apf,show uk ,,,,,

[Ross Turner]

Teressa,I have just bought a LJ twin & found it very easy to use(had no instructions when i bought it)I learned the set up from photos & peoples advice from the various tree forums.I managed to pick mine up for £86.50 delivered brand new in presentation box off eBay.
I only use it for big jobs like reductions & use a friction hitch on my other rope for all other climbing.I work in utility over here in the UK.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

i like them lockjacks but a rope feels more secure if you ask me plus how much damage do they cause to your rope?..and change the cam every 8 weeks i don't think so ..nope my new funny named Knot will have to do klem hoist i think its called

 

[Chris J.]

This thread is cool,

never realiz/sed that AS had so many members in the UK. I've got in-laws in Newcastle (as in Brown Ale for the folks on this side of the pond), Falkirk (rode the Wheel in '02), & Helensborough (spelling? Parts of Loch Lommond are really beautiful). Wish I could afford a summer place in Scotland near the Highlands. Back to your thread.

Chris J., 35 days

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

Re: This thread is cool,

Originally posted by Knot Whole
never realiz/sed that AS had so many members in the UK. I've got in-laws in Newcastle (as in Brown Ale for the folks on this side of the pond), Falkirk (rode the Wheel in '02), & Helensborough (spelling? Parts of Loch Lommond are really beautiful). Wish I could afford a summer place in Scotland near the Highlands. Back to your thread.

Chris J., 35 days

me and you have something in commen ..i too have outlaws in Newcastle..wallsend ...you been there ?? if you have..how did you got out of there in one peice

 

[Ross Turner]

There is nothing wrong with the North east of England,I used to live up there till 1998,i lived in Cramlington.Morpeth,Blyth & South Shields.
I dont see how you need to change the cam so soon also what damage to a rope as the cam is smooth.?

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

dealer told me and crew you 'MUST' change the cam every 8 weeks..also little spikes that are on the lj cam must pick your rope ..

if the NE is so great how come you moved???

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

humm little spikes thats what one of my guys said ..i think thats incorrect..there not designed like an ascender..cant see how they can damage rope ..i stand corrected

 

[Ross Turner]

I moved to Cambridgeshire to carry out tree work for tower Forestry on behalf of Eastern Electicity,Once they lost the contract i gained employment with Fountains & left them.I then moved to lincs so my partner who i met in St Neots could be near her nan,Then found work in shropshire working on Behalf of MEB,& now working on behalf of Scotish Power

 

[blue]

nod,
i did see the tcf for a bit.was that you demonstating foot-locking?

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

i thought the tree climbing demos where pathetic..a bit like teaching you'r granny to suck eggs..or watching paint dry ..why demonstrate techniques like foot locking or dropping little branch's i mean isn't the show for tree care proffesionals you know people in the game .what should have been demoed is some new rigging for heavey stuff etc or prehaps a crane TD .. something worth watching..what i saw at the APF is nothing you couldn't see begginers doing at a local arb college

 

[nod]

Hi Rollacosta

This is the first year I've been involved with training other than on an apprentice, one to one basis. THere is one single thing that has become clear to me in a very short period. That is the relatively low collective skill level of people in our industry. I always thought the world was full of hairy arsed arbs with steel for nuts. I was sadly deluding myself. So, although it would be mighty interesting to see folk demonstrating the extreme situations we occasionally find ourselves in. For the majority it would be just an interesting sideshow that they could not partake in.

I never got to see the demos at the stihl arena, but I certainly feel that what has been achieved at the tree climbers forum during various outings this summer is a step in the right direction for those who have the inclination to improve their abilities for their chosen career. Hopefully the interest we received will enable us to move into showing & teaching techniques & skills for those extremes of our work.

Roll on the next show
Nod

 

[SteveBullman]

rolla, i see your point, but to me, 5 years ago those little demonstrations were highly beneficial. i'd probably still be climbing on a prussik if i hadn't seen these little side shows.

and anyway, the show wouldn't have been the same if i hadn't seen jon hartill cock up his lowering demo lol

 

[SteveBullman]

i thoroughly enjoyed the show, although i didn't get as much climbing gear as i'd have liked, there were too many good deals on powertools going.
got a echo pole pruner for £328 inclusive

 

[teressa green]

pant absolute pants ,tree climbers forum was pant ,most of the lads in the crowd were not interested in the shiny bits of kid ,experience counts for everything ,have worked with the college boys with shiny kit and heads full of latin names,why climb a tree for the fun of it ,climb it for cash,most climbers with shiny kit spend too long behind a desk and not enough time up a tree or behind a chipper,they need to get back to basics climb with a prussik or blake for a while then try the exotic,basics like looking after saws,vans chippers ,felling techniques,then when ya a better grounds man than most and your cuts are ok ,then try the climbing ,its not for everyone ,i have 20 yrs experience climbing and grounding people today just like walking the walk talking the talk,with their gucci kit ,public house tree surgeons,young ones dont want the 90 ft beech or the lombardys,ive seen them back off from them,rant over ,,,,,,,final word the good climbers i know dont pose or have ultra gucci kit they have kit to do the job in hand and experience,,,,,,,,in my opinion all you need ,

 

[Ross Turner]

teressa,I can see where you are comming from,I have been climbing on & off since 1989,I have no formal arb qualifications & what i do know i have learnt on the job or from books & other climbers.
I started with 3 strand poly & had to tie your bowline then the prussik(no eyes or loops for me),I then went to loops & split tails & have tried various hitches which i still use today but the LJ is a handy bit of kit,which makes my job easier at times.
As for college lads,as you say they all the latin names & every fungi etc but ask them to get up a tree & do the job they were trained for they run a mile,thats why i think you should start at the bottom as a groundsman & work your way up to a climber then get the formal qualifications saying you can walk the walk & talk the talk.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

the trouble is kids at college get very 'POOR' training IMO..the problem lays with the training providers..seems to me everybody and there dog is a training provider these days..and we day in day out tree men are a bloody dangerous rabble!!

nod theres a ton of skilled men very very skilled men outhere..but they will start to dwindle if the demos at the APF where anything to go by ..seems funny to me that ever since NPTC /LANTRA have started to stick there noses into every aspect of tree work that we have had a serious problem with getting INSURANCE and more people are getting injured and are claiming on employers insurance supposedly

 

[teressa green]

how many college boys and gucci wanna be climbers shy away from the bread and buter jobs,8 hrs at the arse end of a chipper or brush ,some lads see this aspect of the job as demeaning,to me and any other tree man ,its part and parcel of tree work,climbing is a fraction of the work ,not the be all and end all ,how many gucci boys can sharpen correctly ? replace chipper blades ,fell correctly ,dress wood for the chippers?in my experience not many ,when i started tree work many moons ago ,the basics were required before advancing,like i said before too long behind a desk ,being taught by inexperienced people ,in the commercial world off tree work,worrying about risk assesments,site diarys,sticking to the regulations,im all for rules regs etc ,but come on if we went to work and stuck to the letter of the law .we wouldnt make a pound,basics is what its all about ,get the basics right and the rest will happen ,

 

[Ross Turner]

NPTC/LANTRA are just after emptying our pockets as soon as you get one qualification they bring in another one which is a more updated qualification thus you need to have this to comply with the HSE.
I started out back when the FTC certificates were about before NPTC came in & had passed all apart from windblow before unit 20,21 & 22 came out.Then after all that in came the units 30 onwards.
I rest my case.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

NPTC told me i had to have a ticket to operate a stump grinder haha i had a stump grinder before most of the new boy trainers even knew what A STUMPGRINDER was


nptc/lantra run a mafia type racket if you ask me..i think within there organisation , theres a lot of brown envolopes/back handers going on at senior level

 

[jamie]

basics

start at the butt and work your way up.

im still learning every task im given i take head on, want to go and chuink that spar down, bit nervous but hell yeah....on i go up and chunk away, got a bo!!oking for taking to long to sharpen a saw and not getting me angles right.....funny i improved.

the boss of another local company who is on a certain Associations board commented to us how good our felling cuts are, eh thats the job not climbing with an extra 5 kilos of kit and spending 45 mins setting a line on a removal when the ladders and spikes are behind you, climb the fecker.

our company is still old school in the climbing techniques (i want to add some nu skool as i become more competant).

as for snedding, cut it flush, cut it straight,

sorry, i simply agree do it right and walk the talk.

jamie