benedmonds

How many regular users are there, who joined back in 2007?

Cheers, I ordered a draper one but it arrived without the cable or handle so that went back... Have ordered an ACE one.. We generally use the GRCS.. a truck, or a tractor...

Cheers that looks exactly the same as the draper...

We could do with having a hand winch in our tool kit.. I don't want to spend the earth as we have got by without a dedicated unit for years.. The tirfors are the standard but I am not sure I want to spend £400+ for a tool that is not often used.. The Draper is about half the price is it any good? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-71208-Wire-Hoist-Winch/dp/B00023T9OI Any others to consider?

I pulled my hamstring running over a year ago. Not bad but it still is not better.. I have got a support that helps..but I need to go to a sports physio..

New Roads & Street Works, Signing, Lighting and Guarding (Unit 2 & 10)

We did it with https://www.citrustraining.co.uk/. It took one day the lads did the operator and the managers the supervisor, both at the same time in the same classroom.. A more boring day I cannot remember....

many cycle paths are not fit for purpose. . Designed by numpties and often dangerous to ride on..

I assume you are the Baz who recently did a day for us.. I will be in touch in the new year..

Legally you should be have continuous barriers and cones to keep the traffic away from the barriers, and ramps etc... In reality that would involve a huge amount of TM and is rarely done... but if something when pear-shaped that would be what was expected... Snippet from Traffic Signs Manual Chapter 8. O3.13 PEDESTRIANS O3.13.1 Road works will often interfere with the free movement of pedestrians causing them to be diverted from their usual path and even on to the carriageway. Pedestrians shall never be forced into dangerous situations. They should be protected from the works and vehicular traffic by means of continuous barriers that clearly delineate and warn pedestrians of the works’ presence; see also paragraph O4.11.6.O3.13.2 Traffic cones must not be used as a barrier system. Pedestrian barrier systems, when placed in the carriageway, must be separated from the adjacent traffic lane by either traffic cones or temporary vehicle safety barriers. It is not acceptable to separate pedestrians and vehicular traffic only with pedestrian barrier.

Looks a fair bit smaller then the 222 we had.

The Arb Association ran a day course ‘Becoming Tender Ready’ a few years back. It did give some useful insights into how tenders work. But I have never been very good.. You can spend days putting together all the documents they need making up prices on vague specifications "how much would you charge to remove a 50cm branch at 10.30 on Saturday evening?.." and then they use a scoring system so that it is "fair" but ignores all common sense.. I admit to being somewhat bitter.. We lost out on being a contractor on a 4 year LBC contract where our yard is sited, we had been doing the works for the previous 8 years but due to my naivety in filling in the forms were deemed "too expensive.." Even though 3 of the firms who were selected were at least an hour and a half drive from the borough and could not in reality compete on price (or quality). I dislike filling in tenders intensely. Especially when they are for developers who might only be at the tendering stage themselves..

They are a lot more then £70 each though...

That sounds like a potential pension plan... and if it all goes wrong you'll end up in sheltered accommodation with free clothes..... as long as you don't mind stripes..

You can't complain about that..

About time it did some work.. everytime I see it it's parked up in the M1..?

I think that would be a better investment for 1 man. But still doubt you'll get rich..

I think you would be much better off investing your money in a short course (10 or 12 weeks) getting a job with a big firm (at a low pay) for a couple of years, (you will have to get used to that in this industry), then setting up on your own. This job is not rocket science, with a couple of years experience you can do 90% of the work if you have the right kit, the other 10% you can get a freelancer in... Don't tell your employer your plans.. and I would certainly NOT buy a new truck. and unless you are a better business man then most don't expect to get rich. Arboriculture is a lifestyle choice for most of us. I am not saying you can't make a modest living but it is not easy...

My approach is to buy after the initial depreciation and keep it forever. My preferred would always be an ex demo machine... Used kit seems to be hardly ever worth anything when I try and sell it... we have had our TW190 about 12 years it is not used every day and has been a back up for probably the last 6 years, but is still a perfectly usable machine.. Keep your kit maintained and it can last a long time... New things break, old things break.. I admit we might have to spend more time fixing stuff but it is rare for a breakage to stop work as we can normally find a workable solution with the other kit..

It's why I don't have time to do any real work these days..

I quite like them.. Looks like you can pick them up for under £2000. but 980cm wide.. I am in a dilemma now I was thinking a tracked skip loader as they get down to 680cm wide but that looks pretty useful. I went through the 800 jobs we have completed in 2017 and reckon we would have used a really small loader on 52 those, a bigger loader like a multi one on 20 and a digger on 15.. It's not that straight forward as obviously the jobs that the bigger loader could have been useful were generally multi day jobs worth a lot more then the ones we would have used the small loader.. and the more important point is that I might have lost jobs to people with better kit.. Although I have never seen anyone in this area so think it unlikely to be a big issue.

I worried I am turning into an old timer stuck in my ways.. When I started there were guys out their who thought chippers were a waste of money.. They didn't need these new fangled chipping machines.. They took stuff to the quarry and had a big fire..

Roughneck Skiploading Dumper, Still a bit wide but ticks a few boxes.. There are a couple on ebay..

Its the mess that is half the issue. Back at the yard the mess is not important. Plus we split into billets and process with a bench saw and to be honest we have 100's of tons that we can't give away..

That's the thing, I haven't lifted a log (except to put it on the log burner) for over 2 years.. So I am less interested in it making life easier..:) But if it makes things quicker it can earn money... and I am obviously concerned for my employees welfare.. Although I spoke to another local contractor and he said he's getting a digger so he can get rid of a man, so I am not sure the employee in that case will agree it's a boon to his welfare... A human body is a remarkable tool and you don't need a lot of training to lump logs... There is not much investment required for a groundie and they can be used for a variety of tasks .. I also get the wages for a year the not being sick but they do break....