Dan Maynard

It certainly is a thing of beauty now, the trained eye can just detect the pruning cuts.

Back to the tree last night, after bee bedtime to plug the hole. Today was able to climb the elm on the left to set a line, then transfer across above the nest using my RC grapple. Only I haven't got an RC grapple so fcked about trying to cling on while fighting to get a line through the ivy. Knocked the tree back to a pole, cleared up, then used a pole saw to cut the rope off the bung so as to be a few metres away when the angry bees came out.

If you are already running one then no change until 2029 so I don't see why you'd sell it suddenly. Whatever comes to end of lease will go on the market and I guess might be cheaper than before, but on the other hand if I was thinking about it I'd want to get it signed up before April to stay on the old rules. Might be more available after April though, at that point ones coming to end of lease become cars - but then buy that outright and claim mileage rate.

I generally do 2-3 days a week of tree work, on the other days I'm in an office job working on industrial software. I have a bit of physio about every 6 weeks, gradually my back shoulders and arms are improving but I do get elbow tendonitis quite bad if I do the wrong thing like use an axe. On the plus side it allows me time to physically recover, I think if i tried to climb full time the injuries would build up so this is allowing me to continue longer. Also, I have a ready occupation to cope with seasonal variations so no need to do fencing or grass in the summer to fill the diary. On the negative side it's hard to keep track of all the things going on in two completely different worlds, projects phone calls, meetings, customers, invoices , quotes etc etc. I would have to admit both businesses could be run better. If you can pull it off 2 businesses there is a huge upside but I would maybe suggest if the fields are closer it might be easier, eg operated mewp hire it's all tree people you talk to.

Is that right? I thought the 362 was being dropped, but then there has been no reason to buy one since the 400 came out anyway. If the 462 is dropped that would be a shame, if I won the lottery I'd buy one but I don't think I'll ever wear out my 461 so don't really need to.

That is special! How the hell do you keep on using it that long without thinking something is odd?

From what I could work out the 40v is a little bit bigger than the 18v, and it cuts more like the 36v. Overall more comparable to the Echo saw. Seriously thought about that one, also thinking of a battery hedge trimmer so whether to stick with 18v batteries I've got or move to 40v so ready for saw later.

If I was starting again, I'd probably get one of these, light and powerful. Much more expensive than the Makita setup to get started though, at the beginning i was unsure about battery saws so saved money on Makita, and now I have the batteries so carry on. OP already has mak batteries. It's all a balance of parameters, like saying what's the best petrol top handle. The 540i cuts fast, but it's huge and heavy, like a 540 or 201 petrol. Great for removals but absolutely not the best saw for reductions or a million 1-2" cuts in a conifer hedge.

I've got both the 18v single battery and 36v twin battery Makita top handles, had them four years or so and they've done a lot of work. The 18v has an 8" Panther bar on with 1/4 pitch chain, its not very powerful but its small and super light. Its niche is cutting up to say 2" so hedge work, ivy, laurel, bay, yew, those type of jobs as well as bigger tree reductions. The 36v is a chunk heavier, but it cuts easily up to 6", I generally use that for brushing out on dismantles, then switch to a petrol saw for blocking down wood. Mine is still on the 3/8lp bar it came with but chain nearly gone so I'll be switching to 1/4 pitch 10" bar. I'd recommend the Makita if you've got the batteries already. The Panther bars got a bad rep for durability, but Rob has changed supplier to Tsumura so hopefully they are better now, I will change the 8" bar to new panther as mine is worn out and they've been unavailable for a while.

It's a pole, I have a saw head on it but you can fit a pruner if you want. https://www.bahco.com/gb_en/aluminium-compact-telescopic-poles-pb_atp-110-210_.html

I thought they take a percentage of the sales as a fee? If you cancel auction and pay cash then nothing to them.

Haven't got a cs100 but on my JoBeau had to cut through the bearing. Angle grinder to thin then whack with cold chisel.

I'm a fan of using a pole when deadwooding, have used the Wolf pole but it's awkward getting the thing round the tree between stops, as so long. Now have the Bahco 1.1m to 2.1m 3-section telescopic pole, which is designed for use climbing or in a mewp apparently. This has a nice loop for a sling to clip to harness, and to me is the perfect balance between long enough to reach out to stuff and save climbing, but short enough collapsed to be easy to manage. Have used that like you say, chuck line across through a fork and then hook back the end.

Cool, thanks. I also have a 150 so rather keep everything on 56 DL.

Why do you say 55/60cc ? Just get a 550, nice and light, step up in power from your current saw. Ok on 18".