The sickle

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

A good old-fashion sickle, sharp and perfectly weighted, is a tool just made for the job of clearing vegetation from around the trees. It given the user total control and thus does not damage the bark of the tree as often does the use of a powered grass trimmer (strimmer) and requires no guards to be placed around the trees either.

Using a good hand tool is all about letting the tool do the work. Despite the obvious strain on the back, using a sickle is very therapeutic and far more eco-friendly (and quieter) than a machine. In fact, many organizations are starting to realize the advantages of working this way.

The scythe, too, is making a comeback in countryside management, and so it should. The billhook is another one of those tools that just cannot be beat when working in the management of woodlands and the countryside.

Even when it comes to felling in small woodland management operations the crosscut saw, one man or two man, will still, with the exception of the sneding of the branches, often beat the chainsaw and especially as far as noise and other pollution is concerned.

The design of the sickle, basically, has changed little since the Middle Ages and even before, though many different kinds for different purposes, much like with the billhook and the scythe, can be had. The principle, however is and remains the same. The differences are things such as sweep and curve of the blade or serrations on them, such as some of the Indian and Japanese ones have.

The good thing about a sickle is that it does not require much tuition to use it, more intuition, unlike the scythe, which does need a little skill that needs acquiring so as not to injure oneself (or others). Even the billhook requires more acquired skill than dos the sickle. Keeping it sharp, in the same was as with regards to the billhook and the scythe, is a different kettle of fish and that does take some learning.

The sickle can be used for many cutting tasks from cutting away vegetation from around trees and here especially saplings without the risk, unless one is not careful, of cutting them off or damaging them, as is often the case with the use of a strimmer, to harvesting standing crops. And, before the advent of the scythe that was what the sickle in many a form was used for also.

I, for one, love using these tools, a real link to the history of countryside workers, as they are effective and also efficient and require little to no real maintenance, other from sharpening and keeping them clean.

© 2013

Solo's new chainsaws are smooth operators

German manufacturer Solo specialises in producing professional-use chainsaws to the highest standards, with an emphasis on both performance and operator comfort.

But its new and improved 651C and 656C medium-duty chainsaws benefit from an even smoother operation, thanks to the inclusion of new pistons and cylinders to further reduce vibration.

Perfect for groundscare and forestry professionals working on local authority landscapes, private estates, the golf course or in wooded settings, the 651C and 656C models also benefit from a light weight of just 5.4kg and improved ergonomics.

Users will particularly appreciate the new starter handle shape and comfortable front handle with thick rubber cover for better grip. These design details combined with the saws’ light weight make them the ideal choice for those cutting for prolonged periods.

With a 15in/38cm bar as standard, the saws also benefit from a solid steel guide bar with replacement nose tip and a lateral chain adjuster as well as Solo’s renowned EasyStart system. There is also the option to upgrade to a 18in/45cm bar. Brand new features for the 651C and 656C, meanwhile, include speed-optimised digital ignition, better air-flow routing, reduced exhaust emissions and a quieter operation. The result is a powerful, reliable performance that is also comfortable on the operator.

The 651C and 656C are part of the extensive Solo chainsaw range, which is distributed in the UK by Lely. Spanning top-spec arborist saws to semi-professional models, Solo chainsaws have been a European bestseller since their introduction in the late 1950s.

Impressively, they offer a 75 percent reduction in emissions plus 20 percent improvement in fuel economy on recommended levels, plus benefit from KWF accreditation – an independent and highly-regarded 'seal of approval' for safety and state-of-the-art technology from Germany’s foremost forestry body.

Full Disclosure Statement: The GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW received no compensation for any component of this article.

This article is for your information only and the GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW does not (necessarily) approve, endorse or recommend the product, service or company mentioned.

Fine pruning with ARS and Sorbus International

Somerset based Sorbus International Ltd. are the appointed exclusive UK distributors of the Japanese ARS range of high quality pruning equipment. Established in 1876, ARS produce high quality saws, secateurs, telescopic pruners, shears and loppers with the emphasis on the highest standard of steel production.

“In the many years we have been supplying arboriculture and grounds maintenance equipment,” says Phil Wade, Sorbus’ Managing Director, “this is the first complete range of pruning tools we have come across that offers such high quality, coupled with ergonomic design and superb cutting ability. Yet it’s economic and durable and one we are proud to distribute in the UK.”

The secret lies in a combination of impulse hardening techniques that create a remarkable hardness for the cutting blades, and hard chrome plating for rust proofing and durability. The smooth surface is designed to prevent resin from sticking and accumulating on the blades. There are also products for fruit harvesting, flower arranging and handycraft uses. Sorbus International is a leading supplier of specialist and hi-tech equipment to the arboricultural, forestry, landscaping, utility, ground maintenance and environmental care sectors in the UK and worldwide. The company began with hi-tech decay detection products for trees and timber structures and has developed to encompass a wide range of products for landscaping, tree care, climbing, bracing, lowering equipment, as well as safety, hi-viz, corporate and wet weather clothing.

Sorbus have recently expanded and welcome dealer and distributor enquiries for the ARS range and the opportunity to supply equipment on a contract basis.

www.sorbus-intl.co.uk

Full Disclosure Statement: The GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW received no compensation for any component of this article.

This article is for your information only and the GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW does not (necessarily) approve, endorse or recommend the product, service or company mentioned.

Rock Croft Safe® Eyes – Product Review

Un-Fog-Able protective eye wear that will not fog, scratch or smear.

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Most, if not indeed all, ordinary safety goggles and -“glasses” have one major drawback, when you discount that the lenses scratch very easily indeed, and that is the fogging up in a variety of conditions, leading to loss of vision.

Safe® Eyes mesh safety goggles by Rock Croft, on the other hand, eliminate both of these problems. No fogging and they also are not affected by scratching. On both counts this is due to the fact that the “lenses” are not lenses but are made of a blackened stainless steel mesh. They will also not smear.

While seeing through the mesh takes a little getting used to, much in the same way when using a mesh visor on a chainsaw helmet, one soon does not even really notice the mesh pattern anymore.

The Safe® Eyes goggles are, basically, your mesh visor in goggle/safety glasses format, with the “lenses” being very strong and resistant to many a thing.

Read more here...

© 2011

Tree marking knife; the sustainable forestry tool

By Michael Smith (Veshengro)

This tool, in German called Baumreisser, and produced, predominately by German and Swiss tool makers, such as Victorinox (Switzerland) and Otter (Germany), has been an important tool for the forestry worker and forester in time past.

The tree marking knife, the Baumreisser (tree ripper), was used in the past by forestry workers after a tree had been felled and the branches removed used to mark the cutting length depending on the timber grade. Foresters too used this tool in order to mark trees for removal, either small trees for thinning operations or even large trees in mature stands. Those were marked with a cross, an “X”.

It has, in recent decades, been replaced, some would say superseded, by the spray can and the paint ball gun for marking trees for felling, whether large or small, and even as a marker as to where to make the cuts in a trunk according to timber value and class.

As far as I am concerned, however, the tree marking knife cannot and should not ever be seen as superseded and replaced as spray paint is not sustainable and that for at least two reasons.

Spray paint is costly in the long run and while a tree marking knife costs up to $60, depending on quality and source, it will last a lifetime and more, if looked after. Paint, on the other hand, is costly in the long run. While a can of the stuff may “only” cost a few dollars at a time over time it will be much, much more than the cost of the tool.

The measuring staff of the woodsmen that I have encountered in years gone by in Europe used to have a built-in “bark ripper” for the purpose of marking the place where to cross cut the trunk.

The folding Baumreisser, the tree marking knife, is better though as the forester can carry that with him easily on a “patrol” and mark trees for removal as and when they are noticed.

I encountered such a tree marking knife again only recently on the Felco stand at the 2011 RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show when the marketing manager showed me one of which they were given boxes and did not really know what they were for.

Initially even I, as a professional forester, failed to recognize them as I had only encountered them with a fixed blade or as part of another tool and I mistook the took for a hoof knife. Shame on me, I know.

It would appear that makers – some of them at least – are in the process of divesting themselves of the stock of those tools in the – in my opinion false – belief that the end of the tree marking knife has come.

The ones that I saw (and of which I was given a box) are made by Victorinox and are, in fact, no longer shown in their range. German makers still seem to produce them though.

As far as I am concerned we will be looking for this tool in the future again once petroleum – and the pain is based on it – has become unaffordable.

As far as I am concerned the tree marking knife, the Baumreisser, is far from dead and we will find that we will be happy to still have the skills to make them when the time comes and stocks left.

© 2011