CS 30- Chainsaw maintenance and chainsaw use.
An intense course over two days covering in detail: HSE legislation, good working practice, and how to keep your saw in tip-top condition and keep that chain sharp! Safe saw use, crosscutting timber, and good manual handling techniques.

£220.00.

CS 30/31 As above but felling small trees from 200mm-320mm
A course run over 5 days and again very intense with an early morning start. A course run on Forestry practise and how to deal with leaning trees (both backwards and forwards), use of a winch, and "hung-up" trees.

£480.00

CS 38- Climb trees /perform aerial rescue- 5 days
A course designed for the beginner to see how they cope with height and an introduction to arborist equipment, tree identification, tree hazard evaluation, and all relevant legislation. If you are not sure about working at height, a shorter course can be arranged over 2/3/days to see if Arborist work is for you.

£480.00

CS 39- Operate a saw from a rope and harness.
This will depend on experience, so it is possible to do this course in 2 days, but 3 more likely. A range of free fall and hand held cuts on lateral and ascending stems using a top or rear handled chain saw. The emphasis here is on correct work positioning, safe handling of the saw, and correct target pruning.

£240 for two days, £360 for 3 days.

CS 40 Pruning operations/ crown thinning, reductions.
I hate rubbish tree work where topping , inter-nodal cuts, and massive reductions are carried out, so a bit of time spent here on why this work is hideous, and how to do it correctly leaving the tree with an aesthetically pleasant shape and with not too much injury from pruning wounds.
Again, this will depend on experience so it can be done over two days, but three more likely.

£240 for two days, £360 for 3 days.

CS 41 Dismantling operations
Removal of branches with tip rope, butt, and balance techniques. Removal of top sections by free fall, pull rope, and snatching on a pulley block. (You’ll love it!)

Prices as for CS 39 and 40.

Are their any extra costs?
NPTC assessments are additional.

All chainsaws, climbing equipment, course handbooks/literature, and rigging equipment are supplied.

PPE (Personal protective equipment) can be supplied but there is a charge for this. If you are bringing your own, ring me first to make sure it is compliant. All round leg protection Type C trousers are required for occasional users and arborists and a Petzl ecrin type rock helmet is now a requirement for aerial chainsaw use. Normal chainsaw helmets are fine for ground use . Please do not turn up with ripped trousers, or old faded helmets. If you wish to use your own climbing equipment a LOLER certificate and your weekly log will be required.

Transport to any work site (at this moment in time) will be your responsibility.

Tea/coffee and biscuits are available in the workshop but packed lunch advisable.

Other courses in chainsaw use such as CS 32, 33, 47, chipper and stumpgrinder, can be provided. Please ring for further details.

Payment

Full payment is required before starting the course.

Useful Links:

www.nptc.org.uk. Click on assessment schedules to see the criteria required for the courses.

www.lantraawards.co.uk. Details of courses provided by Lantra.

www.honeybros.co.uk. Great site for arborist equipment. Tell them you have booked on a course with me to get some discount!

Glossary of Terms

Arboriculture: The correct care of trees incorporating current best practise so workers and public understand how trees work and how we can keep them healthy.

NPTC: An awarding body providing assessment after training. You do a course of training, an assessor comes in and assesses if you are competent enough. All arborist companies recognise and require these competence certificates. They are approved by the HSE

Lantra Awards: Design and run courses in Arboriculture providing course books and relevant literature. They have strict guidelines to ensure that the training providers and instructors adhere to current best practise in their subject and teaching role. Therefore quality assurance is closely monitored.

RFS: Royal Forestry Society. The Certificate in Arboriculture is a one day a week course held over a 33 weeks. Ideal for arborists who do not want to lose too much time and money while still gaining a qualification. Theory and practical tests required for the full qualification. A level 2 qualification. Other qualifications available.

NC: National Certificate in Forestry/Arboriculture. A year long course covering theory/practical sessions. A lot of assignment work required.

ND: A follow on from the NC. A six months work placement required and this second year is ideal for those seeking a management role in years to come.