Dan Maynard

Actually that's spot on, never ever turn up with a blunt saw. 50cc ground saw Sam. Either Stihl 261 or Husqvarna 550xp, the femalelumberjack reviewed them and they are both good saws, she preferred the feel of the Stihl as rear handle a bit smaller so you might find the same. Ideally hold them both to try the balance. Personally I wouldn't rush into the saw, but PPE will be good. If you don't have your own helmet and gloves you might be given some manky spare ones. I wear Showa 310 as they cost slightly more than most work gloves but last so much better - everyone will have a different idea on this one though but not leather type ones as they are so rubbish in the wet.

I'm not with you Paddy. From what I've read the IR35 rules changing in 2017 knocked a lot of people in the public sector who were wrongly defining themselves outside IR35 in order to save tax, the change in 2021 is not actually changing the definition of who is inside or outside but shifts the responsibility for defining it in the private sector. I've been through the IR35 calculator. According to that, I am working outside IR35 so deemed not an employee of the company I freelance to, so I send them an invoice and look after my own tax. I don't think it's right that freelancing doesn't exist, it is a very particular set of circumstances though. This chap being offered SE by his employer sounds dodgy af to me. It seems almost certain he'd be inside IR35 anyway so no point taxwise. And I hold insurance for the jobs where I am invoicing the customer. I don't hold it for jobs where the contract with the customer is invoiced by the arb firm. The need for employers liability insurance is quite different to the tax status, you need to hold employers liability even if volunteers are helping you for no pay and even if the other workers are self employed and have their own insurance policies.

I think I remember being told you used to have to identify a certain number of trees in the NPTC but they took it out. I have to agree it's kind of crazy not to teach this, it would do more for safety than just putting more ropes up in my opinion.

Good job, taken the initiative and paid off. I hope you will find that tree surgery is hard work but rewarding, for me it's been worth taking the plunge. I think those of us entering the industry at 40+ are never going to do certain types of work like pollarding London street trees, but there is plenty of other tree and garden work where we can do just fine. Just have to use our heads and play to our strengths. I was going to say that Rich Rule and eggs have told you all you need to know but I thought of a couple more - have a dump before work, and learn how to tie a slip knot for sending things up the tree. (Patrick at educatedclimber has a great page of knot videos)

Definitely going to spill the tea at that angle.

Reminds me of Johnny English. (although that was 24 hours)

Very happy to be corrected and have someone who knows the rules put a proper opinion. I was mainly saying there is all kinds of advice out there, even the guys who sold me my trailer weren't very sure so be careful which advice you read.

Fair enough, sounds like using the other stud holes is a good solution. I've repaired slightly similar things by tapping out say M10 and then making a small stainless insert out of M10 bolt, tapped to M8. Loctite high strength retainer holds that in.

I believe the cast iron will typically be thicker than steel plate required to be, mainly just to make it easier to cast and stable.

I think you will get some contradictory advice about this, I looked at it but in the end avoided it by getting a 3.5ton tow vehicle. It can be a problem that the trailer is plated above the vehicle max towing weight, even when it's empty so the actual weight is below the vehicle capacity. I've read this applies only to commercial use, or only when on a tacho, or not really ever going to be enforced. Have to advise caution, or get the 2.7tonne trailer is safe, or get a newer pickup as I think most have been uprated now to 3.5. I went for Defender, all the Landrovers have always been 3.5t.

I don't remember the exact time but I was paid within a couple of weeks when my trailer went, that was in 2018. This year I think every office process is slower because of people working from home.

I would guess anyone will have to order them in from Makita anyway, which L&S will do. Are you converting your 9010 to Husqvarna bar mount? If you can get access to a lathe you can whip the studs out and machine the flange down to 9mm, saves buying new parts.

They forgot the 6 to turn the thread into a discussion about something else, possibly Landrovers. That would be where you come in.

It's interesting to see how things are pink and blue again, put those sexes back in place. Would have definitely been yellow red and green when my kids were younger.

Don't forget painting - if it moves salute it, if it doesn't move paint it. (another saying from the guy I worked for as a teenager, deaf due to machine gunning in Burma)

I've used two - homebase cheap one which melted around the motor quite quickly, and a Bosch one my dad bought years ago and still uses occasionally for his own cutting. It's a good saw for what it is, and being able to saw firewood in the garage out of the wind and rain and dark is also a great feature. So I would say don't go too cheap or it might melt, but I've not used the Stihl or Husky machines to compare. I don't know what the battery life will be on these new generation saws, I know that of the battery drills I've had over the years it's been batteries dying that meant I got a new drill. I won't mind too much on my climbing saws as they will have earned their money by then, but for a domestic user it seems just extra cost to have to replace the batteries for no real benefit if you are using it on a saw horse.

They are coppicing the ash high at maybe 3 foot in Hayley Wood near us, I believe as a defence against the deer browsing.

I think it's same ballpark as the Greenmech.

Also, although L&S say out of stock they will get parts pretty quickly, even if it's not listed on the page of parts with the diagram for the saw. You can get the parts manual by googling around and then find the part numbers for anything. I've had an oil pump and chain brake handle for my DCS9010 off them recently. I also found they do a mesh air filter rather than the roboflock.

Going against the flow maybe, but I prefer manual every time. The auto knows what I am doing but not what I'm about to do hence always to me feels like it's behind the game. I use the Defender low range for manoeuvring, it's not hard on the clutch. But as others said, it's a personal preference thing.

In a nutshell, nicely put. Depends on your budget and if you have any predisposition to husky or Stihl, or a good dealer nearby.

I started watching but just can't be bothered with the man. It is so arrogant to wander in to a wood and think you know everything about what is going on, but that's what Nigel has done. I would suggest it's not H&S madness, or eco vandalism, but rideside coppicing. Done a fair bit of it myself. Mostly it's the last 50 to 100 years that woods have not been felled regularly, yet the wildlife has evolved to thrive with felling over thousands of years. The prehistoric trackways in the Somerset levels are made from coppiced timber.

Yep, that looks ideal. Was on two ropes today in a spreading walnut, I use two rings on the bridge which is ok until I turn and they are on the wrong sides....

I sometimes say "I don't know who did that but I know how long his ladder was" We wouldn't usually do anything like burning or antifungal on the cuts. The most important thing is location of the cut to make best use of the trees natural response to branch loss. Looks like there is some scope for pruning off stubs, and you might be able to improve the shape a bit. It probably won't die, it is most likely to just sprout back with lots of vertical growth that looks unnnatural, which you then can try to prune into shape over a few years. Doing better cuts now will improve this so I would suggest getting someone who knows what they are doing to tidy it up. Alternative is to finish it off and start again. I usually think it's best not to rush decisions with trees though, see how it goes. Worst case fell it in a few years if it's no good.

I would guy the tree to the side, it doesn't have to be super perpendicular to the hinge, if it's ahead it will slacken slightly as it comes down or behind then it will pull the tree across. This will stop it getting any momentum towards the house. Also I'd go for Paddy's idea of installing the pull line. It's better to put the line in early rather than when it's all cut and all your wedges are banged in and you're out of ideas except wait for the wind to change. Really though it does sound like the kind of tree it's worth getting someone with experience to help with.