green heart

Ancient and very unremarkable 1964 vintage. Raised in tiny old Cheshire village. Persuaded by parents to follow my interests in electronics/robotics rather than (more interesting) forestry. FC were laying people off for fun, at the time. Made redundant from my control system/panel designing job, at age 21. Promptly started a Landscape and Treework business, inspired by older role-models..Compulsory VAT registered within 2 years. Quit most landscape works and expanded into Conservation contracting and L.A. working, etc. Survived a good hang-glider crash but have persisted with various other rash/unsuitable outdoor pursuit activities.. despite becoming a Dad. Covid hit our workload very hard.. Still love working/climbing, even if I'm shit, compared with youngsters! No telly for 20 years Red front door. Er, too embarrassed to admit details of current car tho !

Hmm.. at $150 dollars a month for a 'licence', that just smells a bit like some sort of pyramid selling scheme to me.. I thought that kind of nonsense was outlawed?

Why not use an arb trolley with some mesh sides, or just hire/buy a teeny chipper with wheelie bins? Could be less hassle? -Or get some of those lightweight 8x4 black correx sheets that builders use, providing there's no breeze...

Yes, the GTA40/M18 are much the same weight, but physically smaller/less clunky on the harness and in the hand ? They excell in lighter pruning work, particularly the ergonomic GTA26 and DUC150, (though with a lower torque/speed). Also they are cheaper, and there's a whole load of other tools that can use the same batteries, obviously.. You're welcome to try mine out, but I'm in Ches/Manchester .

I'm reasonably sure it's down to the characteristics of the motor Milwaukee have chosen: a low-ish RPM unit, but with a fair high torque.. So therefore they selected a chain with more cutters, to get the 'work rate' back up, if that makes sense? That's my guess, anyway. It's a very different experience from using a 201/2511, but much like 5thelement experience, I'm a convert, where pruning jobs are concerned. I will get round to testing a 'normal' chain on the M18 and report back, but it'll be a few weeks yet..

No, it was Wednesday 12th March. I don't know how others on here have managed to view a video of the accident... but it would be good to grasp and share any potential learnings, from Mick and Steve's more informed comments.. Can one of you share a link here, perhaps ?

So, assuming no further leaning/gound movement can be detected by earlier suggestions made here, then how about proposing a light thin and 1-3m reduction, only to the upper growth tips? This might be repeated say, every 3-4 years, to maintain a reduced wind sale resistance. It obviously retains the screening that your client seems to value, and provides a likely source of a repeat contract. I've assumed from the photos, that there's easy access for a 20m tracked cherry picker -maybe just a long day's work? -Where do I send my bill, for consultation, please ?

Just a heads up about a very poorly Welsh Climber, who recently survived a 30' fall from a tree, who was then apparently immediately crushed, whilst lying on the ground by the same tree.. 😮 I don't know the poor guy, or anything beyond the meagre details that appear in the press, but something clearly went very wrong, with what appears to be a mature hung-up roadside Beech tree. I'll try and find out more and post here. He'll be out of action for a few months or maybe longer; there is a just-giving page set up for him . I've tried various means to post a link up here, without success so far -both my braincells must be very tired.. in the meantime just Google: 'Jack Jones tree climbing accident '

Yes, with the full house/standard factory supplied chain, which otherwise works very well. I've seen the Milwaukee M18 fitted up with a 12'' bar too, which didn't seem to phase it. Although it's more like 2511/201 saw territory, I'm tempted to give this a try myself soon, on a standard chain (for those clandestine/guerilla pruning jobs, only..) I'll also find out and post when the bigger 40v Makita pruning saw is expected to be released this year, in the UK.

I'd reiterate the following points, to Hkarb, especially: Whilst the 'battery pruning saws' typically only have 5-10m/s chain speed, given the inevitable occaisional (and anticipated inexperienced) one-handed use, they pose a different, but rather more serious hazard to users, than the top-handled 2stroke equivalent chainsaws, IMO. Cut resistant gloves* and ballistic cuffs and x2 should be a mandatory minimum, and supplied with each unit, IMO. After a year's occasional pruning use of the Makita saw, I'm glad I didn't remove it's top guard -it doesn't actually get in the way, at all, and adds safety. The Milwaukee M18 Fuel saw is a wildly more capable unit (than even the GTA40) , but has too much torque and 'grabiness' to safely cut on the TOP-side of the bar, even with two hands firmly braced on it! And as such, the top hand guard is very useful feature . Never bothered trying the Dewalt unit, but I'd be very interested to hear how 5thelement has found his GTA40, after a few months use ? *After a fair bit of research, I have concluded that the following gloves have very high 'cut' (and wear) resistance, and unbeatable value for money: Portwest A645 Green cut nitrile foam glove. Not too difficult to obtain, but very strangely not used in our industry... Really sorry, I just don't know how to post a link to them..

Marcus, We've got an old FS200 with an identical issue. It still runs like a new machine, till you stall it, and then needs me to go and drink a cup of tea, before it will restart.. Not having Spud's expertise, we just put it down to poor compression, and enjoy regular tea breaks, if we have to use it !

Yes, rather worryingly, they DO seem to be just held in place, by friction alone!?! I find it difficult to believe, too. And it obviously must work, reasonably well, for a least 5 maybe 10 years, before they suddenly and completely fail... 😟

So that's just what I was inclined to think, too. So I started to look around at alternative trailers.. However, manufacturers of the useful small 500/750kg trailers all seem to use these torsion-bar suspension units... Perhaps they prefer to fit them, having a useful built-in obsolescence ?? -but with a real safety issue, for the end user ! 😟

Exactly this ! Hardly an expensive manufacturing consideration, for the road safety benefit. If this regularly happened to a make of car or truck -we'd all know about it and the manufacturers would soon sort it out ! I guess maybe I'm just too used to wearing seat belts and that 'safety' mindset.. 🤔

Try a pair of Oregon Chainsaw chaps, with the rucksack type clip fasteners, on the back of your legs. Great ventilation obviously, CE marked, and can be worn over shorts or trousers . Only cost £60-00 ish, online or from any Machine Mart shop. Winner!

Thanks all of you, for some thoughtful responses I will consider. I confess I was surprised how bad the corrosion was, on the failed nearside stub housing. There was also a very thin mud-crust, nicely concealing the same. A prior hammering and inspection would probably have picked it up... But on the previous stub axle failures, the steel shaft had catastrophically wriggled out of the rubbers and box hosing.. um, as er, some male drivers are possibly familiar with?? 🥴 Sorry, thinking of a friend.. On a serious note tho, the design does seem to lack a safety consideration, to avoid such wholesale failure .

Is it just me, or have others struggled with this? I have a little old Ifor Williams P6e trailer (6'x4' size, 2 wheels only, unbraked, 500kg payload), which seems to snap a rubber-torsion stub axle, every 5 years or so -3 times now ! This is the smallest of my 5 trailers, used monthly, and I therefore never overload it, honestly! It's previously happened on the M6, and once again last Friday, going round a local cross roads with a small chipper tied down, and an oncoming car was good enough to catch my errant trailer wheel..... 🥴 I was sufficiently 'disappointed' that I had Indespension units fitted after the last failure, but they seem just as bad/rubbish (and confirmed by the trailer fitter, IIRC!). This morning Ifor's customer service boss says she's never heard of this, in her 20 years tenure -but Indespension suggested a 5-10 years lifespan today. So, with thousands of such trailers in occasional use on UK roads, by my reckoning, that must add up to quite a lot of catastrophic trailer failures ? It seems both daft -and frankly dangerous- that there is no safety restraint, to prevent the seemingly inevitable release of the internal stub/shaft, causing catastrophic failures? Is it just me?? I'll try and get a photo attached, tomorrow.

Is it just me, or have others struggled with this? I have a little old Ifor Williams P6e trailer (6'x4' size, 2 wheels only, unbraked, 500kg payload), which seems to snap a rubber-torsion stub axle, every 5 years or so -3 times now ! This is the smallest of my 5 trailers, used monthly, and I therefore never overload it, honestly! It's previously happened on the M6, and once again last Friday, going round a local cross roads with a small chipper tied down, and an oncoming car was good enough to catch my errant trailer wheel..... 🥴 I was sufficiently 'disappointed' that I had Indespension units fitted after the last failure, but they seem just as bad/rubbish (and confirmed by the trailer fitter, IIRC!). This morning Ifor's customer service boss says she's never heard of this, in her 20 years tenure -but Indespension suggested a 5-10 years lifespan today. So, with thousands of such trailers in occasional use on UK roads, by my reckoning, that must add up to quite a lot of catastrophic trailer failures ? It seems both daft -and frankly dangerous- that there is no safety restraint, to prevent the seemingly inevitable release of the internal stub/shaft, causing catastrophic failures? Is it just me?? I'll try and get a photo attached, tomorrow.

This surely has to be a prime contender for Arbtalk's most rewarding read (and wildly free-reigning thread, ever)? Um, and on the slightest of (topical) derails: When working on an autumn roadside tree removal job, two decades ago, I knocked up a hand painted 'Cheap logs -today only' sign, and placed it on the verge. It duly produced a steady trickle of Goblins, in cars, happy to PAY BEER MONEY (!) for the timber or logs, that we didn't really want to clear away.. Some even became log customers, for a while! An absolute winner ! Has anyone else successfully tried a similar idea?

Whilst the 18v makita mini pruning saw is lovely and compact for tree pruning -it's also slow and gutless, compared with a Sthil GTA40 or the superior Milwaukee M18 fuel . Tho I gather Makita do have a 40v version, but it's currently only for sale in Japan, for now... I do also have both versions of the 2511 saw -and now very rarely use either of them (for pruning works), since buying the M18 Fuel and Makita.

How about something like this, from the Forest Master stand at the last APF show ? Seemed like they were made from a more durable nylon-type weave, but perhaps check with the agents ? At £2/100 No. bags, up to £5- per net bag, not as cheap a solution as the old carrot bags.. Also, have you experimented to see if there's some easy and simple way to bag/collect just the 'woody' part of the output, leaving most of the twigs for er, 'habitat piles ' ?

Hmm... Our local veg market has loads of recycled black plastic 18''-24'' size crates which would be good for drying and stacking up (fairly convenient but lightweight, tho ). They get chucked in the bin wagon, unless I need some.. In the wholesale plant nursery, they used a much more robust version to shift potted stock in -must be able to order a stack cheaply, off the Internet, surely? What about fixing some 1'' square 3' high netting around the edges of a pallet?? We've also had very 'mixed' experiences with the lifespan of net sacks -I think speaking with other bag suppliers, and users on here, will yield some insights ? Do you plan to burn the wood chunks in your burning stove -I'm very interested to hear how it goes ? I try not to think how much branch wood gets wasted/thrown in our chippers, just for 'convenience' each year..

I wouldn't use checkatrade for anything, even if you paid me to, based on what I've heard about them over the last year or so -and as for paying them to advertise my work... er, no thanks!

I wish that was my NFU experience! After a decade or so of no claims (ever!), they suddenly bumped up our business insurance by 70%, so I moved to another insurer.. A couple of years later, almost the same with my household insurance, so I moved that too.. Then three years ago, declined to insure the remaining tractors, and Mog -all with no claims, again ! Couldn't get any sense out of their head office or anything... 🤬

I think it's been a 'thing' in the UK for 2 decades now, honestly ? I distinctly remember my groundsman promptly rugby-tackling a middle aged canal runner, in Sale, a split second before a felled Sycamore tree hit the towpath. Maybe he thought the warning signs and tape was his finishing line ?!? -it nearly was his finish, tho! Several similar experiences, with car drivers ignoring road operators/signs, as plenty others on here will doubtless testify! In fairness, I'd also have to confess to a couple of er, 'blank/blonde moments ' on my own sites, whilst walking round, talking on the phone... 🥴