Felling medium trees 380-760mm refresher training

Our refresher for felling medium trees 360-780mm (CS32) courses run in North Yorkshire, ideal for foresters, arborists, IRATA, tree surgeons, gamekeepers and utility workers

Refresher for Felling Medium Trees 380-760mm

(formerly CS32)

Felling medium trees refresher

Things you must consider when it comes to chainsaw-related refreshers, who is asking you for the evidence of a refresher?

  • Is it for your peace of mind?
  • Requirements of your insurance company?
  • A contract that you have to fulfil?

Before booking be sure that this refresher course will fulfil your requirements. 

If you have contracts with specific companies they may insist on awarding organisations refresher certificates.

City and Guilds now offer a CPD unit, please ask for additional assessment prices if this is what you require.
We recommend both our Lowe Maintenance refresher day and CPD unit session if you’re wanting a recognised awarding body status. 

Carrying out chainsaw and tree-climbing activities within the industry as a professional is something to take seriously, as such it is important to keep up to date and attend refresher courses. 

Think of it this way, if you have an incident one of the first questions your insurance company or HSE may ask, is,

‘When were you last refreshed?’

It’s not going to sound so good if you say you haven’t had a refresher since you did your original course twenty years ago.

Don’t forget HSE advise a refresher every 5 years and some insurance
companies are now insisting on a refresher course every three years. 

Do you know what your insurance company requires?

With all this in mind and you are now faced with having to gain your chainsaw from a rope and harness refresher have you been:

  • struggling to find the right fit in terms of a training provider?
  • confused by all the names, numbers and acronyms for the land based courses that are available to you?
  • worried you will get it wrong or waste your hard-earned money?
  • concerned that it will feel like going back to school?
Then we can help you!

No matter which sector you are coming from, and your level of
experience. We can work with you to understand your training needs. To tailor a programme and provide courses that will be suitable for you.

Providing award-winning training through tailored, flexible, friendly, approachable trainers and assessors.

All courses are run in small groups. To ensure you have as much time as needed to learn and experience the requirements for the assessments.
If you chose to take them. Trainers and assessors are experienced, friendly, and approachable.

Finally, as with all Lowe Maintenance courses, you get support and advice via email or on the phone. If you need it in the future. Just because you’ve completed the course doesn’t mean you can’t get in touch if you need more information or guidance.

Lowe Maintenance Certificate of Completion

This is the certificate you will gain on successful completion of your tree climbing and aerial rescue refresher course, it is valid for 3 years. 

We would advise that you check with your insurance company before booking to ensure they are happy with a certificate of completion, many are, but is it certainly worth checking first!

Companies we already provide refresher courses for are:

  • National Parks
  • National Trust
  • Natural England
  • Burnley Borough Council
  • amongst many others 

Our one-day felling medium trees 380-760mm refresher training course provides you with any industry updates, along with plenty of time for you to demonstrate the cuts and system set ups.

Group sizes are no more than four candidates to one trainer, so nice small group sizes. To allow for plenty of discussion and questions. 

You will have access to the Lowe Maintenance portal on booking where you will find leaflets and updates to look through before attending the practical session. 

On this medium trees refresher course you will be covering or demonstrating:

  • risk assessment and emergency procedures
  • relevant health and safety regulations and changes where applicable
  • the felling of trees 380 – 760mm 
  • carry out safe snedding procedures for timber type 
  • discussion or demonstration of hung up procedure
  • demonstrate safe use of winching techniques 
  • and demonstrate industry best practice 
Candidate portal

On booking your course you will be given access to the candidate portal, where you will find lots of leaflets and documentation to read through before you attend the course. This helps you with the terminology on the day and gives you a heads-up of what to expect in any discussions. There could even be some videos to watch to embed your learning ready for the session. 

Assessment 

You will be assessed ongoing throughout the session by your trainer who will make recommendations as required. There is no formal assessment process for this course but must meet the requirements listed above to be fully refreshed and demonstrate competence. 

City and Guilds now offer a skills check, CPD unit. 

If you wish to complete this in addition to the Lowe Maintenance felling medium trees refresher, please contact us to make additional arrangements and for us to provide costs. 

The CPD unit is an additional day and you would on successful completion receive digital credentials direct from City and Guilds. 

We may be stating the obvious and it is sad that we have to be saying this as it appears it is not common practice. 

When attending a course with us, you must follow any instructions that are given when using any equipment and carrying out tasks, for the safety of all involved. 

For further details please see our terms and conditions for courses.

Felling Medium Trees Refresher
CS32 Video Testimonials

Book and Buy
Book and Buy
  • Cost £200 +VAT = £240
  • Certification - Lowe Maintenance Certificate of Competence
    Valid for 3 years
  • Length
    Training - 1 day
  • City and Guilds - CPD unit
    Additional day and costs
    Please contact us for details
Felling medium trees 380-760mm refresher (CS32)

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Testimonials

FAQ

As this is a refresher unit, it is expected that you would bring your own chainsaw, which is fully serviced and in safe working order.

Alkylate fuel is very good and can be left for a long time. However, if you are using a self-mix two-stroke fuel, don’t leave it too long as it can separate. This is not good for the cylinder head. 

There is a cant hook on the felling bar and tongs are available to limit arm strain when moving logs. As a result, both are very handy to have in the working environment.

380mm to 760mm. However, it takes time to build up the knowledge to cut big trees. A tree is not measured at ground level but at chest height. So a tree 380mm at chest height could be a nice bit of wood to deal with. The reason we measure at chest height is that the base flairs and looks a lot wider than it really is.

The minimum guide bar size for the course is 18inch this will give you plenty of bar length to achieve the type of cuts we will use. As a result, it will make it easier to cross-cut the stem and deal with anything else that crops up.

  • helmet with ear defenders and a visor (in date)
  • protective chainsaw gloves
  • chainsaw trousers
  • chainsaw boots or wellies
  • personal first aid kit
  • felling bar
  • chainsaw with a bar no larger than 18 inch
  • relevant sharpening kit

Yes, however, when you are a competent operator your insurance may let you modify your dress code in accordance with HSE. 

For any assessment processes it is required to wear chainsaw protective gloves. 

There is no restriction on bar and chainsaw size it’s down to being able to handle it safely. Of course bigger chainsaws are heavier and longer bars are harder to control. However, it is all down to getting the best tool for the job and being able to safely control it.

Anyone who uses chainsaws as a professional must have certificates of competence to be insured and part of this includes being refreshed on a regular basis. 

Unfortunately, not, because there are many different situatuls and scenarios in using chiansaws. So it is not possible to just have one ticket to cover everything.

 

The size of the timber you will be dealing with will make it very hard to stack as it will be cut to product lengths. Along with manual handling, regulations will not let you break yourself just for a course. What you do in your own working environment is up to you but best practice is to use a mechanical means to stack the timber.

The size of trees makes it harder to twist out a tree using a felling bar. Therefore, winches are used in the hung-up part of the course. We provide the winch for the course so you know it will be the right size and type needed.

Yes, and very well. The chainsaws are now much lighter, the equipment is much more user friendly and most women are tough. They are also very good at thinking a problem through and not just fighting with the tree.

Of course you should be wearing a helmet to limit injury from falling objects. Purpose brought helmets have combined ear defenders and mesh visor which are compatible so offer the right level of protection. 

If when you are cross-cutting and the wood coming from the chain is like dust not little square chips or you find you are having to push harder on the saw to cut. Then it is time to look at how sharp your chain is.

If you cut close to the ground, you maximise the amount of wood extracted.

Furthermore, it is also safer to cut close to the floor if anything goes wrong the more of you that is below the hinge then the more gets hurt. Industry-standard would also encourage you to cut as close to the ground too, high cuts could result in lost future work.

If a tree you fell does not fall to the ground but gets stuck in a neighbouring tree, it is called a hung-up tree.

If you wish to bring a winch with you on our course, you will need one with a straight line pull of 1600kg. However, we do provide them for the courses if you haven’t bought one already. We recommended waiting until you have done the course so you have a better idea of what is available and what you like and don’t like.

The strongest muscle you have is the one between your ears (brain). If you can think through the problem, then these days, with the equipment to hand, you don’t need to be built like a brick privy. The more tree work you do then physically you will start to develop.

Yes, it’s good practice to tidy the brash into designated rows or piles and keep the forest floor as easy to move around as possible. This is all part of having a good reputation too. If you leave sites in a mess you could be limiting future work.

If you did the City and Guilds tickets and you still have your certificates, then yes, they should still stand. If you can be found on the City and Guilds system, have copies of certificates or your ID card number.

Ideally, store the chainsaw with the chain brake on due to the nature of the brake spring and the force it is left under when the brake is off.

Softwood is mainly pines, whereas the term hardwood is mainly used to describe a broadleaf tree-like beech, oak etc. As a result, there are slightly different techniques for processing the timber which you will be made aware of during your training.

Tidy, stacks with the butts to one end in case a chipper is going to be used later. Besides, the last thing you want to be doing is fighting with the brash pile because it was badly stacked.

It’s the forces that can build up in a piece of wood. If you take a broom handle and bridge it across two points, then put a bit of weight in the middle you will see the handle bend. The fibres at the bottom of the handle are being stretched or put under tension and the fibres at the top are being compressed. However, with a tree, it’s not quite as easy to read, however, if you get it right you are less likely to get your chainsaw stuck!

There is no set height, it is down to diameter at chest not how tall. A plantation grown tree can be very tall and thin whereas an open-grown tree can be very broad and short each tree is different.

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