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Author Topic: Advice on basic chainsaw skills courses - Perth/Central Scotland  (Read 13514 times)

Chrissie

  • Joined Feb 2013
Hiya,

Hubby wants to do his basic chainsaw ticket so I googled for places near Perth in Scotland - SRUC doing courses but  at £580 *ouch*....is that the general costs and are there other places that do them? We really just need it for minor wood cutting works and cutting up windbreak wood.

Thanks,
Chrissie.

MAK

  • Joined Nov 2011
  • Middle ish of France
    • Cadeaux de La forge
Re: Advice on basic chainsaw skills courses - Perth/Central Scotland
« Reply #1 on: April 01, 2013, 09:00:21 pm »
mmm. You could book a cheap Ryanair flight to Limoges, buy the evening wine and help me cut a few trees down. Cost about £200 depending upon how much wine you drink. Better hurry though the sap is rising.
www.cadeauxdelaforge.fr
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doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
  • Qui? Moi?
    • ABERDON GUNDOGS for work and show
    • Facebook
Re: Advice on basic chainsaw skills courses - Perth/Central Scotland
« Reply #2 on: April 01, 2013, 09:10:31 pm »
Ask SimonO, our events coordinator.  Central Scotland Smallholders is looking into courses such as this sort of thing, but the colleges have merged so they are a little in disarray at the moment.
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

OhLaLa

  • Joined Sep 2010
Re: Advice on basic chainsaw skills courses - Perth/Central Scotland
« Reply #3 on: April 01, 2013, 09:27:19 pm »
mmm. You could book a cheap Ryanair flight to Limoges, buy the evening wine and help me cut a few trees down. Cost about £200 depending upon how much wine you drink. Better hurry though the sap is rising.
Now THAT is an idea...........
Good food too................
 :hungry:

Simon O

  • Joined Mar 2010
  • Bonkle
Re: Advice on basic chainsaw skills courses - Perth/Central Scotland
« Reply #4 on: April 01, 2013, 09:49:36 pm »
Hello here I am Annie!
Hi, Chrissie, I know a little about this, not just through CSSA but because I went on one of the chainsaw courses myself - the basic one at Oatridge college - LANTRA approved course, 2 day course I think it was. Oatridge is now part of the Scottish Agric College. The guy who did the course at Oatridge was called Alan Scott and he was very good. I assume he still does the courses but I am not sure. For years he had his own forestry business but now mainly does training. I have his business card and I assume he would do private/bespoke training but this may be even dearer. He has a mobile sawmill which was the main reason I kept his card, in case I ever wanted to get any of my trees cut up for posts/planks. If you want I can let you have his contact details - he stays in Auchtermuchty.
The course was very good and worthwhile. Safety prime concern - of yourself and other people, taking apart and basic repairs of chainsaw, blade sharpening, basic crosscuttng. If you want to be taught felling you need a more advanced course. On our course there were a couple of experienced guys who needed their ticket (and they really felt they learnt a lot too), and a couple of beginners like me. Hands on course with plenty of practical tips and instruction eg practical demonstrations of kickback, and a chainsaw each to take apart clean put together sharpen and cut with.
You may get courses a bit cheaper but not much cheaper I don't think.
The cost of the course is only the start however - if you do not have the gear already you will need to buy chainsaw leggings, chainsaw boots, hardhat/ear defenders/visor and chainsaw gloves - you have to have these to go on the course! You will find some folk who post on here who say you don't really need the safety gear, nor go on a course; some of them even still have all the parts of their body.
If you do not already have a chainsaw, the main brands eg Stihl will insist on you having a certificate to buy one. No doubt there are ways round this eg second hand purchases ( though Alan's recommendation was never to buy a 2nd hand chainsaw!)
Let me know if you want more info
Cheers,
Simon

spandit

  • Joined Mar 2013
  • East Sussex
    • Sussex Forest Garden
Re: Advice on basic chainsaw skills courses - Perth/Central Scotland
« Reply #5 on: April 02, 2013, 06:11:41 am »
I bought my Stihl from a shop with no certificate. You only need a ticket for top handled saws, I think.

Also, I don't know many tree surgeons who use chainsaw gloves as you should have both hands on the saw at all times with the chain brake off.

The basic certificates you'll need are CS30 and CS31 but the courses do seem to be expensive
sussexforestgarden.blogspot.co.uk

deepinthewoods

  • Guest
Re: Advice on basic chainsaw skills courses - Perth/Central Scotland
« Reply #6 on: April 02, 2013, 09:36:36 am »
you only need a ticket of your working on site.

spend your money on decent boots, trousers and gloves.

Chrissie

  • Joined Feb 2013
Re: Advice on basic chainsaw skills courses - Perth/Central Scotland
« Reply #7 on: April 02, 2013, 07:45:02 pm »
Thanks for all you tips and info :-) will have a chat with hubby and keep you posted!

spandit

  • Joined Mar 2013
  • East Sussex
    • Sussex Forest Garden
Re: Advice on basic chainsaw skills courses - Perth/Central Scotland
« Reply #8 on: April 03, 2013, 01:28:36 am »
There are cheaper domestic chainsaw courses available. At a bare minimum, and I'll probably get slated for this, there are some very good training videos on YouTube by Husqvarna and others. Maybe not a substitute for proper training but a damn site better than just getting stuck in.

I've got a Stihl MS181 and it's great for cutting up firewood and light felling but struggles with bigger stuff which I shouldn't need to tackle anyway...
sussexforestgarden.blogspot.co.uk

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Advice on basic chainsaw skills courses - Perth/Central Scotland
« Reply #9 on: April 03, 2013, 07:28:15 am »
Hi Chrissie,  Yes do keep us posted. There are probably quite a few folks who would be interested in joining you, myself included.
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

Reg henderson

  • Guest
Re: Advice on basic chainsaw skills courses - Perth/Central Scotland
« Reply #10 on: April 04, 2013, 08:25:57 pm »
I can recommend Alan , I did mine with him , really full of info that when cutting down trees , felling , section felling and windblow trees is well worth the info to keep yourself safe . As Alan said" anyone can buy a chainsaw and use a chainsaw but using it safely takes training "and I can recommend him

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Advice on basic chainsaw skills courses - Perth/Central Scotland
« Reply #11 on: April 05, 2013, 06:49:14 am »
Hiya,  quick thought, I know "Wood for All" just had a load of their volunteers trained in basic skills. I'm sure they'd give you more info on who they used.
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

Still playing with tractors

  • Joined Jul 2012
  • Cumbernauld
  • You can never have enough HP
Re: Advice on basic chainsaw skills courses - Perth/Central Scotland
« Reply #12 on: July 08, 2013, 12:37:07 pm »
Hi just to let you know the ILA will give you £250 towards your course. as above go to an SAC location and do a lantra course but dont do the climing one as it will probably be over the top. Im based near stirling so if you need any help or you want to have a look at our kit just pm me. 

Cheers
Alasdair

 

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