Shane

They were compensation rather than physical. If they were pleasant, I'd offer a car-wash. If not - admit nothing, explain the situation, then if they keep on ranting just give em a card, tell em to write to me and I'll pass it on to my solicitor. Never heard any more. They also get very defensive when you take photos and pace out the distance from chipper to beloved BM

Sorry to generalise but all our 3 of ourt dusty car issues have been with BMW drivers. They were all in their 20s and 66.6% of them had tattoos. Richard Craniums the lot of em.

I get my stump grinding barriers for £1.00 - £2.00 Some people call them old wind-breaks for the beach but they work fine. When thry do wear out I just buy another one. Buy about 4-5 a year. rarely been to a sale where there wasn't one (maybe it helps living on the coast). Once saw a bloke selling a brand new hobbs block with all lowering ropes etc for £500. By the time I got back from making a quick call to the police he was being escorted away by the boys in blue. Ironically that was just behind Ford prison!!

It seems the Government puts out these little snippets occasionally to see what sort of response it gets. If they then realise they will lose millions of votes as a result they just 'demonstrate flexibility' by not implementing it. The opposition use the term U turn. I think it's a pity that the Govts (past and present) treat us all like little kids. Since Thatcherism evolved they have reduced taxes to give us more spending power and have the CHOICE of how to spend our money. That's great if you have enough to send your kids for the private education of your choice or join the private healthcare scheme of your choice - but if you can afford neither then your kids go to the nearest state school and you wait for your traetment at the end of a long NHS queue! I'm not a commie, but I'm not a chinless tory who advocates prudent spending by the masses while claiming thousands on expenses for flock wallpaper and duck houses. I just wish a British Govenrnment wouyld have the gonads to give us masses the option - Pay more tax to get better healthcare and education or Pay less tax and sort out your own healthcare/kids education etc. This 'Me first I'm well off' Tory approach does make sense for those who are doing well - but if you fall off the gravy train - God help you. It is perpetuated by peoples belief that they are going to make it big, remember those teenage dreams we all had. Share it fairly but dont take a slice of my pie! (Pink Floyd)

I've been feeling sorry for myself lately, can't do much - waiting for an op on my shoulder.... Then I saw this guy on Youtube - Amazing! [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzR_j3IJaoc]fitting transit wing and wheel arch the easy way! 2 - YouTube[/ame]

Why not tout for stumpy jobs, then hire in a small one to get some experience? As for claims.... use boards to protect windows/greenhouses etc. You can begin by leaning them against tarmac pins or garden forks. You caould go to your local car boot sale and buy up all the old wind-breaks - they serve as an adequate defence. Its the front gardens where you will have most hassle, all the services including very shallow cable tv . Be careful and maybe hire in a CAT scanner (they pick up dogs too). After a while you'll see what the demand is and know if you want to do it. PS - till youve had some experience avoid trees outside private gardens - there could be hi voltage stuff BT fibre optics etc. Start gently and good luck

Who would rent out their one and only chipper? Can you imagine how little the hirer cares? The shop near me used to hire one out, he was for ever fixing it as a result of hideous abuse. Only hire out kit you don't care about or can afford to have broken. Buy a chipper to serve YOU well and nobody else.

Did you see how fast Alistair Brownlee ran when he won gold in the triathlon. His run time for 10 K was less than 2 minutes more than Mo Farra's winning time! Had he been running at that pace in Farra's race he would have finished ahead of the last 10k finalist! Thats after 1500mtrs of swimming and 25 miles on the bike - incredibe!

We did a job for a 6ft 6in 'lady' (she looked like David Walliams and had an adams apple). When we finished she gave each of us a bottle of perfume. She was kind to us and very polite. Felt quite sorry for her really - We did smell nice afterwards. Beat the hell out of stale biccies and rancid milk we got from one old dear.

The hinge looks straight but maybe they should've made the gob cut deeper I'll give them 7 out of 10

Safety legislation doesn't make things any safer. It just means stupidity becomes a criminal offense. How we eliminate stupidity when it spreads up the chain of command is anyone's guess. Just keep thinking what COULD happen and avoid the risk. As the poster says - If you think Health and Safety is a pain - try having an accident!

Very very helpful and clear! With so many tree surgeons being young (and therefore not having the old gits license like me) its great to have confirmation that they can tow sub 750Kg chippers with the transit. Thanks again

Advice needed for my new toy please...... I have been told it's a good idea to treat the inside of my R reg transit tipper chassis with oil or some sort of 'rust deterrrent' as they eventually rot from the inside. While I am at it I would like to clean and treat the outside of the chassis while it is still in fairly good nick. Is it sensible to have it steam cleaned first or is it better to spend a weekend with wire wheel on angle grinder. The wire wheel option will take ages and you cant get into the nooks and crannies but will a steam clean end up getting too much H2O into the chassis through the bolt holes/inspection holes etc? What would you folks do to best preserve it? I've only just got the truck and love it already - just want it to last.

Thanks folks, some good ideas there, I'll give them a go over the weekend. What fun!

I've just bought an ally sided/roofed tipper (no more shovelling!). Where the previous owner had the signs they had put sealant around the edge. My signs are a slightly different shape so I need to get the sealant off without scratching the ally. I'm guessing its something like bath sealant - any suggetsions please. Shane

When I got back from my op, I swear my (recently neutered) cat was laughing at me

Agree with all of the above. Be honest with yourself when you are getting tired. I know there are a few phsychopaths on here who can do 25 hours a day gnawing through trunks with their bare teeth but most of us can't do that. A couple of years ago there was a great article in one of the Arb' mags entitled - Don't make your last cut your LAST cut! Youve obviously got the ability, once self employed YOU must decide where to draw the line. Just keep on enjoying it - **it happens, as they say. A good, honest post. We can all always learn from stuff like this.

Theres an Insurance Ombudsman who might well look into this. Usually if you mention the O word the Insurers will get their fingers out. Details should all be available on-line.

Did someone REALLY quote £650 or was the customer trying to knock you down further? I've had a few like that, maybe you'll go past in a few months and it's still not been done! Customers like that are a waste of time, when they get like that at quote time what will they be like at payment time? Don't take it personally. Lets face it if we all stick to our pricing strategy rather than knee-knocking bargain offers the work will still come in.

I had a similar problem with my old TW. It turned out to be the fuel cut out solenoiod. Where the wire goes into the unit it had broken just inside. If you wiggled the wire it would just about run. Maybe a red herring but worth by-passing the cut out solenoid to try it.

Not much recently, best event was the Newhaven-Dieppe classic. Cycle onto the ferry, visit the bar.... you get the idea. Very popular in the 90s with a lot of the Sussex bike clubs. You budding Jonny Brownlees tire me out - keep up the good work though, the feel-good factor makes it all worthwhile.

Looked at a large specimen today, 1/4 of leaves on most branches gone brown. Loads of branches hanging down vertically. More than normal dead in the middle. It looks like its on the way out. This is in sunny Worthing where it is usually slightly warmer but the previous winter was pretty bad so I'm thinking thats what did it.

You should buy a chammy leather, youve already got the ladder, fight them back! But seriously.... wheres it all leading. Maybe when this country is bankrupt we can all learn Chinese then export cr@p back over there.

Arun Dc used to run a scheme where members of the public could buy some sort of 'gatherers license' which entitled them to take fallen/cut timber from woodland. I think there was a caveat that you could not use motorised vehicles in the woods but they had a few takers and must have collected some money. IIRC it was certainly happening in the mid 90s - Thats all I recall