Rupe

When you first register for vat I don't think you can claim everything back for the last 2 years anyway. Not sure how it works exactly but I think you can only claim the vat back on stuff you still own, and for things like fuel and expenses there is a much shorter time that you can reclaim retrospectivly.

Hi, I'm all good thanks. Well done to you and Jon, great show for the Brits. I bet Donal had a blast too. Shame about Owen, yes that is sods law! Still he's a kiwi anyway! I'll give him a call in the week to rub it in a bit.

Good job Rhys! What happened to Owen? Did he drop something?

Thanks Mark. Looks like Owen had troubles in the work climb! Will have ot talk to him about that! And I had thought Stu was climbing but I was wrong. Donal, good job!

"Fiddling with a tranny" you mean?

My 066 has had half its fins missing for years. No worries.

Of course!! They make it lousy!!

Good to meet you too!

Any News about Stu and Owen??

Dynamic!! Sorry can't help you there!

HAve you got some scores Pete??

I'm not really into football, but my local was full of frenchies last night!! Ha Ha!

I had a look through some.

If you have had two years out of it then retire it IMO. But never chuck em, they are worth more in spare parts.

If you remove the o' ring on the tool strop and insert a non locking carabiner instead, then it can be clipped to anywhere on your harness. Of course you can still have a caritool in the perfect place for you, but this means that if you are in an awkward spot then anywhere will do, like the ring on the bridge of the harness, this is a good place to keep it short term.

Its not really a quote over the phone though is it? Its more an estimate of what could be inlvolved. No ones sayign the do fixed price quotes over the phone. I have in the past given rough ideas of what it could be 200-2000 sort of thing and offered to come and quote, but I don't think any of those enquiries have led to work. Even if I went and quoted and it was more like 200, then someone else would have said 150-1500 over the phone and gone round and quoted 150 and got it. Asking over the phone means that price is the main factor. If experience and insurance etc is the main factor then they would start off by asking about that?

Used in a Ddrt set up it will probaby not end in a serious accident, but it is misuse of gear. Is he employed? If so the emlployer needs to remind him to work to best practice etc.

For me, if I'm not busy I actually can't afford the fuel to go and visit a time waster so the more I can filter out on the phone the better. Another give away is the "how soon could you do the work" question on the phone. That happenned recently along with "it hasn't got a preservation order on it". I didn't even bother to go and look and now, guess what?? Yes, the company they got in (along with the client) are being prosecuted for carrying out tree work in a conservation area without permission. I could see it a mile off!!!

You need to evaluate your enquiries to see if they " qualify" as a potentila cusotmers. If they start by saying "I've been given your number by Mrs XYZ because you did a good job for her" then they are part way to qualifying already. Starting with "how much do you charge?" they are pretty much not going to recover from that. I would have a bit of fun with them and then forgtet about it. Maybe say somethign like we charge more per hour than anyone else round here but get more done per hour too" that will confuse them. Or a direct answer to a direct question "as much as I think I can get away with!!" or "it depends on who else is quoting"

The results of yesterday's Masters' Challenge are: Women: 1. Anja Erni, Switzerland 2. Jo Hedger, UK 3. Christine Sulzberger, Austria Men: 1. Jon Turnbull, UK 2. Bernd Strasser, Germany 3. Gregor Hansch, Switzerland 4. Nathanael Gros, France 5. Johann Gustaverson, Sweden

Chisel.

Isn't that just a Machard Tresse? Been around forever, came form apline climbing, not really popular for tree work but an historical knot worth knowing.

I think if you are on the same job for a few days then the rate per day can go down a bit. For example, if I were to charge 450 for one days work, I don't have to charge 4 times 450 for four days work. I could go down a bit on the day rate cos one quote has landed me four days work, instead of four quotes to get me four days work. Also on bigger jobs there may only be one clear up at the end, you can leave loads of stuff one site, signs, bollards etc, so that save time each day. Another thing is the kind of work you are doing means that there could be one day of shifting blocks of wood, are you going to charge the same for that as the rigging days? Price it for what your customer wants, and manage their expectaions. Stop worrying about your day rate etc. Its a lot easier to get one pay cheque each week than it is to chase round the countryside for 5+ pay cheques, plus all the time quoting. We all say "free quotations" but I know when I fill up the car on a saturday quote day then its not going to be free for me at all, so all the jobs I get pay for their quotes AND for the quotes that I didn't get.

The important thing is who BT send to sort it out. If the tree company call an engineer it is charged, if the customer calls an engineer usign their customer number then a different engineer turns up and all he has to do is fix it, not ask questions. It Bt's line, and they want to rental, it goes over the customers property and other poeples property sometimes as well, anything that happens to it while its passing trees and stuff is BT's problem. Its not like its easy to get them to take lines down for us in the first place. As for minor damage by "subbies". They don't HAVE to pay for anything. All they have to do is protect their future careers and the bast way to do that is to A. Not break stuff, and B. Pay for stuff if they do break it.

YES. BT would want youto pay for it, so if you phone them up and report it you will get the bill, and the line may not be fixed until you've paid it so the customer has no phoneline for a while..... BUT, BT gaurantee to their customers to repair faults with 24 hrs, after that they have to re imburse line rental etc as that is all paid in advance. So get the owner of the line to report the fault, and make sure they don't say "the tree surgeons broke it!" Just report an unknown fault, BT test the line and its not working. They send an engineer and his remit is to get it fixed ASAP no matter what he discovers (sawdust allover the place) so the line gets fixed quicker so the customer is happier that way. Its a bit cheecky, but you have to play the system! I've only done it twice and its worked a treat each time.