Kev Stephenson

Friday for me

Just under the picture of the ugly git it says Wigan. My guess is he is near enough a scouser but don't tell him that as he gets upset.

That going to make cutting the grass a pain in the arse

and pull your fricking pants up, nothing worse than seeing someone with their arse hanging out!!!

My groundie and me are going to the AA show on Friday 14th there and back in the day from Huddersfield. There are 3 spare seats available should anyone want them. Leave a message on here or drop me a PM Kev

I bought a rope about 6 months ago. Nothing since. I look after my kit and don't use all the fancy shiny shiny stuff. I also don't climb that often so stuff doesn't wear out. Sorry I am not much help

Good on you for finding some work. There isn't a boat load of work out there due to the weather so all work is good. From the point of view of a small company owner that uses subbies here is what I see. 1. I prefer to hire in a climber and work the ground/manage the other staff/customer than climb myself and hire a groundie. That is my personal preference and some of that is because there are much better climbers out there than I am. 2. As it stands based on what you have said I see you as hired labour, not a groundie. Someone to drag brash, chip stuff, clean up, be the groundies/cutters bitch vs. someone to be the climbers man on the ground running the ropes, being his rescue climber or running a sub team on a big no climb job. It may sound harsh but like driving once you have the license (tickets) now you need to learn how the job site runs. There are loads of labourers available but only a few pro groundies. As for wages, minimum wage for an 8 hour day is a few pence short of £50 (labourer). I can get basic climbers for £70 using my kit and climb anything climbers with arb vehicle, rigging gear, selection of saws and years of experience for £100+. At anything more than £70 I would expect you to work with a labourer without issue on say a no climb site clearance. This is the grim north so southern wages are higher. There are also loads of small companies where I am all competing for the same jobs so day rates are no that high. I personally think all wages should be higher but firstly most customers see us as expensive gardeners so don't want to pay big for the job and secondly there are loads of people wanting odd day subbie work so as a company owner I have a choice of who I employ and when it comes to labourers cost is a massive factor. Stick to your guns, you only need a few companies giving you regular work to be fully booked, do a good job (goes without saying). There is always something to do so don't be seen stood around doing nothing, that's the bosses job. Don't over sell yourself, a bad reputation will spread like wildfire and if you get hired as a groundie and can't run the ropes the boss and climber won't be impressed and people will soon find out you can't do what you say you can. If anything does come in then I will give you a shout and a chance. Kev

Last month just over £2k with one supplier, £500 on the van plus other stuff. The month before less than £200 total. Arb show this month will possibly see me doing £500-800 on new stuff but who knows on spares and repairs. Really difficult to give a simple answer, you buy what you need to do the jobs you have booked in

So why not do as he asked and send him an email asking your question?

Thus isn't Stihl sticking up for the small dealer this is Stihl screwing the big ones. Is this a breach of anti competition law? Stihl are all but preventing me from having a choice on where I buy my spares from

As has been said I can understand the issues around machines but parts is just ridiculous. The handover policy for everything will lead to more people using pattern parts which in most cases are of inferior quality leading to the frequency of breakdowns increasing and the reputation Stihl have for reliability disappearing. I generally run Stihl oils, bars and chains on my Stihl saws. Preventing me from buying these online will not make me use my local (8 miles away) dealer as the stock held is poor to say the least. Instead I will start to purchase the equivalent consumable made by the likes of Oregon from my preferred supplier. My money will still go to the same (non local) supplier but will not ultimately end up on the Stihl balance sheets. Does this make financial sense to Stihl? The same will apply to trousers, files, etc. My local dealer is helpful, knowledgeable but poorly stocked and runs at long lead times for both supply and repair. I have the knowledge to complete 90% of my own repairs when I have the parts. I can't afford to wait a week for parts to come in and I can't afford the time to visit my local supplier for routine service items. My loyalty to the Stihl brand for parts and consumables is highly likely to end abruptly.

50% of any profit would be fair as she owns 50% of the company but not a wage. I assume if you wish to continue running the company as it was you will need to employ someone to do the work your brother did. This is the person that gets the wage. As has been stated this assumes there is a company and not just a collection of tools/plant/customers you and your brother co-owned.

It's like the vicar of dibley reruns in here

rg13 on arbtrader now

4 years ago I spent £1400 on a Camon C500 (basically a rayco RG13) and it has been brilliant. I do still sub out big stumps (2ft+) or multiple stumps but anything else or anything up or down stairs we do with the Camon. I would love one that is self driven and possibly even with a few more ponies but then I couldn't lift it onto raised beds or up and down flights of steps. A set of teeth (Rayco superteeth) is about £70 (I have only bought one set), a green wheel to keep them sharp a tenner delivered and other than a couple of bolts that have been shaken loose it hasn't cost me a penny. The machine I have got has paid for itself 3 or 4 times over and is still worth £1k +. I used to hire one in but it was always blunt, only had the 9hp engine and barely made economic sense.

Pete spent this spare day with us and I have to say that boy can eat!! In between consuming bacon and egg sarnies he also works hard and lifts heavy stuff. I will definitely keep his number for future jobs and would recommend him, just don't offer to buy his snap!!!

Greenmech again but you get the idea. This is 1 meter of kitchen extractor vent pipe (£7) so is really light. Not blocked it yet. It doesn't go right into the back of the truck but prevents the fanning out that the greenmech seems to do. Less than a shovel full of spillage for a truck full of chip.

I use a green wheel on the bench grinder. Not that expensive and I have a few sets of teeth that I swap about when required. I want a look at a diamond grinding disk and battery grinder to see if this is a better option when I run out of green disks.

I always state on invoices that it is the responsibility of the owner to ensure a replant is carried out and that by paying me for the work I have done they accept this.

still plenty of snow here. This was Monday, dug it out with the telehandler but can't get to the chipper (4ft drifts against the barn doors) and no way am I even looking at the transit yet as the drive is 400yrds long and mostly uphill. Still snowing fairly heavy but doesn't seem to be settling on cleared ground.

did the back half go in the bin or is it still around? Got a mate who wants something for putting canoes on the roof

6.5mm would equate to .256. Nice round to shoot though. I recently got a .308 for reds as I feel the .243 isn't man enough for lowland stags. The .243 has accounted for plenty of roe and a couple of red hind.

My quadchip (daihatsu engine) burns about 2.5 litres per hour running flat out and will fill the truck to 6 cube in that hour. 20 litres a week is what I have been averaging. What do you class as an average amount of chipping? 10 litres a day (3-4 silly full transit loads) is excessive unless on a site clearance. How long you had your quadchip to judge these averages?

I'm the eldest of 3 brothers and have 2 girls (3&5) who love the outdoor life.

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