Thesnarlingbadger

Not really something you can learn from books more time on the tools and watching others. I would just say when our starting out doing reductions I would have a decent groundsman spot you in and work positioning is what will save your back in the long run. Other than the technical guide to climbing and aerial rescue there isn’t much out there but I could be wrong.

Good advise so far, I would also look out for any bits of bone and any blood in the chipping chamber.

Thanks for all the reply’s on this one. To be honest I’ll put in the quote for the feedback. A lot of work for something I doubt I’ll get but always good to see where your going wrong. I have plenty of other work on/coming in but as always looking to get more and larger contracts. Then I can start to look at other kit that gives me a boner. I’ve always said I’ll get a tractor and timber trailer and call it quits but to be honest I’m looking at some lovely diggers and other bits of kit so I don’t know where it will end. I am happy doing what I do 50/50 commercial and domestic and would be more than happy to keep it that way but want to expand a little as I have enough headache and stress at the moment apparently. Some tenders I look at and go for are close o the expected mark and I would say I get 20/30% of the ones I go for but this one has thrown me as I’m thinking they have missed a 0 off the expected price.

Hi guys, Looking for a bit of ice here on the price the tender is set at and the actual price it comes in at. I’ve been looking at a small tender, a few sites and all ADB road side stuff. I won’t go in to the exact details but we are a small firm with a couple of teams out most days 2 chippers 2 transits and a pickup and trailer so no major kit (although that’s the dream/aim). I have looked at a few of the sites on this tender and am already thinking the price I am going to slap on at the end is going to be almost double what they are expecting. I’m just looking for a little bit of advise as to how close to expected price you are meant to be? I spoke to another chap who has a larger business today while I was out looking at a site who said he had been running 30 years and has looked at half the sites and was going to come in at twice if not 3 times the amount they are expecting and he had 40 off guys working for him and all the kit to deal with the work (Tractors, MEWPS, 360 diggers etc). He seemed like a really genuine bloke and said to put in a price and see what comes back. I have no idea how myself or a larger firm could possible come in at the price the client is expecting? Am I missing something because I’m looking at throwing 6 guys at this for the best part of 5 months work, with MEWP hire and tractor grab and timber trailer borrow but am still expecting he price to be at least double. I just want to know if larger Irma can come in much cheaper than me or have I missed something? There are around 1000 trees in total and are mainly road side with roads that can’t be closed, power line shut downs and a fair amount requiring MEWPS. Not out of my depth with the work involved but thinking there is no way it can be done at the expecting cost Thanks for you help as always

Not a road verge but a patch of land we dealt with years ago. The land was a triangular shaped bit of land in the back corner of this chaps garden who lives a couple of roads away from me. The area was completely overgrown with bramble, a few Young ash and some other crap. Also a few bits of junk like and old bike and the of can of piss and shoes etc. Anyway the guy spoke to the council and asked them to clear it because it was attracting more and more rubbish and the council told him it was his land and even sent through a photo showing where they boundary ended and his began. He got us in to clear the green and grind all the stumps out. Then he got a small skip in to clear away the rest of it away, dug it all over and put turf down. The area was about 5m by 8m by 8m so not a bad space and he did a really good job of it including extended his fence out around the new patch of his garden. Anyway I noticed a load of Harris fencing piled up in there and next time I saw him as I walked past I asked what he was doing with it all. He said some council lot pilled them in there and he told them to stop as there were doing it but they had been told to put it there by the council for some works they were doing up the road. Anyway he was straight on the phone to the council who said they had made a mistake and emailed a different photo through with a different line drawn on it. I told him to take it to court which he did but I never found out the outcome of the case but he said he was going to sue the ass of them for s*****g all over his dreams. I couldn’t believe the audacity of the people involved with this at the council but it goes to show they don’t want something until it be if it’s them.

I’ll stick to the crack then

I would say if you are only doing small jobs then a predator 360 would be enough. But if you are doing it regularly then a 28x might be a better choice. We are a small/medium sized firm and cope with most things with a 360 but that’s because grinding is a small part of our business. Horses for courses really and it will depend on how many narrow gates you have to get through

I use puncture repair kits all the time. We have a scrap metal yard next door to us and have a nail in the tyre once a week. They hold up and I’ve never had an issue with them. This is the kit we have MAIKEHIGH Heavy Duty Tyre Puncture Repair Kit - 67 Pc Set For Auto, Motorcycle, ATV, Jeep, Truck, Tractor : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive WWW.AMAZON.CO.UK Buy MAIKEHIGH Heavy Duty Tyre Puncture Repair Kit - 67 Pc Set For Auto, Motorcycle, ATV, Jeep, Truck, Tractor at Amazon UK. Free delivery on eligible orders. and it will hold a puncture in a tractor tyre so will handle a van, pickup or 7.5 tonne truck no issue

I don’t generally stretch before climbing but have done it in the past on some bigger trees that I knew I would be up for a while. Personally I have never found any benefit to this and if I’m going to cramp up I’m going to cramp up. I get it in my hamstrings, hands, fore arms and feet regularly but generally this happens after a days work when I sit down. Stretching has had no real difference but coconut water helps. If it’s a hot day I will drink a bottom of it plus about 5 or so litres of water. And if it a really hot day maybe twice this and that seems to do the job.

Ropes will still get cut, branches will snap, people will be doing things for the 'Gram and the TikTok... For the gram? TikTok? Am I missing something here?

Ooo sorry I haven’t checked in for a while. Looks like a lit a fire and just walked away. Sorry Paul I thought you might get roped in to this one at some point. My argument is that I have been climbing around 14 years and never had a climbing accident, touch wood. The people who have had climbing accidents that I know of have always done it because they were either complacent or cutting with a saw a few inches from their arm. I have seen and herd of more accidents in the top of a conifer hedge where people are topping and making quick cuts and let’s face it what the hell are 2 lines in that situation ever going to change other than make the whole job more stressful (most people working in that situation are doing it with a strop and nothing else). The two rope thing came about because there were more accidents but did HSE look into what accidents happened or was it just a case of “oh crap this industry has countless accidents let’s make it more of a nightmare to even work”? I completely get what you are saying that in the future more people will be climbing on two ropes but that is not safer at all and what we will see is more stupid accidents because climbers are getting tangled in 2 ropes or they will cut one of their anchors out of a tree because they are not thinking straight. More ropes more complications as fair as I can see. I’m not having a go and I started this thread because I genuinely can’t see a be if it to this situation and most climbers I come across feel the same why.

Been dead quite for us the last few weeks. I’ve had work booked in and it’s starting to run quite. Just done 2 days actual work this week and spending the rest of the time sorting out paper work and getting on top of some welding and other bits I needed to do around the yard. I’m not to bothered because we always go a little bit quite once nesting season comes in and the phone has stated to ring a bit more this week. I have work booked in for next week and the following week now but I feel more comfortable when we have 6 weeks booked up which is fairly standard for us the rest of the year. Plus we have a couple of tenders in at the moment and a couple of site clearance jobs booked in for July. So things always turn around. I actually enjoy it when it goes a little bit quite means I can get down the pub on a weed day when it’s not packed (every cloud). Just try and enjoy the quite time and sprang the time sorting stuff you can’t usually get on with because before you know it you’ll be back to 7 day weeks and pulling your hair out because there’s not enough hours in the day.

I always put in the RA that two lines would make the job more awkward and there for dangerous. But on some of the sites we work I will use two lines to make sure we are sticking to the book. Generally though nobody has a clue and HSE might turn up and see we aren’t swinging chainsaws around and trashing things and be happy.

Yeah sorry I understand the AA didn’t come up with this whole thing but I’m aware they will be the ones watching this thread and not HSE. I do think it’s a shame that more coins t be done when this all kicked off by them as I have spoken to instructors who also think the whole thing is a joke and others within the authority side of the industry who feel the same way. If you want to make it safe better training is key. IMO

That’s also a good point if I was subbing and the boss asked me to use two lines I wouldn’t grumble because it’s their ship at the end of the day. Im just saying I’ve had maybe 10 or so different climbers come in and do some work for me since the start of these new regs and most of them are still working for me and out of them only one was using double ropes so I was just wanting to see if it was different in other parts of the country.

Thanks for the input on this. I think the way I see this is if 95% of people aren’t bothering with this then why the hell aren’t the AA reviewing this again and saying actually no one is going to be using 2 ropes unless it makes there lives easier on the job so let’s review the situation again and come up with a better way of doing this. Mick I know exactly what your saying but I just think that it’s so over kill on most trees that common sense tells you how ridiculous it is. I would say I’m more carful I. A tree now than I was before and that’s because I don’t want to have an accident and the AA turn round and say look if you had to ropes in this wouldn’t have happened.

Good to know guys. I think from what I have heard most of the country are sticking to the old rules.

The only time I want to see that many ropes is when the misses is getting kinky

Thanks Steve that’s good to know. I thought maybe the rest of the country were sticking to the rules and it was just the south west that stuck there middle finger up to it all.

So it’s been on my mind for a while now but I just wanted to see how many people are actually climbing on 2 ropes? I’m going to get a load of crap from the AA for this I’m sure but I’ve been climbing for 15 years or so now. Learnt on 1 rope and have tried 2 ropes but other than the odd occasion can not seem to get my head around it. I have tun my own business for the past 6 years and have Subbies working for me. Every climber that comes through climbs on a one rope system bar one chap who came to do a few days with us. He was a nice guy and a fairly decent climber but he spent so long organising his kit that a half day job ended up taking a whole day and we had to go back to sort the stem the next day. Not having a go at him and if that’s the way he wants to do things that’s fine but I would have had the tree down in half the time and been out of there by 2. What I want to find out is how many of you are climbing on two ropes now and is anyone finding a quicker way to do things on this set up? I stick to every other health and safety aspect of the industry but I’m finding I’m to long in the tooth for this one. I’d like to hear form some of the older crew on this one as I find it hard to believe there are many 50 year old climbers out there throwing two ropes up the tree. Obviously this is a bit of a awkward subject given the fact that H&S is involved and if you would rather send a message to my inbox I understand. It’s been driving me mad the fact that every single person I know (bar one) agrees with me that the 2 rope system is ridiculous 2 years on. Let me know your thoughts and que the abuse I’m going to get from this. Thanks

Just heard this off a mate but it’s probably old hat as I’m not so up on current jokes unfortunately…… Micky and Minnie Mouse are in the divorce court and Minnie’s lawyer says to Micky “so you say you want to divorce Minnie because she is a bit silly, I don’t really see how that is grounds for divorce”. Micky at the stand Micky says “no I said she was F*****g Goofy”.

I had one for a week and it bent slightly meaning I couldn’t put all the extensions back together. They seem solid but the ally they are made from is weak and i have only ever use Jameson’s since, which are fine but do end up taking a beating and over time you will need to replace poles. I probably buy 4 or 5 poles a year but it’s the guys using them more than me and you expect to have some collateral running a business. But a replacement pole costs £50-80 where as a whole silky set costs a fortune.

It’s the same as keys that fit any lock type things, unless your a locksmith the only reason you are buying them is to do someone else over. Drives me nuts.

That’s fair enough and yes your right if someone did pinch a truck they might not even think to look for a tracker. As you say can’t do any harm having them in.

I think the light fingered follows have things that find trackers. A chap who has a scrap yard down from me had all his skip lorry’s fitted with trackers and well hidden and about 2 years or so back had all the lorry’s nicked and all the trackers we left in a pile in the yard smashed up. He got them all back a week later because the dippy idiots didn’t change one of the rear licence plates and got palled by coopers in the midlands somewhere. But he seemed to think they had some sort of scanner because they were hidden at the back of the engine and they were only about the size of a large match box.