benedmonds

As I see it many "subbies/freelancers" in this industry would be seen as employees by the HMRC. I want to ensure we are compliant and above board, for my protection and theirs.. If you supply your own saw you might just be able to claim you are not an employee, but I regularly use people as extra groundies day to-day often while they are studying at college. In the past I have always taken treated them as freelancers and paid them a daily rate. We are now starting to put them on the payroll, so we pay NI tax etc... italso means they will be entitled to holiday and sick pay etc.. They need contracts, I can not guarantee them work so as I see it a zero hours contract.. I have no experience with a zero hours contract only the negative press. Anyone use them? Please don't turn this into a big employer keeping down the working man thread.

thanks

Yes please.

Our Bandit 2450xp grinder has an intermittent issue with the remote. Global, (unusual for them), have not been able to help and have suggested we have to send it to the states for repair.. Surely there is someone more local who can deal with electrics? I am loath to ship it over to the US, my experience with intermittent electrical faults is that they tend not to be fixed first or second time... Any one know of an electrical whiz in the UK who can sort the problem?

I disagree, if more folk looked at the realities of what it cost to run a business they might find that actually they are better off as employees. If you worked the hourly rate for many business owners you might find they are not doing great. If however you still decide that you do want to be self employed (there are more then just financial benefits), working out the costs will enable you to price jobs in a realistic manner.

I still think you should think carefully if it is worthwhile getting a truck and chipper if you are only going to be running it 2 days a week... Rough calculations for 5 years... Assumes work 48 weeks a year and truck and chipper worth £0 at end of 5 years and you get £900 a a week from 2 days tree work.. Truck and chipper cost £20,000 Insurance, advertising, yard, kit, accountant, etc, etc... £500 per week. Pay for groundie £160 per week After 5 years you would have made £7,520 each year profit. The alternative Still working 2 days 48 weeks a year but as a freelance climber on £140 per day. £1000 start up kit and £15 per day costs After 5 years you would have made £10,360 each year profit. I might be wrong, but running the whole show is expensive and lots of the costs are going to be the same if you work 2 days or 5 days. This is why bigger firms can often have cheaper day rates, moving from 1 to 2 teams does not double the cost of many things. Yard, advertising, waste carriers licence, etc. even insurance might not change or only go up a little.

Has anyone experience of the 5 ton Mercedes Sprinter 4X4 tippers? Used Mercedes-benz Sprinter Tipper in Little Hadham, Herts | Hvs Ltd

Our 6 ton iveco is an excellent arb truck (the 3.5ton ones not so). Really we should all stop using the 3.5 tonners for most domestic arb. The o licence I don't see as a major issue (but we have a yard), the regular independent inspections add a bit to the cost but ensure the truck in good order. The biggest issue to me is the drivers licence as C1+E required. In the grand scheme £1500 + 4 or 5 days training doesn't seem much, but as an employer training staff who then might leave it adds up. Also if your driver leaves you then have a struggle to replace them. Owner operator I think its a no brainer.. But you still need 2..

You may even end up with additional debt from the mastercard that they have set up presumably in your name and therefore have all the details for. If something seems to good to be true... If it is free money let us know and we'll all have some...

I am Arb Approved. They did not stipulate how to take enquiries, they checked but as long as it met their requirements I think that is good enough. Our industry is full of rogues and it is very difficult for a client to know who to trust, being arb approved gives the client some reassurance that the company they are taking on is not some tip it a scarper firm and we have ticked all the training, insurance, etc, boxes... ..I know there are Arb Approved contractors who do shoddy work and I have seen the Bartletts promotional poplar felling, and there are excellent firms who are not approved, but I would hope that using someone who has been independently checked means they are less likely to be dodgy.

It was not like that in my experience.

To be honest when I started out I wasn't aware of the freelance market. But I know what I have to pay decent freelancers and compared to what I took home when I started and the ball ache of running the show I think I would have been better off freelance. You would also learn how other outfits work... Long term freelance seems to work for some people..

Don't bother with a truck and chipper, just go freelance as a climber.. Your truck and chipper are going to be sat doing nothing for half the week, you will (should) need to find a rescue climber who can also work part time.. I reckon a half decent freelance climber will take home more cash with loads less bother then trying to run their own show part time.

That's what I meant about passing on the risk.. Although I think it is unlikely a domestic customer in the UK would be found liable. I think there was a recent case where a hotel owner was done when their handyman hurt himself doing tree work from a ladder..

The first occasion I was alone but luckily had a mobile signal.. second 2 I had friendly mamils to help me home..

Agreed, there is a risk in everything we do, and all you can do is reduce those risks to an acceptable level. People will disagree about where to draw the line. Some folk will argue that PPE is not needed, in the 12 plus years I was climbing I always wore but never needed a helmet trousers or boots. In fact I have never experienced any PPE saving anyone... You argue that that is not required. Unfortunately when you find you can't do the job it's a bit late... I have never had a serious incident climbing but in the last 3 years I have broken my collar bone 3 times falling off my bike, I always thought I was a pretty OK cyclist and doing stuff I had done before. But compare residential tree work to plumbing or teaching.. Herein lies the rub, you are at the top of your game, there are however many more climbers out there who think they are, but are not.. Many respect and look up to you and as said before you have a status in the UK arb world and your views will influence others who may not be as able as you. ...

Sorry I thought it was a discussion form. I didn't realise it was Arbechochamber Like watching 25 minutes of reg talking about lone working... I commented because lots of folk are agreeing, saying it's fine to lone work and the thread was giving the impression that this is acceptable behaviour. I admit I skipped through video but from what I saw would NOT have been happy sending an employee to do the work shown without someone on the ground. The only reason to do it is to reduce costs, that could mean "maximise profit" but someone operating cheaper is going to be able to undercut someone who is unable to do that as they are working to best practice. I am for increasing the rates paid for tree work, this practice is NEVER going to help that. I may have a biased view as I am an employer and therefore don't have the option of sending out guys on there own. Where do you draw the line? "I don't need insurance, that's just me maximising profit..." Reg is also a very accomplished climber, possibly the closest we have to an arb celebrity... many climbers will look to him and follow his lead, some of these climbers will not be so capable and I don't think their working alone should be encouraged.

I am going to state the opposite view (although I didn't watch the whole video), but I can't see how you can realistically think tree work that involves climbing and chainsaws in a commercial situation should be a conducted on your own. From a practical view, the tangled mess you leave at the base of the tree. The clear up must be a nightmare. Not having someone to rescue or even alert rescue services just makes no sense.. I have am not adverse to doing things outside of work on your own, I have been hang gliding, kayaking, scuba diving, hiking, biking, wild swimming etc, and people have not known where I am or when I am expected to return, but that is personal. I agree low risk stuff fine crack on, but it would not be acceptable to employ an individual and expect them to do high risk work without some backup. You may not be employing but you are passing that risk onto your client who may not know better, or just be cheap.. The only reason to do it must be to so you can be cheaper but even that rarely makes sense as surely the clear-up is way worse and the climber is generally the most expensive member of staff so it makes more sense to pay a less skilled person to do the less skilled clearing up...

We had one on demo, chipping a gnarly hawthorn hedge and it performed really well. Although it is not a tank and the tracks come off if you drive it around in the brambles as one of my operatives found out..

We are currently trying to socialise a kitten with our dogs.. Not going great... the lab is terrified of it but the labradoodle wants to eat it... The kitten doesn't seem bothered and will happily play in front of them while the dog is pulling at the lead trying to chase it.. Or sit on the top of the sofa or up the stairs where the dogs aren't allowed, basically taunting them. It doesn't seem to have quite enough of a sense of life preservation for me to be comfortable leaving them unattended..

If you black out the windows remove the seats and seat belts in some non commercials you can get them re-classified on the log book. I can't remember the exact rules but if they do a commercial version I think it is pretty straight forward. As I recall I just sent some photos with the log book. I did it when we switched from a partnership to LTD with our toyota land-cruiser. I deffo do it again if I needed a 4x4 commercial as the standard versions are more common and likely to be in better condition.

Coincidentally I came across a garden full of earth star fungi a few weeks back. I can't ever remember ever seeing them before.. Also associated with a cedar, but only a young one less then 40 years old.. a neighbouring conifer within a few meters had this fungal growth at is base while the cedar was clear. Do you think they are connected?

I cleared up many that have failed.. so it can definitely be a problem...

It happened on Microsoft edge also. I have to admit I am not keen on trying it as after installing some software recommended on here was unable to log on to my pc and wasted 2hrs getting that sorted.. Might not be connected but I am a relative ludite and could have done without it this morning. .

I can no longer look at arbtalk on my pc or laptop. It is ONLY on arbtalk. On chrome or explorer. I have run several maleware prevention programs. Takes over browser and have to reset.