Mark Bolam

Those old diesels drink anything don’t they Khriss!

Why would you switch Jack? Just buy E5, or use Aspen.

Pond is looking great Marcus.

Just a heads up from FB. Hopefully some good news for someone.

It’s not cheap, but neither is rope you burn out in a year! @Rich Rule may have some useful input for you as well. He has more ropes than I have pairs of pants.

Best I’ve ever used mate. Plays well with everything. Big difference between the CE and non-CE though. Nod at Treeworker was my source for full fat non-CE stuff.

I’ve just run some figures Rob. 95kg is too heavy to safely continue climbing on single rope according to my algorithms. You have to sell me all your climbing kit immediately, for 10% of what you paid for it (It’s a safety factor thing). Seriously mate, I think a lot of the newer ropes, whilst being outstanding, are a little bit ‘fussy’ when it comes to real world climbing brutality. You must have tried good old Donaghys Cougar Blue? (The non-CE stuff)?

My mate in Queensland has a PPE shop and can ship them over as gifts to me. It would be be a strictly illegal enterprise, no fitty no likey no cashbacky sort of deal. Cash up front. They are meant to be really good in hot weather, but you look like a bus conductor. I’m going to stick to my Pfanner Gladiators. I’ll sweat more, but for the three really hot weeks we have, I’m worth it. The guy below has a pair and really rates them. If there is genuine interest I will see what I can do for a bulk order for the APF, although I expect that would screw things up a bit on the gift front. @Tommy_B

This is the crux. Grasscutting is a pleasure, emptying the box is a chore. Even on a ride on.

Dragons Den here we come Beau!

Grind it.

You’ve signed up to bullshit scheme where you have agreed to be bummed without lube, so now you want to grass up everyone who has the sense to avoid being bummed without lube? Log selling has regulated itself perfectly well for centuries. Anyone who sells wet crap ends up with no customers. It’s pretty simple. If Woodsure ever ask me about it I’ll tell them to f-off. I’ll continue telling them to f-off until they threaten to get the police involved. If the police eventually do turn up, that will be great because we can finally have a chat about my tool thefts over the years at the same time. They’ve never had anybody available to attend before.

The problem is people see badly reduced hatracked trees, often for no reason, and think - ‘Oh, I better get mine done like that then’. The public are thick as pig shit, generally.

It’s utter shit and everyone should just ignore it.

That’s why he retired.

Depends Mark. £100/day for a skilled SE guy is a massive piss take. £100/day for an unskilled 18 year old PAYE is a dream come true.

Nightmare. Glad mine has absolutely minimal electrics, not even a built in radio. I’ve heard you tow around a trailer with a Harman Kardon 1000W system with a bass cannon though….

Saw that on your FB John, what a nightmare. Glad you weren’t in it at the time though!

I went into recruitment for a bit after a knee op a few years ago, landscape sector. It was like pulling teeth trying to recruit skilled hard landscapers. Say they were on a grand a week doing their own thing. I’d be trying to talk them into a £40k pa job PAYE with all benefits and a van. They’d be like - ‘But I’m on £52k pa now?’ I’d be like ‘How much have you earned in the last fortnight when it’s pissed down constantly?’ ’Errr, nothing. Couldn’t get on the sites’. I’d be like - ‘Well, this job would pay you whatever the weather, no more finding work, no more buying tools or vehicles, holiday pay, sick pay, pension, yada yada yada. And you get £40k.’ Brief pause - ‘But I’m on £52k at the moment…..’ AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH! Then occasionally I’d have someone convinced it might be the right move and they’d go ‘Is that £40k after tax?’ I’d look around my desk for a couple of sharp pencils so I could end it all. Clutchy makes a very valid point that hourly rates aren’t really a factor in PAYE positions, your contract will be for 37.5hrs/week minimum whether there is any work or not. Still see loads of ads on here asking for full time on an SE basis, which is totally illegal. We all know that, but still seems largely ignored.

I think a change is coming mate. There are simply not enough youngsters willing or able to go into skilled manual trades, so rates will rise. Probably be spot on by the time we retire! To me, an HGV driver, skilled machine operator, or skilled manual tradesman should be worth far more than a computer games designer. As these skills become scarcer the public will have to catch up to the idea. Or their bins won’t be getting emptied.

The difference between PAYE and SE to an employer is phenomenal. Employers NI, holiday, sick, paternity, pension, PPE, vehicles, kit etc. The guy on £130/day on the books will cost a lot more than the SE guy on £200.

It’s definitely not just arb Doug.

It’s pretty easy, you just say you’re not interested in doing it.