5thelement

The last time I saw Mark he had sold up and was heading for New Zealand, he spends his time house sitting and travelling, I’ll say hello from you the next time I bump into him. 👍

Mark Pardoe was very helpful to me when I first started down the instructor/assessor route, he’s a top bloke. I was asked to tender to maintain the mountain bike tracks at Bedgebury Pinetum a good few years back. Brushcutter/Trimmer and clearing saw ticket required, been using them 20 years, what is there to know right? Did it with Chalky White, unbelievable knowledge, loads of techniques and kit I didn’t know was even on the market. Kept 4 guys in work in decent day rate for 6 weeks through the year on that one site, cost me about £600 all in.

You don’t HAVE to do any refreshers Mark and your NPTC tickets are still valid for life. Usually refreshing the most advanced ticket covers you, (Check this out with Scott Fraser, he’s not far from you and it’s not my specialism) Is there any tickets you don’t have , rigging/SRWP that you could up skill to instead of refreshing tickets you already hold? Your main issue as a sole trader is if anything does go wrong, and HSE get involved, if you can prove you have remained up to date and current then you can present a positive case in court, you can do your best and accidents can still happen. Or you could think, I am not complying with TG1 (who is) in several areas anyway so f**k it, I’ll take my chances. I totally get what you’re saying RE uninsured/un ticketed clowns cutting trees all over the place, they have always been there and always will, all you can do is look after your own business. I can guarantee one thing though Mark. If you and a decent group of climbers do a refresher with decent Arb instructors in your area like Scott Fraser/Dave Daniels, or Terry Banyard who freelances at Ground up Training, you’ll get a lot out of it and have a great time doing it, it can also open you up for work that you are currently unable to tendor for. 👍

Not as easy as fixing a leaking saw though. 👍

ADW, Stubby, Spud, myself and others have put you straight about not running a saw with an outboard clutch without the side cover on, the result of doing this has been explained to you yet you still think you are right, your not. Remind me again who the person asking for advice on why his saw is leaking is? Time for some refresher training on saw maintenance I think👍.

Bar yes, side cover no. You clearly haven’t got a clue what you are talking about. If you want to talk bollocks on loads of threads, you could try Arbtalk on FB. There you will find loads of bell ends with lots of opinion backed up with very little knowledge, I think you will fit right in. 👍

Yet on another thread you are making a pretty good argument for refresher training with your lack of the basic knowledge as to why we don’t run saws with outboard clutches without the bar and side cases attached.

They are not all 2 days and £500 though Mark, it depends on the course and the candidate numbers. It depends on who you know and what you require. I would regularly turn up at your forestry cutting site and do a Felling +F refresher for up to 4 guys. £150 per man plus £30 registration fee, we are cutting your wood so that could be offset against your cost I.e less production down time. Hardly breaking the bank for five clear years without having do anything else? We would cover the main cuts, set up some dodgy scenarios, discuss the dangers, make a plan and act on it. If all goes well I would demonstrate some cuts they may not have seen, bring out and use some kit they may not be familiar with, powered winches and rattle wedges etc, no one leaves one of my courses learning nothing. I think people need to start doing a bit of research before they book onto refresher courses. Don’t book a course with the local Arb colleges if your a handcutter then complain that you didn’t learn anything, then complain about it on Arbtalk,this should be pretty obvious to you before hand.

Getting sloppy and falling into bad habits is another common occurrence for regular cutters. If you don’t want to do any refreshers don’t, no one is forcing you.

It depends what work you are doing. Rail/Utility/any Forestry England site, Natural England, most charities like RSPB/National Trust/Woodland Trust etc or any site signed up with FISA, Arb approved companies, will require compulsory refresher training or you won’t be on site. Outside of these and domestics, refreshers are advisory. In my experience, the ones who gob off about not needing refreshers are usually the ones who need them the most.

Acacia splits surprisingly easily, it can be cleft for post and rail just like Sweetchestnut, turns well, has great colour and burns better than most European hardwoods.

Even the Arbortec ‘model’ wearing this is hanging his head in shame, either that or he is eying up his enormous shoes. It could double up as camouflage at an LBGTQIA+ rally though.

Anyone who is any good is always in work.

To be fair, that’s exactly what this is. Those outfits were made initially for the instructors doing demos at the APF. Due to all the knobs walking round in their chainsaw gear even though they aren’t at work, Arbortech created these outfits from off cuts. They weren’t for sale at the time, so they stood out from the crowd and treeking wannabes. Unfortunately, said knobheads loved these clown garments so much that they where then marketed, still on the market too I believe.

Is that Rod, Jane and Freddy?

Bet they all walked there too as they don’t own a Rangerover?

The training you are delivering to your apprentice is commendable and reminds me of my own experience after leaving college with my RFS tucked under my belt. My first employer had set up in 1958 and was 67 at the time, he had forgotten more than I knew and taught me things that aren’t in any books, logging all the things that we had covered, including using the Forestor Mill. I certainly didn’t learn the majority of what I now know from getting the recognised training/assessment route. Unfortunately, these kinds of employers are very few and far between. One only needs to look at what regularly comes through the doors on my training courses, working lads already in the industry who have been ‘trained’ by the boss, talking and performing absolute shite with knackered 261’s with bits hanging off. Most employers cannot be trusted to deliver adequate training so it must therefore be trusted into the hands of recognised/regulated private companies like LANTRA, sad but true.

And I said largely, not totally. Some of the areas being thinned that that were later clear felled had no public access, some limited. Machine operators, contractors managing the woodland restoration, restocking, FE staff conducting ecology surveys, and the odd keeper monitoring pens were recognised as important safety considerations.

Chainsawbars.co.uk deliver to France. Treat ourself to a roll of each one and make them up yourself .👍

What NE and FE say on paper, and what they allow are not always the same thing. I spent my last 5 years in the UK mostly cutting ADB affected trees, the majority of this in a SSSi in and around the South Downs. Most sites started out as a 30% thin, within two Winters they became clear fell and replant , largely down to safety and public access. Large machinery, forwarders, skidders and 360’s were used on all sites.

Has anyone got a copy of the Ben Law Roundwood DVD that accompanies the book of the same name? Cant find a copy for live nor money.

I have a full range of Tirfor and an Eder 1800. The Eder is quick, light, powerful and runs on the fuel I have with me in the woods (Aspen), 50m of dyneema and a block gets most things down without much effort, but an expensive outlay for occasional use. Get a Tirfor TU16 and a decent 3 to 4 tonne snatch block, you can pick them up on eBay for a good price, way better than the cheap Chinese ‘Tirfor type’ shit with dubious build quality. Get an Eder or similar when funds/needs increase.

That’s my point. If there was even the slightest chance for them to get involved, they would have been all over it, they haven’t and still aren’t.

Yet the data, (if it exists), isn’t in the public domain, and no COSHH advice has been published by HSE/AFAG in regard to chipping Cherry Laurel, even after all these car crashes, deaths and acute headaches/nausea/vomiting being reported.

Or the vegan death cult who all passed away after meditating in a room where Laurel had been used as the incense.