Jump to content

Log in or register to remove this advert

oldwoodcutter

Veteran Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2,054

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

 Content Type 

Everything posted by oldwoodcutter

  1. oldwoodcutter
    Diesel £1.95 in Swaffham yesterday
  2. oldwoodcutter
    A well sharpened 201t can cut a decent straight line, did you try that before getting the table saw Steve ?
  3. oldwoodcutter
    If a water hens nest was spotted when we were growing up, some of my more adventurous mates would wade or swim out and collect those lovely rich eggs to get back in the kitchen frying pans as soon as possible. Times were much harder then, and going to bed hungry actually happened.
  4. oldwoodcutter
    I’ve tended for work in the past, and priced to make good profits. On those works where my tender was not chosen, I went to great pains to discover what the winning bid was, as I saw similar set ups to mine, and taking roughly the same time as I estimated, and in those cases it was always way way higher . I draw my own conclusions to what was going on ,rightly or wrongly.
  5. oldwoodcutter
    I was called back a year after we’d grinded an aspen stump at a bungalow on a quite affluent estate. The fellows front lawn now resembled a WW1 battlefield , criss crossed with deep trenches revealing the whole system of roots left in situ , suckers the full nine yards, with some heading under his footings , others going under his grumbling neighbours fence, while more still under his kerbside wall. He seemed to me to be on the verge of complete mental collapse. All i could do was try and find a few words of encouragement and get out before he finally went round the bend.
  6. oldwoodcutter
    Yes a definite downturn is the topic of conversation coming in from my fellow tree firm owners locally . Not too much we can do about it, the sporadic invitations to quote that I’ve had this past few weeks have come to nothing, and I’ve noticed they’ve already been done when I’ve passed by again. Finding good workers is hard, and even harder to keep them, but I’m afraid they’re going to leave this time and we may not see them again in our rough and tumble world of tree work.
  7. oldwoodcutter
    Being of a certain age when most of my contemporaries have turned their toes up, the new mrs oldwoodcutter wants me to get some exercise so when not getting work in, I drive out to the forest and walk. Trouble is I have to think how far to go, so I can get back without over doing it. Also she tells me to keep to the main rideways where there are usually joggers and dog walkers. I realise it’s nothing to the young guns,but if I do 3 or 4k steps I’m glad to get back to my van.
  8. oldwoodcutter
    That’s the brother Mick
  9. oldwoodcutter
    Talking of big takedowns, I think every tree firm in Norfolk has been invited to price that enormous village green rotten beech roadside in Oxborough. The pc chairman told me they’d had lots of cheap quotes but didn’t have confidence in those firms. At the last count prices coming in ranged from 4k to 24k.
  10. oldwoodcutter
    Today dealing with torn out top under tension dead willow
  11. oldwoodcutter
  12. oldwoodcutter
    There’s an old saying on tree pricing, the bigger the tree the bigger the likelihood of making a loss. I often price the little jobs there n then, but for all the rest I get back to my desk and work it out in the cold light of day nowadays. It’s so easy to get carried along with enthusiasm on site and give a client a price and live to rue the day you did.
  13. oldwoodcutter
    A pic or 2 or a little walk round vid with some idea of scale is also handy for pricing stumps. Of course they don’t reveal that length of buried railway track hidden about 6” from the top right through to Australia .
  14. oldwoodcutter
    And if the conversation starts with ‘we are getting at least 10 quotes to prune our cherry tree’ deftly sidestep to the next enquiry on your list.
  15. oldwoodcutter
    Big Ron hasn’t actually said he’s processing and selling it on, it may be for his own use. Course if he is reselling he’ll be on the registered approved database.
  16. oldwoodcutter
    The ceo of the nfu trousered 2 million last year. I took my business elsewhere several years ago, I’m not subsidising someone’s cayman island.
  17. oldwoodcutter
    The original mrs oldwoodcutter hated making sandwiches. New mrs oldwoodcutter makes delicious ones, half the stuff inside them I’ve never even heard of, but they’re good. Sadly never really had a bag , this is what she puts em in .
  18. oldwoodcutter
  19. oldwoodcutter
    As much as I’d like to quench your thirst for knowledge, I’m going to have to pass on these two questions. If you’re an employer, sort that out yourself.
  20. oldwoodcutter
  21. oldwoodcutter
    Young friend of mines got what he calls a drifter, you may have seen these bangers with unusually wide tyres, and lengths of strapping hanging out of the bumpers. Well he broke down and a biker offered him a lift, but with no spare helmet he none the less accepted the ride, wearing the familiar baseball cap on back to front as youngsters do nowadays. The biker, not too used to having someone on the back lost it on the dual carriageway but escaped injury . My friend was not so lucky, passing motorists that were giving him attention said he deteriorated rapidly after they turned his head the right way round.
  22. oldwoodcutter
  23. oldwoodcutter
    At least he’s having a go out there, got a van and a little chipper, yes he’s probably undercutting the competition, but no doubt we all did when we first started out on that long and winding road.
  24. oldwoodcutter
    As some of you already know, there is a new Mrs Oldwoodcutter in my life. She’s very good at some things, but cookings not one of them. She put some daffodil bulbs in my hotpot, thinking they were onions I’d left in the kitchen. I’m still in hospital but getting better, the doctors say I should be out in the spring.
  25. oldwoodcutter
    A good friend of mine, who spent his whole life working alone amongst cattle was gored and trampled on by a bull, according to the autopsy/coroners report. He didn’t come in for his lunch and his daughter found him after a search down their fields. My own grandfather, who early in his life worked with cows, told me in old age that he never went near a bull without a 2 tined fork in his hand.

About

Arbtalk.co.uk is a hub for the arboriculture industry in the UK.  
If you're just starting out and you need business, equipment, tech or training support you're in the right place.  If you've done it, made it, got a van load of oily t-shirts and have decided to give something back by sharing your knowledge or wisdom,  then you're welcome too.
If you would like to contribute to making this industry more effective and safe then welcome.
Just like a living tree, it'll always be a work in progress.
Please have a look around, sign up, share and contribute the best you have.

See you inside.

The Arbtalk Team

Follow us

Articles

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

  I accept