What do you do in the winter?

[Stephen Blair]

Logs here and what ever tree work comes in, i gap fill an hour or 2 here and there all through the summer splitting logs and filling the shed and sell them over the winter period.

i had to do it for a year first to get the shed stocked up with seasoned logs for the following year, so we take logs out 1 side and split into the other and just rotate it.

[combined tree services]

It may be a long shot but have you thought about doing something like surveying powerines through winter or even ground work ? yes it means doing your Ua1 and Ua5 but it would be another string to your bow .

 

another idea may be to look into subbing your slef out as a grounds man to tree firms .

[Mark Bolam]

What does the surveying involve Dave, and how is the payment worked out?

 

I'm struggling to climb in the winter now with my p-poor hand circulation.

[Always learning]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I'll do a proper reply soon but my pc keeps trying to reload the page and doesn't show ANY replies! Currently having to view and type on my iPod!

[combined tree services]

hiya Mark , surveying basicly envolves folllowing a circuit (powerline) and surveying the trees that are growing within proximity to them , various voltages have various clearences etc , then you liase with the owner of the tree and fill out a permission form to allow the trimming of the tree(s) . pretty strait forward to be honest . payment in most cases it a span rate (pole to pole) and your normally paid for every span on the circuit .

 

Hope this is of help and makes sense (too many margaritas with tea)

[blazer]

do a lot of beating on a large shoot:thumbup1:

[Robert_S]

usually nowt

 

Although last year i was called in to do gritting for the LA and it was good money so if that comes off this year i will be doing that. If not i will fall back on plan A = Nowt

 

To - Always learning - get in touch with you LA and see if they are using sub contractors for the snow clearing/gritting, then let it be known you are available at short notice with a pick up (if you have one that is) to help.

[David Goss]

Hello to everyone!

 

After getting made redundant 2 years ago, I started my Gardening business at the age of 42 with virtually no funds and just my domestic gardening equipment (which didn't last very long). Over the last two years I have been building up my skills via college, my equipment and most importantly, my customer base. As "tree work" only forms a small percentage of my income I haven't yet been able to build up enough of a financial buffer to see me through the winter.

 

I just wondered what some of you guys did to while away the winter months (mainly Dec, Jan and Feb) and put food on the families table? I'm starting to look at part-time jobs but would prefer to stay on the self-employed route.

 

Darren

 

Same as i do in the summer except i dont sweat so much and there is no leaves to tidy up so generally its much better in winter. Also its better in most cases with trees to trim in the winter so what the question should be is "what do you do in the summer?" i go on holiday and generally laze around enjoying the long days and sun (sometimes) oh yea and i work with trees and ropes and chainsaws:001_rolleyes: