benedmonds

That was our issue the HB20 is such a good machine you have to go alot BIGGER to make it worth while getting a bigger machine. We now run the HB20 and 2450 xp. They fit nicely on the trailer and are almost always taken out together now..

We have recently purchased a used 2450xp which is I believe similar to the 2150xp (but with 44 hp as opposed to 38hp). I also believe they are both belt driven. We have not had it long but so far pleased with it. We had it on trial for a week with a carlton 4012 and there was little debate about which machine our operator wanted at the end. I personally didn't use either but I know the 4wd was a big plus...

I was talking to a guy running a local council tree team last week, they are now expected to go out and find domestic work.. I have heard of this before but first time experienced it in my area.. Hopefully they will price realistically..

Help becoming an ARB Approved Contractor The using subcontractors bits are the other way round but might help..

I am just a tree man.. I don't like the dirty oily bits when they don't work.. Luckily my business partner deals with that side of the business. I will pass on your advise thanks.

Our 6 toner has so far been very good.. The 3.5 however... not so. The irritating thing is you can get the 5 and 6 toners for similar or less money then the 3.5 ones..

2.3 I think.

We brought a tidy (looking) ex council, low mileage (66K) 3.5 ton iveco just over 6 months ago for £7000. We put a back on it £1,200 then the clutch went £900 now the engine has blown.. What would you do? Stick a replacement engine in from a scrapped vehicle £2400 (30 day warranty) Rebuild the current engine £4000 (12 month warranty) Bin it and start again with another truck?

I am not sure I have ever said I would charge out a freelance climber for £90 a day? There is however no reason why you might expect to pay an average £90 a man for team of three; the climber could be on £130, the rescue climber on £85 and the groundie on £55.. I rarely use freelancers at the moment. As I have also mentioned in other posts many "freelance" guys would be classed as employed by the powers that be. I therefore employ guys full time with holiday pay, training etc... I admit this alters the way a company operates because my employees all expect to be paid at the end of each month and therefore they need to be bringing in the work. This can lead to devaluing the business as when work is short you will "buy" work, or price jobs very keenly when work is short. You need to, to cover wages. This is not a long term sustainable option but necessary to a certain extent and hopefully being able to do a higher volume of work when the diary is busy makes up for the lean months...

Whatever the market can support. I pay freelance climbers £100-£130 a day. 8.00 till 4.30..

Not if they charge £250 a day...

220 days includes holiday. Equipment and training £1000 per year, everyone pays tax. A freelance tree climber is never going to earn the same as a barrister, judge or dentist. You are overvaluing the industry, it's not rocket science... It takes little training and little equipment..

That is a ridiculous figure.. £250 a day 220 work days a year would be £55K a year. A decent climber has training that can be obtained over several weeks, a few years experience and a couple of grand of equipment..

Well we picked up our new to us hiab.. I have yet to see it working but already on the look out for a grab any recommendations...? quite a few new ones with a rotator on ebay.

It can cart more in the trailer then it could in the back.. One of the downsides would be that both chipper and truck are out of action if one is broken... You could have a demountable chipper.. Our TW 250 needs some work on the trailer.. I thought about mounting it on an old tracked dumper to turn it into a tracked chipper, but this could work..

Saw this on ebay thought some may be interested... Convert an disco or range rover into a pickup.. Black TD5 | LONGRANGER 4×4 Land rover TD5 Discovery 2 Pickup truck complete fiberglass kit project | eBay

This is one of the additional costs that you have to take into account with PAYE staff and why wages have to be so much lower then self-employed day rates. Unfortunately some employees don't realise this.. The other issue is that many employers don't realise that their "subbies" should actually be classed as employees and could be liable to pay sick. I can imagine the scenario of an employer happily paying a higher rate to some one thinking they are a subby. They injure themselves and take their employer to a tribunal to be awarded sick pay, holiday pay, redundancy pay and the employer would also have to pay NI contributions etc.. Take care as an employer as this could easily cripple a small business IMO..

Everything is a compromise.. It would be better on some jobs worse on others..

I've been thinking of doing it for years...

If you could spin the chipper and chip into a trailer it would be a pretty versatile bit of kit. Many off road jobs you leave the chip so space not an issue in those cases. If you towed a 3.5 ton tipping trailer you could actually legally carry much more then a standard LR110 TW150 combo.. the main issue as I see it is the hopper height. I have never noticed that you can feed that chipper from the side... that might work. Has anyone used it?

Except that as discussed in many threads regular employment will normally mean that those " subbies " are in fact employees. employers thinking they are fine could be liable to pay sick pay and if taken to an employment tribunal could be stuck with a big bill.

I'd be interested, do you recall if it was sharp before you got the file stuck in it?

I am not sure... 420 I think.

I hope your right as I have just "won" one..

I am sure dean at bandit will have something.. He lent us a couple for a week and are so far happy with the 2450 xp. It is only 44hp but otherwise fulfils your criteria. http://banditchippers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/2450-flyer.pdf