arbogrunt

PM inbound snakey..

by the time you chop your L200 about, you'll have spent enough money to have got yourself a nice little cabstar tipper on ebay and given it a spray up...

saws in wood by 0800 or its going to be a late one!. I'd like to be off site by 1500, but thats a rarity these days. Sometimes when I freelance, I'm still on site at 1830 paying my pound of flesh

what a splendid occasion!...a feat of organisation and great to see the British people turn out to show their respect for our Queen. The choir singing 'Rule Brittania' in the torrential rain made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck!. A great day for Britain and the Commonwealth

'surely the freelancer should allow for fuel within their day rate and also on their tax return' ....of course that would be nice, my day rate was £150/day..I was doing £25 a day in diesel..would you pay £175/day for a climber?...I know I wouldn't!. The answer is to work locally, trouble is, most of the firms near me are a bit 'rustic'. No aerial rescue cover, no tickets some are not even insured..and the specs for the tree work can be a bit barbaric!...not my cup of tea I'm afraid Leaflet drops have worked for me in the past, the trick is to target certain areas or roads, or to leaflet area's where you are going to work the next week. Also, a nicely produced leaflet rather than a cheaper one which will stand out from the other 'junk mail' the potential customer will have on their doormat! __________________

fantastic homes. What are the insurance implications though?..my mate lives in a converted wooden stable in his yard and couldn't get it insured. He recently had a fire (caused by a birdnest next to the flue for his logburner. Its all rebuilt now, but it he lost everything in it and the roof

thats the way I look at it Rupe. Why try and compete against people who underprice and under achieve on jobs?..I'd rather not get the job than walk away from one thinking 'I could have done that better' or worse 'I've just worked my nuts off for nothing'!

I'm in a similar boat...2 years working for a big firm, then had my own company for 6 years...then sold up and gone freelancing for 10 years..I am now in the process of building up a company again. Its much harder than last time...more competion...the prices are the same as 10 years ago...the overheads have gone up. However, I can earn in two days what I can earn in a week of freelancing...and I'm not doing jobs with 1 or 2 men short of a crew, with unskilled staff, with no traffic control and doing unpaid over time. I'd rather have 2 days a week of my own stuff and the rest of the week off than a full week of that!. Advertising has been a bit of a dead horse...word of mouth recommendation is the only way at the moment. I'm going to do targeted, quality leaflet drops and try advertising in parish magazines and other local publications. I'm much happier than I was last year and I won't be spending £4,000 on diesel earning other people a profit!

nicked?...WPC?...in the shower???...hmmm, wears the soap!

good point raised there about earning the same money as when you were a young 'un. There IS good money to be earnt if your living at home with your mum, no kids etc. Thats why this industry is great for young lads...work hard and pull the money in. The cost of living makes it hard for us older buggers with the mortgage, kids and all the other bills...thats life. I've been freelancing for about 10 years, I'm now going back to running my own train set again...I just can't earn enough to make ends meet unless I run my own jobs. If I was 25 and at home with me Mum I'd be driving a nice car instead of an old Disco thats for sure!

like you said mate, frequent, short breaks. On long climbs take a camelbak up with you and drink every 10 mins. The biggest difference I've found in hot weather has been getting a pair of Type A stretchair gladiators to wear in the summer months. They are the coolest chainsaw keks you can get. You can justify wearing A's by putting it on your risk assessment. Early starts and early finishes are a help too, but mid to late afternoon we turn into hot, tired, teddy's and start making mistakes...

I often break caritools, so now I'm just using an ali clip instead...unbreakable

I agree with skyhuck...why???. My scabbard stays in the wagon. Try a weaver tool strop and shorted it when its not in use with a snap or a caritool.

I found the best tool storage for my mog was to carry 'em in a landrover! ...worked for a bloke who had a tool box on the cab roof...sweat your nuts off in the summer without the roof opening...those cabs get HOT!

I think this all the time mate..hard times are with all of us. They won't last for ever, keep going and everything will come together. The other option is just to give up....and we ain't gonna do that!

what a gucci bit of kit!

thats true..but they also spent a lot of time away from the Missus on campaign

I've been using bio for about 15 years. I have just gone back to using normal Oregon oil, I can't justify paying double the price. I paid about £45 for 25l from FR Jones and got free delivery.

OMT - I think I got mine down the scrappies in the end. I think box-chute is less prone to blockage though. Its suprising how quickly ali wears out, ridges in the metal lift up and thats when the block-ups start.

conspiracy theory hobbyists and 'I hate my own country' types read no further. The Olympics has got to be a great thing for the UK. Sadly, it will also provide a world stage for every nutter/terrorist who we are currently feeding and housing...as well as a few playing 'away from home'. All this military hardware is more of a visual deterrent and an insurance package - imagine if something BAD happens and we didn't have it in place. Be assured the battle against our potential attackers is being fought 24/7 by our security services...we probably will never hear what is happening/has happened...but, in years to come, we may hear of some of it. Be glad these people are there to protect us..otherwise the Olympics would turn into exactly what our enemies would want it to be...but also remember..the bad guys only have to get lucky once.

..even older pic..my boy is now 19 and my twin boys are 16 and due to do CS38 in a few weeks time...now I feel old. This was a great little chipper. I've worked with a couple of big front mounts, one a turntable jenson 8" and one a Schliessing 800U (?). The chipped superbly but stuck out a long way in front and took a while to get used to driving. Both blew over the cab and right into the back of the chipbox without any probs.

heres my mog about 12 years ago...

I would post a pic mate, but last time I went thru the drama of posting one up here I had to WALK AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER!!!...if you know what I mean!

I can understand why people hate LOLER. The most important bit is check your climbing kit before you climb...I do that anyway. Who sits at home each weekend and makes out a written record?....anyone?. We've been pidgeon-holed into some EU crane regs...thats the way it is for now, so we have to live with it. As for all the other HSE stuff...yes I agree we need regulation, otherwise unscrupulous employers would have their blokes in a bowline on the bight instead of a harness!. I would estimate about 70% of tree companies in my area totally ignore ALL of it. How they end up pulling in contract work is a total mystery to me!

I just use my top handle saw and my climbing kit (I usually use my own rigging kit - a lot of firms I do occasional work for don't have any at all). If the company is a good one, I use their fuel...if they're a bit ropey, I use my own. No point it wearing out your own saws and chains when some else is putting the profit in their pocket chaps!