dillsue

Tree surgery "waste"(as a recoverable resource it should never be called waste in the first place!) appears to be exempt if its being reused. If you are burning/giving away/selling logs for firewood/woodworking and giving away/selling woodchip for fuel/mulch/composting then its all exempt. Looks like you need to register the exemption. If you dont chip the brash then it may be harder to demonstrate a reuse. Environment Agency - Paragraph 21 exemption If you have an exemption then you may not need a waste carriers licence? The carriers licence is for controlled waste, which yours is not after registering the exemption. The link below also seems to suggest that if its waste you have produced yourself then you dont need a carriers licence either! Environment Agency - Register or renew as a waste carrier or broker

It shouldnt be the carb/choke/fuel as the single carb feeds both cylinders. If you had a leak on the inlet side of things then I'd have thought that you would have a weak mixture rather than the wet plug that you've got If the compression is the same on both cylinders then the piston/rings/head gasket should be OK. Good compression should also indicate that the valve clearances are not too small otherwise the valves would be being held open and compression would be down. The clearances would have to be very large indeed to stop one cylinder from working and I think you would hear a serious ammount of tapping if one or more clearances were too big. That leaves ignition. If youve got new plugs then its fair to rule them out. You could try swapping the coils and see if the fault moved to the other cylinder. I'm not sure how the ignition is fired on the Honda Vtwins but if there is a pickup/sensor to trigger the spark for each cylinder then that could have moved for the problem cylinder? Hope that helps

If its your LOLER inspector thats said duff gear is "OK for rescue", why are you happy with him?

OR my parachutes ripped so I'll use it as my backup:thumbdown: Get a new LOLER inspector quick!

I think the 500 hours is 500 man hours? So 10 men on site for a week can hit this. Its not just the arb crew that count, its all workers so you can have 5 arb workers doing clearance and 5 ground workers following on and you're over the limit. I think whoever is running the site is responsible for notifying HSE and operating under CDM rules. Its unlikely an arb company would be taking on any of the management roles so no worries there, but there will be a bit more upfront paperwork and probably tighter site safety rules and PPE.

This has gotta be one of the best feel good threads I've seen. There was me thinking I was never gonna cut it in this game cos I cant quote to save my life, and it turns out everyones up to it!! Had my ar** bitten a few times by leylandi jobs and done one or two for minimum wage after I've paid the labourer!!!!!!!

As requested here are some references showing a requirement to CE mark PPE/climbing gear. http://www.hse.gov.uk/PUBNS/indg174.pdf See page 3 CE-Marking: Does my product need CE Marking? See item 16 Contary to what has been said before CE marking is not to make a level playing field for trade in the EU, its there soley for safety. It ensures products meet minimum standards of safety- the essential health and safety requirements(ESHR's). In the case of high risk PPE/climbing gear the CE mark shows it meets certain standards AND has been independantly type tested and approved. I think anyone suggesting that PPE without a CE mark is acceptable is treading on thin ice. Either it doesnt meet the standards or the CE mark has been removed through abuse/excessive wear or intent. Whichever is the case it would be dodgy for it to pass a thorough inspection. As a public forum I think it is negilgent to be suggesting PPE without a CE mark is acceptable to use, as the less educated aborists may be tempted to use unsafe gear.

Awesome response. Bottom line is HSE say PPE should have CE mark which makes the requirements crystal clear to me.

Depends on what you want to do. If working for someone else is what you want, then you'll probably start on the ground on a pittance. If you want to do your own thing, find a climbing partner, get some climbing practice in, read up about pruning, maybe do CS40, practice pruning on private trees for free, then go get your own work. If you act professional, do your homework, put safety first and dont take on anything too technical/big until you've built your confidence, you'll be fine and earning fair pay. Most important thing to remember is to stay scared in the tree by thinking what would happen if you fell!! If you climb with this mind set you'll always double check everything and take no chances. The biggest problem you'll have is waste disposal so think about how your gonna get rid of a ton of leylandii brash from someones back garden.

From what I understand CE marking is mandatory for high risk PPE such as climbing gear, which requires indendant type testing and approval and is not at the descretion of the manufacturer. A declaration of conformity is just the manufactures statement of compliance with standards, but the manufacture would be stupid not to say that! The AA Guide to good climbing practice states that climbing gear should be CE marked. More importantly the HSE state that PPE should be CE marked. Any fabric climbing gear(rope, harnesses, tapes etc) that pre dates CE marking should have been retired years ago so the only kit that can be LOLERed today should have a CE mark(old metallic components excepted) The principle point of CE marking is ensuring safety- its a statement of compliance with Essential Health and Safety Regulations.

Following on from a query about CE marking on another thread I had a look at this and it appears that arb lowering and winching kit doesnt need to be CE marked so long as its not used for lowering/winching people. PPE and climbing kit does need to be CE marked. See CE-Marking: Does my product need CE Marking?

The same principle of warming an engine up applies to all engines. They are all designed to run with set clearances between bearings/pistons etc and these clearances are only achieved when the engine is up to running temp. If an engine is worked hard when not at the running temp it will wear prematurely and in the worst case seize up. There is nothing worse for killing an engine than revving a cold van or car or thrashing it up the road straight after starting and the same applies to chippers/saws/blowers/strimmers/mowers etc.

Cant beleive I just read what you have said about burning tyres- either your having a laugh OR you aint got any friends or family that your concerned about poisoning! As far as I know no one can burn any commercial waste except in a licensed incinerator. I dont think farmers get any exception from this, as on farm disposal by burying or burning was banned a few years ago. If farmers could get a licence for on farm burning then there would be no point in bring in legislation to stop on farm disposal unless the farmer had a licensed incinerator and alot of money to run it.

Guys, the tests for self employment are quite straight forward and are as follows- Control- who controls how and when the work is done. If you tell the labourer how and when to do the job you have control and the labourer is employed. If he decides how and when the work is done then that is a strong pointer towards self employment. Substitution- can the labourer send a substitute to do the work in his place. This has to be a genuine right to send a substitute (without asking permission). If the labourer can send a substitute without you objecting then he is definitely self employed. It may be a requirement that the substitute is suitably qualified so not anyone can be sent, but if the right to send a substitute exists then its definitely self employment. If the work has to be done by the labourer himself then thats a strong pointer to employment. Mutuality of obligation!- if there is an obligation for the employer to offer work each day and an obligation for the labourer to turn up each day then thats a strong pointer towards employment. If there is no obligation for the employer to offer work or for the labourer to accept the work then thats a strong indicator of self employment. So if you "hire and fire" depending on the workload and the labourer isnt always available cos he's doing other things or doesnt want to work, then that a strong indicator of self employment. These are the main tests for deciding on employment/self employment status. Other things that have been mentioned such as the provision of tools, PPE, equipment, financial risk, provision of insurance, length of service, working regular hours etc etc are all minor indicators of status. If you and your labourer want the relationship to be self employed then set up your working arrangements to GENUINELY meet the main tests and you'll be laughing. Ignore HMRC "sabre rattling" and google IR35 and Accountax.

NPTC | Assignment Schedules Might still be worth asking them about funding training. The girl I mentioned above had been working self employed and still managed to badger nearly two grand out of the dole for retraining and PPE!! As a tax payer I couldnt beleive I was hearing what she was saying when I had just stumped up 700 quid out of my own pocket!!

You must be making some good money- 50 quid to stop by on the way back from another job and drop one tree safely and easily sounds good to me. Some of the threads on this site are talking about forest work paying 60-100 quid a day for hard graft and your turning down 50 for 15mins easy work:confused1:

If youve not booked your course yet check out Phil Dunford at Help With Trees, Chainsaw Training, Kent. His rates are cheaper and he's an awesome instructor. One of the plus points of using him is that he trains in a working forest in areas to be clear felled so you get to fell as many trees as you can cope with. Aparently other training locations limit what you can fell so you dont get much practice

If you've already been doing treework then you may have enough experience/on the job training to pass some of the NPTC assessments. It will be the cheapest way to get your tickets if you just go for the assessment without stumping up for the full courses as well. All depends on how much training and experience you've had as to whether your ready for an assessment. I think you can veiw the assessment criteria on the NPTC website- if you feel confident about knowing all the answers then just do the assessments. The dole might pay for some degree of training if you hassle them and show that it can lead to work. A girl on a course I was on last year had managed to get her basic chainsaw and tree climbing course paid for by the dole!!!!!

I use a chartered accountant who charges £400-450 to do year end accounts preparation, submission to the revenue and to do my personal tax return. I get advice through the year from him if needed. I do quarterly VAT returns using the flat rate scheme which is easy. I do quarterly PAYE returns which again are straight forward. It takes me a couple of hours each quarter to do the returns. I guess what you get charged depends on the quality of the info you give youre accontant. If you give it all to him electronically and complete all he has to do is move some figures arround on his computer then he aint gonna charge much. If you give him a carrier bag full of receipts and invoices with bits missing then the skys the limit for what you get charged.

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A couple of comments on whats been said previously- You dont need a chartered accountant to prepare Ltd co books- you can do it yourself if you want. If turnover is above a certain amount(£150K) then you have to have your accounts auditted by a registered auditor. Limited liability is only limited if the directors(you I assume) have acted properly. If directors have been negligent/fraudulent in running the company then creditors can persue the directors as well as the company itself. If the majority of your customers are VAT registered (ie not domestic) then register for VAT voluntarily. You should be able to get on what is called the Flat Rate Scheme where you charge VAT at the normal rate (17.5%) but pay the VAT man and agreed percentage that encompasses any VAT that you would have claimed back if you operated VAT "normally". I charge 17.5% and pay 10%!!!!!!!! Nice little earner and simple, as I dont have to keep any records or receipts for VAT being claimed back. Check out the flat rate scheme on the HMRC web site and you can self assess the rate you pay the VAT man:biggrin:

Dont be spooked by the sabre rattling in leaflets or by the HSE about fines etc- push them to give you a clear answer. £350 for EL you'll never use is a waste of money and if you've got it to burn then I'll happily burn it for you FOC! If you ask the question and they dont answer I dont see how they could come chasing you for non compliance when you have acted diligently by asking for their guidance. Keep the records of correspondance and dont buy it until they say you definitely need it.

Hi. Here's a link to the HSE guidance leaflet but I dont think it specifically covers your situation. http://www.hse.gov.uk/PUBNS/hse40.pdf However, I think they are obliged to give you an answer on whether you need it or not. I would write/email them and ask for an answer. If they dont reply then keep a record of the correspondance and dont bother with the insurance- its going to be a pretty good defence for not having it if you can show you had asked for clarification but they didnt give it.

If you are running a ltd co you dont necessarily have to be employed by the company. You can take drawings as a director and you can take drawings as a shareholder. If you are not happy with paying for the EL then run the question by the HSE who are the enforcement authority for EL insurance. Remember that everyone in the insurance industry stands to gain by selling you as much insurance as possible so they may not always be a truthful as you would like.