Bald Monkey

I hope this hasn't been covered in other threads, if so I apologise. My wife and I are moving to the west coast of scotland in a couple of weeks and I have initially got some work lined up on an estate. My main duties to start with will be clearing windblown trees and cutting for fire wood, thinning their policy woodland, helping out with livestock, maintaining the track to the estate and any other jobs the estate manager needs a hand with. Money hasn't been discussed (some might say this is madness!!) but just glad I've got some work lined up. I will be self employed and using my own saws, fuel etc and was just wondering what peoples opinion of a day rate for this type of work? Previously working in the midlands I was earning up to £80 a day on average just grounding and not using my own tools, I've got about 3 yrs experience. I'm thinking I should be aiming for at least the £80 - £100 a day figure taking into account I'm using my own tools and work in the winter may not be as frequent. If anyone has any opinions or advice I love to hear them. Cheers

iPads are great and if you get the pages app you shouldn't have any problems sending off quotes either in pdf or word format (pages even gives you invoice templates you can use). After using PC formats for years we have finally converted to apple and its the best move we have made. Recently got a macbook pro and even though it's probably overpriced I absolutely love it. Its so intuiative and the iPhoto, iMovies programmes that come as standard are great. Move to apple, I doubt you'll look back:thumbup1:

started on £50 a day in 2009 and then over the past year or so depending who I work for I've been getting between £60 - £90 a day. Obviously I would like the top end of that each day but you have got to take the work when you get it and everyone doesn't pay the same unfortunately. I know if I argued with the the guy that pays me £60 about upping the rate he would just kick me into touch and get some college leaver that will work for less and I loose the chance of earning. It's rubbish but unfortunately thats life. I'm not climbing, just grounding. I'm not greedy but I think for the amount of work you put into a day you should be worth at least between £80 - 100 a day after at least a years experience, but thats not always easy to get and you have to take what is offered or get nothing!

On the reserve I worked on last year we had an artificial sand martin bank which works quite well. It's made out of breeze blocks with old clay drains used as the entrances. Because it's artificial we had flaps on the inside of the structure that we could go along and take the chicks out quickly ring them and place them back in before the adults notice, this method has proved very successful.

I'm with NFU with my 57reg Ranger, found them to be very competitive. It was actually cheaper to insure the truck than my old skoda fabia VRS which I wasn't expecting:confused1:

some pictures of birds I helped ring last year Bullfinch Treecreeper Tawny Owl (i think??) Kestrel Sand Martins It was an amazing opportunity to be able to get this close to them:biggrin:

A few from my archives:thumbup1: this was an american wigeon that had been blown off course last year

I know someone in melton that had his done the other week, so they must be working the area.

where are you mate?

Cheers for the offer mate, I'll keep you in mind I'm still trying to decide. Where are you out of interest?

Great thread, well we have finally found somewhere to live when we move to scotland, can't wait to move in. We haven't seen it in the flesh, but we know the exact location and the view is amazing! The house The view over the Kyles of Bute

Thanks for the advice mate, much appreciated

Didn't even consider a makita if I'm honest, can they perform on the same level as a husky or stihl? I did think about a 460 but they are over £700 which is out of my budget. Has anyone got a husky 365? FR Jones are selling them for about £540 with a 24" bar, has this got enough grunt to run a bar of this size? Cheers for the replies so far, keep them coming:thumbup1:

I currently have a MS260 and a top handle but I'm in the market for a saw that will happily run a bar of upto 24". I think I will sell the top handle as I have hardly ever used it, it's probably only done 8hrs work since I've got it and it still has the original bar and chain! Can anyone give me some advice on which saw to buy, it will mainly be used for cutting up fallen trees in woodlands and some felling, I want the larger bar to make it easier for larger wood that the 260 can't handle. As always money is tight so ideally like it around the £500 mark but could probably stretch to £600. (I might be struggling for this price but you never know!!) Apologies if this has already been covered on another thread, I've had a quick look through other posts on the chainsaw thread but couldn't find anything similar. Thanks in advance for any help, by the way not bothered if it's stihl or husky:thumbup:

Does anybody use an after market cage to deter the thieves?

Just wondering if anyone has experienced this with any of their trucks. Got a call this morning from a mate who had his stolen off his ford ranger last night. It costs approx £2500 for a new one and he doesn't know if the insurance will cover it yet. According to his local garage this is the 19th case this week they have dealt with. Does anyone have those anti theft cages fitted and are they worth the expense in your opinion. I've just got a ranger myself and the last thing I want is to have to be spending out that sort of money just because of some thieving moron!!

Thanks Richard, I have already been in contact with the community forest and will head down there when I arrive, don't think it will be paid work but it will get my face known and introduce me to the locals. I'll have to keep an eye out for Mr Blair, I think he has something to do with the forest.

Cheers mate for the info, think I will give Land and Tree a call when I get there to see if they have any groundwork going. I did see the Bute job advertised but the cost of using the ferry everyday will eat into whatever I could earn. I cannot believe the prices of the ferries up there.

I've got to say that we haven't really noticed the midges on previous trips but probably it wasn't the right time of year. The most we noticed were at the end of June and then they only came out in the evening. Never had a problem with the horseflies yet, guess we have them to look forward too

I know the view you are on about. Every time we have been for a holiday we always stop at the viewpoint and soak up the scenery, it's always great to be back.

Thanks everyone, I think we have finally got a house sorted to rent. Its taken a while but if we get this one its in a really nice part of the village, up on the hill overlooking the Kyles of Bute. Can't wait for the midges, I'm hoping the estate work will take up most of my time but will do pretty much anything to make this move work. Cheers for the best wishes, if anyone knows of anybody needing a hand up this way please let me know. I'll be prepared to travel. I don't really do any climbing, mainly ground work. Also, after working on a nature reserve for the past year I'm pretty good at putting up stock fencing, hide building, pathways etc. Thanks, Gaz.

Well tomorrow we move out of our house and are moving in with family for a few weeks before moving to the west coast of Scotland at the end of April. Got some work lined up on an estate up there and will hopefully pick up some more work once I'm there. It's a big risk but one we want to take as there will always be that 'what if' if we didn't do it. The wife is leaving a well paid (but very stressful) job to work in a local hotel and any other jobs she can find. Its going to be a complete lifestyle change but hopefully for the better. As long as we can earn enough money to pay the bills and a little extra we'll be very happy. I've bought my first truck in preparation for the move so its exciting (but very nerve racking times) in our house at the moment. The only one that is chilled is the lazy dog (that isn't the wife before anyone asks) Anyway wish us luck, we are moving to a place called Tighnabruaich on the Kyles of Bute if you are interested Cheers, Gary

Just got a Ranger 57reg, hoping it will serve me well:thumbup1:

Yeah, well aware that midges and rain come with the territory.

Hi, not posted on here for a while but always like to keep in touch with whats going on. Anyway for the past year I have been working on a busy nature reserve in the midlands as a trainee conservation officer, it's been fantastic but only a 1 year contract. This has equipped me with a lot of experience and skills for working on a busy estate/nature reserve. I've done lots of fencing, tractor driving (topping etc), animal husbandry, guided walks, coppicing, grassland and lagoon management. You name it and I've probably done it over the past year. I've also been grounding for a couple of local tree companies on large commercial contracts when available for the past 2-3 years. I have my CS30,31,38,39, UA1, chipper tickets and I'm about to do PA1 and PA6. It has always been my intention to move to scotland with my wife as we fell in love with this part of the world a few years ago. I have possibly got some part time estate work lined up from next spring but was wondering if anybody knew of any other work opportunities around the tighnabruaich (argyll & bute) area, I'd be willing to travel for up to 45 mins from this base. I'd be mainly looking for some sort of estate work but would always be up for tree work etc. I have done climbing in the past but I'm not really that fast and to be honest it's not really my cup of tea, prefer my feet on the ground!!! I'll graft all day long and not afraid of getting my hands dirty. If anybody knows of anything it would be great to hear from you, we intend to move up next spring all being well!! Cheers folks