Timm

Thanks lads, it's an ACE-style that I've seen, albeit a different colour. I'll pick one up the next time I'm there.

Just wondering if anyone has any experience of the "budget" tirfor/yale trac style cable pullers? I spotted them recently in a local army surplus store. Italian made and significantly cheaper than either of the name brand alternatives. For the infrequent use I'd have for such a device - and no lifting involved, I wondered if they'd be worth a punt - but also wondered if anyone had any thoughts or experience of them? Both name brands are pretty difficult to get ahold of here in Ireland, so the fact that they're available locally is also faintly appealing.

I hold my hands up and say I've never used Harken in any arborist-type application. That having been said, I've sailed on everything from a Lazer dinghy to large square-rig stuff and have personally owned and used probably upwards of 20 Harken winches fitted to various boats over the years. It's incredibly good stuff, it's designed to be used and last at sea, in some of the roughest conditions imaginable. They're also designed to withstand some pretty incredible forces - I myself have used two older models (40's I think, it was 20 odd years ago!) in a GF 8, off the Channel Islands - so wind speeds of 60+ kph. Anyway, it's bloody good stuff in general, can't answer the question beyond that but you did ask for musings!

It's been incredibly mild on the south coast of Ireland here for the last several weeks, earlier this week it became cold with a thump and today it's bitter - certainly feels like it's blowing up for something nasty here and we're expecting snow from tomorrow, although looking out at the world from the workshop at the moment, you'd swear blind it's going to arrive any moment!

295-310kg, excluding tongs.

I've had about four fires so far this Autumn here in Southern Ireland, its ridiculously mild for the time of year, which makes me worry about the Spring, I seem to recall it being mild this time last year also. There's some incredible colour on the trees at present and local "talk" says it's an indicator of things to come.. Wood wise, I've about 12 Stere laid in store, a mixture of Oak, Ash, Beech, and Birch with a modicum of Cedar (not sure which, it's either Deodar or Macro) too, this should last us into March but we'll be a bit stuck if it's like earlier this year. We have no CH either, so thats not an option. I do also have a full 2 Stere of Yew but it's only recently felled and split, so that might not be dry enough to use for a good while, although I'm told it burns incredibly hot when dry. I've three or four smallish Holm/Evergreen Oak trees to fell in the next month or so however, so that may tide me over, it burns green but obviously I'd prefer it seasoned. Most excitingly, I've a good pile of fruiting cherry which I'm holding back for Christmas Day - we have a wood-fired Stanley no 9 stove (much like a Rayburn or Aga) and the cherry will be used to cook the Beef, the oven has a minor smoke leak 🤤🤤

Thanks for the replies thus far lads, I'm starting to get a clearer idea of how to go about re-doing the certification I want and need. @ Doug - I don't know that it's difficult to get courses per se, just a lack of providers locally. I'd have to travel and stay for a 3-day course in Ireland for example. @ Drinksloe - Thanks for the suggestion of the Windblown module. I do have a modicum of experience in dealing with windblown trees but it would be useful to go into more depth with proper training. As regards the movement of heavy objects, I've a wealth of experience moving timbers, trees, boats etc, so not too worried about that!

Thanks for the reply Doug - there's very few training providers here in Ireland and I've found finding the right courses/path is a bit of a nightmare. So much so that I'd consider doing them in the UK. I have plenty of family I can stay with there at least. I'm a shipwright/boatbuilder. I used to have my own yard - and a stationary sawmill and have worked in other yards where they ran small sawmills, it's long been an interest of mine and I'm becoming increasingly more passionate about it.

Hi all, I've been lurking some time and finally decided to crawl out.. First off, I may be putting this in the wrong section of the forum, so apologies in advance there. Some 20 odd years ago (god that makes me feel old..), I worked in France as a jobbing gardener/landscaper. At the time, I put myself through a french qualification (I forget the name sadly and the certificate is long a thing of the past) for chainsaw use to appease my insurer, which included cross-cutting, felling up to about 400mm trees and a modicum of climbing and rigging techniques. The course was about 6 weeks long spread over several 2-3 day sessions. After a couple of years, I returned to the UK and went into a different industry - that did/does however require use of a chainsaw, so I've always kept up my usage if that makes sense. I've felled trees occasionally but nothing terribly large or dangerous (beyond the inherent dangers of felling a tree..) Our friend Covid has really put paid to my industry in my part of the world and I've been struggling for work for the better part of 18 months now. I've had an idea to change direction and I think/hope have spotted an opening/window in the market locally for a mobile saw milling service using an Alaskan-style mill, I'm really keen and enthusiastic about the idea and am still exploring the ways in which I can make this happen, which leads me to a few questions in a round-about way. I should mention that I have milling experience having previously owned a stationary mill and worked at a number of places where milling took place. I'm aware that no milling course exists (I'm keeping an eye on that section of the forum and some of the discussion taking place there, I assure you!) and my although experience above I feel is of benefit - being safety conscious (and wanting to get the relevant insurance!), I'd very much like to bring myself up to date with current methodology and I've been researching doing NPTC training. I'm a bit confused about the path-line of the courses however: Clearly you start with 003920 Chainsaw Maintenance and Cross-Cutting and move onto 003921 Felling Small Trees, however I'd also very much like to be able to offer a felling service in combination with the milling service - especially for larger diameter trees. At nearly 40 years of age however and not being the fittest person around, I feel like my tree climbing days are well and truly behind me. Can I therefore skip those particular modules and move on to say 003930 Assisted Felling, or are all the climbing modules necessary to make up part of a wider qualification? I have other questions but I'm not entirely sure how to phrase them, so I'll leave them for now. Thanks in advance, Tim