Dan Maynard

It's really hard to predict, for sure. Technology goes in arcs and leaps, we're currently seeing the arc of development of these AI models but I've read a couple of articles about how just doing more of the same is already running out of steam - they've hoovered the pure human internet already and now there's so much AI generated content they risk making a snake eating it's own tail. The big bet is always what the next enabling technology will be, will it catch on or be another dot-com bubble?

It's asked another question, no question mark again, and no awareness that were having a conversation about it being artificial.

Tree surgery? All that cutting and chipping? Hardest game in the world that. Done it meself you see, 30 years man and boy.

Something is fishy about the picture though, fungus stem doesn't appear from the edge of the cut like that. Doesn't exist anywhere else maybe because AI generated for the post.

I don't know a huge amount about all this AI stuff though, except that the big cost is providing training. I guess that asking questions and getting answers gives them more conversations to feed the beast, essentially for free - rather than paying people in India. So I guess the title comes from a ChatGPT type "generate a question for arborists" type prompt and it doesn't really understand grammar as such.

Philosophical question - can robots worry?

I am still scratching my head a bit about climbing on a steelie. Can't see that it's not strong enough, just that I've always used ally for climbing, steel for rigging, and never use rigging gear for climbing.

We used to use more hooks though, rope back and forth, and then sometimes pull the legs sideways. That gives more mechanical advantage than a truckers hitch. Rope being a bit more stretchy is better for security too, as soon as something on a strap moves a tiny bit all the tension goes. Ratchet straps are quicker and easier, agreed, and I use them nowadays.

I was called young man the other day, doesn't happen so often now I'm over 50. I do remember weekend tree working as a teenager, everything was shifted by flatbed trailer back to the nursery bonfire so the game was stack 8-10 foot high and then rope it down to half the size.

If you've been out 3.5 years does that mean you are beyond the ELCAS scope? Shame if so, if not then seek out a trainer who understands the system, there are a few around. The one near me does, but it's too far for you probably. It would help you if you could do basic CS30/31 chainsaw yourself, which is one week. It makes you much more useful on site and more likely someone to take you on, I think. This is the basic ticket, you then need time being shown how to work efficiently in a job, which is the real training. Otherwise, there's the route of larger companies - utility sector seems to be constantly short of staff and they have training budgets. I wouldn't want to stay there myself, but at least you get a wage and get some experience while you work out what you do want to do. On the other hand tramping across fields in the rain might really suit you and remind you of good times in the army. It takes all sorts.

I think that's the thing, no one setup is ideal for every job. I have a 12 foot trailer and mini chipper, I can take chipper and either muck truck or mini loader in a bit less than half the space. Perfect for 1-2 man jobs, can do reductions or take down small-medium tree and fit everything on, or run off and tip chip before taking logs home. Take the chipper to the tree saves a lot of dragging if there's any distance involved. Bigger trees with 3 or 4 people, having only one muck truck starts to be the bottleneck, but at that point I'm getting mates in - they bring a tipper and chipper and we now have a 12 foot trailer as well as the tipper, which can shift 2.5 tons of wood per load legally. But - I'm mostly around the villages nearby. Landrover and trailer is a bit of a nightmare when heading in to the city. Then you want a nice Nissan with 2p turning circle. One more thing - trailer is the ideal setup if you live anywhere near a vosa weighbridge, transit has almost no legal payload.

Absolutely, for reductions. Repollarding lime, or reducing conifer hedge though - just lots and lots of cuts under 1.5". No need for power but light saw that doesn't have a pull cord.

In that case you're back to the general rule of climbing gear - if in doubt bin it. It's not worth risking yourself to save a few quid.

Have you given it a little spray though? I find that absolutely squeaky clean doesn't work well, makes the motion sticky.

I wouldn't blame either of these, rather a combination of cutting back too far in the past and branches being shaded by the tree that was removed. What is dead, is dead. Conifer like that has no buds on old wood, it won't sprout back from the bottom so they will always grow like lollipops. I'd take them out, surprised whoever took the other tree out didn't recommend it. As above laurels not a bad shout, otherwise Thuja, maybe yew. There's no magic, fast growing to cover the windows sooner means more work maintaining in future.

I don't remember exactly when it was, maybe a few years ago but there was plenty of discussion about being better off in Tesco's at the time. TD Trees were offering £24k for an experienced climber, wages are lower up there I guess. I'm just trying to suggest where the lower end of the range is - I tend to agree, someone practical with a little bit of experience and a dose of common sense would be useful and should get the £30k, Oxfordshire isn't a low wage area and also not low cost of living. 40k seems within reach after good experience and head screwed on, going over 50 probably a challenge.

I think the idea of using an impact driver as a way of managing the reaction torque is novel. To me it does have the whiff of snake oil about it, if you could suddenly increase cutting tool performance and life by a factor of two then people like Dormer and Sandvik would be all over it. After all cutting tools have been thought about a lot, by a lot of people. I suspect they are twice as good as cheap tat, and more equivalent to the decent ones that few people buy.

If you look through arbjobs some of the firms offer an estimate, eg team leader at Beechwood 30-39k. It's going to depend on area too, can't find it now but I think there was a an from Edinburgh botanical gardens for around 20k. I'd have thought 25k is achievable in Oxfordshire though.

I agree 230 are great but wouldn't want to buy a bag of trouble if you haven't budget for a decent one. I'd seriously look at the 125 / 160, a friend has one and there not much disadvantage in real world chipping to a 150 - the feed is very similar. Much newer chipper for your money, much lighter and easier to move round.

I think the grain of truth is that this statement comes from someone doing London street trees, which is basically a race around the trees following the previous cuts on piece work. This suits young climbers, I've met people who went down to the smoke to do this and then came back. It's not what I want to be doing - I'd rather be in domestic arb working for people who appreciate me taking time and care to do a good job. There's no advantage in being 22 here, more of it's down to thinking fast, moving slow like Alex says. All about efficiency, and then thinking steps ahead will win over youth every time. Also turn up every day you say you're going to, with sharp saws and working kit. Also my point about hard graft, use a loader. Don't need to bust a gut humping heavy wood around any more.

North Korean scam operator? Bot?

Makita DUC254 (but put 1/4 pitch chain) or Echo 2500T are the lightest. Personally I have the 254, it's great for this type of stuff.

I've got turnable chute on my JoBeau, can't say I have noticed that turning it causes blockage - more down to overfeeding leafy or stringy material as it's the weight of chips which push stuff through.

There are ones that split and ones that don't, if the grains double twisted it does literally just bounce back the axe or maul.

Our friends down the road had one that died gradually, I was a bit reticent volunteering to get involved - luckily it fell over in a storm and he cut it up and burnt it.