5thelement

They earned the certification, it’s in their name, not yours, and they can just get a replace certificate. This entire thread seems to say more about employers making bad choices with the employees they choose, rather than employees being chancers.

In these situations I just wrap the rope around the base, tie a running bowline, push the rope as high as possible, then apply some pull in the rope until it bites. Personally, I can’t ever remember doing a base tie for an assisted fell.

I’ve seen them used but not in the UK, didn’t see any benefit over setting the pulling rope high up using a set of AUS poles, just as quick and they have other uses.

Who says you have to have qualifications to climb and use a saw? The law states that an employer has to ‘adequately train’ staff for any given task you ask them to do for you. The best way to prove this is to use a regulated training organisation like Lantra, but it is NOT compulsory, I could be the best tree surgeon in the County and train my guys impeccably, then just put them on the assessment so they are good for the insurance. I’m sure Gareth can train me how to drive a tractor without him being a trainer?

I am also struggling as to why modern Arb firms are spending thousands on training and lost work days. I paid my own way through my RFS, left college in ‘96, started working for a small family run business. No one on the books had ever been on a training course, yet they managed to teach me more than anything I learned at college, how is this possible? I have taught young ones on the job to gain their tickets for twenty years before becoming an instructor, how is this possible? If you are too busy to train your staff in house, your either crap at business and chasing profit or raking it in, if it is the latter you can afford to cough up for the training and time off. I can’t understand why an experienced climber can’t mentor a climber/cutter on a slow day, you are only teaching the very basic principles, the assessment schedules are all on line, if you haven’t got the ability/knowledge to do this then you need to go on a refresher yourself, or question why you are even in this industry if your skill/knowledge level is so low.

Okay, Devils advocate again here. You have paid for a few courses, I decide I don’t like working for you and leave on bad terms, you sue me, I say I am not paying and I left because you have been touching me up and I won’t pay a sex pest. Mud sticks, still worth the small claims?

Then you have to wait in line behind half a dozen morons getting a Costa/Monster because mummy didn’t teach them how to make a flask and a sandwich.

Have a look at a Lucas Mill. Very versatile, easy to set up, transport and store away. And I’ll buy it from you when you retire. 👍

Get the 1800kg, you can change the gearing to pull 900kg, only faster, which helps with assisted felling. I’ve found the smaller ones a bit slow.

I bet they are cuing up round the block.

Where do I sign up. 😂

Attach the cable and do the ‘stepping down cut’ in the diagram as low a possible, and use the tractor winch to pull it backwards. I always arrange the dead men laying in the same direction of the intended pull, not 90 degrees to it as in the diagram.

This job just gets better and better.

Any experienced/decent hand cutter will have done some Rhody bashing at some point. Let’s be honest, it’s a shit job. Combine that with spraying poisons on top, it’s now shitter. Combine that with the constant wet weather to contend with and it’s just got even shitter. You can dress it up any way you want in regards to how critically important the site is, the job is still shit and the pay equally so. Good luck with your search. 👍

I’m just quite surprised at the amount of glyphosate being readily sloshed about on a site of such high value, that’s alongside the toxic adjuvant required to help the glyphosate take to the glossy leaved target, two hour drying time after application if I remember right, in an area obvious known for high rainfall.

I was thinking that there was some kind of ‘Jurassic Park’ like Brazilian Rainforest in Scotland that I had somehow never heard of. But it just looks like a wetter version of the majority of woodlands in and around the UK, and ravaged with Rhododendron ponticum just like them.

Since when did Scotland have Rainforest?

The drop down visor is fine in the tree, but you can’t use them for ground based training/assessments, you need a full face visor.

Yes, they are still there, although they lose one every now and then.

I have it in just about everything, especially Mexican dishes. I have to grow it here as it’s not in favour with the French pallet and hard to source.

Had a go on the Husqvarna x Skylotec powered ascender at a Summer Arb competition here in France. The sales guy was trying to impress how useful it was for getting kit in and out of the tree, lowering saws for refuelling blah, blah, he had never done a days climbing in his life. I could see some occasional benefits, carrying up large volumes of bracing gear for instance, but how many times a year are you bracing huge tree crowns? How many times a year are you lowering 661’s up and down 150m trees for refuelling? It could be remotely controlled from the ground, so an injured climber with a damaged line ‘may’ be able to access the device and clip on for rescue. Best part if 5 grand too if I remember, I bought a gravel bike instead.

There are some incredible cheeses here, even in a standard supermarket the range is enormous, and you can even get proper Cheddar there now. Go to a farmers market and the quality and range hits another level. Before Christmas I bought a full round of Camembert that had been sliced into two discs, a layer of black truffle shavings had been added, then put back together for a month. Result, truffle infused Camembert👍

After the better photos it looks like a whole load of Willow to me.

There are a few cat piss competitors, but the shrub, Ribes sanguinium takes the buscuit.

I had an Italian friend who had a real thing about menu boards outside restaurants/cafes advertising ’Paninis’, to the point where he would actually go inside and correct them on it.