookout for a second employee. Tons of work to go after here, I just need the help to free me up to pursue it. If you're in the Stuttgart area, or are considering moving here, maybe this might interest you. I am looking for an employee though, dealing with subcontractors is like herding cats... Right of the bat - most of the work I do for my customers is high-end garden maintenance for private customers. I do get a fair amount of tree work too though, and the odd bit of landscaping, mostly plantings, for fun. I'm Canadian, my first employee is American, and we shoot the shit in English on the jobsite. Sometimes in Redneck. A lot of the time in Hoser. I consider it a personal victory that I've got the American saying 'eh'. Customers all speak German though obviously, and I would expect you to be actively learning that language while here. Falls du lokal bist, mir könnet au Schwäbisch schwetza, der Ami au! If you think plants are cool, like looking after not just trees but the whole spectrum of herbiage, are nice and fun and work to a high standard and aren't an idiot, give me a shout! Natürlich wäre es vorteilhaft wenn du ein bisschen Deutsch reden kannst. Also credentials are great. Germans love credentials. Cheers! Gavin

Hi there, in the hope that some random person on the forum might have the info I need: If anyone is a self-employed arborist in Ontario, what are you billing yourselves out at? Is hiring subcontractors to help move projects along from time to time a done thing over there? I'm crunching the numbers to see if it makes sense to move back home. I'd want to go self-employed immediately, and would need to be able to charge a pretty high rate in order to afford a reasonable place to live there. Thanks!

Hi folks, just got mine up and running last month. I had a local advertising guy do it up for me, along with business cards, flyers and vehicle signage. Check it out: Roots-Stuttgart.de. I'm pretty pleased with it.