maybelateron

Morning all, Taking it easy today, got a dose of covid negative low grade man flu. Power line isolation job booked for tomorrow, so want to not overdo things today.

I'll share this with you all: I was a full time NHS GP until April 2001. In December 2000 I had a meltdown due to ridiculous work pressure. Decided my head was worth looking after. Very lucky in that my wife was also a (part time) GP, so we could afford to take a financial hit. Trained and set up as part time tree surgeon/part time GP for 12 years, then at age 53 decided it was time to give up the desk job and go full time on the trees. To my last day at work I still loved dealing with patients, even the few awkward ones, but I felt I should retire before I irritated my partners too much. They didn't have the luxury of a new career, and being able to acknowledge fully that half the stuff we were having to do was bollocks, and detracting from proper patient care. Out of interest, gand, when you say mental health is a big thing in this industry, I assume you mean people take up this type of work to help with mental health, rather than this industry causes the problem? Cheers all.

But it sure does deliver some feeding power. I am still impressed 8 years since I bought it by the feeding ability of the rollers on my Jensen A540. That said, I still think my Forst TR6 crushes and pulls in well.

Morning all, Lovely blue sky here. No site work today, but plenty still booked in. Pottering about at home with dog and wife, maybe a bit of garden work. Have a good day all.

Morning all, An other dry day or tow looming😀. First job today is taking down two dead holly stems. Quick divert/rant coming, see photo. These are in a conservation area. Customer notified council, with photos. Was tolded needed a tree surgeon report. I did one. Council did a site visit. Gave permission to fell, but put a TPO on the small live shoot at the bottom. Most of the green at the base is euonymous, not holly. I better not sneeze on the job or the green twig might snap.

Morning all. Forecast says orange thing will be seen in sky today. Two or three of our annual trimmings for today. Need to replace the old combi ladder, just found our local ladder specialist does on line only. What about looking at it first?! Rant over😆

Cheers. Very belated morning all. Nice and sunny and warm here in Nice, been visiting our eldest who lives here. Home tomorrow, work on Wednesday.

Just like Rice Krispies perhaps - snap crackle and pop. Hopefully you were able to know most of it off in large pieces. I wouldn't have fancied going far out on a limb on that. Or did you have a MEWP, but I suspect the ladder says not.

Like a broken hip or similar when it's icy. Since I slipped on wet leaves 3 weeks ago and had a bleed into my knee joint I am walking so carefully on slopes and where there are leaves on the ground. Much safer up in the tree away from all that.

Morning all, wet again, maintenance in sheds and office work. Yep, the customers will just have to accept us running behind schedule. I use to get bothered by running behind, but I would be more upset getting soaked every day.

Morning all, More rain again🥱

Morning all, Meant to be dry here today. Laurel hedge reduction and trimming hollies and conifers next couple of days for an annual regular. Have a good day.

I have a pair of Distel Gecko carbon spikes with velcro pads that I bought to replace my old Buckingham irons with leather straps. Phenomenally comfortable and quick on/off, but I found that compared to Buckinghams I had to make a real effort to dig in with them - Buckinghams were excellent for not gaffing out. These Gecko spikes are now the spare pair as I have swapped to Panther. Much cheaper, just as quick on/off, and just as comfortable.

I would just sell it for spares/repairs and get a new 661. That's what I did when my previous one died. And run it on Aspen from the start.

Very fair comment. Poplars are a bit like sheep: Sheep that want to break free, sheep that want to get sick, and sheep that want to die. Achieved the customer's desired end goal, then maybe further work removing in due course. Unless of course you have retired by then. I am now saying to my annual regulars; See you in a year's time, unless I have died or retired. If I die I won't bother letting you know, but if I retire I will give you ample notice and another firm's details.

When I had a Jo Beau M300 I made a wooden blunger that’ll could push almost up to the blades but was too wide to get through the feed aperture. Worked well, make from offcuts.

Morning all, Light rain off and on here today. Trying to plan jobs for next week, need a meteorological crystal ball I think. Going to book a two day taming of overgrown laurels and conifers, all work on the ground. Except of course for putting waders or wellies on to work in the brook where they overhang the water.

Client should have heeded your advice, and not penny pinched.

Morning all, Supposed to be dry here this am, so doing a local annual "Lollipop" trim on a front garden Rowan. Then if pissing down this afternoon will shuttle logs from barn up to house for boiler.

If it isn't Mulligatawny can you put some extra pepper or chilli in it please. Sitting around indoors doesn't keep me as warm as being out working in the rain😂

Morning all, Rain all day here, dentist this afternoon for likely extraction. Lazy day for me.

I have had a pair of chaps in the van for years, for the rare time I have gone to a non sawing job, and found I need to use a saw. They are nothing like as comfortable as proper chainsaw trousers. I have always used type C as I climb, but have recently bought a pair of Stihl type A. They are so comfortable and light I use them all the time when not climbing.

I assume it is diesel if you say it is Kubota. I have a Jensen A540 turntable model with Kubota power unit. I find that the inline fuel filter is prone to clogging up quite easily, despite me only using clean fuel and keeping the tank topped up. It gives symptoms of power loss on heavier load, some smoke (don't really see why). Changing the inline filter at the first sign of these symptoms cures it. Also wonder if you could have a rubber fuel hose somewhere that is beginning to collapse internally?

Morning all, Was cats and dogs earlier, hopefully got 4 hours of dry now. Planning to dismantle some spindly white birch next to a greenhouse. Mustn't forget to take the protective boards.

Morning all, Misty here, but shouldn't be too bad. Another MEWP day on hedging ahead.