Paul Jenks

I'd pop down to Hamble and try one of the marinas. Cougars build racing powerboats so there should be guys down there willing to do a bit on the side. A start would be my step-brother, Jason Howell at Universal Shipyard near Sarisbury. He works for The London Sailing Project. He's worked there for years so should know someone. Sorry no number.

I've dug some handsome holes with a stumpgrinder. Granted, you'd need a shed load of concrete to make a post stand up for any length of time.:lol:

I love my Swedish Strop. Great for smashing through ivy, conifer and yes those beastly pops that require 2 clipped together. FYI, those that have never tried it, a chainsaw tends to skim along rather than go through. Of course if one really wants to try it'll cut. A good ear will usually pick it though before the last strand goes. When on really snotty ivy, I like the fact that it tends to lie in a straight line. It makes it much quicker to hack the ivy off with the 200 as I don't have to check the position of it every 2 seconds. One can also bully it through lime epicormic, pigeon nests and squirrel dreys. (It also has a rope prussik so can easily be cut in an emergency situation.) I'm a little old school so prefer analogue systems to digital.

It may be something that fits around a mast. It doesn't look either man enough or practical enough to join vessels together. You'd use steel shackles and chain, wire or rope, not alloy. The alloy looks like it seperates and fits around a specific profile when closed. Could be an emergency kicking strap fitting. Or something to do with a jury rig. That's assuming it is actually a piece of boating paraphernalia.

I think you may have been hooked there Huck. (It looked to me as if the reference to pensioners was tongue in cheek.)

Life still goes on in a depression. Trees grow and die. Fences rot, fall over or have a cow run through them. Stuff will always need sorting out. We have to work harder to make sure we are in our clients' mind when the opportunity is there. Get out and speak to people and be good at what you do. Be available and keen. Keep busy and communicate with people. Stuff comes around.

Baaaaaaaaaaa! I think, Huck, that codswallop, just about sums it up.

'tis a challenge. We have a daily target to reach based on our budgeting costs. This gives us a cost/man/day. All jobs are priced on how long it should take an average team to complete. The client gets a price and occasionaly an approximate time the job will be completed in. If a top team goes, they are generally a bit costlier to run and get the job done in less time so can get on to another job. Doesn't matter if we're cutting trees, hedges or grinding stumps costs are costs. In business the general rule of thumb, and this is a general rule so there will be exceptions, (Huck), one should win about 30-40% of work quoted for. Win more and you're a bit cheap or very good, win less and you're too expensive or cr@p. Endeavour to analyse why you've lost a job. It's not always price driven. And don't take it personally, it's business

I think Winchman's point was more about margin than actual profit.

Thanks for posting Dadio. Couldn't hear the sound as my speakers are kaput. Nice gob. What would you say that was? About a fifth to a quarter of the diameter?

A few nicks is good for grip:lol:

Toe curling

An extract from a book I've read: A key psychology for leading from good to great is the Stockdale Paradox: Retain absolute faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, AND at the same time confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be. It's a mantra I endeavour to keep in mind whatever I do. (It's not easy and it takes time)

Fortnum and Mason.:lol: Claret from Berry Brothers and Rudd I wish. Waitrose mostly.

As I understand it, and I have it on reasonable authority, anyone working on or near the highway has to book road space through NRSWA, (it's what we have to do anyway at the moment for highways work and for private). This is so they can manage the roads better, inform the emergency services and ensure that no 2 contractors, (not just tree work, digging the roads too), are working in the same place at the same time or close to one another. If the road is traffic sensitive there will be restrictions to the amount of time allowed on the carriageway and they will have a view on the type of traffic management employed. Anyone setting out signs and cones etc will have to have either unit 2 or 10 and will have to have the streetworks card on them for the duration of works and will have to remain on site for the duration of works. If NRSWA turn up and road space has not been booked or the card holder is not on site they may kick you off the road and if they feel the infringement is serious they may take the issue further through the courts.

We had the old, 'Never seen that before.' stock response too. It must be part of the Stihl franchise training mantra. We're on our 2nd brake lever. The first virtually burnt off. Still a bit funky when warm but better now than the old one was.

We're going through one at the moment. Takes forever. There is an LA ombudsman. Don't know how long you have to try getting a response from the LA, but as Tony said, they have to give you the stuff when they turn down. Check out their website.

Objective data with good supporting evidence. Nice blog. This is the lengths I go to to get mine to at least be a bit interested in food:thumbup::thumbup:.

Difficult to educate pork.

It might be the key that links the roller to the drive shaft. We've had that before. They're generally pretty small for the amount of work they do. Often they damage the keyway too so you have to get a new feed roller as well

Already done it. Thanks for the email Stuart. You should come over to our new offices.

I made a commitment to my family to be home to cook tea every day and I very rarely work weekends. That's the plan though it does sometimes go astray. Especially recently. My view is that the business should be able to run with relatively normal hours put in by all, including the MD. I work about 60 or so hours a week and could probably do more doing lots of things I don't enjoy. Fortunately, I have a team of people working with me that do enjoy some of these tasks. I'm a man of modest needs and for the hours I put in I'm about the lowest paid in the company, work the hardest and have the most pressure by a long chalk. The key difference between pressure and stress is the type of support underpinning it. I can deal with a good deal of pressure as I have a good team with me. So in conclusion, I put my heart, body and soul into my business. I also put a great deal into my family, which, after all, is more important than everything else. (They are the ones who are going to feed me and wipe my arse when I'm old and frail.)

Absolutely. There is nothing so powerful as the mind. With, perhaps the exception of one of my guys farting in the cab:lol:. I can still remember the time when I no longer thought of the height when in the canopy of a tree. Now it's just snotty, obnoxious trees that have little or no grip that cause me concern. Most of my injuries, saws notwithstanding, have resulted from small distance slips.

Capris aside, we have a 3.5 and a 6.2. The 3.5 is ok but bounces like mad and is a tad cramped. The 6.2 is a great truck. Lovely to drive and not too big. Not quite as robust as the Iveco or Daf. Runs smoothly, poxy backwards gearbox. At least the gearbox beeps at you when you inadvertently find reverse.

You used to be able to write off 50% against profits in the first year followed by, i think, a 3 year tail down to a book value of £1. You could also write off computer equipment in one year. Because it's an asset it sits on your balance sheet and without the depreciation you would pay tax on it. My business director, office manager and accountant do all that so I don't even have a working knowledge of it. Bores the tits off me. Show me which tree to cut.