hello

[Daniël Bos]

Welcome sparrow, a nice choice of name indeed!

I've had about 4 months worth of hedgelaying cancelled this winter so I know what you mean it being quiet.

Keep going at it, I've always found the best way to gain customers is to lay hedges! People that have seen me work make up 95% of my new customers so even doing a but if work at cost or severely discounted for say the local village hall or such can pay off well.

 

Good luck.

[hedgesparrow]

parish lengthman thought it get your think pads going. it dates back to the 1900,s and was then resurected after the second world war. a lengthman was a chap who lived by a length of road he was employed by the county council. his job was to walk the length of road he had with him a shovel,spade, rip hook and bill hook keeping the ditches clear and the hedges trimmed.

then with the speed of traffic it was dropped as to dangerous.

parish lengthman there is a lead council who have 10 parishes they get a budget from the county and it is split 11 ways. i do aprox 3 days every 3 months in each parish. doing ditching,hedge trimming.painting benches,bus shelters cleaning road signs and strimming field paths this year i have done 10 miles of paths. and old strimmer gave up due to the work i was giving it.

now have a new 4 stroke honda 40cc and what a loverly strimmer will go through anything. tried sthil ok but honda was £200 cheaper.

still do majority of work by hand if the ditches are very bad then in comes the digger to do job. but eats into budget.

having worked in IT for 20 plus years and made redundant. needed a job and the tenders came up and i won two so have 22 villages to look after. with winter rural parishes have very little to do so has dropped to 14 until next spring then re tender for contract. but looking to see if i can get two more so make 44 villages to look after. like doing my hedgelaying. and do a bit with surrey hedgelaying group so busy every other Saturday. but since writing been asked to quote for a job to lay a hedge and ditch on the field side.

and trying to get in with wildlife group. but chainsaw ticket is needed make it easier to cut the pleach and finish off with axe or yorkshire. looking at getting a cordless chain saw 44 volts with a little 10inch bar and self sharpening will run for two hours on full chat so should last all day laying. thanks for the reply's and the welcome

[hedgesparrow]

have to agree have a hedge i am trying to get to do by a top private school many farming types take daughters to school so do it cheap to get it may lead to more work. but there is loads of hedges in such poor state just need some TLC. i charge normally £10 per mtr including stakes and binders. but when you work it out getting the stakes and binders. have own wood then doing job its not much per hour. but its outside you keep warm and to see the hedge finished then see it the following year when it regrows

is so therapeutic. plus i can get volcano stove going for a hot soup or fried lunch plus hot drinks. bliss

[Andy Collins]

Welcome hedgesparrow. What a brilliant tribute to your dad, I like it. Likewise, I'd never heard of the parish length either, interesting.

[jamiep]

Hi again Hedgesparrow,

 

Yeah the stove is essential for hedgelaying - nothing quite like it when it's cold!

 

I've bought stakes and binders in for the last two seasons as it saves days and days worth of time, haggled a price for both and ended up doing more paid days instead of having to spend time and effort cutting and gathering them, well worthwhile.

 

Was thinking of trying a Kelly Kettle, they look good and have a cooking set up too. Will report back on the results of using one.

 

As the other guys said though, once you get known for hedgelaying it can get quite busy. All the best with your business mate,

 

Chhers

[hedgesparrow]

Hi again Hedgesparrow,

 

Yeah the stove is essential for hedgelaying - nothing quite like it when it's cold!

 

I've bought stakes and binders in for the last two seasons as it saves days and days worth of time, haggled a price for both and ended up doing more paid days instead of having to spend time and effort cutting and gathering them, well worthwhile.

 

Was thinking of trying a Kelly Kettle, they look good and have a cooking set up too. Will report back on the results of using one.

 

As the other guys said though, once you get known for hedgelaying it can get quite busy. All the best with your business mate,

 

Chhers

if you get a kettle learnt the hard way. i now have sweet bags with a small piece of fire lighter in with small dry kindly wood. just put in bottom light it and away it goes, then just feed it with twigs to keep going, also piece of tin to put at back of it if wind is blowing just stops it blowing it out. but it will boil 5 cups of drink in 2 mins faster than a normal kettle. so it does sometimes boil water before the bacon is cooked. i just use the burning pan to cook on. works just as well. worth buying one only £50. as for hedge laying looks like we have a hedge with a fried to lay 100mtrs. and laid 15mts for a council so bus stop could go in now wants some more laid so word of mouth is better than advertising. what do you pay for your stakes and binders. i was paying 50p each for them but as i have 20 acres of hazel cut my own. want to have a go at devon style looks good for on top of bank. but like the welsh style.

[liam]

Good to see that there are a few hedge layers on here. i do a lot of devon style normally a couple of miles a year, my record was 7 miles one year ,back in the days when farmers were getting big grants but that seems to have faded now, mostly doing large gardens and small holdings but the work is starting to get slower. have done a few comps, got placed 3rd in the devon hedge group last year and won the blackdown hills hedge comp in my class. our parish lengths man live next door to me, it seems like a very interesting a varied job.

great business name:thumbup:

[jamiep]

Thanks for the Kelly input, not used one ert so thats much appreciated.

 

Managed to get stakes for 35p each and binders down to 20p each -

both in bundles of 20, didn't have any coppice available at the time so it was a lifesaver.

Glad you're getting busy too, word of mouth is definitely the best way cos people have seen your work and recommend it. Seems like most hedgelayers get their work that way.

 

The Devon style does look good, will hopefully get a chance to do it one day.