The typical tree guy

[xander9727]

JPS,
You've hurt my feeling!

I think you owe everyone in the world an apology and you should ban yourself from typing with your dominant hand for two weeks.

 

[xander9727]

MB,
I won't address your tautline "issues". After all you are an old dog.



Let's see how long it takes him to respond to this.

Go

 

[MasterBlaster]

 

[xander9727]

Clerks and Happy Gilmore offer an interesting contrast. Bob is holding his right a little to tight. I can take him.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Heys, he's way-old...

 

[coydog]

there is nothing wrong with the tautline,and it should still be taught as basic technique. It is easy to tie and untie while working and is a good hitch to be comfortable with if working without a splittail. It has limitations which must be respected, such as its tendency to creep.
IMO the blake's is a more reliable hitch, not as easy to tie and untie repeatedly( could be debated) , but an excellent all around hitch to use with the split tail system, which allows one to move more freely in the tree.
Next is a blake's with a slacktender
Then french prussik
lockjack next(if your a gearhead that's got the money)
I think being trained to climb with the most basic set-up,i.e. no splittail and a tautline, teaches invaluable skills, such as good routing technique in a tree.
If you have to flip-in and untie/retie everything everytime you reset your line or have to bypass a branch, then your routing skills will improve.
That being said i don't personally know many production climbers that still use a tautline but I think it's a great idea for training. I was taught with a blake's split tail system, and i think there where some concepts that i may have "gotten" sooner if i were trained without a splittail, even if just for a short while.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Tautline never creeps, Rust never sleeps

Thou shalt not shred my tautline, no matter how hard you try. YOu can taunt it all you want, though that'd just be arrogant denigration
Actually, since I know turn the top 2 loops to the left--remarkable!--is it still a tautline hitch? Whatever, it's never slipped on me. What's wrong with KISS now and then?

Way to go Rocky, holding back from chewing out the chainbuying guy in the store, or sticking his saw where the sun don't shine.

Keep up the self-restraint! :angel:

Much better instead to vent here, we know what you're saying even if some of us would rather hear it said in other words.

 

[Ax-man]

Guy,

Have you had your private lessons with Master Tom D. on proggresive tree climbing.

If any body can wretch that tautline out of your hand it would be him.

Remember, you promised to change after that tree conference in Minn. I'm just holding you to that promise.

Larry

 

[geofore]

new chain

If he buys a new chain, no crime in that but he cheats himself out of learning to sharpen a chain. The stretch he deals with tells me it is time for a new sprocket or to check the one on the saw. Not everyone is into maintainance of their equipment. While the new chain is a nibble in the wallet, the guy is probably safer with it than without it. It indicates he is not into saving a buck or two as he could leave the old chain to be sharpened while he wears out the new one. I'd save the old one just for trees with nails and wire or backup after it is resharpened. If he only buys one at a time how much cutting can he be doing in a day? He's not buying in bulk so he's not getting a discount and he doesn't have a backup if he hits a nail or something. It would be tough to stay on the job let alone in buisness if you only carry one chain and run to the store to replace it every time it gets dull.
A real saw isn't going to make a big difference if he doesn't learn to touch up his chains or carry a lot of new ones. If he is into buying a new chain every time the best you could do for him is tell him they are cheaper by the dozen. Learning to tickle the chain would save wear and tear on his wallet.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by Ax-man
Have you had your private lessons with Master Tom D. on proggresive tree climbing. Remember, you promised to change . I'm just holding you to that promise.

Um, yes I did climb SRT with TD, it's a valuable tool which will be used on some trees. Yes I did use a new ascender, the double-stirrup kind, ditto.
The tree we were in was a 90+' elm. Pulling the throw bag thru broke 2 ea. 1" branches; hate to see that in an elm and being in th etiptop, hard to prune clean.

I never promised to make a wholesale transformation into "progressive". For all the utility of bigshot etc on some trees, I'd've been to the top first and just as safe the old way on this elm. Maybe a little more tired, and sorer shoulders, true.

I did pick up a zubat, and will not put it down. Thanks to TD and MM and all the other constructive advice. Thanks also to TD for the training, it will pay off well on big trees soon.

 

[rb_in_va]

Rocky,

Just offer to take all those "worthless" chains off his hands. Of course, for them to be useful to you then you would need to have a Home Depot saw as well. I would take them. I have a Poulan that was given to me by a friend.

 

[Base]

buying a new chain every time ones goes dull in my opinion is ignorance and these people must be making good money....i mean there have been occasions that i have had to sharpen a chain more than once in a day.......somethings you just cant see like hitting a nail that was put in a tree about 30 years ago......rare but it happened to me....if you dont know the basics of maintenace you should not be operating the kit, as from time to time everything needs tweaking......here in the uk the first NPTC you have to obtain is maintaining a chainsaw....its just common sense........i take it from all this that over your side of the pond you are by law able to operate a chainsaw on someone else's land without any tickets.....is this right?

 

[Ax-man]

I agree with the consenses here that buying a new chain just because one is dull is stupid and throwing money away. How any one could get a job done or make money doing it this way is beyond me. There is a guy in our area that does the same thing, never met him, only heard about him through the local Sthil dealer, knows his business he is just " fussy " about his saw and and cutting.

Base,

What does NPTC stand for????

You guys from the UK could answer this one for me.

You mentioned having a ticket [ license ] to operate a chain saw on some one else 's land. No we don't need to have a ticket for that, not yet any way,

Question I have is this. Do you guys in the UK have to take a test and pass it and show your quailified, to be able to buy a top - handled chain saw ??

I read this in a trade pub. a while back. I've asked this question before never have gotten an answer.

Larry

 

[Base]

NPTC stands for National Proficency Tests Council

http://www.nptc.org.uk/ a link to their site should would wished more info

As for top handled chainsaws yes we must have a licence first to be able to achieve the licence you must get maintenance, cross cutting, felling small trees, then climb a tree assessment combined with aeriel rescue, then you have to be assessed on using a chainsaw from a rope and harness.....pass all that and bobs your uncle fannys your aunt they give you a little credit card size licence with your mug shot on and you can go to your local dealer and purchase a top handled, and they have to physically see your card and write your details down before letting you have it ! then you can legally use a top handled saw but only whilst in a rope and harness not allowed to use them on the ground. can get a big fine if mr health and saftey ever catchs you.......

and incidently these tests are not cheap either

Welcome to the united kingdom

 

[legendrider]

for dadatwins

The school was ACRT in OHIO they taught other hitches and knots as well such as the Blake and Prusik. I ended up working with a taughtline and split tail for my practical exam

 

[Ax-man]

Thanks Base, appreciate your reply

Quite a bit more involved than I thought it would be. Some thing like this would definately seperate the pros from the amateurs. Much better than just attending some kind of seminar and recieving a certificate saying your a qualified saw operator, just because you sat in a chair for an hour and listened to some one lecture and demonstrate the proper use of a saw.

Do your customers know this license is required and ask for proof of such???

In a way it is a good thing as far as safety, but on the reverse side there is the bureaucratic bs of goverment intervention in private enterprise. I don't think we need to go down this road, we all have such positive things to say about goverment regs.



Larry

 

[Base]

i have only been asked to produce my card on about three occasions two were for people that worked for GCHQ (goverment communications head quaters) and they needed to know every detail etc.... and the other time was when i sub contracted to a large firm, for their insurances purposes.

As for everyone else knowing we have to get these license, i dont know, but if they dont know, they do by the time we leave another tool to justify your prices.

 

[BigJohn]

My neighbor is the same way. He tells me all the time its easier to just buy new "blades" as he calls them. He is the kind of guy who likes to make extra money doing anything. He has a good job doing electrical work. He tells me how simple my job is and how he could do it better. The guy is overweight, out of shape. Always putting me down for working for someone. This same guy got a tree job and needed a rope wich he doesn't have. So he tells me how he threw the clients garden hose up into this tree and went up it. What an as$. Another time he gets this little pin oak to take down and is there all day gets hardly any of it down and then calls me to finish it. I get there to find a home depot rope tied to a branch with nothing more then one overhand knot that I was able to shake off that he said he used to get up there. Then he proceeds to tell me how to take this 10 minute tree down.

I also ran into a moron at the saw shop who saw me with some zing it and asks if it was climbing line. I too just shook my head. I wonder why these people don't seek out professional training? I would love to go out with companies and train there men.

 

[rahtreelimbs]

Blades..........that is always a good one.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Originally posted by BigJohn


I also ran into a moron at the saw shop who saw me with some zing it and asks if it was climbing line. I too just shook my head.

Another oportunity lost, you might have turned it into a buisness relationship.