lux

Yes, suppose you are right.. I do only come down slowly too.. I would be the first to admit that i am no expert too. I know next to nothing about trees for a start off, big green things, would like to learn though so i have been buying books on the subject. At the moment, the only involvement i have with them is removing ones that are damaging a building i care for and sawing them up and sticking them on my logburner!!
 
john..

This is the pilot core tool they don’t supply , well from where I hire it anyway. For hard going ground. Driven in by the post knocker and rotated out on the t bar using a fence post to lever it around. Takes a 50mm core.
Poking the ground with a fencing bar is just for seating the post upright to start off.

They advise making a pilot hole first with a bar

Hired the Australian one with the Honda engine a few times.
On the right ground it’s fantastic. On the wrong ground it’s miserable.
Sand with an almost sandstone compacted layer about 200 to 300mm below the surface was grim.
They don’t hire the spike out to pilot hard ground sadly.
On other ground 4 inch stakes have flown in no bother.
On the whole it’s a good bit of kit.
Hard on the ears though.

Only ever used cobra but always found it easy to install in either static or dynamic applications.
To be fair it’s what they sell at the local arb shop so that’s what we use. No issues with it though.

 
You don’t think you’re contracting yourself?
 
You won’t sell logs as the margins are too tight but those that do sell them are being greedy?
 
There’s a serious disconnect going on here.

You don’t fancy going fully electric?
 
 

I have a Hilix with an auto gear box.  I live in Norway and as the rumour goes, it does snow and get cold here.
 
I tow chippers and trailers with a tracked chipper on quite a fair bit.  The only problem I’ve had was losing it on sheet ice one day, trying to get up a long incline.  Ended up about 40 metres back down the hill, jackknifed and the trailer/chipper combo down an embankment and the hilix stuck in a snow bank.
 
Going down hill, either click the gearbox into semi and keep to 1 or 2 gear.  Or even easier hit the DAC button (Downhill Assist Control) and let the engine do the work for you.
 
 

Merrist Wood in Guildford would be your best bet.

No, not too late but factor in the wage dip as a trainee again.

Do a distance learning course after getting your practical qualifications that will gear you for the second half of your career as perhaps a consultant doing surveys or tree officer for local authority.

I heard that (in the UK at least) they're are significantly tax incentives for knocking down/rebuilding compared to renovation. How true it is I don't know

A quick question. I tow regularly with the Ranger (manual) and on the hills can use engine braking to save cooking the truck brakes.
I've driven auto cars but not really had any real weight in the load. 
 
How easy is this in a auto? 
 
Asking as I'm looking to upgrade and there are a few auto versions available. Mitsubishi and Isuzu.
 
Any downsides to be wary of?  Cooking the auto fluid??
 
Cheers

Ask some private landowners. I’m sure you’ll find something local easy enough

Well I fitted the Stihl bar but without the two bar plates, I had to make a spacer for the rear stud nut from a 14mm AF nut.
 
Now i wonder if a 1980ish Husqvarna 2100 had a chain catcher fitted @adw? I don't feel comfortable using a saw without one nowadays. This saw only got through one bar when i stopped using it as it was damaged and I preferred the 084.

Tbf there is a big difference between sizing in some brands

Not tried pfanner boots yet, they look so bulky for climbing.

It’s always the soles that fall apart long before the boot itself which is annoying. 12 to 18 months of climbing and the soles disintegrate on all Arb Boots.

I love the fit and comfort of the Andrews boots but the soles aren’t very long lasting

The bearings are the weak points but I think the weakness is really the owners running them till death rather than greasing them up once in a while. They have their little foibles but once you have fixed a couple, they are pretty simple and save a lot of time and trouble doing smaller tree work. Not sure anyone round here likes fixing them though.
 

Is the 131 better than the current 135? [emoji848]

I loved my positioner, but I would usually get less than 6 months out of one before it was slipping horrendously and I'd have to replace the clutch. Not a deal breaker for sure but annoying. I've not spoken to anyone else that's had the same problem though.
 
I moved on to a pinto/vt setup. Don't really notice the sitback and having the option to turn it into a secondary climbing system is super useful.
 
My lanyard is 7m long with the last 4m living in a hip bag 

Took a couple of oaks out, forgot the lowering device.
Needs must when the devil drives.

It’s the best pole saw on the market.
Brilliant for big hedge trimming jobs too.
Got 3 on the go atm. Would bother with anything else [emoji106]

N and j Aluminium

Day rate can be handy when you get an unusual job to price or clients that want you doing various tasks over a few visits and you know they will change their minds continuously
Set out what machines are included in the price or what extra they will be. As long as it’s all set out there is little chance for ambiguity.
In terms of staff / subbies I’ve always paid day rate.
No one has given me an hourly rate except on large machinery
Finishing times are swings and roundabouts, sometimes a day is done at 3 sometimes it’s 5. Generally it balances out but if it’s a lot of late Finishes a bit of extra cash smoothed things

Ive made a few hazel faggots for firewood/kindling with a woodmans grips( just playing around.)
 

 
Faggot engine:
 

 
 

Bodgers’ Ball I: Pimps, faggots & benders | Wympole & Wratsworth

SADEIK.WORDPRESS.COM

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Last weekend was when the Bodgers' Ball happened so here is part one of what occurred... Ok, so the title grabbed your...  
Some interest defintions here seems the terms are kind of interchangeable....
 
 

A faggot, in the meaning of "bundle", is an archaic English unit applied to bundles of certain items. Alternate spellings in Early Modern English include fagate, faget, fagett, faggott, fagot, fagatt, fagott, ffagott, and faggat.
 
Sometimes called a short faggot, a faggot of sticks equals a bundle of wood sticks or billets that is 3 feet (90 cm) in length and 2 feet (60 cm) in circumference.^[1] The measurement was standardised in ordinances by 1474.^[1] A small short faggot was also called a nicket.^[2] A brush-faggot (sometimes shortened to brush) was a bundle of similar size made of brushwood.^[3]
A long faggot of sticks equals a bundle larger than 3 feet (90 cm) long. In a book on slang used at Winchester College fire-dogs were fire basket (andirons) that could hold long faggots, and half-faggots were smaller andirons that could only hold short faggots and were later converted for use with coal.^[4]
A long faggot was also called a kidd faggot,^[5] kid, kide, or kidde being Middle English for firewood in bundles.^[6]
A fascine (or bavin^[3]) is a type of long faggot which is approximately 13 to 20 feet (4 to 6 m) long and 8 to 9 inches (20 to 23 cm) in diameter and used to maintain earthworks such as trenches.^[7][8][9]
A faggot was also a unit of weight used to measure iron or steel rods or bars totaling 120 pounds (54 kg).^[1]

Faggot (unit) - Wikipedia

Faggot is also a ball of food with meat.
 
Faggots, pimps and bavins were all coppice products.

Anyone got a contact for a supplier of stakes and rods for riverbank stabilisation?

I agree with @joenewton

The crux of this one seems to be an experience / confidence issue.

I can think of plenty of trees you really have to push yourself mentally on to get past it and improve.

Worst thing about small leaning trees like that if there is usually they are more tiring / uncomfortable getting into good working positions.
Spend time setting up though. Try not to make cuts from awkward or strained positions

Any pictures of the tree. ?