Could do with some advice.. BIG TIME!!

[Boy English]

Hi chaps.. first time ive ever posted so bear with me..

Ive recently finished a job (subcontacting steel work) which has freed up some investment money, i decided to put myelf and a mate through our cs 30/31 (examination on friday).. then if all goes to plan our cs32's asap.

 

Neither of us are new to hard work and we have both been involved in woodland work before (not on saws) but fencing / spraying / running swipes through on tractors ect, on an old caravan park, local estate and a bit on a quary.. All on self employed basis..

 

My problem lies in what to do next. i have a contact in a reasonable position of a maintenance firm who deals with carparks and other puplic areas

Who recons if i have all the tickets & gear he can give me a heads up, however it will require cherry pickers / pole pruners and so on..

(Im doubtfull if hes to be relied on!!)

 

Or to invest in a decentish tractor / forwarding trailer and work on my contacts with local estates & farms..

 

Expand tickets and look towards tree surgery OR gear up and find woodland work????

Any advice would be a help.. If it makes any differance ive allready got a small yard and a chipper... oh and i would like to say thanks to fr jones for sorting me out gear wise.. top job..

[BTS]

gear up for both you dont need all the big kit to start off with if and when you need it hire it in and build up client base, see which side does best and after couple years you might decide to follow one specific route. if you go one way at start your putting alot of eggs in one basket and spending alot cash doing it

[sloth]

Good advice. Might I also suggest if you don't have much climbing experience (which I assume from what you have written, sorry if I am wrong) you try and sub in more experienced persons to help out when needed, or do work with other companies that know what's what. As said, sorry if you have this experience; I'd worry about inexperienced people taking on more than they can chew. A new climber I worked with last year had his ticket nearly two years, within a fortnight working with us he made a silly mistake up a 30 foot pine and nearly went right through his arm. I was the only other person on site, pretty scary, made think and now see things a bit differently/more clearly.

Good luck whatever you do, know your limits, don't be afraid to ask questions and of course, be safe

[dangerous brian]

Most of the sucessful businesses down here start small ie Transit tipper and a Tw 150 and build up as and when,ask anyone on here and they will tell you if you got all the jobs people promise you youd be a rich man,its wise to start small and remember you can hire cherry pickers etc,plenty of free lance climbers out there to do the realy awkward stuff,but try not to think to far ahead deal with what you have first,good luck DB.

[Boy English]

Thanks chaps.. Ive been running my options around in my head for a couple of months and now and its just getting to me!!

 

In my current work ive allways been happy to bring in subbies for the things im not so sure about and ive also been lucky to get my hands on machines that need a rebuild or some serious attention which is not a large problem for me..

 

If i start small and advertise for both, price on hire gear and if i can come up with my own gear before the job starts all should be good..

 

Ive never been keen on climbing steel so i had allways planed to hire in climers where a cherry picker cant be used (im just not built for it should we say :-)

 

thanks guys..

[dangerous brian]

Sounds like youve got it all worked out good luck.

[Lorry thompson]

Try and save for kit at the start too (sounds like you already have) so you don't have too many bills to worry about while work is quiet and as brian says start with small equipment and through time you will know what your business needs, I wanted all sorts of stuff but realized now I would never use them enough. Good luck mate.

[Frankie Lawrence]

Forestry is more do able for you I think, its much more vast in what you can do and sometimes can pay alot better. You could be your own standing timber fell and sell the timber on tbh you probly wouldnt make alot of monney but it would get you started wtih contacts logs also builds up a client base and geting subbies in on climbing is also the good.

 

Good luck where abouts are you?

[Boy English]

I live in norfolk, there has been quite alot of timber removed from a local estate over the last couple of years all done by harvester, was walking the dog the other day and the woods look devistated.. i know it makes much more money but jesus!!

[Stephen Blair]

You don't need Arb advice, you need a wee push:001_smile:

. Machinery, tickets and advice will not give you long term confidence, that is earned through achievenent.

You need to take those first scary steps all by yourself, you don't need to see the whole staircase, just the first step and guess what, you have done that 1 already.