Mark Bolam
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Everything posted by Mark Bolam
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Some great comments. My mate bought a house down the road from me with a big TPO’d oak which dominates his garden. He knew it, and happily lives with it. The tree is 200+ years old. His neighbours whinge like buggery about it, in their 10 year old houses. The TO is pretty much ‘if you don’t like it, move’. He won’t allow any work, it doesn’t need any. I kind of agree with him.
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They won’t play on a Nokia 3210 mate.
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IMG_5138.MOV IMG_5141.MOV
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Biggest pick was 4.5t.
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Crane day today on some manky roadside pops. Pub by 5. Luckily the rain held off and the wind didn’t get up too much.
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Mines not a full arb back Paddy, DC Transit with ali sides and 1/4 top. 2-up in the cab plus dog and tools goes 2850 on the bridge empty. All the 130 tippers I’ve seen have been single cabs.
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Tree Stories: Heart, Mind, and Soul... (FREE WEBINAR)
Mark Bolam replied to JackArbAssociation's topic in General chat
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Of course.
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I did think you were being harsh Dave!
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He should know better then shouldn’t he? Let’s hope he never has to chase a cut with a 20” bar on a 25cc saw. Even if it’s running on nitrous. Probably just done it to get more clicks on Youtube anyway.
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Only in America. No one else would be so stupid.
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Good to read you again Paul!
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Get a vid up doing it, that’s impressive. Those ST8’s must go nearly 1.5t with full tanks?
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There’s probably a lesson here. ’Work’s so busy I’m considering setting up a second team’ should really be ‘Work’s so busy I’ll put my prices up to where they should be and let the gyppos and lowballers fight over the scraps’. Work has always been an ebb and flow, the newly expanded companies shit themselves when it goes quiet and start quoting low which has a knock on. Keep your standards and your prices high. Because we’re worth it.
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Fair play on getting it done Paddy. I’d be wanting 2 days money for a situation like that.
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You wouldn’t be anywhere near the VAT threshold on £150/day freelance though?
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What sort of money are monks on these days?
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Of course it will rise quickly, and they deserve every penny. Not a job I could do, for sure. No one is in arb for the money, just for the chicks and the likes.
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Of course we should be on that Paddy, I totally agree. The problem is that the bottom feeders drag the price down and we all suffer. The shitbags can’t compete on quality arb work, but a lot of what we do is pretty simple. Medium sycamore takedown with a decent dropzone? Easy day for 3 running 3 loads. Are they going to take my £800 or the £450 bid by the new college boys who have had a new chipper for their birthday? We will both leave a tidy site with everything gone. The college boys haven’t got insurance yet, but it’s something they will definitely get round to. The public are generally ignorant, they don’t give a toss. The £450 wins all day. Who can blame them? Everyone likes saving money. I’ve been doing this for a while and avoid the ‘cheapest quote wins’ bunch as best as I can, but it’s taken a long time. I freely admit I was the college boy once as well.
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Doctors start on about £40k after a 6 year degree. We aren’t doctors. I’m all for more money for everyone, but the only way to earn a small fortune in arb is to start with a large one!
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Big difference between want and get mate.
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I totally agree mate, you’re spot on. Industry rates have been depressed for years, across the board. It’s like anything though, if enough people are prepared to endure it nothing will ever change. I would stretch to £160/day for the OP freelance, not on the books. I’ve got some good customers, but still need to win jobs on price, and I’m in fat, minted Kent. The dream of £1k/day for standard 3 men truck and chipper would just find an empty diary.
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£160/day is £41.6k on the books.
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I love the manoeuvreability of my 160 and it’s a great machine, but an ST6 will outchip it all day every day.
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The sooner Bark f off and die the better.
