maybelateron

I am 5ft 5 or 6 (shrinking with age!). I have had the Distel Geckos for 3-4 years. Ultra comfortable, no foot or leg pain with a prolonged climb. I find they gaff out more easily than my old steel Buckingham ones, so on some trees i have to make a conscious effort to drive they in hard.

1) Blades should always be kept sharp - even if it does not seem to make a difference to the speed of chipping it is important because it reduces stress on everything else. Imagine trying to fell a tree with a blunt axe - your joints take more of a hammering. 2) Check the manual. PTO speed is likely top be 540 or 1,000 I would expect. 3) Most chippers I have used will get small whippy shoots around the top roller just reverse it every so often to get them off. 4) Consult the manual. All the chippers I have owned need the gap between the blade and anvil to be pretty tight; I can't imagine there would be any reason for any chipper to need a big gap.

Especially with a big saw discing a trunk or cutting a stump.

Nah, should be a 2 stroke Wartburg from the 70's, nice emissions.

As a local to Stoke on Trent I can agree 101% with Eggs on this. I can also say that for someone who has always voted Tory , except Lib Dem last time, I now despise the Tories more than I had thought I could. That said, like in every party, there will be some decent backbenchers trying to genuinely do their best for people, but not getting any recognition.

Yes, quite right. Honda V twin, driving a multi tip wheel, on the arm of a Bobcat E10z.

The Rock grinder wheel is somewhere between 12-14 inches diameter, I would say by looking at it this morning. Didn't have a tape measure to hand. Regarding what size of stump it will cope with, I would agree with the sentiments expressed in other replies today. That said, the Rock grinder will certainly cope with 18 inch, even 24 inch diameter stumps provided that (1) You have time, strength and patience (2) The teeth are sharp (3 ) The ground is firm and pretty smooth and flat (4) You don;'t have to go deeper than 6 inches

I have the later version of the Rock 13hp grinder, with Greenteeth fitted. The grinder we built to fit onto my mini digger has Multi-tip teeth. I don't find a great difference between them, but on balance I prefer the Greenteeth. It is so quick to just rotate them 120 degrees with just one spanner - ideal if they need "changing" when on site.

It's in a gully between two fields, and the path in the gully is too steep and slippery for a tracked MEWP. The direction it needs to fall/be pulled in would involve getting the rope/cable up through some other trees. This might be an option, I agree. I am inclined towards staring the back cut with a telescopic chainsaw, and then if it has not fallen early on changing to the 20ft Silky pole saw; this is after having put ratchet straps round the trunk above the cavity.

Not such a bad idea. Oh yes, and close the footpath first.

If/when we are back there I will certainly take more pics, also will feedback if we are asked to get it down.

Very impressive stuff from DRL; makes my entry seem piffling by comparison. I was looking at some trees for a regular customer today. This Beech is right next to a footpath, that is used by the local do walkers. It is probably about 80ft tall, could be 90 at a pinch. Pretty sure he will want us to get it down. Not accessible to MEWP at all, nor crane. I would not climb it as I would be way to worried that taking weight of one are of the crown could precipitate sudden failure of the trunk - it has quite a lean on it. Only way I can see of getting this down is to put heavy duty ratchet straps around the trunk to reduce risk of barber's chair, then do a back cut (not enough meat for a hinge, and not prepared to risk staying there long enough to make one). I might consider using a telescopic saw to nibble at the rear section that is under tension, don't laugh - even the 20ft Silky pole! It will take out some lesser trees as it comes down, into/across a brook. Then time to use the tractor winch to start extracting it carefully. Suggestions on a postcard please.

Looking at a regular customer's trees today I found tis growing out of the base of a large old Ash. The tree in itself looks it reasonable shape, but of course it might look different once the leaves are out. And of course it overhangs a neighbouring yard with some nice vintage lorries under it. There is also small electric substation under one limb.

Our work is 95 percent domestic arb. This means the timber produced is more effort to process into logs than a lorry load of forestry thinnings. We only process into logs for my own domestic use, and the few longstanding customers we still have; we do this when the weather is foul and unfit for climbing etc. I only sell unseasoned logs, and I have never been interested in delivering less than 2 cu m. More recently I have picked up a few customers who each year buy timber (in sizes one person can move) to log up themselves a year or two in advance. I feel the whole 💩Woodsure💩 thing is an utter farce, as clearly do the majority of us.

I don't think you sound soft at all. Our trade is full of dangers and there is no room for "macho man bravery". Nothing wrong in being sensible. Did you feel you could discuss the situation with your employer if you felt the methods available to you did not feel safe?

I saw your full entry before you edited it. It did seem a bit harsh on the OP, just my opinion. Like many of us on here, no doubt, I have done my fair share of horrible conifer hedge reductions, and we all know they can be the job from hell, especially when there is no skyhook, and nothing to stand on, in a hedge 14ft or more in width.

I put our rates up by 20 per cent recently, having kept them the same for 5 yrs. No sign of it putting decent customers off. Still got about 3 months of work booked it at the old rates though, and have to honour those prices.

Just being looking up online about Stoke, as it's my patch too (Wetley Rocks based, Eddie). Can't see any info about when it is planned to start, but will keep an eye open. The CAZ they propose will not be charging privately owned cars, just business vehicles. Seems a pretty biased way of behaving if it truly is about reducing emissions. The emissions from my wife's 2013 diesel Nissan Qashqai contain the same nasty chemicals as those from my 2015 Iveco Daily, so why only charge one and not the other. OK, let’s extend this ... I go and buy a newer Iveco to run "cleaner" and avoid the charges, what about the carbon footprint of the manufacturing of the new one?!

Brilliant idea

Agreed entirely........as long as there is room to get the machine close enough

Until 20 years ago we had two open fireplaces. It was time to update them and my wife said we should change to stoves. I was not convinced and argued for open fireplaces again, but I went along with stoves. Changed them both over to Clearview multifuel stoves, but only burn logs. No question at all - stoves are so much better than an open fireplace, for the various reasons given in this thread.

Yep, did that a couple of weeks back. Work is crazy busy, not getting quieter, haven't put prices up for 3 years at least. Had the monthly fuel bill today, and it reminded why I put prices up.

Found it. Page 25 in the hardback copy, half way down. Only reason I have not put up a pic is I assume copyright etc says I should not. Instead I will quote verbatim: "For this reason every house in Norway exceeding a certain size is obliged by law to have an alternative source of heating, which in practice means a woodstove. The requirement comes not, as one might think, from the Building Standards Department, but from the Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning ..."

I have the book too. I remember quite clearly reading the bit about it being a legal requirement to have another source of heating in case of power failure. I can't recall if it specified what type of alternative heating. I have just picked the book off the shelf for a quick flick through, but without starting at the beginning and reading each page it might take me a while to find the relevant section.

Some are excellent, some are not. You generally get what you pay for. We have a Stihl MSA220 with a 14 inch bar. This is now our first choice saw at work for anything within its capabilities. It will happily saw through a 12 inch diameter branch or trunk, but not as fast as a more powerful petrol saw. You have to learn to let the saw go at its own pace - most electric saws don't cope as well as petrol ones at being pushed into the wood. We also have a Stihl MS160T top handle saw, same principles apply to this. As soon as a more powerful ground saw comes out from the quality manufacturers I will get one. Less noise, no fumes; what is there not to like? Having said these positive points I have no experience of the cheaper makes, so cannot comment.