Shane

HSWA 1974 - It shall be the duty of every employee to ensure the safety if himself and others while at work. Just be aware that the courts are likely to need persuading why a safety conscious professional allowed himself to be part of a very unprofessional takedown in a situation which he knew could be lethal. I'm not passing judgement, we all know the moral pressures which can be applied and I'm sure we have all 'rolled with it' to get the job done BUT when it does go wrong its the questions from the smart-arse legal boffins (referring to the clear legislation) which we must be able to answer. The approach of the main contractor and his reluctance to report the accident will no doubt count against him. You need professional advice on this - we are all but 'the bloke down the pub' Good luck

I had a query about some TPO work this afternoon. There's cracks in the dam, get yer lifejackets on - I hope.

Yes it's the big day tomorrow... No, not Aintree or the new tax year - it's supposed to be warming up! So will the slightly warmer weather bring everyone out into their gardens to see that the trees need doing? Will our phones melt with the incessant enquiries? Can we get back to longer waiting lists? AND Can we finally but those bl##dy wooly hats and thick coats away? What are the odds?

You could tell him about the domestic user course they run (or used to) at Brinsbury. Hiring yourself out for a day or two to fell some trees would be fine. If he watches closely what you do (and receives no actual training and tells you he will get trained elsewhere) you should be OK. You've just done some professional work for a client. If he choses to carry on himself without getting trained thats up to him. If he's domestic HASWA legislation does not apply. It does apply to what you do for him while being paid - hence you shouldn't train him - just do some felling. You'd also be obliged to tell him all about PPE before he can attend a course.

Thanks dig-dug-dan. Good to know how it should ideally be done. How strong are the morticed joints? Whenver I see them they look a bit flimsy. I used concrete spurs to keep the posts above ground (rot a lot more slowly). I will try a 'properly constructed' fence in the back garden and see how it goes. Thanks again for the info. Shane

This man's wisdom knows no bounds - all bow down:thumbup:

It's a standard requirement for customers with TPOd trees isn't it.

Wouldn't it be more efficient to run a short pipe from the exhaust port, you could then effectively hold the saw with the expansion box. Extra power from the uprated exhaust, no power loss to extra 'wussy' magnet and all the heat you can 'handle'. C'mon spud, there must be a market for these - off you go!.

Are you suggesting it's not just the youth of today who can be obnoxious little fellows? - my area is heaving with village elders and I recon they are a lot more unpleasant (on average) than the youngsters. They have experience and knowledge on their side but their baggage contains decades of bitterness. But hey, theres good and bad in all sorts of people, I once met a polite audi driver!

The only dodgy bit on my defender is the piece between the bumpers - everything else is fine.

Incredible, some shots where you can see their shadows on the ground just below them! And how close did they get to that guy in the parachute?!!! Didn't some looney in one of these fly through a big cave in China recently So when's the Arbtalk wingsuit day ?

I hope you carried out a risk assessment before climbing onto that worktop.

It looks like youve made your decision already. There have been dozens of threads recently - You willl find owners of TW claim they are best. Owners of GM claim they are best. They are both good machines in their way. I've owned both and my TW 150 gave good service for 6 years (except for the flywheel bearings). It was only after testing and getting a Greenmech I realised how good a decent chipper can be. I'd never go back to a TW now. I must add I've never had a bandit, Schleising, Jensen and maybe I'd prefer one of them, but speaking from my own experience (and this is only an opinion) the basic design flaw of the TWs precludes the use of a decent size flywheel bearing. Considering the number of people on here who have had the same trouble I suspect TW must be working on a new design. If not I can see their market share falling rapidly. As you ask TW or Grenmech - Greenmech it is. TW owners - fire away.

Cold, Relentless, Arctic, Persistent. I think that acronym just about sums it up.

Who? What volume? Where are they? Thats pretty good

A man's gotta live! When calculating for the job you MUST cover your expenses otherwise you are just making matters worse. If things are tight and you you need to feed the family then you can (during dire times) charge out at costs + however much you need for a meal. That may well get you the job, the problem comes when things improve and you want to get back to your 'old' prices - not easy when you have a reputation as the cheapest guy in town. I don't think anyone here knows the answer - we all have opinions which will depend on how much we have in the bank to fall back on, what our fixed outgoings are and how hard we are willing to work just to 'live'. I bought my chipper off a guy 3 years ago who had had enough - he got a job as a cleaner in a nuclear power plant when work was drying up. That was a tough decision, he bought the chipper new and only put 30 hours on it. Once the jet stream moves back up to us the weather will improve, Mrs Goggins will go into her garden and realise alll the trees have grown. When that glorious day arrives we will all be rushing around quoting - hopefully not working flat out for £10.00 because we had got too desperate in the short term. It will come back, eventually.

Stubby, you need to get out more - even if it is snowing!

I guess it's the garage on the Cowfold Rd just West of the A23 - I used to get mine from there, Now I get it from Littlehampton marina. Usually about 50p litre less than standard diesel.

Who has recoverd a stolen chipper as a result of a tracker - ??? What type was it ? Please tell us about the incident. Who has failed to recover a chipper with a tracker system???? What type was it ? Please tell us about the incident. If people who fall into the above categories all respond we will have some REAL idea. People who sell stuff can, occasionally, only tell you about the good bits and accidentally forget the shortcomings - just my paranoid thoughts.

I'll check with my HR department in the morning and let you know.:lol:

With skill like that you should come and work for me!

One of my friends in Worthing was asked to remove a tree of heaven and a couple of other trees - must be done at the weekend and with hand saws. She told him there were no TPOs so get on with it. He phoned up to check and guess what???? Then a few days later she phoned me with the same story. I told her about the TPOs and what fine she might face and that I prefer to deal with customers whio are honest with me. Checking costs nothing, not checking can cost a small fortune (and your reputation).

I've just skimmed through some of the posts on this thread and I must say I agree with the comments about individuals who don't follow the instructions. I do not agree with the assumption that youngsters are rude, lazy, know-it-alls who think the world owes them a living. YES some of them do, but so do a lot of older people (just look through the door at the local bookies during (what should be) working hours or the DSS office. There are good and bad of all ages. I employ 3 guys - all in their early 20s and not one has ever been late for work, none of them swear on site, they are always polite to customers (regardless of provocation) and they all work extremely hard and abide by the safety guidelines we have. They will listen to advice and are always keen to learn more. They can be left alone to do the job and I always get great feedback from my customers. There is always room for improvement, I know, and they always check that the customer is happy with how things are going, at the start, during and after, the job. Yes, they are young, they wear hoodies,they go to the pub some evenings and sometimes they drive above the speed limit - but they portray a really professional image for my company and I'm proud of them. They should not be tarred with the same brush as the scum depicted on the 'reality' cops TV programs. Not all youngsters are the same, not all ######## are the same (fill in with whatever you want). I'm 56 and I wouldn't want to swap anyone in my team.

We have a new stumpgrinder called 'Doris' after our recently departed aunty who left us a legacy (which paid for our new machine). Doris is a predator 450 - and I know the original Doris will be pleased to see what a great machine it is (thanks for the advice Theocus) - we 'enjoy' stumping now!

He did object - no joy. The real downer is that his garden is so small theres no room for leylandii. I recon less than 15 ft in any direction. So given that all the surrounding buildings are 2 storey his house is literally in the shadows all the time. I'll try to get a photo of the frontage tomorrow - it's unbelievable - the only bit the developers missed was over the top of his house.