Jonny69

Get the groundy to pull on it and give you a helping hand. I kept forgetting when I started.

That's really good going. I am pretty picky with who I work for mind. As you must be too. Just one eejit bankrupt crooked landscaper can't or doesn't want to pay up. Never had any issues with it before.

The ones on my bandit are meant to be around that torque. They seem to tighten up on the machine though and require hanging off a 3ft breaker bar to get them off. I have to guess what to put them on at as there's no room for a torque wrench on the nut. 310nm is quite a bit though. Edit; more like a squat off the tracks actually to get them off. getting my rights and lefts mixed up

This is my method. After 10 years running my own business working for schools, council, builders, civils contractors, private etc etc I am currently going through small claims for the 1st time. Pretty good odds considering the amount of jobs in that time. never done t and c's. Never got a payment schedule on the invoice.

That is quite good, There should be some sort of profiling system that you fill in so people can see what your work status is (employed, self employed, director etc) next to the post you make. It would give everyone a fair chance at understanding the comments made on threads about wages and money. A lot of bias going on here I think, depends whether you are a frequent user of the paying in book or chequbook I suppose. On a lighter note, for over £100 someone wants to be good, really keen, a fast learner, decent machine operator, thoughtful, polite, conscientious. Then that wage can go up depending on tickets, climbing and felling ability, speed, distance from worksite and then it just depends how much you want them to work for you. Its no good trying to pay someone as little as possible a day if hes busy for the next three months and you need someone for three days next week.

At your peril sir, at your peril.

Of course, I really like my job. If I didn't then I'd be changing. However I don't think i'm somehow special or important because I have a rope and a few chainsaws..............paraphrasing slightly but I've read people saying "We should get more than a gardener" Rubbish. who is the gardener? Where did he/she study? Who are the clients? A good gardener commands a lot of money. "shelf stackers earn £xx per hour why do I earn <£xx" Well that's simple, its because you aren't as useful as you think you are. If you were, you would earn more. It does grate on me, don't know why, it shouldn't. Must just be the deluded sense of entitlement some people get from doing a 3 day chainsaw course.

People get really excited about tree work and I've no idea why. It's easy, basically anyone with 50% of a functioning brain can do 90% of the work and the cream, who are really good or smart rise to the top. Same as every other industry. There are many analogies I could use but a London escort does not charge the same as a crack whore from the back streets. Yet, is the end result not the same?

Also, who the hell is getting £1500 a for your average long haired, tattooed, stoner, transit, timberwolf two man team? Not that i've ever heard. The only people I know charging near that are running specialist kit which costs a lot. Also they are generally smarter than the average bear!

I've been on SRT with a wrench for a couple of months and i'm still making stupid mistakes that cost me a lot of sweating to get out of!! Though I didn't bother researching it. Just bought the stuff and had a go. It is great now and I really don't think id go back. I still ascend normally if required leaving the tether dangling and then change over at top anchor to alpine butterfly setup. Not convinced even slightly by base anchors for when the chainsaw is going. I will cut as big as possible and don't want my rope getting banged about. Base tying is for throwbag ascents only imo. Redirects are the key, I dead wooded a big twin stem cedar the other day which was a lot of climbing for not a lot of material and its was great. Lovely feeling ascending 80ft back to the top in no time at all and come back down the other side. Easy to get excited and rag the hitch cord though. Especially as the line doesnt coil up underneath you some mega swings and descents are really easy and controllable.

Are they going to try and take it back as a trade on the proviso that you purchase a new one (which should be fixed, haha)? You have two options. Flat out refuse to keep the vehicle, you want all your money back or they will get a bill for the days you had off work when it was in for work to the dpf. It's not fit for purpose as a work truck. Or make the most of the 5 year warranty. I presume you get roadside assistance? keep running it, put as much mileage on it as possible, wait for it the blow up/pack up. Get recovered, eventually you will get a new engine before the 5 years is up. Cut your losses and immediately sell the vehicle when the replacement engine is fitted. The damage being done to the engines from diluted oil will only start showing up at 50+k as it starts to wear a bit.

I saw the first peg at the butt end and had to scroll down, didn't even see what was holding it off the floor. I assume a tiny digger of some kind!

Also, quick bit of info for next time. Even if you don't need finance on the vehicle if you say you do then all of this will come to light immediately. The finance company will HPI the car for you, or the dealer will come out with the truth before you start filling in the application forms for the finance. Saves you £14.99

I hope you recover from the ordeal Better luck with the next one. Buying from a reputable dealer helps a lot. Also if you can stay local and reputable you'll be far better off if anything starts to go wrong. Even if it means you don't buy the exact car you want

In what way is that a horror story? Pretty standard behavior from a crap car dealer, however don't be put off by the fact its a catD. Probably only had a couple of panels or new rad. It's a useful bargaining tool because everyone is frightened of any catergories;)

This is exactly the opposite of correct. Bigger businesses within the service industry run on very low margins. If newguyti and his 60% is of a £200,000 turnover then he's doing well. If its of a £25,000 turnover. Not so good. If a two man crew is turning over 50-80k per year and the boss is making about 10k based on your estimation of "doing well" then everyone involved may as well just go and earn 4x that driving forklifts on a night shift. If your business involves a lot of material cost then this will scupper the figures that are being compared. I spent almost nothing on materials last year. Any business turning over more than a couple of million will be lucky to have a margin of more than 10%. Of course the directors may have already taken their share before net profit is calculated.

Not quite, That is before asset depreciation. However you are right, very efficient. I have very low staff costs and lots of machinery (in comparison to my turnover). Also I work like a dog to keep up, however that will be changing as I near 30 so will lose some of that efficiency. I am interested in other peoples percentages though????

Roughly what are your percentages? I have just got my year end June 2015 back and I am at about 25% costs before capital allowances. No idea how this compares to other businesses.

Cheers for that. I may have worded the bit about 25k wrong. I meant that a mog would carry, with a trailer 8-10x more chip and log and the cost is not directly relative to the increase in carrying capacity. I have no fear of throwing a few quid and doing it properly. However It would be nice to start with just the unimog, chipbox and chipper. I can borrow trailers from friends to see what I like, length, width, height etc and buy from there. Problem is I cant really borrow a unimog for a couple of weeks to see how I get on and borrowing a few to try and see what size would be best is even harder! Hence wanting some advice. Would I need a model number ending 50 to achieve a 10m3 chip box or more on the vehicle or is it best to stay a bit shorter and make the box higher?

Thanks for the advice. I know very little about the subject so not really sure what to expect from a standard size body. How high can I go? Where do I buy the chipper from. New or used what is best? All I think I know is you seem to get a lot more flexibility and carrying capacity compared to 3.5ton trucks. With very little issues except a few bills. Though the efficiency will null that. Looking at spending 25k on a newish landy tipper. Well I can get a U300 for not much more than that. Where should I be going for advice? Lots of people mention AC Price to talk to.

I am VAT registered and its the best thing that happened. Just done my Quarter ending 31st Jan, I have a bookkeeper (my dad) he did it today. I think it took him about an hour and then I email to the accountant for him to submit. 4-5 hours a year is not to bad and that is most of my accounts done.

Hello, Sorry to be a pain and ask about unimogs but I cant find if this subject has been covered. Before I start ringing dealers on Monday and spending hours on the phone can anyone clarify some details for me please I would like a u300-400 Long or standard wheelbase to put a front mount chipper, rear side tip box and tow an ag/lorry trailer, maybe with a trailer crane or a smaller crane behind the chipbox. The trailer can be a secondary issue, just want to deal with the chipper, tractor and chipbox at the moment. Ideally the chipper would be a schliesing or Jensen 8 inch. What spec PTO do I need. I am told that the front PTO's on the machines run direct off the crank? Do I need a reversing or speed reduction box? The mogs I am looking at already have a DIN plate so I assume that is standard fitment for front mount. Is there a specific model code that allows me to know whether the chipper is a front or rear mount? can I buy a rear mount schliesing 440 and make it fit the front somehow? Is there anything else to consider apart from making sure it has the 10ton not the 7.5ton plating? Does anyone have an idea about how large the chipbox difference would be between the two wheelbases in cubic m? Sorry for all the questions, I am sure there will be more. Many Thanks Jonathan

2006 Iveco 180E21 3 way Insulated Tipper with Grab Bucket | eBay 2005 Iveco 260E28 Hook Loader with Hiab Grab Bucket | eBay

Nothing, I put plenty of diesel on the stack to start and then petrol. Then drip a trail of petrol away from the fire and light from a distance. Petrol gets diesel going well, normal cigarette lighters do not. Of course I would not put petrol on a lit fire!

If required just spike it cutting the worst of the ivy off on the way up. Sequoia bark is so thick it wont make any odds. Top anchor, take spikes off and then finish the ivy removal on the way down. Looks a pain what ever way you do it. Get as much off with the pole pruners and ladders lanyarded to the tree first. Also, the guy suggesting you lose weight and muscle it to the top has never had the joy of climbing a tree like that before!