Dan Maynard

I've only used synth plus except when subbing and use firms Rotatech. I know what you mean, the Rotatech is goopy and stringy by comparison but all I can say is my bars and chains last just fine on the synth plus so it does the job.

It's well reported in the press, to me not quite the same as well documented. As an engineer I look at this and want someone to have done tests which show results and also explain how changing ethanol content from 5% to 10% can affect engine performance that much. They're not replacing 5% of the petrol with water, which obviously would take away 5% of the energy content - it's replaced with ethanol which has 2/3 of the energy content of petrol. Put another way, going from 0% to 10% ethanol means you lose 1/3 of the energy of 10%, so about 3% overall. The latest change is half that. This is the official line in the US where they've been using more ethanol for longer: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) WWW.EIA.GOV

Looks like you need to get started on the second one, full already!

It's great for reductions, and I've done a fair bit of hedge work with mine. Anything heavier get the 36v one out.

... and all that valuable firewood of course!

And it's ironically at just the time Makita planned the stop on producing petrol saws, so not many of those around either.

Pump white is now B7, that is up to 7% biodiesel. Can't immediately see how that would increase consumption 50%. To be honest I don't really follow how going from 5 to 10 % ethanol will make a noticeable difference either, but I don't regularly drive a petrol car any more so no direct experience.

We have patches in the village which the parish council mow but are owned by county council, one had a dead sycamore on it and PC said county would deal. I kept looking at it thinking I would just dismantle it before it fell on the road but eventually the county tree team came and did the job. Sounds like that tree is outside the village though so definitely not PC. Only ones like this I have done have been in the hedge line so seem to be clearly the landowner responsibility.

Personally I don't think it would be, because the guidelines aren't that black and white. The prosecutions that I've seen published are usually a whole step worse in terms of working practices - as in no rope at all, ladder from back of pickup, no helmet, log splitter modified to one hand use, etc. But don't take that as legal advice of course.....

I tip chip locally, rumour is it gets sold on for £20 a ton but I don't ask as none of my business - might also have changed due to fuel prices. We are lucky to have a reasonable size compost/biomass business fairly close, as with all these things the transport cost can easily outweigh the product value.

I never did get a price for new cables for my M500 from Global, but changed out the forward/reverse control cables using tandem rear brake cable which came from Wiggle - son's idea of how to get super long ones.

Ive a 110 but HD, think my manual says 48psi in the rears but that is really bouncy so I drop that down a bit. 80 is miles too much. That should have been a factory size on later Defender? So LR would have a spec for that too?

Interesting question, my take is in general don't climb on anything you aren't 100% confident of. I personally wouldn't be so confident of that, so I would bin them.

Taste of almonds? Never really got an answer to how poisonous they are, just not to sit in the chip box with it.

There's nothing in NPTC qualification to test you can tell what species of tree you're climbing, and only a vague reference to factors affecting selection of anchor point including species, time of year. Not enough detail at all in my opinion. There's also no conifer hedge topping.

I was going to post the other day about AFAG 401 being superseded, can't see any evidence of that on the HSE website. The working at height case studies include one where the climber got his lines tangled in the top being felled, a couple with people on ladders with no rope at all, one bloke who set a fire at the base of a conifer which spread... There are two which could be anchor point failure, one had all the ropes come out of the tree with a rigged piece. This isn't solved by two anchors either. There is one which seems to be simple anchor point failure, but we know nothing about what they anchored in to so really not evidence that putting more crap anchors in will help.

That is an extraordinary pair! (there are two ducks)

I think it's cost of living, and the fact that travel has opened up so people who haven't had a holiday in two years will spend on going abroad.

@Benarb as you started the thread over a year ago, what did you do in the end?

Afag401 doesn't seem to have been updated since 2013 though? Has TG1 been a big seller?

Have you bought the final version of TG1? Or Joe ?

I just had a look for the final TG1 wording, looks like you have to buy it from the AA rather than free download so I suspect I am not alone in not having got round to it yet. So what was the final guidance? Personally I would implement methods which make me safer, I didn't get past the question of what hazard is mitigated by having two main lines all the time. I agree anchor point failure is a real risk but argue that it's not constant, so needs to be mitigated according to where you are in the tree. When you have a limb round a 9 inch oak branch there is just no chance whatsoever of that failing from my weight. Dragging two ropes and a lanyard around causes twists and tangles, confusion and ultimately creates several hazards that weren't there before. Making it a blanket requirement is daft. So based on the anchor point risks I've evolved main line+lanyard to a sort of hybrid method of main line+lanyard/2nd line. This means 45m line on VT/hitchclimber and a 10m rope with VT hitch and pinto tending pulley, which can be either work positioning lanyard off side Ds or a 5m DRT system off second bridge ring. I'll put the main line up on a multisaver in the centre, and as I move round I've got a lanyard if that's the best thing, or a second climbing system if needed when I go up above the main anchor or out to the tips, but I'm not trying to drag two mainlines around all the time. I spend quite a bit of the time on two anchors this way, but not slavishly dragging miles of rope around.

Ah didn't know about that, looks like the Zubat Arborist has the third roller and extra shiny screws.

Indeed, which is why I hardly ever use a chainsaw. Long leg, long ... saw.

Eventually the sawpod straps broke. Removing it revealed that underneath the strap the saw has been eating it's way out from the inside, metal and all. Need to keep an eye on that, seems you can't just keep changing blades forever.