Dean O

I've still got big rounds of poplar sitting on a site in south wales, as I'm hoping the ground might dry up a little this week, but you'd have to collect with a trailer, can load.

I'm looking to put together a list of self employed staff to call on. individuals will be required to hold the relevant qualifications and experience for the role they undertake. please email with your name list of quals , and day rate, week rate if it differs. contact email/number to [email protected] we are based in the Swansea valley but work will be undertaken anywhere between Cardiff and Carmarthen and from Swansea in the south to Brecon. many thanks Dean

Thanks Les, Your right, Paye almost always works out at less money per day, but when you do the maths on things like training, ppe, holiday/ down time etc. will probably be putting together a list of SE guys together for now..

just logged onto arbtalk to search the same (or similar) question. doesn't look like anyone has a definitive answer. I was looking at the van earlier thinking of taller tyres but not sure how that would affect the vehicle.

there seems to be no shortage of freelance/ self employed out there at the moment, and loads of one man bands who get a guy in 'as and when' they need them. This is fine for those that like to work that way, but for me I like to think that we offer some level of security. I started the company around 10 years ago. When the father in law had a brain haemorrhage we had to move to be close by to the wife's family and help out (I'm not from this area), I had to leave a good stable job I enjoyed. I couldn't find work on a paye basis, plenty of offers of a bit of cash in hand for the odd day, but you just cant pay the bills like that. Since then I've always offered 'on the books' work. We are lucky that we generally keep busy, but we've never let staff go when times are tough and we've always invested heavily in staff training. At the moment we need another guy or gal that ideally has some level of qualification and experience, some work ethic and the ability to turn up at work, on time, 5 days a week - to complete a team. It might be a tough call this side of xmas but if there is anyone out there who would like to apply for a position, get in touch... [email protected] or on the mobile 07533418103

I haven't had any takers that have seen it on here, though the locals have taken a considerable amount. there will be a little more soon, its all lovely straight stuff. we have a skidsteer loader if someone wants to arrange some sort of pickup but are worried about the loading. its still free - there's no catch, we give away all our wood anyway will just save me the bother of transporting it down the road myself.

just to bump this again, still looking for the right guy

Hi there, logs at roadside for collection, currently in lengths of 4 to 8 foot in varying diameters. Its poplar, but its free to anyone who wants it, take it all or just pick what you want. Call me for more info 07533418103. Thanks, Dean

Still looking for another recruit, trainee level or experienced operative. Thanks. Dean

Thanks to those that have applied already, still looking for another recruit

2 positions available Full Time, climber and groundsman. Training provided to the right candidate but experience preferred. Please email your details preferably in the form of a cv to: [email protected] We are not looking for a freelance or self employed member of staff. Thank you.

full time, permanent position available, in small arb assoc approved co. all levels of qualification and experience considered. please email cv or letter of interest with some details about yourself to [email protected]

Position available within small Arb Approved company based in the Swansea valley. This is a full time, permanent position, on PAYE Over 25 years of age with a clean driving licence is a huge advantage. The position is open to all levels of experience and qualification as this will be provided to the right candidate. Please get in touch with a CV via email to: [email protected] or ring me direct no 07533418103

ah I see could be useful for people and almost worthy to pay for - trouble is I guess that once you have the contacts you wouldn't need to pay again and once the contacts have the word of mouth they don't either we don't often go out of our area and I guess a lot of companies are the same, but handy for the odd occasion. a lot of our woodchip goes to guys like Mr Collier, who use it for community projects, schools etc, so it would be a shame to make them pay. your call but I think I'd leave it as a loss leader as long as it didn't cost you too much in time or expense to run.

Thanks again Steve are these ads on here somewhere Its been a while since I've used Arbtalk (- used to get virus threats pop up all the time on the old site so stopped using it) Only the second time Ive looked in on the new site - I remember there used to be a chip/tip sites thread but haven't got my head around the new layout yet. thanks again Dean

we don't normally work in this area but being sent as a favour to a client, will have a couple of small loads of woodchip and logs from a conifer hedge removal, does anybody have any use for it or point me in the right direction, I would prefer not to have to drag it all the way back. thanks Dean

thanks for the reply daft as it sounds, didn't want to go all that way then be turned away...

can I take a trailer to the arb show?

also must say the versatility of these things are great, I used the grab, the bucket and the pallet forks to help me in the garden to do a hand full of jobs in an hour or two that would have taken me all day otherwise. the grab is great - however I must say that I used the pallet forks to move timber for some time on jobs before being able to justify the grab. whatever machine you choose - If finances are limited get the pallet forks if nothing else.

no problem, stick me some grease nipples in the post

I saw the toro at the apf and liked the look of it. I was there shopping for a loader. told them that I was interesting in buying one but would need to make the purchase within 2 weeks - could they get a demo to me..... yes yes of course was the answer. I had to chase them by phone, the relevant person didn't get back to me, chased them again, they put me off for another week, with a potential demo just a few days before I'd need delivery of the machine. with nothing firm I contacted Vermeer - they got a machine to me virtually straight away, let us play with it for most of the day so I bought it. a few days after the proposed demo day from the Toro guys I finally received a phone call saying that they could now get to me but it was too late. the efficiency of the guys at Vermeer impressed me, in the back of my mind I couldn't help thinking Toro was taking me for a mug - thinking I was a safe bet for a sale. either that or their ability to cope with demand had caught them napping. how quickly would they deal with a problem? I've had a couple of small niggles with the flail attachment we purchased for the Vermeer. teething problems more than anything - in fairness to Vermeer and the supplier they have used these have been sorted straight away - on one occasion with a guy driving from Portsmouth to Neath to undo a replace a small valve - literally 2 minutes worth of work. I think all of these sort of machines are much of a muchness - but the customer service from Vermeer has been excellent. regarding the machine - brilliant, though I haven't got much experience of other machines. ground damage can be an issue on grass. we have gotten around this by having a stash of 8x4 osb boards on the trailer with the machine and placing them out at strategic positions to allow us to turn on the spot. you can turn on a single board - though two together gives a little more to play with.

Mull - that's ideal - you don't fancy a road trip do you? I could load with a skidsteer Codlasher - I'd also considered picking up reclaimed paviours or left overs here and there and laying bit at a time - but was worried that they would move about too much under the tracks? how have you found them so far. how have you gone about it? - my thoughts were that I could sort the sub base then blind and lay with sand a bit at a time? the parking area has a bit of a fall (approx. 2-3 foot over 10 metres at the moment) which I was planning on grading out a bit. would water movement wash out the sand and cause too much settling?

Hadn't thought of buying a wacker - daft as it sounds - would be useful in the future. the house is located up a long narrow track built traversing a hillside - I don't trust it to stand up to the weight of a concrete lorry, even with half a load. id thought of a pump but speaking to concrete contractor he said his pump would shift it around 65 metres (the track is around 300 metres long and approx. 1 in 6 grad.) I can get a lorry to the bottom of the hill then dumper it up tho. a huge onsite mixer would be the tool - bringing the material up on 3.5 tonners and trailers and mixing and pouring on site.

Thanks guys funnily enough Id looked at concrete sleepers as an option. re planning, we'd been advised that as water drainage is managed around the property rather than going to the highway/ public sewers we wont need planning. area is roughly 12 metres x 10 metres. luckily excavation material can stay on site, but part of the issue is getting a concrete lorry nearby due to the access, in my heart I know concrete is the way to go but the cost is prohibitive at the moment. I think my solution will be to sort drainage and sub-base, then have some 8x4 sheets on hand for use when tracking the machines.

we recently moved house and have been looking at 'sorting' the driveway/ parking area. I need to be able to bring tracked machines home every now and then I'd like a concrete pad down - as cleaning mud of the vehicle, and tracking the machine on gravel makes a mess. but the price I've had for sorting levels, drainage and sorting various other bits and pieces has been massive. So I'm considering sorting levels/drainage and putting the sub base down while I wait on the funds for the concrete. I'm still concerned regarding the tracking of machines across (best will in the world - being careful not to turn too sharp etc) I've considered the geogrid type systems the plastic paviour type ones seem like they could be brittle, the cellweb type seem like they could loose their infill and flop locally to this sort of abuse. will they stand up to track machines turning on them. any experience? any better solutions many thanks