oldwoodcutter

Turners and carvers used to contact me all the time, looking for this or that species , and excitingly talking about burrs. After going out of my way a few times to fix them up I was always let down at the end by them finding fault with everything which inevitably lead to only paying a derisory amount. So now, as I value my time and effort, I don’t have any truck with any of them.

Just this evening I called back a lady who’s left a message on my landline at 8:30am. She said Oh you’re too late, I called another firm this morning and they came out this afternoon and did it. Well good luck to you Mrs.

Such is the fickle nature of tree work, then add the vagaries of customers, employees, and the weather, and you soon get used to rolling along week to week, with at least one contingency plan up your rolled up sleeve.

3 or 4 years ago one of my employees, (who had a criminal record but not for theft) left on very bad terms, and his parting words ( to me in front of everyone else in the yard) were ‘I know where you keep all your stuff and I will tell all my mates and you’ll end up with nothing’ I took this boys threat very seriously, happily nothing came of it, but I continue to keep everything with a 2 stroke engine in my house each evening out of habit and security.

Only thing worse than a monkey puzzle is a dead monkey puzzle to dismantle and chip up, I’ve still got the scars .

Many years ago I priced up quite a few bits n pieces in a big overrun garden , few trees deadwooded, fruit trees pruned , hedges cut back into shape, full days work for 4 . The aging lady customer lived in a cluttered old bungalow . On the day we did it,almost straight away lots of little things occurred, one lad mildly twisted his ankle , another was stabbed in the face by an Apple tree broken branch he’d walked into, my son in law got stung by a wasp or something and puffed his face up immediately,and I walked into a metal spike that was angled out of the ground in the long grass skinning my shin,and this was all before the first tea break. So discussing all this, everyone agreed the place had, what nowadays you’d say, bad vibes, nothing would go right, everything seemed awkward, and this was a well oiled team on top of their game usually. As we hurried along to get out of there as soon as, I remember the mood affecting all of us , anyway we finished, she came out,paid up and we cleared out of it. The next year, against my better judgment on the day,we went back for routine maintenance, but immediately we all felt very uncomfortable and down, so we did a quick bodge it and scarper and never returned, even though she asked me back after that. Occasionally when I’m in Sporle I pass by her place,derelict and overgrown, and I think back to whatever it was in there, certainly didn’t want us in there.

Putting his shorts to one side for a moment, I was watching his bar tip and had a cold shudder go down my spine.

An oppo of mine used to wear just a tee shirt in wet weather Stubby, he was a fine figure of a man in those days, now he can hardly walk, let alone work, his spine shoulders and elbows wracked with rheumatism and arthritis, which, in hindsight, he puts down to a lifetime getting soaked.

I’ve had a cut n climb almost since Clark’s started selling them, very good with zipped vents but if it’s lashing down it comes in through the neck. When I have to be out and it’s hammering down I have a Royal Navy heavy weather gortex job with a big hood which fits over my helmet, and nothing gets in it. One of my sons in law is in the navy and he managed to pikey it out of the Portsmouth stores for me. He had to take that route,as I’m nearly twice his height and weight so it would have looked a bit fishy him asking the quartermaster directly for it.

It’s true that some arbtalkers can be seen to be a bit aggressive, calling people liars and other derogatory language, but by and large it’s still very good and easy on the eye. As someone who should have sold his assets years ago and retired at the usual age, I’m guilty of spending too long in Facebook groups and YouTube of an evening , that’s not just for younger members. I believe with Steve’s guidance AT will continue to shine brightly.

I shan’t be even bothering to quote for them anymore, I went out last week to one that was begging me to come and look at his trees, and against my better judgment thought I’ll give it a go, and it ended like a Karachi street market, at the finish I just walked away and continued on my way to quote to my other potential customers. I’m getting too old for all that malarkey.

Yes Bob, 2.5k may come in from someone, but if I were doing it it would have to be north of 4K , nearer 5 possibly.

Reducing some hedges are the stuff of nightmares, the closer you can get up and in to them the better, the ms200t being the weapon of choice,but generally the sweat is rolling off my back just at the quoting stage. Gypsy sticks are not normally the answer for 2 reasons, holding it out horizontally at arms length pulls your guts out after the first 20 minutes , and once cut you still have to get up close and personal to drag the cut stuff off . Stick to knocking trees over, half the effort for 3 times the price.

Funnily enough Dan, I’ve had some of my biggest pay days from calls on a Sunday night that came up withheld. Some honest people withhold their numbers for reasons best known to themselves. Naturally I’m on my guard to smell a rat, but now n then it all works out rather well.

There’s not many trees left in Lincolnshire [emoji846]

Yep we’re doing more and more for one of the big utility firms and of course they want to know who everyone is on their site and what tickets they hold, with all the assessments as standard practice nowadays.

All I’m saying is that if I priced jobs up at the quoting stage, to pay labourers and improvers £30 an hour, I’d pretty soon be out of business.

Good staff are hard to find, and even harder to keep. All we can do is try our best to keep getting the work in and hope that they stay with you, but of course they know what their mates get kitchen fitting or roof tiling . Unless you’re gonna start forking out £30 an hour all you can do is try to keep them at whatever rate you can afford, or let them go, and try to train up the next unlikely candidate that slopes into the yard 15 minutes late on their first Monday morning.

You could always set your sights a bit higher, woodland management ‘for the wood’ you’ll be swimming against the tide a bit, no matter how enjoyable it may seem. Woodland owners will sit back and let you do is as it’s not costing them anything . Why not buy a bit more kit and progress into the firewood market, and make more money in the process, while still working with wood.

and I’ve still got my tarmac rake somewhere

Yes I’ve heard those old chestnuts a thousand times. They are looking for a mug, just make sure it’s not you.

Giving all tree workers a bad name that’s for sure

After Brexit, Latvian firewood will be heavily tariffed , making it uneconomical to import.

A farmer local to me uses a neat trick, no saw required, he sends one of his fellows down in their 35 ton 360 and smashes the trees to bits, pulling them over, smashing up the limbs a bit more, then leaves it all in a heap on the edge of the field for ever more.