benedmonds

Pro's: its a Landrover Con's: it's a Landrover If you need it, there are few substitutes, with the exception of a few very expensive (mog, iveco 4x4) or old and ex military vehicles(rb44), but way too small for general domestic arb IMO.

I have never driven a freelander but as I am now covering a lot of miles I have been looking for a vehicle with decent MPG. Parkers states the TD4 achieve much lower 32-37MPG. The 1.8 only 27 MPG. There are not many vans that will do 50MPG and I don't think there are any 4x4's. The 4x4 VW caddy is about the best and that is low 40's.

Get three guys dragging. Least damage and probably the cheapest option..

We run a 6 ton iveco, 3.5 ton izusu, and 130 Land rover. I don't know how anyone runs a business with a LR as their main vehicle. I love mine and is invaluable when you need it.. With two tucks on site you can send someone to tip while filling the other and tow a big trailer and chipper to site. Logs and chip are also kept separate. Multiple vehicles also mean you can work (if not quite as efficiently) when your truck is in the garage etc..

Last pic shows the die back from the top, (if you turn your head sideways) the sapling was only a few years old.

Looks familiar... http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/arb-trucks/43669-7-5-tonner-ibex-6x6.html

Just clearing and area in the garden and found this self set ash.. Some one tell me I am wrong:thumbdown:

Has anyone done the L3? Our apprentices did the level 2 with Dart last year. I have to admit wasn't overly impressed.. but they want to keep learning and I am keen for them to learn more...

I have one in my garden and have lots of seedlings from it, they are all over the garden. Most purple, some green. I have recently seen a seedling growing up a few hundred meters away in a verge. Squirrels nicking the nuts..

Chip is worth between £3-£30 a tonne. Give stobarts a ring. They might be able to provide a BIG chipper, either at no cost, or still pay you a bit..

What else can I try.. We've tried the bandit and pretty good, well built. We have a TW 250 which is a good machine and have a 350 coming on demo? Contacted vermeer Who else should i consider?

The one off costs do add up but to me the biggest cost is time. If my apprentice is in a tree, you generally are going to have an experienced climber (often me) on the ground. The job will take longer often allot longer, but as an employer you still have to pay the same but can't charge more. The guys who work for me are now getting to a level where they can be sent to do jobs on there own and we currently have enough work so I can send them to a job for a day, that might take a experienced crew 3/4 of a day. It means they are earning less as a team, but gaining experience without me having to watch them.. It has taken a couple of years to get to this point.. Training climbers in small firms is a bit of a catch 22, decent climbers will climb lots as they will earn, but you need to climb lots to become a decent climber. Unfortunately inexperienced (slow) climbers don't get to get the experience as the margins aren't there in many instances... and when they become experienced they bog of and set up on there own!

I have not owned one but from what I have seen of springer spaniel s they are best as a working dog. Lots of energy and powerful for their size. . I am sure some make great family pets and all breeds can. But in my experience some are better suited..

My guys are good .....mostly... and the advantage of training your own guys is that you can teach them to do it the way you want it done. The issue is that they will probably bog off once fully up to speed and finally really useful. If my guys do bog off I think I'll look for trained guys (or gals). You might want employees to work as hard and care as much as you do, but unfortunately I think that is very unlikely..

It's probably cheaper to use freelancers. Apprentices are very expensive.... They don't realise it, but the time it takes to train them adds up...

A pre 97 licence (with C1E (107)entitles you to drive a vehicle with a trailer, with a combined weight of 8.25 tonnes. That means with a 7.5 toner you would only be able to tow a small chipper, which is pointless if you have a big truck. Our 6 ton iveco tows a 10 inch 2.2 ton chipper, fully rammed with chip it will be overweight. I would be surprised if a 7.5 tonner would legally carry any more as they are a much bigger vehicle. If you have your HGV, I'd go bigger, I bet operating cost are not much more and you could get a half decent crane!

I had a TT before the labradoodle, he was nuts!!

Perfect family dog, very middle class and have become very popular in the last 5 years(for good reason), miniature lab poodle cross. Good size can run for an hour or more, and walk all day, but doesn't go crazy if misses a walk, doesn't take up much space, not threatening, clever, great with kids, hopefully being a cross it's less likely to suffer genetic issues from inbreeding, doesn't moult or smell much, if you get a curly haired one they are even hypoallergenic ...

We have just fitted 2 to two of our trucks, thinking of fitting to chippers as well. They sell them on ebay for a lot less. They are great, pay as you go sim, phone it up and it texts you back with a link on google. Main reason was to find the vehicle if it is nicked but it does have the benefit that I can find out where the guys are..Used it this morning when waiting for them to turn up on site You can also wire them in so you can turn of the fuel.. back2you.com online store - Self Contained GPS Vehicle Tracker

I would rather a company offer me their best price first up, rather then have to haggle for it. That is how I like to work. Companies that offer discounts just add it on first.

Still looking for climbers.. Now in an Arb Approved Company...

We recently passed, you could do it on your own but will need to put some serious office time in! Deffo go to one of Pauls Pre assessment days if your not sure what is involved. They do want some stuff that you probably have never even thought about.... We had an arb specific consultant in, I wanted someone to help push us onto the next level as like most arbs I have no business training.. Initially I wasn't that bothered with AAAC but his approach was to prepare us for AAAC status (and beyond ISO9001 etc..).. We also did pauls pre assessment day and so were pretty well prepared.. Get hold of the 22 page (for less then 5 employees) AAA standard and if you can fulfill the long list of requirements it's a breeze. I guess you can get it from the web site.

Your pre 97 licence entitles you to drive a 7.5 tonner but that does not exempt you from an Operators licence and as you are using it as a delivery vehicle I do not think you can claim any exemptions for tacho and CPC use. There has been debate on here about exemptions. http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/arb-trucks/71215-do-we-need-35-hours-driver-cpc-september.html http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/arb-trucks/72090-operators-licence.html

When we moved from partnership to ltd this became an issue as we have an old landcuriser (expensive when new and high emissions). Vans are treated differently, so we pulled out the seats and seatbelts, blacked out the windows and reclassified it with the DVLA. Insurance was cheaper too!

Only when empty, ride is much better:001_smile: when loaded..