Rupe

Sometimes the but wants to poke you in the guts! Its a Yale double esterlon 13mm rope form HB's. Will switch to 16mm for the larger bits, hopefully tommorow.

Trying to keep it genuine! A few others didn't make the edit!! I should do a video of goofs and schollboy errors at the end of the year!

A bit more video from the other day. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6FgGV5dGOg]YouTube - Beech rigging more work 3.wmv[/ame]

No saw will maintain the same power if you increase the bar size by a significant amount. Its simple, bigger bar = less power. Thats the same for everysaw, and of course the opposite is true as well. Having said that, it should run a 30inch but will struggle on hardwoods. A semi chisel chain would help.

Definatly charges for paypal. I don't really think that is the way forward for us but it is an option. Transfering money via internet banking is free though isn't it?? If its not then I'm sure its cheaper than cheques.

Oh and its free! Card machines are not the solution for tradesmen etc. I don't think. Just get your customers paying by internet transfer. If you start now, you'll find them all doing it by 2018. And even now you pay to put cheques into a business account but you don't with internet trannsfers.

If you think how things have moved in the last 10 years in terms of internet banking, paypal and mobile phone technology, another 8 years is a long time in technology. I agree that the cheque will simplr remove itself form use as we get more used to other methods. We don't necessarily need card mahcines or anything else, so customers apy me by internet bancking already, and I pay nearly all my accounts via internet. I can only remember a couple of clients last year that didn't use e mail, so in 8 years even the slower ones will be on internet banking.

So far we have been ok with groundie flicking it back. I'd clip another line to it if necessary.

He didn't even drop them into a truck! That would have moade mroe sense than on the floor! I have this, its ideal for arb waste as you can get big rings under it easy.

His fuel and oil at least! Thats just tight, its tax deductable and can't amount to much!

Cool. If you are searchign on the net then use Arboriculture instead of tree surgeon, thats the definition which has been allowed as agricultural in the previous cases I refer to.

Thats what I mean though, you don't need to save on holiday pay! Its not an additional cost. All it is is wages spread out over a year so the employee gets paid every week. You could give an employee a contract and give them 12 weeks holiday if they want it, won't cost a penny, it just mean they get a lot less every week. In the example I gave above if the self employed guy is on 70 a day and has 12 weeks holiday that 52-12= 40 weeks worked which is 14K a year, so you put him on paye with 12 weeks holiday and you pay him 14K over 52 weeks which is £269 a week with 12 weeks off. Only problem with that is the employer only has 40 weeks a year to make a profit out him, and the guy is on not much a week but you get my meaning? Holiday pay is not a thing to worry about, base pay on annual salaries and don't worry about day rates. Some fulltime climbers say they are on x day and it doesn't sound much but if they are getting that while on holiday then it means they are effectively getting more for each day of work.

I paid 700 for the steel sides for mine, that include all the cutting and folding to create the joins and all the reinforcers etc. and some design costs too. I still had to bolt it all together and make the roof and foamex sides which all cost a bit extra, maybe 800-850 all together.

Fair point, different industries etc. 100% is a bit steep though! Might work in some sectors but not forestry etc.

My old boss bought some land with agricultural tie and he did arb work not forestry. He had soem problems but found a case where it had been allowed in the past and he got a laywer on to it and all was ok. So it can be done. I can't help you with any facts though and I hope I never speak to the bloke ever again so I can't ask, sorry, but I remember it well at the time. So you don't need to prove the definition of forestry but you need to find cases where this has occurred before and use that as a precident (sp?).

Employees should be on less than freelancers/self employed because they have the benefit of job security. If you have enough work they should work out cheaper. Its only when you are low on work or have breakdowns or bad weather that they cost more. The sad fact seems to be that if you have employees you have ot ruthlessly make them work in all weathers to keep the money flowing. That is the one part that I don't agree with. Risk assessing a job means takign in to account the weather and saying no if its too wet/windy. If you can swithc jobs then thats fine but many compaies with employees have work booked out and dates written in stone that they won't change whatever the weather. This contradicts so many safety guidlines that I feel I would prefer not to employ, but if I could and make a go of it I would. I would like the security of knowing someones turning up everyday rather than always phonign round to book the staff in at often short notice and tryhing to fit in with the weather etc. its a pain.

All of the above Stevie. The last beech we did only I only took one load of wood and didn't even touch any of the rest, which suited that job just fine. This one is closer to my yard so its more convenient for me to take some, but some will go un seasoned and some will hire my splitter too. And some will be collected by other, my two groundies are fillign there pick ups every day and another guy will take soem and he sharpens my grinder teeth in return. I definatly am not lookign at going into firewood as a business as such, but since I stopped work before christmas its been firewood money that has kept me going through the snow etc. and I'm very grateful for it and don't want to run out next year. I won't be going out of my way to get firewood in though. Anyway we got nothing doen today except shiftign wood, it chucked it down all day! But the client gave a cheque for part payment so money in the bank at last!!

Yes, many should be employed. The HMRC see it as exploitation if you don't employ them. I'm not suggesting you are exploiting him but many are being exploited. There was the lad on here who was getting paid nothing or one day a week at best but had to be available everyday just in case his "boss" felt like working. Thats exploitation. Paye is not that bad. If you have guaranteed work for the guy then it could be ok. Everyone bemoans paying holidays etc but you calculate that into the day rate anyway. So for example if you pay him 70 a day now self employed and he pays his own tax and gets nothing for holidays and he does 47 weeks for you thats £16450 that your are forking out. You PAYE him a salary of £16450 paid over 52 weeks of the year thats £316 a week gross. you then give him 270 ish of that and the balance piad in tax. You are, in theory, no worse off and he is less exploited! Only cost to you is hassle, a little bit of employer contribution to NI, but the killer is keeping him busy on wet days or shortage of work etc.

Lets say you quoted for a job, and you get it and you are insured to do it. Then you get your guy in to help you and he screws up and damages something. YOU have screwed up and damaged something. You can't say, your mate did it. You are doign the job if your name is on the quote then its your insurance. You can be sat in the office if you want but you still screwed up on that job, and you take responsibilty for whatever happens and whoever does what. You can't then claim on there insurance. If your insurance literally does only cover you plus one named employee then I would be wary of getting someone else in, but them having thier own insurance won't help, they can walk away. Its you thats doing the job for the client. Now if you genuinly are usign this guy as a subcontractor then thats is where the insurance company is saying that he must be insured, but in the example you give he's working for you. Own tools means nothing, fixed price for job doesn't mean alot either. If you (or your one employee) are grounding for this guy then you can't balme him when he drop a limb on the house. You are still in charge. And, if he drops a limb on the house after you repeatedly told him to do it a different way then it is still your fault for getting him in in the first place.

Sure, but that is then a genuine sub contractor, i.e. another company/person like yourself doign tree work. What you have is a labourer workign for you. My groundie is self employed, and he works for others firms and he tells me whne he's available and how much he wants for each job (or thats what it says on his invoices) so I use him per job not per hour. He's not insured, you all know waht I think of that, insuranc eto keep the HMRC happy is not right IMO, and as he's not employing anyone he doesn't legally need any insurance. Its a grey area, but its one that has been exploited in our trade for many years. If you require him to come in X amount of days each week then that is employment so unless you can find a way to exploit the regs then you should employ him. It is a hassle for one bloke though, I did it once and it wasn't worth it. Scaffolfders are possibly working under the CIS scheme. I don't know for sure though. And mechanics is a whole other situatiuon. Even employed ones have to provide their own tools so that on its own doesn't make some one self employed. Even some full time tree surgeons provide there own tools.

I've sold more firewood this year than ever, without advertising it, so I'm gonna make more effort next year. I often get people to come to jobs and help themselves cos it saves me movign it, in this case I'll do a bit of both, plus I've got same people buyign it unseasoned for next year so I can deliver that directly from this job. Better get back to it now!

Probably have to dice it down, it gets fat at the bottom.

Oh thats just an old ring off a cambium saver. Its not specifically for rigging, what you need is a hub!

Yeah I know what you mean. POV is the name of reg's cam but mine is still filming POV style. I'm quite impresses with it now, and with the right batteries its lasting two day of work easily! Thats energiser lithiums btw, as advertised on tv for digi cameras etc.

I'll do my best. I think the helmet cam is proving fairly good so far though.