Lantra 5 day Chainsaw course - Felling trees up to 15" diameter - 20th to 24th Feb 2012

During the winter, this blog will inevitably mention the weather!

Sorry to Anna, Richard, Graeme and Adam, but this was one of the worst weather weeks we've had this winter.  Very high winds and rain all day every day.  However, thankfully the 'team' was made of stern stuff and we actually had a good fun course.

A highlight for me was taking delivery of a new Husqvarna 560.  I'm not supposed to be partial, but it really seems to be a quantum leap forward for chainsaws.  I'm getting the feeling I'm not good enough for the saw, rather than the other way round!

Anna takes the prize for trying the highest number of chainsaws (4) before finally settling on the first one she tried.  I think it was a good decision though!

We have also identified the need for a new helmet design for Graeme.  This picture is one of the only times during the week we could actually see his eyes!

Thanks to all for putting up with the abysmal conditions and good luck with your assessments next week.

Lantra 3 day Chainsaw Course - Medium trees 6th - 8th Feb 2012

 Its always nice to have a bit of a change from cutting small trees, so a medium tree course was just the thing.

Its also fun to meet people who've been doing training with us before and now return with much more experience.  The medium tree course is much more informal, because it is assumed that but this stage you will have all of the basics covered and will be able to handle a saw safely.  This course is all about the accuracy of the cuts.

 Its also more stimulating in that the trees go down with a much louder CRASH!  This reminds you that this is a potentially very dangerous game.

The weather was bitterly cold, but mercifully we were in a sheltered spot with no wind, no rain and no snow, so all we got was cold toes.  Frankly, it would have been more fun if the trees were a little bit bigger, but we had a few chunky ones (around 30" across).

On the last day, Ifan brought his 12 week old Spaniel pup, Sian.  I couldn't resist including a picture.

Many thanks to Ifan and Ali for a fun and relaxed course, and well done for sailing through your CS32 assessments.

Lantra 2 day Chainsaw Course 2nd - 3rd February 2012

Another interesting course for me, with Paul and Dean who normally use their chainsaws for chopping up heavy duty rubber mats that are used on level crossings.

Sounds simple, but the mats are made from recycled car tyres and so they are also filled with tiny bits of metal - not the best thing for chainsaw chains.

Their chosen method of using cheap 'disposable' chainsaws and Oregon Powersharp chains was one I couldn't

really argue with.

A very frosty day, but beautiful in the sun despite the -7 C frost.

Thanks to Paul and Dean for putting up with the continuing work going on around the new workshop.  Unfortunately it wasn't a match made in heaven, because the roofers couldn't hear each other speak because of the chainsaws!

Fortunately, we've come to the end of

the wood in our hedgerow, so its back to the woods for the next chainsaw course.

Hopefully, we'll have a finished roof by the end of Feb, and work should really take off after that.

Thanks again to Paul and Dean for introducing me to saws full of rubber dust and the finer points of level crossing construction.  The number of uses for a chainsaw never ceases to amaze me.

So far, we have carried out courses half way up Blackpool Tower, on Ascension Island on the equator, cut samples from 6000 year trees from a petrified forest and given advice on cutting up stranded wales!  There are also several companies that operate underwater hydraulic chainsaws for removing old railway bridge timbers (done with zero visibility and no protective gear!).  Even as an experienced instructor, there is much to learn from the people we teach.