Ty Korrigan

I believe that here in France the M.S.A a government body that looks after the social security for land based workers (farmers to gardeners) Gives grants for electric saws BUT...with conditions attached such as a healthy dossier to complete on H+S plus you must attend various courses on the subject. Could itself be a high price to pay for a shiny toy... Ty

Ah hah... "warranty claims that we get stiffed for" says PeteB. I don't like the attitude behind this statement. Are you assuming all purchasers of machinery are then out to rip off the manufacturer? I thought a warranty was there for a good reason so that if a part failed before its time then the manufacturer would hold up its hands and admit fault. A happy customer is a returning customer. (or would you like me to go elsewhere for my chippers:sneaky2:) Ty

Exactly, the problem is finding a buyer! Big companies like Mercedes and Jaguar actually employ agents to search worldwide for prime trees for veneer. You average garden walnut is not quite the thing in this case. Ty

Huh... I have had hard up ex-pats wanting me to fell their walnuts and pay THEM for the wood... Oh good grief Ty

Hello, My webmaster is an old friend who works at Balmoral on the systems there. It costs me very little money as I visit Scotland and work for a week in exchange for the sites creation and maintainance. I think that maybe its a bit wordy and the French side is behind on updating. We are due to update this summer. Ty http://www.lejardinieranglais.com

Simply this, Most ex-pats in France are retired or living off income derived from property sale in U.K There are businesses run by ex-pats who serve the ex-pat community and often do not break into the French market through lack of language skills. Those retirees who moved to France before the 'crash' of the sterling against the Euro found their income from the U.K dropping by a third when the pound reached parity with the euro. It has since risen to 1.25 but is still short of the 1.48 that many bought on. That extra few quid is the spending money that makes the long Breton winter tolerable and now it has gone, possibly for good. The French clients are not affected by international currency transfers and when salaried earn good money especially around the cities and are more than often retired on far bigger pensions than ex-pat retirees. Browsing this evening, I see on a website+forum advertising for ex-pats yet another business offering 'tree lopping' what ever that is... Luckily for us they are a long way away based in the far West of Brittany and must rely on an ever decreasing client base as more and more Brits give up on the French Dream and head home to a dank flat in Berkhampstead... Ty

Recently, I have come to the conclusion that the other ex-pats Arbs must really be fighting over fewer and fewer scraps. I follow up my quotes and find the ones I lose to ex-pat Arbs are undercut by 25-33% That...is pure profit being thrown away in my eyes. The others must be making a living but not enough clear profit to make a viable future business. Busy fools... The more French clients we win the better our margins. I laugh at those who climb trees for the price I cut grass har har har:lol: I'd rather work less for more than more for less. Underpricing jobs for fear of losing a job is just a descending spiral. I won't enter a price war, I'll just wait until their chippers break Ty

Hello, I run a Kangoo 1.5dci which doubles as my personal transport for now. No doubt that for quotes and small jobs even with chipper in tow it is a useful tool. Henchman and ladders on top and we have never filled it up yet (except when planting with Bamboo!) We MAY replace it in 2013/14 with a the long version which has rear folding seats as I will have a family by then. Although, our new Nissan Navarra returns 7.4 litres for 100km unladen which is really very good for 2.5litre engine compared to the 5litres for 100km for the Kangoo. Ty

Hello, We are ordering a Quadchip very soon. (as soon as the French tax authorities give us our v.a.t number...) We are buying the Quadchip on the back of the recommendations here on Arbtalk and the experience of customer service we have already received from G.M with regard to our CS100. It is useless for us to have a demo as here in France the longest demo we have been offered is 15min (although we got 30min from Timberwolf, the rep wore no P.P.E and wheeled and dealed like a 2 headed weasel and lied about certain known facts/issues...perfidious French...) I find the support from G.M top notch and am prepared to buy the Quad sans demo on trust of reputation. Ty

Hello, I love those bikes! When I was a teen I worked for several bike stores including Geoffrey Butler in South Croydon. I saved up my paper round money and bought a Raleigh mountain bike back in 1984/5, what a heavy iron horse that was but it had 15 gears and decent wide cantilevers. I have attached a photo of me during the 2007 Paris-Brest-Paris 1200km event which I completed in 77hours on a George Longstaff tricycle. Last year 2011 I rode a different machine, a carbon Specialized 'Roubaix' and got in under 62hours. However...I am getting married soon so I shall have to buy a tandem. That way we can continue to enjoy exploring France together. Ty

Long distance cycling events normally occupy many weekends but this year I am taken up with work and traveling to Maroc every couple of weeks to visit future wife and arrange our marriage. The image is taken in the Portuguese fortress, El Jadidah. A scene from Orson Wells 'Othello' was filmed Ty

Hello, We are going to get one made for a friends machine. Our question is...just what are the dimensions? Between the tines. Depth of tines. Anything else? We want to use it for clearing stony soil too before rotovation. Any advice welcome. Kind regards Ty

Wow, thats a drama that made me shiver reading it. I cannot imagine how it must been for you. Reading about this has made me even more annoyed with the French. Why? Because British subjects are not allowed to give blood:confused1: WHY? Because of the risk of contracting CJD (mad cow disease) I'm not kidding! I was a regular donor for years in the U.K (anything for a pretty nurse, a bourbon cream and a cup of tea) Then I moved here and one wet day rucked up at the local blood bank only to be humiliated in front of dozens of smug Onion Johnnies. A Gallic shrug and a "Mai no Monsewer, vous ete...Anglais!" Guess they just can't handle the high quality and potent rouge of a race honed by a millennium of spilling claret fighting the French... hhhhh

Hello Friend, In response to this: where do you live, i been looking at a place in tremp recently. dont know much about the scene over there and dont want to do so much work but thought it would be good too see what the go is. I would advise you that the French system is only geared for full time successful entreprises. If you only work part-time then you may not earn enough to pay into health or pension. Years of scratching an unsuccessful semi-living here will only impoverish you in the future. You should also consider continue paying voluntary U.K pension contributions whilst overseas. Frankly, business here is hard and it really sucks. Think again about coming here unless you speak French and or are married to a French national. There is a French dream but that is all it is unless you are rich and retired. Ty

Ha! Just lost a hedge job to some-ones Uncle... I bet it NEVER gets done...hhhhh! OR the old boy gives up and expires after 30min due to his pace-maker. We lose out to firewood hunters from time to time but frankly if others see the incompetence and mess they leave then its all good advertising for the industry. Another prospective client thought that we where expensive, whilst his neighbour uses us twice a year. Guess who has the hedge thats not been cut for 2 years! Some people are hard up or just tight with money and will spend huge amounts of time searching for something for nothing whilst the grass grows, a bit like idiots who drive miles to save a penny a litre on fuel... Ty

Tom, You are the venerable one we aspire to be like. You've made it work and in a foreign country top boot. Some-one to aspire too (apart from the dreadfull smell your tipper cab ona wet day...hhhh:001_tt2:) Ty

Hello, The engine uses officially 2.8litres per hour. We fitted a tinytach to count the hours. We also have a policy of stacking then chipping and turning off in between rather than leaving it running all the time so its more the actual chipping hours are whats recorded. We have recorded a handsome 5 hour day before whilst chipping lawson! Ty

Hello, Personally, I would dress professional, clean t shirt with company brand and arrive NOT in a Jag/new pickup etc but a modest small car/van Look the part and sell your quality. Not every client wants the cheapest, they also may want the work done by a pro. Don't forget that other pro's still make errors! Your not alone there. Maybe they asked for a cash payment? Maybe the company that got the job is on its uppers, desperate and scratching around for some turnover. I recently won a job by telling the client by all means to go for the lower quote from my competitor but I also sent the client images of work done AND previous quotes to back up my pricing. I won with only a small reduction as a commercial gesture. I also lose on quotes from people with no business sense or long term view. Who forget to price in the real cost of equipment and forget that magic word "profit"... Well, they may be content to pay themselves the minimum wage but I have better aspirations in life. There will always be busy fools out there my friend. I personally aim to work less for more than more for less. I'm up against guys who put a 2 man team out there for 40% lower than us. Question is...for how long? That old chipper will break down one day and that truck will let them down and anyway, they may like holidaying in Bognor whilst I sun myself in my second home in Morocco... Ty

Ah.. I am currently cloning myself at great expense in order to work hard enough to meet the demands of the French tax system which charges you whether you earn or not. Ty

Morning, It how you sell your services that can determine the usefulness of a wee chipper. In larger gardens there is often a place for wood chip and rakings. I can turn up just with a small van and trailer or just a transit type van and ramps although you need 2 to load into a van. We regularly do large jobs with the CS100 and are in dire need of a bigger machine but the wee chipper will always have its place. This cedar from last Thursday went through no the chipper with no problems, the machine dragged it in and didn't stall once. The last image is of a job felling a dozen pines, at this point we gave up using the CS100 and called TomTrees with his Bandit xp65. It was not the wood that defeated the chipper, it was the amount of snedding that defeated us! Ty

Morning, I have a lump of yew branch I asked a client for. It is 40cm in diameter and the rings so close it is hard to count but I have counted around 150years. I will try again now I have read this thread using pins placed every 10years as a marker. I'll report back on it with images. Also, I recall, although I was using a sharp chain, it felt I wasn't it was so hard. Ty

Yeh but Tom, When I work for you I have to take off your slippers and tie your gaffs on before running oil into your leather 19century saw scabbard then levering you into your armour and helm because you are the great dinosaur of the arb industry at 43...hhhhhh l.o.l Ty

Your a bloody rep for G.M ain't cha! l.o.l

I'm off today, its 'another' French bank holiday 'Pentecost' I believe. Now I am a believer in employing a range of experience. Our regular groundsman is 63 years old with over 40years of arb work behind him. Rab is a former London Borough tree officer to boot and we pay him a third more than others with little or no experience. Having an older guy around with serious experience is invaluable for us in terms of development, a real sobering influence too. I have to admit, I would rather pay more taxes and retire on a decent pension than work until I'm too old to enjoy life. The French do have stupidly high taxes to pay for such a lifestyle though. We pay over 60% on profit as a limited company regardless of turnover. Now when I got my tickets at 38years of age, I was told at college by the technicians and lecturers that the chances of me finding work were slim to none. So...after trying a couple of companies here in France I started my own business. After all, clients don't always know you are new and inexperienced. You can price your jobs accordingly with a low margin or simply price correctly and allow more time until you get up to a more commercial speed. After all, if you are starting up your books won't be full so you won't have the same time constraints. Also, you can limit yourself to chasing appropriate work you can handle (small builders don't build skyscrapers eh?) If you network with others you always bring in experience at the appropriate rate. Then you can pay yourself the groundies wage instead. If your life style includes a second home in Florida and changing cars every 3 years then perhaps think again about Arb work...it 'may' not support your needs...ever! All jobs we undertake pay differently and I will inform my self employed staff in advance if the markup is low as the day rate will be affected pro-rata. I have only been told once to stuff myself and 'she' only lasted 3 days dragging brash and wanted 150euros a day! Have a good day all Ty

Morning, I was exhibiting at a garden show near St Malo on the 17th May when I overheard a chap running a plant stand was lyrical about the majestic Heracleum mantegazzianum. The French it seems are only just waking up to this toxic menace and so my protests concerning its dangers where ignored as the rantings of an Englishman abroad who has taken to much sun. I have a very real phobia of this plant, it possibly all stems from watching the BBC day of the triffids. Actually, I won't go near Gunnera either... Ty