Kev Stephenson

He was warm sat close to the fire and the obvious solution was to remove all clothing!!

They are as good if not better than the 81r's. I've got 2 sets of 82's and had 2 sets of 81's. I normally run them for 2 years then replace. can't be bothered with losing time to old kit and since it's staff that use them and not me personally they don't get looked after too well

The noises were definitely not human and the beast that crawled out as the sun rose was far from!!

If you only have the funds/time for one show then save yourself for the APF in September. That's a 3 day special with loads of big forestry kit to look at as well as the arb stuff, chainsaw carving comp, pole climbing. It's also about 20 miles further north. The AA is a real good laugh, the evening entertainment is better here than at the APF (unless you like naked wigan men!!) but the show itself is smaller. In all honesty, do them both. You only live once

Camp over, I guarantee you will learn more in one evening than you will in weeks at work.

4 weeks to go and I've just booked the camping tickets for me and my teams. Spoken to Silky Fox who will be camping and there is a rumour that Mr Plogs will be making an appearance. Last year there was a really good atmosphere at the Holford Arms and at £8 with a live band its good value. Add your names below and call and say hi. I'm taking the BBQ and a load of venison again - Eggs ate most of this last year the greedy B******!!! Kev

The school did ours or at least provided the forms, checked the requested id's and proof of address and sent them off , costs £70 per person, takes roughly 3 weeks. You then need to complete an online form to go onto the auto updated database. The DBS check is like a cars MOT, you get the cert and could break the law the next day yet still show as clear. The online system now keeps your record current. Kev

you sent him an image then supplied something different (cheaper) and are surprised the customer complained. Post up the pics you sent during quotation and the finished article please

2k possibly. Cars with no issues are selling for 3-3.5k private sale on an 04 plate

Because ultimately it's tax evasion!! The VAT man is the tax mans evil big brother. Don't upset him.

To give you an idea of cost, an SPA857 was the hydraulic drive belt I had to buy for my quadchip. It cost about £2.80 + VAT from a belt and bearing specialist. You can get them for about £6 delivered from ebay.

HSBC business is free for the first 18 months I believe. If you get cheques paid to you personally and you are sole trader you may not need a specific business account. It does make things easier at tax time though.

I had a call from someone in the next village to me who had found me via AT. He has bought a 130 that came with a tipper back. He doesn't want the tipper back and is looking to sell the body, sub frame, LED beacons, tipping gear and tipping controller so he can replace it with a drop side back. My first impression is it a fair body that looks like it will unbolt from his truck and bolt straight onto another 130 giving a usable work truck. The body is steel and has a bit of rust but for a sensible priced body it would do a good job. The body has a full width tool locker fitted with roller shutter doors at boths sides and comes with the keys. He openly admits he is poor with regards to IT skills so asked me to post a few pics. He can be contacted on 07595938558. I don't personally know the seller and know nothing more about the body. For more info give him a ring. Before you ask no he won't sell the land rover as is. Location is Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

I think your mother is English, your Dad is Arnie The Terminator which explains the scandinavian and the south asia is due to the company you keep and the food you eat!!

Them 4x4 pandas are ace

Dealings I have had with Pete and Mac and Jase at HQ have been spot on however the push to use the dealers for me was a step in the wrong direction (quite probably more because of the dealer).

I'll second that Ian. The Yorkshire/Lancashire dealer is shocking to say the least

I've got one on a 58 plate, they are 3.5T GVW and able to pull 3.5 (7 tonne train weight). Cracking truck with a tiny turning circle. Very very bumpy/bouncy ride when empty especially over speed bumps and not a lot of space in the cab for stuff (no glove box or underseat storage) but it's narrow, pulls well and has a decent legal carrying capacity. Kev

If everyone operated properly using employed staff instead of avoiding paying tax by using full time subbies and prices for tree work were where they should be instead of some companies undercutting others (possible by tax avoidance) then there would be more money available for training and the above wouldn't be an issue. It would also help if every man and his dog didn't want to run his own one man band fresh out of college as they see employers turning over a load of money and thinking it all gets stuffed under the bed. (RANT OVER)

No point doing the training without the assessment as if an injury occurred how would you prove competence? Thats like saying you can drive because you had 10 lessons and you will sit the test at a later date. The only way you could dismiss someone in favour of someone else who holds a relevant qualification is if you had made an attempt to train person A and they failed to make the grade. I have a clause in employees contracts which states you are required to hold specific qualifications and licenses to meet the needs of the company and failure to hold these could jepodise your employment with the company. I laid a lad off last year whos main role was driver. He lost his license through drink driving and hence lost his job. I also state that should the needs of the company change you will be offered training. I will pay for full training, assessment and one resit should it be needed. Any further resits are at the cost of the employee. Failure to attain a necessary qualification could again jepodise your position within the company. I have recently bought a tracked chipper which needs B+E driving entitlement. If neither members of my tree team could tow it then what should I do? I need the tracked machine due to the number of site clearances we do. My lead climber passed 2nd time, second climber is training over then next couple of weeks. For example your company landed a massive railway contract and moved totally away from domestic. All staff would need PTS. If you sent all staff on the course but one failed then failed the resit you have done all reasonably practicable (financially and otherwise) to train the person. If that person refuses to then pay for their own resit they cannot work on the contract, you have no other work for them and they are therefore redundant. You can take on a suitably qualified PTS worker. Another example would be a groundie with vertigo. If you had moved from a 3 man team to a 2 man team due to your lead groundie and designated rescue climber leaving you now need to train the remaining groundie in CS38. If he refuses due to vertigo (general can't be arsedness or something else) and the finances show a 3 man team is no longer viable you can make that person redundant as they fail to meet the companies needs. Kev

You need to pay wages as they are 'working'. You are buying their time and dictating their activity for a number of days. As stated above ensure some sort of PRE training contract is in place to prevent them leaving as soon as they are trained without reimbursing you. You need to give them the option of signing the contract and the option of receiving the training, you can't force someone into a payback contract. You can however state that without the qualification there is likely to be a restriction on their progress within the company.

I have a trainer come and do the EFAW+F course every year for my teams. It lasts 3 years if you do a short refresher but for the cost the full course is well worth it. (£100 max per person). You do want the +F (forestry) as this adds the major trauma element to the course. I would only expect the leader of a big crew to hold the 3 day course certificate

Trailers escape parking fines for two years 'because they have no engines' (From The Bolton News)

What happens if someone crashes into it? I think you would have issues with the police and you definitely wouldn't have an insurance claim and could be sued for the cost of the damage to the vehicle that hit your trailer. Like I said the double yellows are there for a reason. Ring a skip company and ask if they can leave a skip at the property. State there are double yellows outside and see what they say. A skip is definitely not a vehicle so you should get an answer there Kev

The double yellows are generally there for a reason, however if you are delivering or collecting then you would have a case against a fine for breach of the highway code. If you decide to park there for 3 hours while you sort the job out, the gear has been removed at the beginning, the trailer isn't actually needed for the duration of the job and you load up at the end then expect to get and pay a fine.