Overloaded

[Aicchalmers]

3 hours ago, Rough Hewn said:

Im strictly trees.
My only issue is I'll have to get another transit to deliver slabs of milled wood as that's classified as haulage.
And I've bought a car for domestic use.
Yes you're right about landscaping and groundworks.

The exemptions for red diesel, licensing, etc do apply for horticultural works which can include domestic tree surgery, but operator's license legislation has no such mention of horticulture. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1995/2869/schedule/3/made

(Part 2)

It just says forestry and agriculture. Interestingly if you milled the wood on site you could probably deliver it 15 miles away without needing an o license.

[Jwoodgardenmaintenance]

Out of curiosity what hp tractor would I need & what license would I need to tow a 13 ton digger? 

 

Jack

[Marc]

7 minutes ago, Jwoodgardenmaintenance said:

Out of curiosity what hp tractor would I need & what license would I need to tow a 13 ton digger? 

 

Jack

You’d be hard pushed to do it legally but when does that matter with ag ?

[doobin]

15 minutes ago, Jwoodgardenmaintenance said:

Out of curiosity what hp tractor would I need & what license would I need to tow a 13 ton digger? 

 

Jack

Fuck off, you’d put a 21 tonner on it! ??

[Jwoodgardenmaintenance]

2 minutes ago, doobin said:

Fuck off, you’d put a 21 tonner on it! ??

???? That tickled ? Im not gonna overload any more vehicles ever again ?

 

Jack 

[doobin]

Just now, Jwoodgardenmaintenance said:

???? That tickled ? Im not gonna overload any more vehicles ever again ?

 

Jack 

Glad to hear it mate. You might not believe it but I was once your age and hot headed just the same. I’m 30 now, much more chilled and make much more money. 

 

Some pointers based upon what you’ve said in recent threads. You complain about customers not taking you seriously. It’s a real issue. You can’t change your age, but you can adopt mannerisms, clothing style and the like- effectively a slightly different persona when you go to quote a job. Also, it might not be popular with some, but I had no hesitation lying about my age to appear older. You’ll soon work out who is trying it on because of your age- drop them, they won’t improve. A certain type of ‘customer’ is always looking for a mark for a cheap job. 

 

The flip side of this is that you will need to deliver the results to back this up. It seems like you want to take a pride in your work, but funds don’t always allow. Charge more. Pretend you’ve been in business longer. Get yourself a Spons landscape price book (£130 for the ebook) and see what the actual going rate is. PM me if you want a couple of rates from the book, but it’s a great investment. Then, deliver over and above what the customer wanted  and they will recommend you. You sound like you’re pushed for time- this is great, but is also usually an indication that you could be charging more. 

 

Don’t run stupidly overloaded, and as mentioned, never do it as a ‘favour’ for a customer. They extend the job- they pay extra. It’s all in how you frame it to them. You could have said ‘tell you what guys, I’m flat out at the moment, but I’ll rearrange my diary and get the extras done for you because there’s no sense coming back to do it. The depot have problems with the lorry at the moment, but I can get the blocks on my truck and trailer in two loads. It’ll only

cost you £200 for me to go and collect them, so cheaper than having them delivered by lorry anyway.” You’d still have been a hero to them. 

 

Above all, be safe. It makes my blood run cold to think of some of the stupid shit I’ve done because I was desperate for £50- luckily I’m still here to tell the tale. Invest in your kit and skills-I’ve not had a proper holiday in years, but I’ve got three new diggers and all the tools you could imagine. Work is easy for me now, we never break a sweat. I can make £3-400 profit after paying a labourer most days, with anything from a ride on to a welder. 

[Jwoodgardenmaintenance]

4 minutes ago, doobin said:

Glad to hear it mate. You might not believe it but I was once your age and hot headed just the same. I’m 30 now, much more chilled and make much more money. 

 

Some pointers based upon what you’ve said in recent threads. You complain about customers not taking you seriously. It’s a real issue. You can’t change your age, but you can adopt mannerisms, clothing style and the like- effectively a slightly different persona when you go to quote a job. Also, it might not be popular with some, but I had no hesitation lying about my age to appear older. You’ll soon work out who is trying it on because of your age- drop them, they won’t improve. A certain type of ‘customer’ is always looking for a mark for a cheap job. 

 

The flip side of this is that you will need to deliver the results to back this up. It seems like you want to take a pride in your work, but funds don’t always allow. Charge more. Pretend you’ve been in business longer. Get yourself a Spons landscape price book (£130 for the ebook) and see what the actual going rate is. PM me if you want a couple of rates from the book, but it’s a great investment. Then, deliver over and above what the customer wanted  and they will recommend you. You sound like you’re pushed for time- this is great, but is also usually an indication that you could be charging more. 

 

Don’t run stupidly overloaded, and as mentioned, never do it as a ‘favour’ for a customer. They extend the job- they pay extra. It’s all in how you frame it to them. You could have said ‘tell you what guys, I’m flat out at the moment, but I’ll rearrange my diary and get the extras done for you because there’s no sense coming back to do it. The depot have problems with the lorry at the moment, but I can get the blocks on my truck and trailer in two loads. It’ll only

cost you £200 for me to go and collect them, so cheaper than having them delivered by lorry anyway.” You’d still have been a hero to them. 

 

Above all, be safe. It makes my blood run cold to think of some of the stupid shit I’ve done because I was desperate for £50- luckily I’m still here to tell the tale. Invest in your kit and skills-I’ve not had a proper holiday in years, but I’ve got three new diggers and all the tools you could imagine. Work is easy for me now, we never break a sweat. I can make £3-400 profit after paying a labourer most days, with anything from a ride on to a welder. 

Cheers @doobin for the advice & information you've just gave me I really appreciate it ? I'm not always hot headed just when I feel backed into a corner I start swinging ? just natural reaction as with pushed for time as daft as it sounds my full time job is a blessing but also a problem at the same time because there have been days I've been out and rattled a little driveway in and made £800 profit but then there's sometimes days or weeks where I've got literally no work in at all so that's why I keep the full time job going it's minimum wage but covers rent and council tax and allows a couple of hundred to live off my main issue is transport as that truck costs me something 327.89 a month to insure but I only gave 1900 for the truck itself that's my main grudge insurance ? I appreciate the offer of the ebook pricing aswell I've never heard of it until you mentioned it

Thank you 

Jack 

[doobin]

6 minutes ago, Jwoodgardenmaintenance said:

Cheers @doobin for the advice & information you've just gave me I really appreciate it ? I'm not always hot headed just when I feel backed into a corner I start swinging ? just natural reaction as with pushed for time as daft as it sounds my full time job is a blessing but also a problem at the same time because there have been days I've been out and rattled a little driveway in and made £800 profit but then there's sometimes days or weeks where I've got literally no work in at all so that's why I keep the full time job going it's minimum wage but covers rent and council tax and allows a couple of hundred to live off my main issue is transport as that truck costs me something 327.89 a month to insure but I only gave 1900 for the truck itself that's my main grudge insurance ? I appreciate the offer of the ebook pricing aswell I've never heard of it until you mentioned it

Thank you 

Jack 

I used to get up at 4am every day and deliver papers to cover the rent before working on my business, so I know where you’re coming from. Used to work till 11 at night on commercial strimming work some nights too. 

 

Insurance is also always a killer when you’re young. Keep on keeping on, and increased age and profit will make it seem insignificant in the future. I now have five vehicles, all oldish but always the perfect one for whatever job we’re doing. If you end up with three vehicles somehow (maybe truck, van and missus car?) then that’s the minimum for a mini fleet policy, which can save you money sometimes. 

 

Subbies who want £200 a day take note- some of us have damn well paid our fucking dues, and we’re not being tight when we say we’re not paying you that!

Edited September 24, 2019 by doobin

[eggsarascal]

Brickie £240/day. It's the going rate it's the going rate around here.

 

Bricklayer £24 P/H - Sudbury - Indeed.co.uk

WWW.INDEED.CO.UK

 

[doobin]

I make that £192 a day.