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Dean Lofthouse

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Everything posted by Dean Lofthouse

  1. Dean Lofthouse
    Yes Jonsie, zambookers instead of beer please
  2. Dean Lofthouse
    Is that your office below the tree Blakes??
  3. Dean Lofthouse
    Blummin hek Tractor, 20 days to answer the thread, hope your quicker with your customer service
  4. Dean Lofthouse
    Damage normally cause by grazing animals, ie Horses
  5. Dean Lofthouse
    Thats the fella
  6. Dean Lofthouse
    If your that way out then you need to get someone in to price for you who knows what they're doing . It doesn't matter if you were so far out as long as you are covering your costs, your wages and your depreciation. Any more than that is just greed. Conkers, if a chap is consistently cheaper than everyone else, it doesn't take long before all his gear is clapped out and he can't afford to replace or repair it, by you following his price, you are going to end up the same way. Your prices should be unique to your setup, I could trance all over skyhucks prices on domestic work, but he wil trance all over me on roadside and clearance. If you cannot work out your own costings then you shouldn't really be self employed or running a business imo
  7. Dean Lofthouse
    Not so long ago you could sell rubbish on tbay, but saying that, I've just tried buying a self tailing winch to make a GRCS and it went for half of the price of a new one listed and it was a very old model
  8. Dean Lofthouse
    I did thin it out a little David, taking out spindly oaks and sycamores, and have also started taking out Rhodies , it was infested with them. Then started on clearing the bramble, I am now starting to see flowers appearing, no idea what they are I'm not good with them. What I have seen a lot of is those ones with a green stalk with clumps of little red berries on the top about 12" high, don't know what they are was going to look them up.
  9. Dean Lofthouse
    Utilities and councils give feedback to help themselves not you. If you are underpriced, you will find you'll get nearly every job you quote for, so you up upping your prices to reduce the workload till it's comfortable for you. I know exactly my costings per day, what it costs me in overheads. I just add onto that what I want to earn in a day and I do not move from that, if someone else wants to work for peanuts let them. You cannot price from someone elses quotes, simply because of the unusual and expensive kit you have, I would think your setup would be more suited to site clearance and big roadside takedowns. In that case you would be competing against similar companies with similar kit, not some small setup with chipper and transit, your day rate should be unique to you.
  10. Dean Lofthouse
    I own a small one of about 4 acres, I was more or less given it by a friend. I use it as a yard and log store. Not big enough for anything really. I looked into buying 50 acres up around kettlewell, but too remote and far away to work. I try and leave my little woodland as natural as possible with broken limbs hanging creating bat habitat with deadwood also left where it can be. Any roots I dig out I put in a pile and cover with twigs. Since i have been actively creating these little habitats and since the log piles came along, the wren population has seen a massive increase and I now regularly see Woodpeckers. I don't like to see a "clean" woodland, no good for wildlife
  11. Dean Lofthouse
    I think it's very unprofessional to ask prices, your business should reflect your costings not someone elses. Are your prices governed by someone elses overheads ?? You as a professional should be able to work out prices for yourself not rely onfollow my leader with someone elses. That is probably one of the reasons prices are being driven low, each lowering prices to match the next. I have never asked anyones price or asked a customer. If I'm getting too much work I'm too cheap, if I'm quoting loads and getting none, I'm too dear, Hardly rocket science guys
  12. Dean Lofthouse
    I personally only noticed a glitch in phone calls for work when the news of a recession hit the news and never though owt of it. I decided to put my motorbike and our lasses bike up for sale because I haven't used either this year and they sat doing nowt costing money, thought I would pay off a credit card and get myself straight for winter with the money. Had both bikes on tbay and they didn't sell, lowered the price for a second listing, they didn't sell, put them on for a third time at a give away price and one of them has only just sold. Normally these bikes an 06 CB1300SA5 and an 02 CB600F2 would have sold straight away. Perhaps things are slowing down and people aren't spending money on luxurys
  13. Dean Lofthouse
    I never know what previous quotes are. How are you finding out what other quotes are or have been. If you are quizzing your customers, they may be finding it offensive. I also know all the other tree surgeons round here but never quiz them as to what prices they have quoted for jobs I have quoted on. If for instance a builder quoted and didn't get the job, then rung me to find out how far out he was, I would think he was a right cheeky mare and if he asked me what I'd been quoted off others while he was quoting, I'd put him in the cowboy category. Not saying you are doing this by all means, but you must be doing one of them to find out what other quotes were.
  14. Dean Lofthouse
    Your knackered then, will be a constant battle to keep them in check at the rate they can multiply.
  15. Dean Lofthouse
    I do but not on the computor, I have a book which is a pain to thumb through to see what you charged for the same trimming job last year or two years ago. Comes in really handy so you don't misquote and get the comment, " But you only charged me...."
  16. Dean Lofthouse
    You don't need to control the rats, you just need to control their food source, rats will only take up residence where there is a ready supply of food. Take that away and you take the rats away.
  17. Dean Lofthouse
    sometimes it's just beyond even a super arb to make a silk purse out of a pigs ear. You can only work with the canvas you are presented with. Given time, it should look well. Well done
  18. Dean Lofthouse
    ooohhw. jab, rounhouse and uppercut Cheers mate
  19. Dean Lofthouse
    Just what I was thinking Andy
  20. Dean Lofthouse
    Hmm, your right Lee, not thinking outside the box. I don't get that many bad payers, I just knock on the door when I've finished the job and whilst asking how they want to pay, I twictch one eye and twitch my head. They seem to want to pay straight away then.
  21. Dean Lofthouse
    Nice! How much was it if you don't mind me asking. I'm wanting similat at the back of the garden. Sort of a nagging wife retreat or bolt hole. 22nd year together tommoz
  22. Dean Lofthouse
    Probably have a final tax demand that will eat it all up
  23. Dean Lofthouse
    Well done Mr Bish,, no damage !!
  24. Dean Lofthouse
    You might be what is termed as "Accident Prone" Mr Bish Did it not occur to you to just have the car moved
  25. Dean Lofthouse
    I charge an absolute minimum of £350 per day. I'm on roughly £100 after taking off all my overheads. I analyse my books before they go to the accountant and taking off all costs, wages etc that's what Im on. I spend a lot on machinery maintenance as you will know if you read my landrover thread. I believe in not skimping on tackle quality and maintainance. I also calculate that my chipper costs £15 per hour to run inc servicing and blades. If you put that away then by the time your chipper has done 2000 hours you should have enough to one side to buy a new one.

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