Essential tools - Pole pruners/hook

This is one of those tools I went for years without and now wonder how on earth I managed, I now take them to every job

They may not get used on every job but I'd sooner have them and not need them than need them and not have them!

I have x2 4ft poles and x2 6ft poles which gives me a good range of options for height, I may think about adding another 6 ft pole at some point.

The pruners are perfect for the finishing touches on a medium reduction or for virtually every cut on a small one and the hook comes in equally useful, whether its freeing hanging branches, pulling over small trees or lifting phone lines clear of a branch, I wouldn't want to do some jobs with out it.

I also use the poles for my Big shot, which again may not get used very often, but makes life a lot easier when it does.

My poles are Frank Marvin, but they look identical to Jameson poles and are interchangeable with there accessories. I've been very impressed with the quality and build and seem to take any punishment I throw at them and show very little sign of their age or use

First Aid Kit - in vehicle

The first aid kit in my truck lives behind the passenger seat, its clearly labelled and I make a point of making sure everyone knows where it is

 

The contents consist mostly of large wound dressings, large sterile dressings and assorted tape/gauze.

 

It all just about squeezes into the case

 

which is a Peli case I originally brought to house my SLR camera, but decided after countless other first aid boxes had fallen to pieces that it would see more action and be better suited to living in my truck.

 

 

Peli are renown for there quality and robust build, they are completely water and dust proof and will take a serious amount of abuse.

 

 

This helps keep the contents clean and dry and all in one place, what's the first aid kit like in your truck

First aid kit - personal

I've never really climbed with a first aid kit, I've always founf they got in the way, and to be honest was probably a little complacent about it. One of the firms I've been working for recently provided me with one and figuring I had nothing to loose I thought I'd try it out

 

Well, after a couple of weeks I was reminded as to why I never bother wearing one, as it promptly started falling to pieces!

 

The Velcro and press stud combo is strong enough to hold it on the harness for about half a climb, or until it comes into contact with a branch or limb. The trouble is it just sits in such a way that its bound to catch on stuff, the only flex or give in it is when it pops off

 

 

Then if you look at the actual contents the only thing that would be of any actual use in a tree is the large wound dressing, the waterproof plasters don't stick to anything and had gone mouldy and the first aid guide had disintegrated  

 

 

Time for a rethink...

 

 

 

 

Arbtruck storage solutions

Just a few modifications/storage solutions for my Landrover Arbtruck

 

Pole pruners and rake mounted on chip flap with quick fists, also a 5lt jerry can holder also does a pretty good job of holding a 2 stroke can

 

Under the passenger seat I've managed to fit a set of jump leads and a bottle jack next to the battery

the bottle jack is wrapped in foam to stop it banging around

 

In the drivers side under body storage box I've got a socket set, spanner role, can of WD40, marking spray and a tool bag

 

Tool bag has most of the things yours likely to need, including some fencing tools for when you need to take down (or repair!) a fence, there is also spare chains for all the saws

 

 

The passenger side box has 2 cans of Aspen, a spill kit and bottle of engine oil

 

Retrievable Top tie for SRT

I've always favoured a top tie for SRT, I find it cleaner and neater and don't need to worry about someone (or me!) cutting my base tie. I tie a figure 8 around a dmm anchor ring which has been preinstalled on the other side of the line. This way there is less friction/ware on the point at which it cinches on the line/tree.

The main flaw with this system being that I always need to climb back to the top to remove the tie in and then usually have to switch back to double rope to descend.

Whilst there is nothing wrong with this it can be quite time consuming, So I have been experimenting with using a 5mm cord and a small DMM snap to retrieve the line

I clip this into the figure 8 not the dmm anchor ring, as then when you pull the cord the ring stays in the right orientation and does not add friction to the system, it seems to retrieve the tie in quite well, the cord is just thick enough to get a good purchase on it to give it a good pull. It has worked on a 2ft ivy clad stem so I'm hoping it will retrieve from most anchors. the only issue so far is when to clip the line in and how much would it get in the way if installed at the beginning?

Lirios Armor hitch cord - first impressions

Picked up a couple of metres of Lirios Armor hitch cord at the APF on the recommendation of Honey Brothers, at 3 times the price of the Sirius I normally use I was initially doubtful and it was going to have to seriously impress me

Only used it on 2 climbs so far, one large (SRT) and one smallish (Double rope) and I have to say I was very impressed, used it with my usual knot - distel. Its very smooth, holds well and tends nicer than any cord I've used before. So if it lasts I may well be a convert! I won't speak to soon though, its early days yet, more later...

APF 2014

Managed to get across to Ragley Hall yesterday to check out the APF forestry exhibition. Its always a good opportunity to check out the latest gear and machinery, as well as do some shopping!

Picked up a few bits for myself -

Another Petzl bucket bag! 25m of 8mm Sirius accessory cord (my hitch cord of choice, this should last me a while!) and some 8mm Liros armor hitch cord I decided to try.

Also got myself a pair of Arborwear canopy trousers that I've wanted to try for ages 

As well as an Arborwear polo shirt. I'm currently looking to get some work shirts printed, but want to start off with a decent shirt, rather than the standard fruit of the loom ones. So thought I'd give one of these a go. 

Also picked up some bits for the company I do some work for in London - 

A tree runner p500, to replace the portawrap in our lightweight rigging kit (fixed bollards are so much easier for people to get to grips with)

Some weaver spikes for the aerial rescue kit and a new husky T540xp for the other team. 

Another new toy - Stein Arbor trolley

Another new toy picked up at the arb show, only used in anger once so far but initially impressions are good, seems very well made and bomb proof. should hopefully save some back ache over the upcoming months….

Rigging kits

This is my current set up in terms of rigging gear that I take out on my own private jobs. 

I've talked about these petzl bags before, still can't say enough good things about them.

First up in the large (35lt) bag I have 60m of 16mm Sirius Bull rope and a 4m long 16mm dead eye sling with a small ISC cast pulley attached, this kit only comes out on big jobs or if I don't know the job (i.e.  freelancing) then I may chuck it in as well. 

Then in the first small (25lt) bag I have a selection of things; 30m 14mm sirius bull rope, 5 m dead eye, small ISC portawrap, small woopie sling, large woopie sling,  Medium ISC swing cheek lowering pulley with steel dmm crab,  2m split tail, large loopie sling, x2 petzl tandem pulleys, another smaller woopie (orange) , small mallion, small rigging plate,  2m tape sling and crab, 10m length of xtc line, couple of lengths of hitch cord. 

The idea with this bag was to have everything I'd need for small/medium scale lowering, as well as all the other trinkets you occasionally need for complicated lowering jobs. The 30m rope is usually sufficient for most small trees and also comes in handy as a second line if using the bigger rope. 

Then in the other small bag are some other bits that go out with me on almost every job now. From left to right: in the black bag is the Mini MA system, 22m of 12mm sirius bull rope (tag line), 5m multi sling, 4.5m dead eye, rigging gloves, and big shot/trigger set up 

The tag line has come in handy on numerous occasions, especially on those jobs where I've been told there is no rigging to do and then discover that there definitely is!

I'm pretty happy with my current set up, It covers me for a large range of rigging scenarios, the only major thing I need now is a decent bollard, something like the Stein RC3001 that I get to use for my current main employer 

Stihl MS150t - mod

 

Got this little saw a few weeks ago and I've been pretty impressed with it so far.

 

However I've heard of quite a few people loosing the saw out of the tree, due the the attachment ring on the back giving way.

 

So with this weighing on my mind I decided to back it up, I'd read of a few different ways over on arbtalk but decided instead to use some 6mm accessory cord and make use of a small hole/recess at the back of the saw

The cord is poked through and tied off with a fig 8 stopper knot and pulled tight

 

The other end is then tied into a double fishermans

 

Tied nice and short it lines up nicely with the original attachment point

 



So the saw strop can then just be clipped through both

Vehicle mounted vice (cover)

Found a use for an old dry bag

Fits nicely over the vice and should stop it getting too rusty as well as keeping it clean(ish)

Jerry can holder

Just making the most of the available space in my new truck with this 10lt jerry can holder

 

Tucked away out of site it can only be accessed when the bed is tipped up, no excuse for running out of diesel in the chipper now!

Quick fist tool clamps

Recently fitted a few of these to the tool storage area on my truck

Not used them enough to formulate much of an opinion, but they seem well made and should hopefully stop a few things from rattling round in the back

Gransfors splitting maul and forest axe, go with me to virtually every job

Big shot trigger video

Follow up video from a previous post

Not a huge tree, but with the 6ft pole and a 12oz weight I get the fork I wanted first shot, base tied and SRT up the other side to remove/reduce a few lower branches overhanging a golf green. Definitely saved a few minutes.

14mm Sirius Dead eye sling

Spliced this from the other end of the 10m rope I used to splice a spider leg

Should come in handy for redirects and as a top anchor for the rigging pulley on smaller rigging jobs. 

Rock Exotica RockO (Non locker)

Got this a few weeks ago after getting fed up with the small conventional style accessory carabinas that didn't seem big enough to hold both of the rings on my cambium saver and still function properly, making it tricky to retrieve from the back of my harness. 

Only a silly little thing but over time annoying enough for me to want to find a solution. 

This fits the bill nicely. Feels solid and well made, no sideways play in the gate and the little groves in the gate definitely aid grip. I'm a big fan of the oval carabina, they just seem to make much more sense to me, any one else agree? 

Pole pruners storage

Its annoyed me for a while having the poles kicking around in the back of the truck and when carrying them you can never seem to hold more than 3 without dropping one, so finally found a use for those old bits of hitch cord I inexplicably keep.

Tied with a constrictor knot they are kept nice and tight together, making storage and transport much easier. 

The link above explains a bit more about about the constrictor knot and its uses. Its a really handy knot to have in the bag.

Big shot trigger set up

There are things I can do well and there are things I cant, using a throwline is most definitely one thing I can't! I think a big part of it is lack of patience, I miss a few times or the line gets stuck and I give up grab the ladders and just climb the tree. This has lead to me never developing my throwline skills at all.

 

So when presented with a job a few years back where ladders were going to be woefully inadequate and the throwline the only realistic option I had a choice to make: practice for hours and hours till I could hit any branch, or buy a big shot...

 

 

So this is the big shot, on its own it definitely increased my accuracy and success rate with the throwline, but still wasn't perfect. The trouble was that there is quite a bit of variation in where you hold the catapult, especially when putting it under a lot of tension, this leads to a lot of variation in where the thing ends up!

 

I spotted a thread on Arbtalk where someone had developed a system involving an archery trigger and a tie down strap to turn the big shot into something you could almost calibrate.

 

Here I've fixed the archery trigger to the business end of the tie down strap and covered it in heat shrink to tidy it up (my gear OCD again!)

 

The trigger clips into a 3mm piece of accessory cord tied onto the big shot pull down handle

 

The hook end of the tie down strap just sits in the end of the pole, I use one 6ft pole for most stuff or x2 4ft poles for really high shots.

 

And you end up with this:

Sorry bit of a rubbish picture

 

The tie down strap gives you a 2:1 mechanical advantage with the grab bit capturing progress, so you can set it to the desired tension take aim and fire when ready!

 

Here's a link to a video of someone else's system in operation

 

Big shot tie down strap

 

Then the whole lot packs into this old chalk bag for storage

 

 

Not something for every day use but it most definitely has its place and has saved me a lot of wasted hours.