Jump to content

Log in or register to remove this advert

Tom D

Veteran Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    11,232

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Tom D

  1. Tom D
    Its a lifestyle choice, if they are happy doing that then fair enough, its not for me though. I want the best for my family and working cheap is not the way to achieve that. I also want a comfortable retirement.....
  2. Tom D
    Thanks. I have clawed in a load of outstanding debts recently and so I am now the proud owner of 2 valtras, its nice not to have the pressure of having to sell in order to buy. That said I'm open to offers. lol Once you have had a roof mount you will never go back, of all the things I have bought the roof mount is the best buy. If I was starting from scratch I would say it was essential equipment, up there with the chipper...
  3. Tom D
    If the vat threshold was set at a fair level you'd be absolutely right, but unfortunately for small scale operators in service industries the threshold is too high. Its too easy for people to stay under and be at an unfair advantage in the domestic market. The threshold should be set around 40k IMO.
  4. Tom D
    I have work for a surveyor for development surveys and possibly tree hazard surveys, this is part time work but if you are good enough I'll really try and keep you busy. On the books or self employed, whatever suits.. £100-150 per day.... [email protected]
  5. Tom D
    Valtra 6400 Hi Trol, Delta Powershift, Botex 560 TL Crane ArbTrader Arborists Classifieds
  6. Tom D
    I doubt that! what was your wage for the day, did you employ anyone else? Your running costs aren't just your fuel for the day. Want to know what your running costs really are? Go through your bank statements for the year and add up everything you have spent, I mean everything, then add your own wage, you now have a number, probably more than 50k unless you are part time. Now you need to know how many days you actually work (productive work that is, not pricing or maintenance) , chances are its 9 days in 10 or maybe even less. So out of 261 working days in the year you might work 230 if you are doing well, so divide your total costs by 230 and for £50k that equals around £220 a day...... So your £120 day out just cost you £100...
  7. Tom D
    Bigger kit shouldn't mean more money on the job, but more money on the day; yes. So the bigger better kit should get the job done faster and therefore do more work in one day making more money and justifying the bigger kit. From the customers point of view the price should be the same. Thats wether its a 2 man transit and TW150 for a 3 day dismantle or a 1day dismantle with a tractor and crane.
  8. Tom D
    When I first started out we used to charge £220 a day for 2 men 2 vehicles and a chipper... These days the absolute minimum I would charge for a team will be £450, and that will be for one of those easy jobs that gets you back to the yard at 2:00. In reality a hard day on a dismantle for example can be anywhere from £650-1000. But the really important thing, and I have said this before, is to forget about a day rate and think about how much you make in the week, and the month. Aim for £2.5-3k a week and its not a problem if you do £350 one day so long as you do £650 another. If you do £350 every day then you have a problem, you'll always be busy...... and you'll always be poor. Think about it this way: try and get an extra £50 on every job, thats £250 a week, and if you loose 1 job in 8 because of it, you're no worse off. In fact you are better off because you have an extra day that you can work, spend in the workshop, or with your family....
  9. Tom D
    not if they are paid in cash.
  10. Tom D
    One of us is going senile Dean, I can remember you posting about this before... so either its me and i've imagined it or its you and you have already done this job and just forgotten that you had... Nice work all the same.
  11. Tom D
    Anticlock front PTO so the winch will go straight on, i'll still be using it on the alpine a lot, there is no use of the roof hatch, but its meant for driving on frozen lakes so not likely to get used anyway LOL.
  12. Tom D
    Hopefully a winch on the front, I might ballast the front tyres too, The electro hydraulic valve block is on the roof under the box....
  13. Tom D
    If you buy a decent one like a posch, thor or fuelwood you will be fine, Building your own seems like a good idea but a purpose made one will work better and make you more money in the long run. Also user friendly features like an adjustable return will be standard, so if you only split 8" logs you can set the return at 10" and you don't waste time waiting for the ram to do a full cycle.
  14. Tom D
    double post
  15. Tom D
    Fine till you get home and find 3 washing lines and a bus stop round the crane. Surprising how much it moves when you steer when its out the back. I think I may end up lengthening the grab bar a bit, Wilsons are happy to swap it for another longer one....
  16. Tom D
    All to often home made splitters use a massive bore ram to achieve maximum splitting force, forgetting that this huge ram needs a lot of oil to fill it and therefore will be painfully slow or require an expensive pump. Better to use a smaller ram and have less force but more speed. FWIW I have a fuelwood splitter which has a 2 speed pump, 8ton (fast) and 16 ton (slow), it will split the vast majority of stuff at 8 ton and the return is always fast so you are quickly positioned for the next split. Production rates will always be higher with a fast small splitter than a massive slow one, and its production rates that count at the end of the day.
  17. Tom D
    Its on the cards Stevie, will need some playing around with the grab bar to get it on though, The reverse drive is brilliant, I wouldn't have one without it now, and thats only after playing in the yard with it.
  18. Tom D
    My new one arrived today.. The joysticks on the arm rests are ace, the front suspension can be dropped right down onto the bump stops which will help with stability while loading, plenty toys too, reverse drive, clutch-less shuttle, 50kph, hydraulic adjustable top link, and lots of other stuff to go wrong LOL. A couple of teething issues but overall very pleased.
  19. Tom D
    I Bet 90% of the time chippers in the UK are being fed by 2 people anyway, ours normally are. If the chippers in the US have the same features as the UK models I can't understand how these accidents happen. You get snagged and somehow dragged into the hopper without touching the stop bar??? How? I'd bet that it had been disabled.
  20. Tom D
    What I still don't get is how so many of these accidents happen, if a machine is so dangerous then no one should go near it. Full stop. In the UK there has to be a minimum distance between the edge of the indeed and the rollers, there must also be a stop bar which if functioning correctly will be easily stopped by the operator if he falls or becomes snagged. Are the US machines different? Hand feeding a machine designed to be crane fed would be very dangerous, but with the proper safety features in place I can't see why 1 man can't feed a big chipper. I have hand fed a 10" TP, a 12" bandit and a 16" Morbark, all could take you through if you let them, but all had the proper stop bars and were quite safe.... Either US chippers don't have these features or they're pretty poor at maintaining them...
  21. Tom D
    So what are the safety features on these machines Reg? what does the second man do to stop it?
  22. Tom D
    So 4 times guys were pulled in to the feed hopper without hitting the stop bar?
  23. Tom D
    This kind of thing happens now and again, as you get older you will learn to spot them. If you get serious, i.e. threaten court/debt collectors they will probably pay up. Don't go for any petty threatening tactics like dumping, thats just stupid, I wonder how many of those who recommended it will have actually done it?
  24. Tom D
    RIP Poor guy. If the stop bar and safety systems are working properly I can't understand how this could happen. The one on my TP250 is well sensitive, as are the ones on our smaller chippers. You have to wonder if the machine was in good working order. I certainly wouldn't want to be a stain on the chip pile for the sake of a bit or grease...
  25. Tom D
    Thanks guys, I hadn't ruled out armilaria, I just had a similar case with heterobasidion a few years back which made me wonder. It has quite a mushroomy smell, there are no fruiting bodies.

About

Arbtalk.co.uk is a hub for the arboriculture industry in the UK.  
If you're just starting out and you need business, equipment, tech or training support you're in the right place.  If you've done it, made it, got a van load of oily t-shirts and have decided to give something back by sharing your knowledge or wisdom,  then you're welcome too.
If you would like to contribute to making this industry more effective and safe then welcome.
Just like a living tree, it'll always be a work in progress.
Please have a look around, sign up, share and contribute the best you have.

See you inside.

The Arbtalk Team

Follow us

Articles

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

  I accept