skyhuck

Welcome cozy!

Interesting Dean, you trying to beat the credit crunch?

Yes thanks, I refer you to http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=3111 Cheers again Mate

Tim if I employed a climber I would have the same rule, "duty of care" and all that!!

Dean I don't want start up the post "ping pong" again but, I want to just put a few more points for your consideration. I think we may have been at slight crossed purposes, I would never ask a customer what other prices they had had at the quoting stage, only AFTER I had either won or lost the job. I do not by any means ask all my customers, just one or two every now and then to just keep in touch with the market. When I first started up I didn't ask but then the odd customer would just tell me, I often shocked by how much more my competitors were charging, I remember one job it was a fair sized HC TD I had quoted £350 would take me and a groundie one day, I cut and chucked all the top and slabbed down the trunk , chip and timber were staying on site. My groundie back then was on £40 per day so I was making an OK wage. When customer gave me the cheque she had made it out for £375 and told me she had got a price for my main competitor for £1000! I was told a little story a few years ago which I always bear in mined when pricing work. There was a man who owned a whiskey distillery, one day one of his men backs a forklift into one of the huge copper vessels that have been use for over 50 years. He starts to ring round to price a replacement, as it cannot be used in it dinged state, he is shocked to find a new one is going to cost over £500,000 and it will take 3 months to be built, plus in order to fit it they will have to remove part of the roof! so with down time he is looking at the best part of £1,000000 Whist ringing round to try and get better quotes he speaks to a guy who says "have you tried Fred ?" he says no, who's Fred? "hes an expert in vessel repair, he may be able to fix it". Great he says how do I get hold of him? "I'll try to get in contact with him and see if he will come and see you". Please do, I'm staring bankruptcy in the face here!! Couple of days later a morris 1000 pulls up out side the distillery and an old chap with a flat cap gets out, the owner says " can I help you", I'm Fred, he says. Great says the owner please come and look at the vessel! Fred goes in looks at the dent and says I think I can fix it, it will be £40,000. Great!! says the owner when can you start? Are you happy with the price, asks Fred? Yes, yes that great!! OK says Fred "I'll get my gear". He goes to his car and get a wooden tool box he bings it back, opens the box, it contains only a large rubber mallet, he walks around the vessel for a good 15 minuets studying it, then he takes his mallet and hits the vestal once very hard. The vessel vibrates and reverberates for a few seconds and then the dinge bongs out leaving no trace that I had ever been there! The owner is gobsmacked! Fred says what the company name for the invoice? Hang on, hand on, says the owner, I'm not paying you £40,000 for hitting it once with a hammer!! No, no, says Fred I don't charge you for hitting it, the £40,000 is for KNOWING WHERE to hit it!! Is Fred a conman? I don't think so!! I feel your price should reflect the "alternatives" what ever they happen to be. If I get asked by a neighbor of a customer to chip some brash they have cut them selves I don't think "thats going to take 10 minuets so with my wage and chipper costs that should be £5", I think "if they got a skip it would cost them £100 so if I charge then £25 its a bargain" Just some thoughts Dean, Mate

Must agree I was disappointed by that the respect I had has been somewhat reduced:sad:

And WHO would decide on what should be law ? you ? Its illegal to take drugs, speed in a car, record TV programs, overload your vehicle,etc,etc, have you found that since these things were made illegal they have been stopped? Get real!! You do your thing and let others do their's!!

Jason please don't take this the wrong way, it is not intendered as fault finding, I think you have more than paid for your error. I do use my 200t with my left hand and hold with my right , but I do this so I DON'T cross my arms, I don't understand why you didn't cut with your right and hold with the left? was the reason the weight of the branch?

Well then why not just keep laughing, and stop getting so worked up about what OTHER people do!!

So what are you hoping for?? Will people like YOU go around taking photos of people like me one handing our saw, and take them to the police, and then I will get arrested and charged? with what? endangering MYSELF!!, but hang on smoking is still legal? doesn't that KILL people? Sounds like a great world you hoping for

Spot on Andy!! I like The "one of us"

That tree looks shagged!! wants felling!! Kidding,kidding, only kidding!! Honest:001_tongue:

LOL!!!!!!!!!!! I'll drink to that one:cheers: (that is assuming I'm not one of your enemies )

Which is the best day?.................not sure,............ so I'm doing all three

Now you've done it!!! That number could end up any where!!

Who want satisfaction??? you or your wife??

That shows it must be some what slower cutting than the 200, which I would say is a major failing.

I think there is a real problem in our industry with youngsters (and some not so young) being drawn to what they see as a macho, mega dangerous occupation. I find it very irritating when I continually read on here how dangerous our job is and how butch we all are for doing it! I honestly believe that there is only "potential" danger which is normally avoidable. As I have said before there is a big difference between something that is scary, IE dangling on a piece of rope 60' up may be scary, but it is NOT dangerous, IMO. I some times think that tree work is a little like the police force or politics, in that sometimes a too stronger desire to do the job should should exclude you from doing it. All the best fallers and climbers I have meet do not rant on about how brave they are and how dangerous their job is. They did not have scares either, or if they did they didn't show me. In real terms scares are a permanent reminder of failure. I thank Jason for posting his pic's as they made me feel sick an help to make the reality of what can happen clear.

Good post man!! It does us all good to see what can happen! and not just to new starters! Glad it didn't turn out worse!, all though it looks like it was fairly bad! Hope your recovery continues as well as it has so far!

Not the best job, but different, not so much "secret garden" more "secret sh1t hole":thumbdown:

More......

Few more pic's.......

Was asked to do this job, it was to remove trees growing out of brick work on a mill, used my crane a maneuverable TIP. I thought a first that they were all small trees growing in the brick work and gutters, but when I got up there I found there was no roof on that part of the mill and that what could be seen from the yard was the tops of trees growing on the floor of a large room that was cut off from the rest of the mill which had no roof and no door or window into it, it had been the steam engine room I think. I dropped into the room and felled all the trees.

WOW!!! That looks like an excellent chipper! and such a bargain!!

If I had followed your business model Dean, I would still be using a LDV tipper and a tow along chipper! How do share holder make any money Dean?? If you work harder or are more skilled and faster than others should you not make more money??