Dan Maynard

Is it 2 stroke oil? What ratio do you mix your fuel?

I've not used one but seems to me a conveyor for the outfeed is the rolls royce option, so you aren't really handling the split logs just slide off the table.

The council won't give you any advice. Best advice is to get someone who is qualified and insured to inspect trees to look at it, and report - ideally not a tree surgeon who has a financial interest in doing work to the tree, so you can trust their advice. That way if your neighbours house is damaged you have not been negligent . You may also find in the fine print of your insurance policy that you should have any significant trees inspected. You probably don't want a hole under the tree like that, but old trees are often hollow so may be fine. Can't tell from pictures.

I remember the chap I worked for as a teenager telling me "we won't make a drama out of a crisis" means "we'll think of any reason we can to avoid paying out" Just have to follow through, maybe if you can show you have reasonable grounds for the delay?

Well I'd say get a multisaver, I've tried pulley and I prefer rings - little bit of friction at the top makes descent easier to control as it takes load off the knot. Also the ropeguide puts the pulley right on the stem so depending on branches rope can be free in one position but rubbing as you move round. Set the multisaver long and the friction point comes away from the stem and stays consistent, when you go back up just shorten it on the prussic. But as you say, on bigger trees I've switched to SRT so the friction is completely consistent wherever I go.

They said nobody would order takeaway food on the internet, but look at JustEat now...... I can see a place for it, you'd prefer to be working with someone you know but this wouldn't stop that just make the booking more transparent. I'm not sure how people would like to show off how busy their diary is, maybe that would put people off joining?

Other thing with air drying is you have to forecast sales a year ahead, rather than being able to produce more during the season if it's a busy year.

The multisaver is a brilliant bit of kit, on small trees you set it long when dropping away from the anchor so your rope isn't rubbing on the stem and shorten it up when you go back up. Chogging a pole you lengthen it as the pole gets fatter, or round lumps, then you have a descendable drt anchor all the way down which is safer than just throwing climb line round. Put the rope through the third ring first, stops it hanging down and getting spiked. So a well thought through, reliable, safe bit of kit. Works well, retrieves well, passes loler. Much better value in my opinion than eg ART ropeguide at over £200. I haven't used my fixed length cambium saver once since buying it, definitely wouldn't waste money on one. Once you get used to a multisaver you can't go back, the fixed one is always too long or too short and hence a pain in the arse. As you say, wrapping ends your chance of retrieval, forget it. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. Edit: forgot to say Stein make a version now as well.

I think I've heard of people running 3/8 058 on worn 050 bars before, as 050 are more common in the states. If it's running free then there's no excess friction to cause heating, I'd run it and see how it goes.

I don't know if a commercial insurance on the trucks would be the same as a car policy, but they may have been obligated to report to their insurance company as the truck was driving at the time. After that it's out of the director's hands really. The truck insurers would just weigh probabilities and bat it back as unlikely to be proven. I feel as if best option would be let your HIP insurer argue with them.

Keep the bits so you can make a flip line from the end of your climb line when you nick that and have to cut 5m off.

I think there are still a few that don't have the PU midsole, Pfanner Tirol being one. Some of the more expensive Haix say they have vibram soles too, different to the £250 ones.

I reckon they're a bit like Daleks, I'd be able to get away by running up stairs.

It goes twice completely around the trunk so chance of it pulling through is nil.

Got to be the tube twisted to reach the valve out of the hole, if the tube is in it's natural position the pressure holds the valve out not sucked in. Put a couple of psi in the tube out in the open you'll see where the valve is stuck to the donut. Its probably not in the middle anyway.

If you don't get the trailer then your customers better be happy being left with a huge pile of rubbish so that would be number one. Chipper is mainly an advantage in reducing the volume of brash and hence number of tip runs, you might be able to do without for a bit. Depends on travel times but could save hours per job. Unless you have a functioning setup I wouldn't get a bucket truck, you'll just overload the trailer even quicker.

This change applied to bigger employers, and public sector, not small private sector employers. You can use this tool to get a determination of whether you are an employee under IR35, it sounds to me like you would be exactly in the category they wanted to clamp down on. Its not absolutely closed though, I do regular contract work in firms van wearing their uniform, but using my tools and PPE and i work for myself too, this is outside IR35. Check employment status for tax - GOV.UK WWW.GOV.UK Use the Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) tool to find out if you, or a worker on a specific... Other thing to bear in mind, it's easy to underestimate the benefits of PAYE, eg sick and holiday pay, pay while training, pay when work goes quiet or jobs overrun, etc etc.

Cake is worth a lot, flour and eggs a lot less.

Super glue is the best I've found, I made some Airstreams last until the tread wore off by keeping them glued up tight. My theory is if you let the bottom sole loose at all then it wears the soft middle, keep it stuck on there's no movement. Medium viscosity will fill small gaps, no brand 5ml on Amazon has been fine and only a couple of quid.

I think modern pads are harder, takes more like 50-100 miles.

Power is force time speed and you're limited in how much power you can pull from a 13 or 16 amp domestic socket. Upping the budget to 1k doesn't quite get you out of the Chinese weeds, you need around 1500 to get something from Posch, Thor, Oxdale or the like. I'd keep an eye out for good secondhand though, better off with repairable quality than a cheap new one I think.

That answers my question. Otherwise a safe is just more keys in sequence, if you know the combination it's not stopping you from getting van key out immediately plod leave.

Looks like you need a mountain bike to go back and fetch the van!

That bark looks like it's dead and flaking off. Get a recommendation for a local tree surgeon to come and have a look, difficult to say off photos but could be whole branch died back. It happens, sometimes it's the start of whole tree decline or sometimes just one branch.

Its tricky starting out because everyone will ask what's your day rate, when you don't really have one yet. Own PPE is pretty essential, own saw less so. Depends what sort of firm you sub to and what jobs going on, some days you could be clearing and dragging all day, some days on the saw all day. If you don't bring one you're at the mercy of someone else's saw, sharpening, etc so nicer to bring your own. The nearest to an industry sheet I know is find a freelancer https://arbtalk.co.uk/find-a-freelancer/#close More climbers than groundies, but you can see rates vary by area on there. Subbie climbing rates reflect the gear needed, rough guess groundies half to two thirds climbing rate. All depends though. Last thing, if you have machinery tickets that could be you find a fairly mechanised firm and become more machine operator than groundie - then your rate could be much better.