Recent content by Roddy McG

I believe that in Great Britain, in the work-place, the top-handle saws are only allowed to be used when in an elevated situation, i.e. in a bucket or in a tree, etc. On the ground only rear handled saws are allowed to be used. The issue, as I understand it, is that with the top-handle saw...

You will have to excuse me as I am afflicted with P.P.S. {prenatal Presbyterian syndrome}.

Dear Mister Squisher, For an English expression you could do worse than try to fathom "kneedle knoddle knew" as made famous by the BBC radio program The Goon Show.

Dear MasterBlaster, To paraphrase Robert Service: "There are strange things done under the eastern sun". But surely you jest kind sir. The scene of the crime was next to a weekend house (out of photograph on the left), that was down-hill of the trees, with the longer branches over the roof...

I am attempting to post image of a couple of Larix kaempferi that I recently cut about 30 some branches off with the noble SILKY "ZUBAT". No hydro-carbons were employed. Stubs left on the one as the client deemed the job "good enough".

Dear MasterBlaster, With regards to your photographs demonstrating the "hinge down and catch it" technique: I, with my admittedly relatively limited "chain saw experience", previously stated self-imposed "rules of engagement", etc. would have been up there using my trusty SILKY "Zubat" (240 mm...

As for my personal "rules of engagement" it should be noted that I am usually alone, am an effectively non-speaker of the national language, Japanese, (the telephone is the worst... face to face I get by), my usual place for doing this tree work is at most a few kilometres from my home, but, and...

Ah the "Stub or not to stub" question. Initially the sight of them as I was wobbling around some 10's of metres up the stick was reassuring. But as rigging experience grew the nuisance value of the stubs becomes glaringly obvious. So I am increasingly moving to the "not to stub" party. But I...

I was tied in three ways: two flip-lines with one of them wrapped completely around and my SRT set up was choked off in a running bowline below the flip-lines. As for the spurs (relatively short, i.e. utility pole size gaffs) they both kicked out for the full "Yee-Haw" rodeo moment. But I was...

I can honestly say "Nihongo de wa ni sai desu." i.e. "(I) speak Japanese like a two year old". But with the necessities of map reading etc. I can actually wheel and deal my kanji dictionary to some good effect, and reproduce some several of the characters.

Here I am doing probably my first topping. Some sort of 30 metre tall Larix kaempferi. Watch for the brief "rodeo moment". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdEDfv2nJ-0

Dear Mister "MasterBlaster", Thank you for the welcome to the TreeHouse. It seems like a gathering of like minds. As for "How in the world does an American mountain guide and climbing arborist wind up in Japan?" The answer is as follows: I am actually a "Canadian" mountain guide {see...

I, Rodden McGowan, living now in Japan, am relatively new to this climbing arborist business. But the first time I saw this fellow, Paul Poynter (British climbing arborist living now in Japan<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZJ-Dt42e0E>), during a rigging demonstration literally zooming around...