Stephen Blair

i agree with monkeyd, lop-pem and top-pem, the gentlemans pruning technique

i would of thought it would of had an earth anyway john:confused1:

if i hear a rumble i get down, usually because it means there is going to be some crazy hail or rain. i stayed up a big ash covered in ivy one day for about half an hour once in a hail storm type thing in a t shirt, never again!!

100k turnover mate, not profit. i can cut a lot of stuff down mate, so i need a quick way of clearing my feet, a 6 inch to-behind and a transit could never keep up, in a 3 man team most guys will be working about 60% of there capability. have 2 guys and beast it, dont walk when you can run, if one hand is empty carry something else. it is all about being organised. and good at your job. i am usually cheaper than my competitors, i just do it quicker and more in a day.

good man, even if the plan you have to make goes against all your desire to take over the highlands in the world of tree surgery, stick with it. if i were you i would stop everything. get on the phone tomorrow and chase your money, if anyone is over the agreed payment term then get a lawyer onto it, if you want a good one give me a call. go through your phone and take out all the bad payers and crap customers, focus on the good ones. what takes the least effort for the biggest return. learn to say NO mate. dont think what a job might lead to, because all that mental weeling and dealing goes unheard in business...

it beats the ikea bag:blushing:

i will take the cube justin, just got my celox and stuff. cheers mate

mr phillpot you should be ashamed of yourself

go and be a girl and join the 'thin it' group.. on you go, thin it out, force whats left skyward and it will just snap out later, walnut are horrible things imo. the only tree ever to drag me into a big hopper, evil evil trees... in all seriousness, either do it in a oner and it will come back evenly and vigerously, it will look a bit scary for a few years but for the life of the tree to be extended then this will do it and it will be budget tree pruning, if you want it too look the part and hang a swing on it for the kids then a light reduction and every year from now to eternity will be required so will a nice full wallet. so its either what is best for you or what is best for the tree.

is all this sounding very familiar mat to our discussion over 2 years ago, if so take note and sort it out before the biggest thing in your life happens in a few months. you are going to become a father, try dealing with all the stress and worry of parenthood and run a business that looks like it is going down the pan. forget turn over and concentrate on profit my friend.

half it, 50% top, any branch under 45 degrees keep, all verticals should be removed. get some light in amongst it for a few years then end load the lower limbs. any form of reduction is topping in my book, some just dont like the word as it isnt 'arby' enough. you cant have your cake and eat it, reducing a tree isnt for the effect you get straight away, its for a few years down the line. walnut is no better a tree than a self seeded sycamore growing out the corner of a garage, its only a value that humans have put on it, the advice any old gardener on pruning is ' get your worst enemy to do it'. this should be interesting now:ohmy:

i am talking about buying kit, if you buy something for 10k plus vat, you can pay the 10k, claim back the 1500 quid back first within your vat quarter then pay it to the seller. so you arent out of pocket.:001_cool:never spend your vat money or tax money, false econonmy, you think the money is yours and dont address situations when you need to because you have the little security blanket. dont wait till you are owed thousands before you start to panick, i never had arbtalk to give me priceless advice from folk who knew better than me from experience, and i suffered badly in business when i got out of my depth, you guys do have arbtalk, take it from us, unless you are as ruthless a boss as the customer you work for then keep away from it:001_smile:

i prefer a 3 barbed hook for sail fish, its the hot tropical water i think

yes in your new car that has only done 200 miles in 3 years as they only had 12k in the halifax so the car is yours now aswell. cant wait to see your wee smiley face on rogue traders mark:ohmy:

i also give a price to do when i am passing if it is a small job, if they are not in a hurry. i call it saving the invisible money, the stuff that is added on that i dont see. ie fuel, wear and tear wages. if a job takes 20 mins i will charge 50 quid on my home but if i have to go out just for that and say its a 20 mile round trip for 2 men in 60k worth of kit then i want 250plus vat. my profit is better on the 50 quid and the customer is happy

my mate changed the head of his carlton to circular teeth that you can turn 3 times and just hit in with a mallet, really good and simple. got a deal at the apf for a few hundred quid for a set and the changed head and tools

depends mate, i very rarely do a full day on any job, i do domestic and i have some good kit which speeds things up a lot. it never really runs all day long. some days i do a couple of grand with the kit some days i do 150 quid cutting some hedges just with my van and wee trailer. i aim for 100k a year, a jerry can of fuel mix will last me a month easy so that tells you how much cutting i actually do. when i first started i would do one in a week, cutting more on each job and doing so much more work for my pound. i work 5 days a week, but more time is spent changing kit around to make my life easier on site. i have one member of staff, who is self employed and gets on average 3 days a week from me. most of my work is glorified gardening but no grass cutting or strimming, with the odd big tree here and there. i can go a month with the climbing kit staying in the bag. if you know anything about the work you will understand what i am talking about:001_smile:i can also do my work in 2 days a week with one extra member of staff, and make the same money but i get bored the other days in the week:sad:

me too mark, i only wait for one person now, it is 30 days exactly from completion date, and it is well worth the wait. everyone else, its money on the day, if they cant be there then they have signed the paperwork to say it is due within 7 days or there will be charges. i binned all my crap customers 2 years ago. pubs have the right idea, barr the idiots and look after your good ones. no point having one idiot ruining it for the others and forcing them to go elsewhere.

i bet you would of done that for nothing mate just to play in the digger:001_cool:, i know you are just a lad but arent you the lad that has chain oil instead of blood, and your grandpaws back garden is like the late great fred dibnas wet dream. you have been filing off the rakers on 084's since you were 4 and you are probably changing the engine of the old fordson major right now on the living room table:ohmy: well done mate, looks great:001_smile:

dont work for these folk then, they are dictating to you when they are going to pay you, when you go into a shop do you tell them when you are going to pay? no. this is why so many companies go down the tubes because of big firms. yet everyone chases it. if they dont pay then you are screwed, because it is usually some young guy, financed up to his nuts with no business sense what so ever against a professional business man/team. they take nothing personal into consideration it is just a deal a business transaction, if they say no and you say pretty please then you are screwed. and you are usually so busy and stressed you cant take 5 mins off to chase your money. i think you guys should take some time to read throught he stress thread properly and realise loads of us have tried what you are doing, big money jobs with loads of staff. the big companies see it like taking candy from a baby. they dont pay you one day and there is a queue of contractors waiting to do the job the next day. look at your turnover then look at your profit, then see how much of your profit you have in the bank:sad:

its a matter of organising yuor money, thats why i told you to work out what size of an overdraft you needed before you took on the work, have the paperwork set in place so when a customer pays late, they are paying your charges, have it all signed before you start the work, that is why commercial work is such a nightmare. the bank will have a bit of come and go, especially if you have the invoices in your hand, the vat man will want it there and then as will mr tax man. speak to the bank, most of the guys i know that chase commercial work have a deal with the bank, they pay your invoice straight away less a percentage and then they chase the money. this is why i do domestic work:001_smile:

between fear of the dark and a touch of ocd, i just couldnt dean. the ratchet strap 020t boobi trap was a bit scary to say the least:ohmy:

all i can say is that he must be doing something right:001_smile:

dean i could of sworn your new workshop was actually hucks. but then i remembered he put his tools away with a giant catapult, blinfolded