jose

That is my opinion too. Ive seen the correspondence from the TO to home owner, to me its black and white. The councils approach is the trees were TPO'd . Do you ( the contractor) cut them down? Yes. In that case case closed, no defence you are guilty. Regardless of the written emails and searches from the council stating otherwise. Literally in black and white so to speak. And no worries about the chinese whispers thing, you never know if the details are true, just what is put up. But hand on heart this is exactly hows its all played out so far.

Contractor has a solicitor. They say accept the caution but there is a feeling that this is the easy way for them ( supplied by contractors insurance broker). No Chinese whispers either. Its exactly as stated. Personally it seems to me the Tree officer didnt either check properly and or someone hadnt updated the information ( but definiatley the council pocketed the money for land sale). To save face offer a caution as a sort of win win for them, no loss of face and still slapping contractors wrist.

quoted for a road closure, had to advertise in the local newspaper. 2 times at a cost of £1000 per time! This didnt include the TM, the actual council charges for the road closure or myelf and the crane. It was over £4000! Another bug i have is i work for 2 side by side councils, one charges £250 for a section 50, the other £450 for the exact same thing! All about making money

Want to ask general advice here. Lay out the picture. Customer buys land from the council start of the year ( january). Goes through all legal procedures, gets all documents and deeds from the council withing 6 months ( not the fastest buy hey got there.) Gets fencing put around his new land ( so extends his back garden). This fencing is up for 3-4 months. Wants to remove the trees in his new parcel of land. Gets quotes. Also contacts the council on 2 different occasions asking if his property/ trees are protected. Tree officer replies stating no trees on his property. Customer also uses council website to do searches on his property and also adjoining / nearby roads to double check. All come back clear. Normally the contractor would do the checks but as the customer had done it and forwarded on the correspondence between himself and the tree officer and also map searches it appeared all in order. Proceeds with removal of trees in August. Tree officers come out to site, state that trees are protected and stop work. The council now intends to prosecute both property owner and tree contractor. The council have now indicated that they may issue a caution as opposed to going to court. 'MAY' Can anyone clarify what this means long term? Solicitor says this will remain on file and if ever a further breach of the law occurs then it will be used as evidence. Contractor has never had any issues with the law/ councils, is a Buy with Confidence member for over 10 years , bussiness running for around 15 yrs. Question is to accept a caution or go to court? Cheers

Has anybody got one of these? I just come across these and was after feedback. Love hate or horror stories! Looking at swapping from a predator 460 to one. Any hands on experience is much appreciated. Cheers

pm you.

wokingham is 10 mins away. If its alright let me know a address , date and time and ill come along as long as the other guy is ok with it. Or else i may be able to source a stump in the outskirts of wokingham ( friend has a farm there). They look good for sure, just the length id like to look at. u can email me the details and ill give u a shout. not looked at the other machine at all. I will do some googling! Cheers Dean

how are people finding the length of these? I often go down the side of the house and hit 90 degrees corners. the main thing that puts me off is the length. Currently have a predator 460 so like to compare the 2. Anyone got a ZT around Berkshire i can come have a look at? Cheers

ive got the smaller one, 6.5 just for the access. Got to say impressed with it. My guys hate it but i keep saying its a small machine. So far nothings broke and on first set of teeth. As long as u understand its has its limits its bril! Would buy another based on the baby one ive got.

i had a cs100 great for its size without a doubt ( main machine is a tw230). However moving it isnt as easy it people make it out. and personally found the shute a PITA to move. must be a better way to secure that. If i was buying it again id seriously consider the tracked one. That said there is also a tracked shredder available, by Bugnought ( or something). If your a smaller firm and do a mixture of stuff this could be a possible good route. Not cheap but then removes a lot of rakings etc from the daily equation.

ive got one of those echos a few months back. Very nice machine. Ive never been a stihl fan ever since using the combi hedge cutters. I found it was the engine that let it down. I still have a mid lenght unit ( not a combi unit) and although it works fine the echo is a much better machine to hold and use. My kit does tend to last but by no means has a easy life so if it survives then its a good machine and id buy it again. I also had a couple of Cobras ( i believe) with the Kawasaki engine. Again a good machines that 5 yrs on still come out occasionally. Just dont die.

Hi all I have a isuzu dmax but toying with changing it to a transit connect. I no longer have use of the field i used to store logs etc , now drop on hard standings so my regular 3.5 tonner never gets stuck. Dont do country work so its all driveways. Rare occasions i need 4x4 ( max once a yr i can hire one). I do all the pricing and the new connects are a lot more efficient than a dmax, not to mention driving if a lot more comfy. I do have a family and they hate my dmax ( its a extended cab one so jump seats in the back). So im looking at a double cab connect which in my mind fits all bills. i would still have it sign written up for work. Has storage in the back for kit as and when needed and can also accommodate the family when needed too. Get a tow bar fitted for the trailer so got extra load capacity. After any feedback / advice before i jump in and make a (another ) expensive mistake. cheers

I drop at a yard in Berkshire. Would you collect from there? Currently has logs and chip collected ( we load) which they pay for but they dont take the brash/ rakings. This is disposed else where at a cost. how would this work out with your setup? Cheers

That looks good. Could it be the solution for legally carrying more weight without going past the 3.5 tonne license?

just caught the end of this and tbh i cant be ar~~ed to read the lat 11 pgs. but to the last point about walls. there already is a big wall built, by Obama and before him too. Trump just wants to extend it. And also its funny i was watching a tv report from mexico where the Mexicans have followed the US and have started building their own wall.... to keep out the other south american migrant coming to mexico. Isnt it funny how nobody makes a squeak about it when they do it.

Yep i had my new transit nicked this way. It was only after that i learned about it. If i had known i could have taken steps that amount to a few hundred quid or so that would greatly reduce the risk ( at least make it harder). Far cheaper that the insurance excess alone, let alone the premium rise the following year. Dont get me started on the incompetence of the police afterwards! Ford can go take a leap, left me so open to protect their reputation its disgraceful. If i had the time/ money inclination i would love to bring a lawsuit against them for basically turning a blind eye while the hard working man gets royally done over! That may just be enough of a poke to actually give a damn.

SOC what a joke My truck body was recovered from a gypsie camp, they had sand blasted it to remove the signwriting. From 10ft away you could still read the company name and our phone number. SOC guys said no way to find owners and it was scrap. its over 4K to have built! took the recovery firm man not 5 minutes and 2 phone calls to find me. So i wouldnt hold your breath. sometimes i wonder if there isnt a greater conspiracy going on. the gov gets a massive amount or revenue via tax. manufactures make a large profit on sales , especially spare parts. the Victim gets nothing but an increase in premiums for years for been a victim! Rob a post office or such for the same value and you get plenty of time in jail. they say crime doesnt pay. i disagree it pays damn well, secret is not to get caught then it pays very well indeed. im just too stupid to be a good criminal

does look the dogs for a small unit! i had a cs100 and was always really impressed by what it could do for its size. dont get me wrong i prefer a bigger unit but it really could eat the branches!

i did do it with my brother for 8 yrs before he passed away. never had any of the bother or expense. not saying they are not of any value but they are expensive and often a lot of hassle and their rights far out weigh mine. why is it people always blame the boss? i am very easy going and dont belive in scrimping of kit etc. if we need anything its there the next day. from what i read im almost too soft. but yeah i guess it must be me....

my old landy door was easy to bend enough to get the keys out. how about unternal clamps that pull it closed from inside , i guess like the boarding they use on empty properties so u have to get inside to defeat it. and then the one door left ( if you cant go from the front that is has dead locks in say 4 places ( each corner). surely cant be that hard to retrofit vs the ball ache of getting all your tools pinched. crazy one of my neighbours i was talking to just last week was telling me a gut 20 yrds from his house has had his tools nicked twice in the last year and half, hes never lost any. but he had over 4k of tools he leaves in there, one costs £2500 by itself! i sweat leaving an old wet jumper in mine lol.

I know what you mean. In over 15 yrs i can count on 1 hand the days ive had off sick. this chap is unpredictable, he can goes months without a day and then randomly do it. Ive given up of saturdays though as that is a 90% failure rate at least! In hindsight i would never of become an employer. I would take on 2 subbies, 2 days a week each and take the 5 off! would save huge amounts of worry and costs! all i ever seem to do is pay to have employees! they dont make me any more money, its not like i can pass on the extra costs to the customer. i only have a couple of guys and it costs me easy 10 k a year more as employees what with holidays, ppe taxes training etc. but i cant charge any more so in affect my profits dropped by 10 k. could have taken 4 months off for that kind of money! and my god does the law protect them to a fault! not going to go into it but lets just say i was in a position where employee safety was put second to employee rights and i couldnt do a thing about it. hands up there were issues with my employment contract at the time due to ignorance ( no excuse? personally i think if you really dont know certain things even exits how are you to deal with them!) i am a simple man all i want to do is earn a fair wage for a days work. gov is forcing it so far down the employers throat it makes me really want to pack it in and be a bum council scrounger. i see them all the time and not one of them ever looks stressed. but thats another rant for another day!

It's was a text message. Was told He would contact me asap but nothing until 5pm saying he would be in the next day. I have to be careful with him in terms of him looking for a excuse to try and claim unfair treatment even though there isn't any. The feeling I have is he wants to leave but is looking for a way to claim unfair treatment so he can try and sue. Irony is he's a friend and vital to the team as we r a small team so I don't k ow why / what he thinks he can claim! The last thing I want is him leaving as I would either have to find a replacement or work even harder to take up the slack ( and I'm getting too old for that!) I do keep a list of all days off. Problem with contract is it more interested in giving plenty of written and verbal warnings but clear on this point. Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

Quick question. As a employer are you allowed to enquire/ ask generally about it? Got a message at 6am saying can't come in for personal reasons. Not heard anything since. Does a employer have any rights or do they just have to accept it at face value? Coincidentally a rugby fan the day after a big game claims a personal day. Anyone know the rules? Cheers Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

Awesome! No negatives then. Thanks for the response

Looking to get a pole saw , going through my options. as the years go by i find myself liking Stihl less and less. Which opens me up to trying different brands. That said i did take the plunge on a small electric saw (MSA 160 T). So far its been a good little saw but its Not a 201 or 540 in power. Its more a ms150 or small Echo equivalent. But i do Love not pull starting it ( yes im getting old! ), its quiet so no need for ear protection and no fumes. So although i dont love stihl i already have batteries and a charger. I havent had a pole saw for a few years now ( hated my old 4mix combi one ihad) but find i occasionally could do with one. And ive got a job coming up where i think it could be really handy ( any pole saw, not just the electric one). The other main contenders is the Echo or Husky. Not interested in the Stihl 131 tbh. Any one got experience specifically of the HTA 85? Many thanks