Ryanfalkland

Great, thanks for all the info lads. Yeh the area we lease just isn't big enough to have a major event that we would be responsible for. Think i have everything i need now. Cheers to all. And if anyone wants to get involved with the project you would be most welcomed.

Yeh mate kinda spot on. Ive been to other trails and seen the devastation caused by windblow. I build trails at many locations in Scotland and have seen it first hand. In one instance the fc basically felled an entire area. So i get where you guys are coming from. But i do know that in the last 18 years at Falkland we have never had to deal with any more than a couple of trees on trail at any give time. Id say on average we deal with this once every couple of years. I know the British weather is unpredictable but come on you have to play the numbers. From what ive told you and assuming you believe me the chances of a catastrophic windblow following the exact corridor along our trail at this location is highly unlikely. Im no expert but the club has got by the last 6 years with no more than an ms181 lol. We dont have to react instantly, a week or two is acceptable. But if left to the landowner it could be a couple of months.

Are we possibly geographically lucky with the site and how its positioned ?

I get what are saying guys, im just struggling to imagine how its possibly to have a major windblow site THAT WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR in our small corridor. Its insanely unlikely. Ive been riding there for 18 years almost and the worst ive ever seen on our trails is one maybe two trees tops blocking the trails at any given time. And such an incident rarely occurs. We have to be reasonably practical about it. But yes worst case scenario and we have a major incident we would need to look at sub contractors which could break us. I highly doubt this will ever happen. There just isn't a great deal of windblow at falkland. I will discuss this with the landowner though as it is a valid point. Not sure how it could be worded in an agreement though. The heads of terms are still open for discussion which is a good thing.

No sorry, We have leased land off the owner to build our trails. The leased area is a corridor through the woods. The corridor is the marked trail plus 10 meters either side. If a tree falls within our leased area and is blocking our trails or dangerous we have to rectify this as its in our leased area. Given the limited size of our leased area a windblown catastrophe that we would be solely responsible for is highly unlikely. If a tree falls outside our leased area then the landowner is responsible. This is stated on our lease and management plan and is free of ambiguity. The land owner is not trying to screw us over. Its a simple defining boundary line and the responsibility of it is defined from the trees point of origin. If we were to leave the responsibility for windblown trees solely with the landowner the likelihood would be that it wont be rectified as quickly as we like and we might have trails closed for too long. This would impact the business. Does this make sense?

Actually quite difficult to find some decent pictures as all are focused on mountain bikers. Here is a couple videos of the trails. https://m.pinkbike.com/video/244493/ https://m.pinkbike.com/video/330292/ All the trails are on here.

Im actually considering it tbh but we dont have the cash yet. Hopefully going for some funding soon though. Its an idea. Only problem is the landowner isn't happy with just being certified, he also wants proof of experience. I know The FC take a similar stance on chainsaw operations.

Lol, yeh there's not much that size at Falkland mate. Am i going to have to post our cutters CVs and certs on here before anyone believes me lol. One of our volunteers has been doing it for 20 odd years. I really do appreciate your trying to drum it into my brain that its a very dangerous task and i do believe you. Thats why im not doing the cutting lol. Cheers for the vid.

We are only responsible for a ten meter corridor either side of the trails as per our lease agreement. In the event of a catastrophic windblown event the responsibility would revert back to the land owner. But i like how you thinking of all scenarios thanks. We dont have the cash to bring in heavy plant for years 1 to 3. My hope is that we can manage with big saws, 4x4s and winches. We have a decent relationship with the landowner and im sure in a major event he would send his boys in to help out.

Cheers dude.

Seriously? LOL. Cheers. The land manager asked me, what will you do in the event of windblown trees blocking the trails. Just trying to get a plan together. Until this actually occurs we dont need cutters. If your serious its appreciated though. One of our guys is a mountain biker doing it for free the other might want a little something as hes not. The more the merrier.

You are completely wrong. I am information gathering, nothing has happened yet. You are completely misinterpreting the situation here. You might not be swearing but you definitely cast the first insult. You are making me out to be a crook without any proof. You are condescending and very unhelpful. Our organisation is trying build a bike park with volunteers, the easiest option is to sub it out but have no cash to do so. I apologise if my swearing has offended anyone with good intent.

Will do, loads online from the old bike park. Will i pm them?

Once again not reading it properly. The OP will advise on the site specific risks and Methods at the time. Ive stated this many times. I used to supervise working parties in high voltage substations including civils, cable pulling, overhead lines and some big ass cranes. I reviewed many RAMS in my time and i know for a fact that many of the risks and countermeasures are repeated. THESE ARE THE ONE IM AFTER. You dont know me, my background or my cutters, You have just assumed im a cowboy lol. Your right i know fuck all about dealing with windblown trees. Not once have i said otherwise.

Ok one more time for those who dont get what im saying. IM NOT DOING THE CUTTING. Im here for advice so that i can have the work carried out in safe manner, hence not a cowboy. NOBODY IS DOING ANYTHING UNTIL ALL PARTIES INCLUDING THE 2 QUALIFIED CUTTERS ARE HAPPY. The cutters are doing this not as subcontractors but as direct volunteers of the charity therefore the templates Will need to be ours. The site specific input will from the cutters. If you think im lying about the competency of our cutters then ask yourself WHY? Without the correct tickets the land owner wont agree to it anyway. What we have here is a classic case keyboard gangsters at the windup. FOR THOSE THAT DID HELP, THANKS.