Highland Forestry

Sounds like a good candidate for Stevie's Holder (if it's still for sale??)

you've some nice kit!!!! Gte looks nice - how much can you sell them for?

Get a pair of stabproof gloves, will cost you about £15 from a good industrial supplies shop - theyre made of woven kevlar and should stop gorse, thorn etc.

lol nice work you'll have to make a 6' bar next!

I'd want something like £25 a ton minimum at roadside Chris

Dear Bundle2... Do you want to apply for the contract or are you just rambling? My initial post was a general statement that was aimed to get across a few key points: a) There is a contract available for somebody with some experience b) I want an e-mail and some details about this person as nobody wants to bring in the wrong person for a job c) the contract will last roughly 8 weeks d) it is based in the west midlands The contract will be paid on a day rate basis and therefore I want to know what day rate anybody applying would expect - I do not want to pay a 'pittance' and I also do not want to pay too much. This gives the oppotunity of negotiation and entering into a dialogue about day rates and I feel this is fair. If you have a problem with this then that is your perogative - if you do not have a problem with this then please reply with somehting constructive or do not reply at all.

I am currently looking for a self-employed competent surveyor for auditing of grounds maintenance sites and gross defect surveys in the west midlands for an 8 week contract. Interested parties please contact [email protected] detailing previous experience, qualifications and day rate expectations.

Billy, if you don't even bother to take it up with you then I would say you're pretty complacent and an accident waiting to happen. I can't say I am whiter than white... if I have a good position and I am taking off a small branch, depending on the exact situation I may decide not to use my second strop and cutt off one point of attachment but I would say that 99% of the time most of us will make sure we have a second point of attachment, be it from the bridge or from the side... Often I will have a main anchor, a positioning line and even a flip line if I am in the extremities and need to hold myself out in position to cut. Not bothering to use a second anchor or strop is dangerous... ignore the warnings at your perril!

I had the same problem with my Safetrack 19-28 today... It turned out to be a fuse on the main wiring loom from the hydraulic no-stress control. There are two fuses which can be found by removing the side engine cover on the control panel side of the machine. On the far right hand side close to the control panel there is a wiring loom which leads into a connector and then up to the panel. The fuses are located on this loom on orange wires and have waterproof rubber covers - one is a 40 amp ad one is a 20 amp - the 20 amp on mine had fried itself for some reason - replaced fuse and it was working fine for the rest of the day. Might not be the same fault but worth checking.

No probs Roni - let us know how you get on!

Congrats guys!

Roni - how much you looking for it?? I'm up near Aviemore - not got much use for a skyline but would be quite handy now and again. Are the winch cables etc in good nick? Matt

You could use a paintball gun (paintball marker) they fire small pellets of paint which are water based - use yellow or green and they will show up for a good while but eventually just wash off the trees Failing that you can also get water based spray paint or depending on the trees to be marked you can use keel in white or yellow etc. Another option is to use a small axe or marking iron to blaze the trees to come out

When I registered for VAT quite some time ago you could only claim back VAT on purchases etc, for the previous 6 months.... that might have changed now but I'm not sure on it.

LOL... I sell by the ton at roadside - gives me an incentive to get it out and get the customer ready to collect asap.

By providing a slightly different/better service than your competition and having the knowledge, experience and know how to back your work up. Word of mouth advertising is the best, look after your customers.. Be firm, fair and by the book, be a professional not a p i k e y!

I'd be alright wading in, right up till the point the waves hit yer nuts.... owwwyyyyeeeeeeaaaaaa!! Are you guys of the insane persuasion??!

I have a sneaky suspicion that the seller wants £50 a cubic metre because he has had it sitting at roadside for so long. If you imagine that it would normally be sold by the tonne which is approximatley 1 cubic metre of solid wood for say £40 a ton then he would have 12k by his estimate of 300 ton/300 cubic metres. However with it sitting for so long it will have lost approximatley 25-30% in moisture over the summer and his 300 ton may well now only be 200 ton (8k) so I suspect he is trying to recoup the money lost in weight loss by selling by the cubic metre. Either way its at the very top end of the market in my opinion but I bet he sells it as people become more and more desperate to fulfil orders and get wood out to customers.

Now I find this very interesting... I went to Bardwell primary school many years ago, and at the time the windmill was trying to raise money for refurbishment and new sails!! Delighted to see it actually turning.. !

139.9 per litre here today

Not meaning to sound patronising but how can you over invest in wood as a firewood merchant??? Best thing you can do is find somebody that is importing firewood which is kiln dried cut and split and get in as much as you can to put straight back out to your customers.. Good luck if you can find wood available to purchase right now. There is a guy on ebay selling a large volume - have a look on the 'Heads Up' thread!

I'll send you a box of matches if you like

No but VAT on all of the log suppliers supplies HAS gone up!

They will hype it up to the max just to create a stir... All sells newspapers I suppose.

In my experience, if you give too much and you try to make things easy for people you tend to attract wasters, bullsh*tters, lazy guys wanting a fortune and even sometimes dishonest guys out for nothing but their own gains at your expense, however if you persist and keep looking now and again you come across really good guys that are worth everything you offer an more.... but good guys a few and far between. I would take this experience and chalk it up as a learning curve - in future tell guys they will need to bring enough money with them to sustain them for a fortnight and after the initial fortnight they will be paid a week in hand and have 50% of their flight refunded to them and that temporary accommodation is available to them at £20 Euro a night or whatever you want. The guys that are worth having will see that you are honest and doing your best for them and that if hey want the work and the lifestyle of the Algarve with it then the need to prove themselves. I wouldn't take anybody fresh out of college or off a 10 week course as you'll most likely be disappointed in the experience race but if you can find somebody with a year or more of experience that's up for a challenge you'll be laughing! You might end up having to pay a bit extra money, but if you want a self employed climber you should look towards somebody recommended or in demand with a proven track record. Good luck with your search - don't be put off by idiots!