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John Shutler

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Everything posted by John Shutler

  1. my slice of the market has moved over the last couple of years. we now seem to do a lot of LA stuff, estates and development sites as well as larger domestic works. i’m busier than i’ve ever been with 170k of work on the books to do over the next few months. if work did go quiet i’d send some kit back and drop back onto a reduced setup with kit that i own outright
  2. my old one was a good machine, if you got it into the hopper it'd pretty much chip it. My old valet was only 110hp but it went well
  3. Ive been offered/bought a Teagle ECF mulcher. it’ll be running on the back of my Valtra T234. ECF (Cage Rotor) Forestry Mulcher WWW.TEAGLE.CO.UK Teagle Machinery a range of quality British made agricultural machinery. ive run standard flail mowers on tractors for a number of years but never in mulcher territory. im after tricks, tips and advice cheers guys
  4. i don’t think it’s relevant, it’s also coming across as a bit childish. there’s a very real possibility that paul was in the industry while you were still a twinkle in the postman’s eye
  5. you keep saying it’s a risky industry? the job is a risky as you make it. personally I try to limit risk as much as possible but you obviously carry out your works differently ive had one claim against me in 15years of running my business and that was 35k for a driveway that was damaged by a crane company.
  6. that’s pretty much my setup mick. with a bit of consultancy and operated plant hire as well. ive asked my accountant a number of times over the years if he thought there was any financing benefit to going ltd, he’s not convinced so i’ve always stayed as a sole trader.
  7. I made my comments based on your previous statement “I want to be able to maintain them such as cutting "branches" so pedestrians can walk under the trees when stepping out of the road away from traffic, to keep clear from my neighbours drive , so I can drive under them without catching my roof or the cycles on the roof” i
  8. The tree is obviously in the front garden of your property so will have a level of public visibility. The tree is also nice enough that the LPA deemed it necessary to protect the tree to ensure that the tree can be enjoyed by many for a long as the tree is suitable to be retained. You claim that the works you want to do would not affect the long term health of the tree, but one day you might decide your sick of picking up leaves and cut the tree down (equally you might decide to sell the house and the next bloke will cut it down). The value that the tree adds to the local area and landscape will then be lost forever, unfortunately people can't be trusted to always do the right thing when it comes to trees so that's why statutory protection is important.
  9. I ive got the 8.5 tonne version on the back of the valmet, remote control with all the bells and whistles etc, its a very good winch ive also got an old fransgard 4.5 tonne winch which is controlled by a couple of bits of rope, that goes on the back of an old Massey 35 for when you want to sneak it in somewhere. Its old but functional and old cost about 1k second hand
  10. although you might be able to use a piled solution you need to investigate what impact the design might have on floor levels in the property. in simple terms if the piled solution results in a floor level that is significantly higher than your existing floor levels would that work with a step in the room? The other issue that the LPA will consider is wether there will be an increased pressure to fell or prune the tree in the future, unfortunately that is very difficult to argue against good luck
  11. yeah it’s great on the right job, or just drop the grapple saw off and you have your own crane. massive learning curve but 100% worth it
  12. it’s ok, you don’t get it, that’s fine. I have a set rate and people pay it or they don’t, i don’t care either way wether we get the work or not. Your but hurt comment is hilarious though, i’m far from that. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with trying to display a bit of professionalism in an industry that is often undersold, maybe that’s why i can charge what I do? Further to that making sure someone wears a helmet wether they are 6 inches or 60ft of the ground is no more about ensuring the safety of your staff as it is about making sure that the buisness isn’t liable. i certainly dont want to loose my home because i didn’t ensure that people weren’t using suitable PPE when carrying out work under my direction. i’m sure if someone falls off your homemade platform on your mini loader then decides to sue you you’ll wish that maybe you had done things differently? who knows
  13. I don't take umbridge to the suggestion that a garden conifer hedge trim isn't an ideal fit for my buisness, we still do the odd one here and there but I charge my usual hourly rate for the work. Why would I sell myself short?? Or Maybe the sort of people that I am working for that are happy to pay a decent hourly rate are the ones that are pleased to see climbers wearing helmets when carrying out aerial works? I would go so far as to say using PPE in general but I can't see if he's wearing a harness, ear protection, eye protection etc or maybe the guys only charging £300 to trim that hedge can't afford helmets? who knows?
  14. unfortunately I beg to differ, £300 is to cheap. The reality of it is that 3hrs is the best part of half a day so if your then aim to do another "3hr" job afterwards your buisness has only made £600 for the day. Which is not sustainable. but seeing as your a retired climber you might not be up on current pricing as a side point I started my buisness when £350.00 a day for a two man team with truck and chipper was the norm
  15. That may well be the case, however, if it was a couple of my blokes a ladder and a hedge cutter there would still potentially be two valtras, a Unimog, two diggers, a heizohack, big diesel stump grinder and Merlo roto with grapple saw plus numerous other pieces of kit sat in the yard that need paying for so my rate would still be £150-£165 an hour 🙄 The last conifer hedge we "trimmed" I took away 90 cube of woodchip
  16. it depends what your rates are, I tend to charge between £150 + VAT and £165 + VAT an hour. but then we don't trim many conifer hedges
  17. agreed, the it comes to kit id much rather px it with a dealer for slightly less than have to deal with all the messers to make a little bit extra on it
  18. good sized mac removal. back tomorrow to crack down rest of the timber and chip the lot with the brash. stump ground out in just over an hour. last pick weighed 2.5 tonne
  19. certainly looks like a smart piece of kit. Theres obviously pros and cons to every bit of equipment but I've always thought the ability to position a chipper at any angle is handy, be it tracked or on a trailer. This is where my heizo is limited. however I can rock up with the heizo and feed it with the tractor negating the need for another vehicle and person to bring a digger (you could put both on a low loader behind a tractor if you were going alone) I say get it bought 🤣

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