Shane

Yessss! Had a discussion with my guys about this thread today and that's one they all came up with. If you have popeye biceps you can use it slightly off of vertical otherwise the massive weight and bleedin awkward throttle make it a pita to use. Also, why can't the holes in the angled head include one that allows it to lock in the fully folded position? If you have one you'l know what I mean. Disappointing thing is, when I was thinking of getting one all users on here raved about it - they must have been Echo reps.

Lots of people do it. My truck was bought as a a chassis cab by the previous owner who then had an ally tipper and tool box made as an exact fit. it looks really professional and, I believe, was cheaper than buying a ready made complete van. If you look at the prices chassis cabs go for you would be left with a few grand to have a custom-built back before you exceed the pre-built budget. Plus you get exactly the configuration that suits you.

BMW drivers round my way. It seems that any knob in a baseball cap who sells drugs thinks they can roar around the place carving eveybody else up. Big tools with (i guess) inadequate tools making up for it with a HUGE engine. This is, of course, just my opinion. No doubt there is at least one decent person driving a beemer - just never seen one myself.

You, sir, are no timber fairey! You ask and take only if offered. Why can't they all be like that?

Modern vans! With their dual mass (fall apart) flywheels. Their elctronic sensors on everything (how did Ford ever think dropping the speed to 4mph is 'safe' mode? My 55 reg transit did that to me down a dark sussex lane one night! Everything has to be fixed by IBM or Microsoft. No emissions allowed so they have cats which are great to steal. I've gone back to a mk 5 transit and I love it - I understand it. Bugger the pollution issues and EEC directives I need to UNDERTSAND my vehicle. When will the masses see it, the emperor has no clothes! GRRRRRRR - from the Joey Barton of the arb world.

Escams are the biggest growth industry in Nigeria, more so than gun sales, drug trafficing, aids cures and tree cutting/tarmac laying. Gotta respect the effort!

You squased it?????????? Silly sod - any idea what you could have got for it on ebay? Just wait till the Arachnid Liberation Front hear of this - your remains will be found in a giant web.

errr. contact Greenmech maybe, they are usually helpful.

It is , allegedly, easier to hold a branch/log with one hand then cut it with a top handled saw using only the other hand. Some say this is safer than cutting logs/branches in a pile (with a back handled saw) and risking kick-back from the tip catching on the brushwood below.... allegedly. Botton line has to be - if it is safe and legal - fine. If it unsafe or illegal - a different type of fine, and/or injury.

I'm not taking the pee - if someone can get away with making big bucks by selling what others consider low value (and the odd un-truth in the ad) then good luck. Buyer beware, especially on ebay. Like others have said, we must be chucking out a fortune every week. Think I'll start oredring my logs sliced, not split then I can sell them on to wedding planners as place mats.:lol:

Keep all your timber guys, apparently Monterey Cypress is now rare in the UK!! Rustic Wedding Cake Stand Solid Wood Table Top Tree Ring Log Slice Unique | eBay

It's difficult to 'let jobs go'. I've got loads of customers over the years because their previous TS couldn't meet their deadline - and we've been with them since. I know that if I just decline a customer and they get someone else in who does a half decent job they will use them for ever more (or till they can't respond quick enough). The problem is, if you really can't fit it in soon enough that's it. You could offer a discount if they are willing to wait but why lower prices when demand outstrips supply? I tell such people that as a result of the massive workload generated by the storms any DECENT tree surgeon will be booked up for ages. I do refer some customers to a friend and he sometimes does the same for me. It's a matter of trust. Another consideration is VAT. If you operate below the threshold then work your plums off for a few months you may end up having to register, then you become a tax collector and your customers have to pay 20% more. Be honest with your customers, many will understand and wait. Those who won't will probably use someone else next time you struggle for an 'immediate' booking. Let's just enjoy the work and not try to do too much. Next customer who calls me can have 23rd June.

How abou pitosporum? It always seems very dense/heavy. I don't know of any uses it's been put to but maybe worth a look.

You could contact Crown Estates, I guess Windsor Great Park could have a use, otherwise google the stables in the area, even the polo clubs. Some years since I lived there but it's full of horsey types.

Why did he fell it through a wall and leave the cut looking like a wind induced failure? Still if anyone is happy to pay him £150 per barrow load then good luck to him. Sounds like a decent feller (sorry)

If you give a customer your price verbally, do it with confidence and look them square in the eye. NEVER be affraid or ashamed with your price. If they say it's too much (like they said above) move on. I've had loads of people say that and then book me in anyway. Some just make up rival quotes to try to knock your price down. If you haggle you are saying that your first price was higher than you needed to charge. I also never reduce the price for cash - your costs and required profit are the same regardless of payment method. The only people who benefit from cash jobs are those who defraud the tax man. Who does your potential customer work for??? Be confident and be honest.

But! That really means, everything I just said is irellevant or lies - now I'll say what I mean. I can understand what you are saying but - I can't really. I used to work in an ofice environment where people used phrases like I'll diary you in We'll touch base Imagineering I'm glad to be working with people who are genuine and not trying to impress with crap phrases all the time

The thing they don't seem to understand is that logs just don't grow on trees!

He's going to set the world record for bum cleavage.

Stop buying teeth from Lidl The Waitrose ones last a lot longer!

You need to change the title of this thread. Last year's first swallow led to a lot of Finbarr Saunders comments

I'm starting to get paranoid about this. On Wednesday we took down a pine in Goring (Worthing) and left all the big stuff for the client. Just like the previous 'hit' it was stacked out the back and was not visible from the road. In the morning all that was left were the big rings of the trunk! I'm not really too bothered as it not the best wood to burn and I wasn't charging the client for it. BUT I can understand how some of you loggists must feel when it's your living that these 'fellows' are helping themselves to. Thats 5 tons lifted recently, from the centre of a big town.

If you tie red-painted ping pong balls to the plants they look just like tomatoes from a distance. Common disguise for window boxes in town centres. ... well... so an old acquaintance tells me. allegedly

Get the ground crew to leave a brushwood crash-mat then bomb that. Try gob cuts of different angles, step cuts, whatever you want. Depends on all those things you listed - the more you practice the better you get.

Saturn machin Knives do it. I think theyve changed their name now, something like Rotatech.