Dean Lofthouse

I do !! In summer sometimes 4 days, but I also get all my diesel, car insurance, car depreciation, tax and mot paid for. ...and I send my wench out to work as a Staff Nurse full time

I knew that bit would touch a nerve! It was meant jokingly Marc, I just forgot to put a smiley on the end Totally agree mate, whenever a customer tips me, whatever the amount gets passed on to my Ground Operations Technician:001_smile:

I sat down and worked out one day what I actually get. If I put in a box standard £350 day rate with just me and a groundy, chipper, saws and climbing. I actually get £95 for myself I've just got home and done daily maintenance. MS200T: Broke brake handle so had to replace that, new plug, new sprocket, bar and chain. MS170: New chain Blower: New plug, new airfilter £90 Had my HS80 blades sharpened today £42 Got to renew my PL insurance this week for my woodland. Then theres the standard PL insurance, tractor insurance, logsplitter insurance, chipper, barn and wood store insurance, MEWP insurance, Employers, landrover, car, workshop at home, saws and equipment insurance, trailer insurance. Then we go onto house and contents, motorbike one, motorbike two, daugters car insurance (which I pay for ) and then some pilchard comes in undercuts you and does the job for nowt. I'll stop there before I have a nervous breakdown. Oh I forgot, accident and sickness insurance and loan repayment insurance

I did try to be a bit naughty by trying to find an appropriate word beginning with "I" to replace operations.

Has the whole area been newly landscaped Pete? If not new, are most of the tree next to the drive or other area that can be compacted

I'll get a license when I'm forced to. I'm trying to get my overheads down, with insurances, maintainance, fuel, wages and tax, they're massive at the moment

After Bob mentioned that some Groundies come in for critisism sometimes in threads, critisism they don't deserve. I fully agree with Bob so to put things right I promoted my Groundy today, to "Ground Operations Technician". I do feel he deserves this position, although not fully trained at the moment. Groundies carry a huge burden on their shoulders and their responsibilities are huge. Without them work would grind to a halt. They need to master many skills, Knots, lowering techniques, chainsaw use, chipper use, saw sharpening, maintenance, fueling, equipment ID, rope minding, the list is endless. There are some technicians out there with far less skills under their belt and I feel that our groundies deserve more (not money though) . My mates groundy has gone on holiday, he feels as though his right arm has been cut off I think we should be referring to our groundies as Techs from now on or maybe GOT's Ground Operations Technicians , groundy sounds far too lowly.

I'd say lack of nourishment Pete.

We've all been groundies ourselves Bob. I would be the first to take the Mick out of you if you were groundying for me and I'm sure you would return the favour I get sick of explaining to every customer why I have to price as I do on takedowns, explaining why I need to have a fully qualified climber with me. Most don't give a donkey's and are only interested in the price being cheap. The Domestic market is very difficult at times. Not everyone has a flood of people with qualifications throwing themselves at you wanting jobs. In most cases, you spned months training people up and getting them courses to find they are useless or bog off to another job or just find that Tree Surgery isn't for them. So when you do find someone you tend to hang onto them, but getting them qualified isn't an overnight thing. You have to wait months to find out whether they are going to stick around before you waste time and money on them

It's HIS toyand nobody else is playing with it!!!!

A little dicky Bird told me, just before this nasty man in a white coat disturbed our conversation.

I just like to push the boundarys, it's pushing the boundarys that moves the industry forward . I was thinking of writing to some MEWP manufacturers asking them to put some "proper" anchor points on the baskets.

Sounds like martians testicles, apparently they bury themselves in the soil with just their testicles sticking out of the ground, through which they breathe. They only appear in full at night, where they dance about in the woodlands of the UK

I'd have quite enjoyed dismantling that one!!

Yes, like some groundies

Reg, Some of the Sheds we try to avoid damaging would be quicker and cheaper to throw the shed in the skip and buy a spanking new one to put in it's place.

Then some smack head came along, smashed the quarter light, scaffold tubed the ignition barrel and took off in the Hilux:001_tongue: I've done worse... I went up in the MEWP, cleaned the gutters of a three storey building then positioned the basket over the ridge of the building and abseiled out of the basket to check and clean the othe side which was 5 storey at the back

I have to back you up here Skyhuck. My last groundy was not allowed to touch a saw, if he needed to cut something he used a silky. I know your groundy is a good un. But mine was a liability and I know (and this is from someone else who has been sued) that if anything had of happened this groundy would have been first in the queue at the "no win no fee" counter. Once you have had your trust dented, it is hard to trust again. I am one of these that would never shite on anyone but have been shite on myself, because I am too trusting and too forgiving. I have started to see what is happening and started to "cover my @rse" so to speak. It is a shame when people who are giving, can't give, for fear of being taken for a ride. You do what your gut tells you Dave.

I think you two and Mike Hill should start a Unimog appreciation society. You could meet up in the Pub and have a few beers, and talk about which hill you are going to drive down tomorrow

Depends on whether your groundy has been using it. My groundy thinks that the YEB or Cable are coming on site after we've gone and likes to dig cable laying trenches for them with my saws.

Sorry Mr Jones but Mr and Mrs Smith and Joe Bloggs, have have enough stick over the years and need a break.

It looks like a husky winch. You would be better retro fitting with the new style solenoid, you wil get the wiring diagram with it. Supplied here. http://www.firstfouroffroad.co.uk/winch_parts2.htm

Don't they look the dogs? I don't know whether it's coincidence but the web page design and layout is the exact same as LJ Jacksons at Doncaster

Keeping you informed is, at the very least, a basic part of the insurance companies customer care. When such basic levels of customer care are overlooked then that company should be critisised.

What really pee's me off is Mrs Jones, down the road will have a grin on her face from ear to ear from the fact that she got a quote a hundred quid cheaper than another quote. She will be totally unaware that her tree is now dumped in a nature reserve somewhere just down the road, incurring a cleanup bill of hundreds of pounds at the tax payers expense. So I'd like to thank all those Mr and Mrs Jones out there for being so ignorant and niave and sharing the cost of their hedge cutting or tree removal with all us council tax payers. Cheers