Treetom15

My old boss told me that you need approximately £30/40 more a day being self employed rather than on the books. Which seems to be about right if you’re just talking about running a couple of saws, climbing kit and maybe a basic rigging kit. Being self employed is more about the benefit of flexibility and doing more enjoyable work IMO. @AHPP that article is absolutely appalling, was there any repercussions for the author or the AA after?!

Forst have definitely ripped Jensen off that’s for sure. I know lots of people who love Forst, personally I don’t think they’re built to last, and they are almost too aggressive-they’ll rattle themselves to pieces before long. £20k would get you a great 2nd hand machine from any manufacturer 👍

Aparently T H Whites are getting into being a big distributor for Jensen, if you’ve got that sort of budget it would be worth getting one from them on demo (if they’re not a million miles away) From my experience a Jensen a540 is pretty comparable to its competitors in terms of what it will chip, but the build quality of the machine is far better. Plus the weight of the flywheel & the anti stress means they don’t smash themselves to pieces-they are more what you would buy if you were going to run the same machine for 10+ years imo. My little Jensen a528t is amazing, and that’ll be replaced with another Jensen when the time comes. + I’m fairly sure Jensen are the only road tow chippers that have a galvanised chassis (on newer models) although someone may correct me on that.

I tried a cut & climb jacket on a training course ages ago, spent the whole day in it and by far the best I’ve tried for climbing in. Someone must have the rights/pattern to it somewhere?

@ABtrees thanks, will have a look EDIT-the other posts on here are related to the older smock (innovation 2) this is for the newer defiance model.

Anyone got one or had good/bad experience with them? I had their innovation 2 smock, great for awful weather but terrible for climbing, just wondered how people rate the defiance as they look like quite a good fit for climbing?

I would say it’s more like, being self employed means you don’t take days off unless you’re physically unable to move. I’ve been on my own for just over a year after being employed for years, wouldn’t have it any other way!

If you’re not sure about climbing it, then that’s your answer. If you put yourself in a position where you are more worried about the safety of the tree than focusing on the work then it’s more likely you’ll make a mistake or miscalculation. Personally I’d happily climb it, looks as though you’ve got a good anchor in the taller of the 2 stems. May be best to get someone in to do the climbing, and worst case it’s a good way to pick up some ideas etc, rather than forcing yourself up there and getting hurt? Im sorry if that sounds patronising at all, it really isn’t meant to. I personally think safety is paramount

I did wonder (and I know it’s a daft question), if you react badly to regular wasp/bee stings surely you would have a far worse reaction to a sting off these?

That certainly isn’t appealing! Every “refresher” I have done has just been 1 day, it’s usually just a felling refresher or something we’ve already done so you just pay the “assessment” fee…… I’ve always been told that’ll cover it but like I said it’s totally dependant on who your working for. So long as the company or employer can wash their hands of any incidents by saying you’ve adhered to their guidance that’s all they’re bothered with!

I wish! I was told it could be any course just to show some form of CPD, I guess it depends who you work for though 🤷‍♂️

Spot on advise. I’ve done a similar thing a few years ago, and keeping on good terms with local companies and my old employer has been massively beneficial in terms of subbing to them if you have days to fill. If possible, don’t saddle yourself with loads of finance. It will add a lot of stress and pressure that you don’t need, you can get decent 2nd hand kit and pay for it outright with a bit of saving!

Taken from the NPTC website Refresher Training The majority of our Certificates of Competence are issued for life (exceptions are Utility Arboriculture and Safe use of Aluminium Phosphide for Vertebrate Pest Control). However depending on the qualification you may need to undertake refresher training in accordance with the HSE guidelines Depending on who you’re working for, and what type of work then they may insist on some form of CPD every 3/5 years. At the end of the day, it’ll be a training course for a day every 3/5 years, if it opens doors workwise it’s hardly a big deal

I’ve just had this with some old utility arb tickets of mine that had expired. From what the assessors were saying, the tickets don’t “expire” but you have to show you have some some form of CPD every 3/5 years to show you are keeping “up-to-date” Basically nonsense, but I guess from a legal stance if you’ve not done a refresher in 5 years it may be an issue?

Which one did you get mate? I was just about to buy the 85L bag for exactly the same thing. Looked like they’d hold a heavy rope and plenty of metal pretty well!