Dan Maynard

I used bark a little bit when starting out, used to click the cheeky leads nobody answered for £3 so worth a punt. They pushed it up so far nowadays it's £30-35, just to get the customer phone number to find out what the job is or even if there is a job. Gone bonkers.

Well there's obviously some correlation between tree size and root spread, so in theory yes - but there'll still be roots in the lawn, unlikely to do anything structural though. People seem to worry about roots much more than the actual problems they cause.

This is why the usual advice for pruning magnolia is not to, they can sprout back with a vengeance with vertical growth that's not as attractive as the original tree. If it's too big though, can be the only answer. Bay is also one that gets big, you need to chop that back. They'll tolerate any abuse though.

Think the Solidur Climb have calf protection too. https://www.chrisforestry.co.uk/store/Solidur-CLIMB-chainsaw-trousers-Type-A-p543321745

I've just started a 20 litre of Rye oils finest. Also very much enjoying their Easing Oil LV in a pump bottle instead of WD40.

I think utility sector have restricted them, UKPN guys told me they weren't allowed one. Can't see it in domestic.

It might have changed colour in the hot weather so you suddenly noticed it?

Nice air conditioned tractor cab sounds like a great place to be right now!

@lloyd103 don't forget your marigolds while you're doing it, heh! ... a tree man, maybe gloves like Marigolds make sense for some tasks ...

Option 1 - dice it all up and handball 8 feet up out of the ditch. Option 2 - leave it in big bits and pull it out with the plucky little loader. Went with option 2. Liking this game.

Sounds like detecting a jam, is the nose sprocket completely free? Bar groove all scraped out? I thought my Makita was jamming intermittently for a while, frustratingly inconsistent. Turned out to be trigger switch worn.

Have you tried asking this question to Tree Life? I'd guess they know the training side better than AA.

Anyway the whole point of buying Motomix is so I don't have to think about these things any more, so I'm out.

I've seem some of those videos, it's almost a religious fervour the way they say Ultra is rubbish. I think it's made by different people in the EU, and I think all Motomix users will testify it works just fine. I've been on it for years, none of my saws have exploded. But - pick something you are happy with, make a system, and stick to it. I've always mixed 2T into a labelled can at the petrol station, so there is never ever neat petrol in a 2T can. Then use that to top up the combi.

Interesting perception, I trust Oregon because they've always made good chains and bars, for example my dad used type 73 on his Sachs Dolmar - but if you look at their felling wedges, forestry helmets then yes I would agree they are a bit supermarket own brand I've moved to Motomix for everything, 55 litre drum from Tudor Environmental and a shake/siphon hose is really convenient. No worries about oils, additive, ethanol, shelf life, trips to garage for petrol, etc.

Think Oregon oil is red. I wouldn't go back to Stihl red, personally. https://www.landmarktrading.com/product/oregon-2-stroke-oil-5-litre/

Done. Maybe you need a bit more training Doug if you can only tick one of those boxes?

We had our roof done recently, first thing the guys did every morning was set up a cable and put some batteries on charge. Quite a few customers do ask if we need power, I've never said yes but I don't think they would bat an eyelid if I did. As above, never managed to make all my batteries flat in a day and just stick them on charge when putting saws away at night.

Interesting, faults in wiring harnesses was a factor in driving automotive towards CAN networks years ago. Nightmare to find and then fix.

I wonder if it would come within scope of woodworking machinery, but in the end it's going to need a RAMS whatever you do.

Up here for thinking, down there for dancing.....

Seems to make more sense if you swap the numbers in mpg and litres/100km columns?

Is it worth cost vs simple removal?

Not sure if this is 3rd school of thought or just a subset of 2... 2(b). Could be ok - but in the chance that it does fail and land on someone (city street near school is high footfall), and owner has ignored the huge tree defect, then maybe held negligent. Failure reasonably foreseeable. None of us have even seen the top of the tree, but given the location if pushed to give an internet answer I'd suggest either fell it, or pollard to a height that makes falling over very unlikely. It's a sycamore so bashing the top off isn't going to hold it back, even if you take it down to ground level you'll have a multi stem sycamore tree in a few years time. You could suggest it's on the boundary and difficult to prove ownership and maybe the neighbour would go halves, but a couple of solicitors letters and you'd have been better off just getting the work done. Not a difficult tree to do, park chipper right by it.

I'd say you are right to be concerned, difficult to really assess anything like that from photos but it looks like removal of structural roots, yes potentially compromised safety. As to liability or who should pay for any remedial work, minefield. Legal action is much more expensive than tree work in general.