Stephen Blair

well spotted, i thought that was a dummy.

i thought it was just me

hey guys, is it the weather or lack of work that brings you onto arbtalk today?

Sorry mate, i am up in Largs. I am looking for a climber for a day, as have put my back out, cant get paid until job is done. best of luck.

nice one mate.

al least when its food you can call on the help of the boderterrier to tidy up, but paint!

i think all the options are quite similar, but watch out for small print. also depends on kit. if it has crazy depreciation keep your money in the bank, if it is brand new then the tax allowance is excellent. i am not paying tax this year because i bought a lot of kit last year, and you can spread the capital input onto next year. I alwats run accountants ideas past mr tax and vat man just to keep myself right. If you call them they are always very helpful. and you dont want to fall out with those 2

My brother is a deer stalker and he served his time in loch morar, if you have ever seen the mountains there you can only guess the size of his calves, he has to buy those fancy wellies with the zips, that he can never get more than half way, he buys the most basic husky trousers he can find as big as they come and wears braces. when i used to borrow them for jobs when i was visiting with my awesome 11 stone physique i was like co co the clown

couldnt tell you mate, we spoke for about 10 mins over the phone. my memory is shocking.

mogs are like marmite. you either love them or you hate them As for costs, dig a hole and burn money in it, or buy a mog but after 3 years they are pretty much worth what you paid for it i could never bring myself to spend so much on a to behind when you can get twice the size of chipper for half the price and put the rest to the mog. down time is worse than the repair costs, trying to find a descent mechanic who will work on it. A price is the man to speak to.

i always wanted B16 LOG

I remember the day i got the letter saying my insurance was jumping from 1000 to as much 9000 over nite. I had just bought my first house after living in prefab, bought mog and chipper and golf gti. I thought that would be it, time to bale out. The next timber mag was full of kit. I called sellers up for a chat and a moan and everyone was selling up in a panick, but when i asked a guy from dumfries why he was selling his old kit, he told me it was to buy brand new shiny stuff and go big. He told me there used to be 4 tree guys in his town yesterday, and today there was just one. him. So i took his leed and upgraded mog and chipper. borrowed 50k. and i was flat out. The kit just got me work. so do we do this now?

mine is similar john hancocks, except all steel. good knife

i got a cracking stainless steel knife with belt clip, serated serated edge and able to open with one hand and it locked. 30pounds.I got it at the apf 4 years ago. it was from the bushwear guys, they sell the excellent swazi clothing. they werent there this year. i dont know there web address. maybe some one here knows it.

fair enough, i havent lifted either saw for 11 years so forget my opinion on this subject. imagine buying a skoda 11 years ago, every taxi up here is one.

I used to be with algarve(3 years ago they were taking 450 a month off me plus more when i sent them my books for the yearend), and they went on turnover. But nfu never asked. i havent signed anything yet as the details are getting posted out so we can check over small print. i never got the turnover bit. i understood the theory of the more you turn the more you work the more chance of accidents. They used to quiz my turnover to relation to staff and wages. But i explained i had bought loads of kit, got rid of staff put my prices up and did less.

Good up tree, not good on ground. try wrapping the handle with insulating tape to make the handle thicker, to make it harder to come out.

pitty you couldnt of got a good bonfire going. looks frosty. cant beat a bonny

I found that the handles and the triggers and general plastic stuff on the jonsered were flimsy, and as they are all quite quirky parts and pretty important then maybe thats why they dont last as long

Fair enough, i heard the councils up here are paying within 15 days now.is that the same with you.sorry is this off topic

started off with elton 10 years ago, then i would buy themost expensive. wore aquafell for 3 years. went through 4 pairs. the sole is crap and the roller ball shoe lace things kept coming off. Back wearing elton boots 80quid excellent all round boot.

do you need that much?you can go for less and top it up for council work etc if you have too.

when the phone goes now it is a genuine note of interest from someone who wants to use me. This time 2 years ago i used to hide from the phone because it never stopped ringing and all my time was speant pricing jobs for folk that had called everyone in the yellow pages, then i would pass a week later and the place looked like a teridactal had made camp. I dont want to see anyone suffer from this downturn in the country but nature has its ways of thinning out the weak. If i am one of those then time will tell, has all my lifes work so far not been enough. there are 2 young whippersnappers just started in my town. they live at home, work for beer, and wake up every day at 6am with a spring in their step. Sound familiar. remember when you started up and took all the work off the local guy, felt good. remember your first business cards and first signwriter writing your name on the van. But i cant bad mouth the lads, they are keen ticketed and insured, dont fly tip and pay tax. adapt to the situation. dont work for the sake of it. give the back a break and fire up the brain cells. If we all stick together and dont undercut and be fair, pass on jobs, give your opposition a hand if he breaks down lend him a hand. I hope the gent with his 20,000 grand chipper knuckles down and joins arbtalk. i bet someone here could lend a hand.

all you can do is ask. good tip mate.