Quickthorn

My thoughts, too. On the surface, the match funding is the killer..and some of these schemes have lower limits of something like £28k..so you need to find finance for £14k at least. However, it is worth making contact with people who administer it, as the local arrangement might have some sort of loophole that's not made clear. For example, the scheme minimum here was advertised at £28k, but on phoning the local council, it seems that there is a slot for "micro-businesses" that has a minimum of £3,500..so the match funding is much more feasible. The irony is that some people near me - who gained from very generous funding scheme a few years back - cost their kit out at very low rates..so the only way I can justify buying anything is if I can get funding!!

Charlie, the ATV thing is something I'm looking into. If it's not a rude question, what did they quote, and how much is the ATV worth? Cheers,

Good post. If you're getting through a lot of materials specific to the job, it's important to understand the difference between gross profit and net profit. Gross profit is sales minus cost of sales (ie. all the materials that you use directly for the job..turf, plants, slabs, whatever). Net profit is sales minus all the indirect expenses (ie stuff mentioned already, plus vehicle expenses, paper clips, phone bills etc..everything). I find it's helpful to take gross profit as the starting point rather than sales, because it irons out the ups and downs when the amount of material you use varies. Margins are one useful thing to look at; another good measure only shows up on the balance sheet, and that's owner's equity. How much of your business do you actually own, and is that figure going up or down? If you follow this year on year, you get your return on capital employed. It's worth comparing this to what you would get if you cashed in everything and stuck it in the bank.

Has it always done it?

What about if it's the customer who cancels? I've had this many times, where customers have cancelled, sometimes after I've bought kit based on that work, and sometimes at such short notice that it's been difficult to replace that work (This actually happened last year when I was subbing to someone - he suddenly emigrated to NZ before we were due to do 4 weeks work together- and I'd turned down stuff so I could help him!). All very annoying. At the time, I'd kicked myself for not pinning them down in a written contract, or relying on their word, but it seems that if people cancel, you're pretty much stuffed legally, unless you have some sort of agreement on cancellations in the contract. I recently found out that, even if you can afford to take someone to court over cancelled work, you can only claim actual loss back - and any work you could have done instead doesn't count as an actual loss.

Can't give you an up to date figure, but NFU weren't that good when I had my transit tipper, and gave me a poor quote for an Astramax. I don't think they like commercials unless it's a landrover. I used to use Swinton.

Just come back. Prices at the auction seemed a little low: cut and split hardwoods sold in the range £25-45 / cu. m, with only 1 lot getting up to £60 / cu.m. The real gutter was one of the roundwood lots: 10 tonnes of oak went for £100.! I think the real winner was the auctioneers, with a 10% buyer's premium on everything.

Depends on what your policy says..mine has a general condition that says "You must take all reasonable steps to prevent [...] accidents [...] and comply with all laws and manufacturers' recommendations relating to the [...] the safety of property or the safety of people." As far as I'm aware, and except for pesticide apps, not having a relevant NPTC (or any other) ticket breaks no laws (although goes against guidance and the PUWER ACOP); not having suitable training would break PUWER..so it suggests to me that this insurance should be valid if you don't have tickets, but it might be void if you're not trained for what you're using. If in doubt, perhaps write to them asking for clarification in writing..

It seems like some people are more vulnerable to infection than others. I get jabbed, either through gloves or not, dozens of times a year; probably one every few years, i'll get swelling, and every now and again, the swelling will be bad enough to cause a joint to stiffen up or lock.

That is pretty much diametrically opposite to the way I see it. Setting things like SPS, ELS and HLS aside, we've had a few mentions of ERDP in this thread already, and one of the 4 strands of this business is aimed specifically at farming and forestry. It varies from region to region, but here, axis 1 is translated to farming businesses wanting to diversify, to the exclusion of everyone else. I'd say that if you're a farmer, you've got a lot more chance than anyone else of getting funding, so I'm not surprised you think it's so easy.. Tommer, have you had any luck?

Grant baggers..I know a few, one especially who's had grants to set up companies, got free training in a trade, and now has had grants for solar and wind power so he's self sufficient in power, and could even sell it back to the grid (while some old folk can't afford to put the fire on in winter)..yet if you start a conversation on benefits, he goes ballistic because he thinks the nation's full of scroungers!!! *best stop now - blood pressure rising to dangerous levels..* Best of luck. Do you have any farming connections? Some of those ERDP schemes are designed for farm businesses only, so they can "diversify" into things like firewood, forestry, timber milling etc....

I've been looking for almost the same thing for small scale forwarding machinery. Here's another link GrantNet I got this via my local authority web page. It really is pot luck with grants; personally, I seem to be surrounded by people who have benefited, but have never been in the right time at the right place. On this latest search, it pulled up 17 schemes, of which I was ineligible for 17. I even looked into a commercial loan with the government's loan guarantee scheme, but that specifically rules out anything to do with forestry. What may be good for you is anything to do with ERDP, funded by DEFRA. In my area, it gives 50% funding, but the schemes start at £24,000..no good for me, because I don't need that much. One thing I do notice about this about this sort of funding: it often seems to end up in the pockets of those who don't really need it, and it also makes life hard for the people who never seem to qualify, because the people who do get the funding often run the kit at a lower rate than someone who'd funded it themselves would have to do.

I like the colours myself: blue and yellow/gold go well together. The front layout is good, but have you got an email address to add?. On the back: I can't see too clearly, but in the second line, it looks like you've got a "greengrocers' apostrophe": it should be ".. woodchippings...", not "..woodchipping's". I know it seems trivial, but I reckon it tends to be older and richer people who pick up on little points like that, and they're the sort of people who are more likely to have tree surgeons in. Personally, and this is just my opinion, I'd rearrange the 3rd and 4th sentence, finishing on the free and competitive quote. What about: "Prompt and reliable service - over 25 years experience", then "For a competitive free quote, please call any time".

Painting the ends of each board helps to cut down the risk of splitting

Not sure if parking facing traffic is against chapter 8. safety at street works Whether this is up to date, I don't know. I think on chipper courses they teach to set up so you're facing oncoming traffic, so you've got some idea of what might be bearing down on you, plus protection from the vehicle.

I think it's the first time it's been on. They ran some sort of auction last year, rather than a show. I suspect the whole event is mainly a 'networking' exercise rather than a show.

I'm going to go to that. I didn't go to the auction last year, but I heard some of the lots were pretty cheap..eg. builder's bag of cut and split firewood £30. I can't help thinking September's not really the time to auction firewood..stick a price on it, yes, but not auction it. Most average people don't think that far ahead, and won't be getting ready for fires until the weather turns, so there won't be a great deal of interest.

Ditto..I also traded through this period, as a member of the AA, and I can't remember any of this about audits etc. My insurer withdrew from the market, and the next best premium was x 5 of what I was already paying. No way was that sustainable where I lived, so I had to pack up climbing, the alternative being to carry on uninsured. Rightly or wrongly, my impression of the AA at that time was that its priority was to further the interests of the select band of long term approved contractors; if you were in that band, then perhaps the AA were saviours.

Re: the forces..you could serve for a bit, then come back to treework. If you take to it and are in there for the long term, as far as i know, you might be retired by 50 on a good pension. It might be a bit early to start thinking of when you're 50, but one thing I'm sure of: the days of early retirement, or even comfortable retirement, are pretty much over for just about everyone except certain professionals, public sector and forces. Also, one of my problems is that I'm in competition with people who've retired early on public sector pensions, and they're doing stuff cheaply just for a hobby. I wish I was in their position!!. If I could have planned my life out at age 20, perhaps I would have been now.

What's PS1, dave?

..and while that ceremony's going on, MOD solicitors are busy in court trying to claw back compensation paid to 2 soldiers wounded on duty..that on the back of the Gurkhas affair. I think the phrase "lions led by donkeys" was coined almost 100 years ago for WW1..looks like it's still true today.

Hope your dad gets his wheelchair..can he get one with a winch fitted? He could skid stuff out for you while you carry on working.. ..just a thought.

from an assessor's point of view (I do PA6A and chipper), I don't mind sharing the rates I get for assessments. I get booked by individual proficiency tests committees to do assessments, and they set their rates. Near me, tests committees operate on a county basis. For one, I get £22 per hour, with 40p per mile travelling. That's per hour assessing, and it's a good rate if there's a full day's work (eg 4 PA6 candidates would probably be 8 hours). However, there are days when not everyone turns up (say, candidates who are ill, cancel or fail PA1), and there are days when I might have to travel to some remote farm or site just to assess 1 or 2 candidates - effectively, that blows the rest of the day away, as it's hard to fill in the remaining time with anything other than bits of admin - but it's all part of the mix. There are also some things that are unpaid: preparation for bi-annual verification days, maintaining CPD portfolios, supplying various bits and bobs which make the assessments go a little smoother. So, the pay is OK, but its not really a gravy train. By the way, NPTC are a charity, and are not allowed to make a penny in profit.

My experience of CP stuff has been not great - i've found that the quality is a lot lower than i'd expect for the price. out of the two, i'd choose the Berthoud. If you want value for money, I'd recommend a Bastion 15. Made in Poland, and looks like it, plus the straps aren't that comfy, but it was cheap, and it just goes on and on. I think mine must be 8 or 9 years old now, still going and never let me down. My other one, a 6 yr old CP3, has been nothing but trouble.

It looks like the book is an early BTCV publication.