Jon Lad

There are a couple of good sized elms (approx. 80-90ft) in the centre of Harrogate. There were others but they have been felled by the council.

Its a shame, up to that point they looked quite a professional outfit.

The firm I worked for was based near Frankfurt. We all used chainsaws in the tree, me, the germans, americans, turks etc. But the deal was if you were caught by their equivalent of the HSE. You were fined and the boss reimbursed you the money. He would just pretend to the HSE that he didn't know we were climbing with chainsaws! I'm not surprised they changed the law, it was crazy. The germans I worked with didn't like spikes much, just left stubs to stand on if they could, or struggled! But there were no courses teaching chainsaws use in the tree in germany then.

I was wondering if anyone has done any work in Germany recently and could tell me if it is still illegal to climb in the tree and use a chainsaw? I worked there in '98/'99 and it was then. I am curious if it still is or if they have changed the law by now.

Yes amazing. I remember reading about the fungus they'd identified as the largest living organism on earth but to see that aerial photo you really get some idea of the scale of the thing.

Just watched this short lecture by mycologist Paul Stamets on Youtube, absolutely fascinating.

Thats dead right. What advertising will work for one company wouldn't for another. I still think though that it does pay to have an ad in YP, even a single line. I've had existing customers say to me "we lost your business card, but your in the Yellow Pages aren't you" when I've called to quote for more work. If I hadn't they would might have thought I'd packed in and rung someone else. Recommendation is the best way to get work, but you would need alot of years behind you to survive getting work JUST in that way. Also I don't think you'd grow a business very fast either, I don't think you'd get the volume of enquiries. Sometimes just because you are recommended doesn't guarantee you the work. They may be friends of someone you've worked for, but they may have totally different ideas of how much they are prepared to pay for tree work.

I'd stretch to both if you can. I'm not one for over-spending on adverts, you can get carried away and waste loads of money which you wont get back. But I do advertise in the Yellow Pages and about 5 parish/church magazines around here. It works alright for me.

Thats why I think that ads in parish and church magazines are such good value. Every household gets one, they can see your local and you only need one half decent job and its paid for itself.

Your right about the size of the advert. If you listen to all their sales patter you'd end up spending a fortune and get no more work than if you'd just gone for a small one. I think that its good to have a presence in the Yellow Pages. Alot of people who have never used a tree surgeon before would still look there first. There is still a huge number of potential customers who never go on line at all. So apart from a recommendation, where will they look?

I went to look at a job once where a limb on a big ash next to the house had a split appear in it. The customer had rung the insurance company, but they wouldn't pay out for the remedial work to the tree to prevent it from causing any damage to the house. But they would pay out if he waited until it fell against the building. Work that one out!

That is unbeliveable. What kind of insurance broker has he got? You should let teach have a go and see what the broker says when your customer puts in a claim for the garage to be rebuilt!

I had a customer, a garden designer who got me to price a job for a client of his who he was re-doing the whole garden for. It was a mix of removals, pruning, hedging and stump grinding. About 3 days work in all. When we were looking at the job I told him the firm I use to do my stump grinding, he said he knew them and had used them in the past himself. I got the job and booked it in. When we went to do it he turned up on the job to see how things were going and was fannying around doing bits of small shrub pruning. When I went to tip off he started saying to the lads stuff like "When I come back, I'd like to come back as a tree surgeon, all the money they make" etc etc. When one of them pointed out how high the insurance is, he said "that was just an excuse" and then more of the same. When I came back he mentioned to me once or twice that this job was " a really good earner" for me. I felt like saying, if I hadn't been so slack for work soft cock, it probably would have been double! But we were quiet and I was just trying to keep us all going. When the lad who does the stump grinding went, he turned up again and said to him "If I'd known it was you who was going to be doing it, I would have used you myself". When I had told him from the off who would be doing the grinding! When I sent my invoice he told me that I would get paid when he got paid off the client! He hand delivered the cheque to my house 28 days to the day, after the date on my invoice to him! He also organized all the fencing, paving etc this way. I often wonder if he thought the same about those contractors as he did me: everyone was making a killing except him. Where as really he was the one making the killing putting 25-30% on everyones quotes to him and not paying until he got paid for that part of the job from the client! Total t**t!

Does anyone have a contact number or e-mail for Jim Philpott, formerly of Trees Unlimited in Leeds and then BTS? Please send PM if you do.

Welcome aboard mate.

Your insurance company would try and avoid paying out in the same way they would if you wrote your car off and they found out it had no MOT. Just because they don't ask for it directly doesn't mean they don't expect you to have it. I asked my broker about LOLER as it didn't ask about it in the proposal form, he said that it was a legal requirement and it was assumed you complied with it. In the small print it usually says you are to comply with all current health and safety legislation. I've got mates who risk it because they say their insurance company/broker didn't mention LOLER. I suppose you could go down that road, but it would be a tough way to discover your insurance was invalid, when you tried to make a claim and they asked for you current LOLER records.

Your right they will find a way through anything. I've been done twice at my yard. I think that the more secure you make it, the more they want to get in. It doesn't matter what security you put in place, they will always find a way if they are determined enough. You've got to remember it's a job to a lot of them.

One of the first jobs I did when I worked in Brisbane. Was to completely remove a climbing cactus from a huge, spreading Jacaranda with 2 dutch lads. We used handsaws and billhooks to cut it off the limbs and branches. When it was on the ground we cut it up into pieces small enough to be put into old gravel bags. Then carried/dragge these up the sloping rear garden to the truck on the drive at the front of the house. It took us 3 days and we removed 7 tonnes in all. Afterwards the job became known as 'The Cactus Factory'!

I have had 2 sets of the 325HE4X, the longer of the two pole trimmers Husky make. The drive shaft on first set sheared twice and I replaced it: once under warranty and once at my expense. When that set was nicked. I bought another set and the drive shaft on that sheared 3 times, I replaced it underwarranty once and once I stood the cost. The last time it went, I gave up and bought a Stihl HL 100, a lot heavier but so far no problems. I have never had this problem with the shorter Husqvarna trimmers, the 325HE3X or the small Husky double-sided trimmers. Has anybody else had this happen with this model?

Does anyone know where you can get SealFlex waterproofs from, now that Bush Wear have stopped doing them?

The Silky poles I have, have been excellent - got them at the apf 3 years ago. But the pruning head didn't last 5 minutes. The Bahco poles were garbage I found, kept locking up and bent too easily, but the pruning head was great. Combined the 2 and now have a really good set, would certainly do it that way again when I need to replace.

Sycamore, ash, hawthorn, beech all burn well I find. Its true that ash will burn if its seasoned or not, but you don't want to burn unseasoned wood regularly as it coats the inside of the flue/chimney in residue from the sugar in the sap. This can't be removed by sweeping and can lead to a risk of fire, unless you have a coal fire as well now and again.

Have a look at silvermans.co.uk army surplus, they have a big range of military & outdoor watches. I got a CWC from there about 12 years ago, have worn it for work ever since. They are pretty well indestructable.

I have my Public Liability, Machinery and Personal Accident policies through Trust Insurance at Northampton. I have never needed to put in a claim, but I was wondering how anyone who is or has been insured through them, found them to be when making a claim. Also how they compare to other brokers more generally.