Treetom15

Possibly a bit far, but I used Kirkland Commercials in Stoke on Trent and they were brilliant. Good price and decent turn around time, plus a really good quality tipper body with lots of nice features. 
 

Worth a look even if it’s just to compare prices?

I think it’s got to be double time. You can’t work (safely) the following day, and legally you should have 11 hours between a night shift and working the following day.
 

To my mind you need to be well enough paid to offset the fact you probably won’t be earning the next day. Plus after a few nights you feel like a zombie

I have the Fitwell Chop boots, they’re a protective chainsaw boot that is slightly lighter for climbing. So far they’ve been great, light and comfy and they’ve lasted well thus far having done a winter and 5/6 days a week every week. 

Housman Tree Services are looking for a self employed utility arborist to help with ongoing works for Scottish Power. We are based in Oswestry, Shropshire and the work is in/around the Cheshire area. 
 

Candidates need to be fully qualified with in-date UA tickets and relevant aerial rescue/woodchipper/first aid all up to date. Preferably SPEN Authorised, however we can arrange authorisation if needed.

If interested, please contact Tom on 07377328580

I’m sure @scott83 was looking for a climber in that area? 

What’s the general consensus then? Has the domestic market gone quiet because of financial crisis, over saturation with small companies, or just the overrun of the last few years of chaos? 
 

It’s quiet in my area (Shropshire/welsh borders) but I don’t see an abundance of small gangs running around under cutting everyone. It seems to be people are cutting back on non essential spending, and that lovely reduction etc will just have to wait. I’m lucky to do some utility arb work (lucky may be the wrong word!) which is keeping us busy until things change, I wouldn’t want to be reliant on domestic work in the current climate for the next year or two.  

13 hours ago, Treelover1000 said:

I actually agree with this to an extent. Even if you are paid more as self employed, by the time you consider, sick pay, holiday pay, PPE, pensions etc..... you're actually most likely worse off unless you're being paid £180+ a day. However there are plusses and minuses to both...

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?!  

56 minutes ago, MattyF said:

Schliesing chassis are galvanised.

In my view forst have taken jenson and schliesing’s ideas and combined them , the fly wheel set up seems based around the jenson whilst the feed roller and anvil set up looks like schliesing’s with the two adjustable heavy springs that will crush and grab most things.  

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. 

6 hours ago, krummholz said:

Petition to bring back the Cut and Climb - I wonder if there was a crowd funder and enough folk signed up whether they'd do another run of them?

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? 

26 minutes ago, s.varty said:

Is it only me or has anyone else noticed that being self employed makes you immune to any illness whatsoever.

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 

8 minutes ago, Stubby said:

They don't just sting ( as our resident hornet or wasp . ) They " slash " . Their sting is like a small saber . It slashes and causes an open wound . People have died going into anafalactic  shok from them .

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!

1 hour ago, Mark Bolam said:

 

Have you got a link to a one-day course to refresh all my tickets please?

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 🤷‍♂️

1 hour ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Good luck!

My advice is to try not to burn any bridges with your old employer or any other established companies in your area.

Sub~contracting for others is a good way of filling your week till you can get your own client base built up.

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?

1 hour ago, tim361 said:

I’ve got one of these bags to carry my rigging kit. Really good bag for the money and takes a beating. 

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! 

I’ve always thought these look really good, both in value and the fact they’re mostly recycled materials-

Rescuedfromlandfill - Etsy UK

WWW.ETSY.COM

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Shop Tough outdoor gear - UK made from reclaimed materials by Rescuedfromlandfill located in...

Looks brilliant! Is it some sort of unimog/sprinter hybrid?

Could you use 2 anchor points to tie into 2 of the best/highest limbs? Or create a floating anchor point between 2 points that will hold you near to where you need to be? 
Hard to tell without seeing the tree though I appreciate 

3 hours ago, swinny said:

Yes i think I might go the lano guard route on my recently purchased pickup seems the flavour of the month at the moment

I think it’s good value for money, mine looks pretty clean still 12 months later. Also it’s clear so you can see any early signs of rust a bit sooner which is a bonus over paint