Squaredy

Mick Dempsey has got a point. You need to look into it properly if you employ someone. And yes you can ask them to do anything (within reason) but you are responsible for making sure they are fully trained, supervised, and that everything is risk assessed. It is true with fewer than five employees you do not need written risk assessments but you still need to consider all the risks. And of course you need to be able to DEMONSTRATE that your employee is properly trained and supervised, so that is where the course certificates come in.

Exhaust pipe? I would guess some of it is 60mm so you may be able to scrounge some from a scrap bin at an exhaust place?

You are right it is six batteries at six volts each and 225 AH. But what is a ctek?

Always the first place I look. Just a couple on there but nothing worth the money. I have now ordered one which I hope will be right. This is will be fourth time lucky. First one went pop after a year or so ( only cost £15) next one a proper industrial forklift charger but turned out to be 24 volt not 36, then got one via eBay sent from America which went pop after 6 weeks and cost £160. So so cross fingers I have got it right this time. The manufacturer of the truck will sell me one for just over a grand...

Well I never knew that. My Morso Dove at home is nice and controllable. I guess they are trying to minimise emissions.

Can’t find a vent at the back. Door seal seems good.

Sorry rubbish photo - lenses covered in sawdust this should be better.

This log burner seems to have just two settings - super high or extra high. Anybody recognise it and suggest how we can turn it down!?!? This is not my stove at home but in a holiday chalet I am staying in with family. I brought some of the wood I always burn on my Morso Dove which is really dry and it is just crazy hot. I have found a couple of levers but they have little effect. Any ideas?

With a big landowner you are never going to get the nod to pinch a few wind blown sticks. Stick to local small landowners like farmers so you can ask them then no-one gets upset and the police are left to collect statistics on real crooks.

I need a 36 volt charger for our little electric yard truck. An old forklift charger would be ideal. It it is a long shot I know but you never know.

If the tree is really well infected it can yield amazing timber - maybe as beautiful as burrs.

I have not got personal experience of Turkey Oak though I have been offered them. I have read on several websites that Turkey Oak is also known as Wainscot Oak as it has such dramatic medullary rays that it is highly prized when quarter-sawn. The best known example of what I am talking about is the house of commons - the Oak panelling on the walls. Can anyone enlighten me as to which Oak this is? I am pretty certain it is not native but which one is it? I love Holm Oak and this certainly has very strong rays, but of course rarely has a decent size stem.

It is all about the person you employ and what they will be like in a year or two or ten. If you find out it is not working out for you it is a nightmare to get rid of them. You will probably end up paying full redundancy unless you have really good evidence of gross misconduct, because it is simply too risky not to. Luckily in the first few years redundancy payments are not very high. The other thing is it is simply not very nice sacking someone - no matter what the reason. You will have to give them minimum wage of course (bear in mind this is promised to hit £10 an hour for over twenty-fives pretty soon) and a pension which you will need to contribute to, and you will have to pay 12% or so employer's NI as well as what you deduct from their wage and hand over to HMRC. They will be entitled to 28 days paid holiday as a legal minimum, maternity pay or paternity pay possibly. If they are unwell (or claim to be) for more than four consecutive days you will have to pay them Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) which you used to be able to claim back from HMRC, but now you cannot. So if they develop a long-term condition, or simply decide they are not happy with the job and go on the sick for any of those reasons which are impossible to prove or disprove (depression, unspecified back or neck problems) you will have to pay them up to six months for them to not work. You don't have to have a written contract, as a contract will be deemed to exist anyway, but you might want one to set out clearly a few rules; but take care as if your contract is all about protecting you as an employer it could fall foul of the Unfair Contract Terms act. All in all it is a bit of a minefield, which is why so many people are just employed on a part-time cash in hand basis. If you need this person to work for you full time you may have little choice but to take them on the books. But if the work is sporadic or part-time it might be a lot less hassle to treat them as a subby. Even if you are having to pay 60% more per hour or per day this is probably better for you in the long run.

Not sure what protection an employer gets....!

I saw some Lombardy pop being ringed up in my village a few months back. I nearly asked if I could have them as the shape was stunning due to the fluting. Would have made lovely table centre pieces - well maybe a bit big. Maybe even could have made lovely coffee table tops.

The purple one is called Purpleheart.

If you are an employee you do not need public liability cover as your employer should have this. You might want to consider sickness and accident insurance or permanent health insurance. But first look into the cover your employer provides. Also consider what state benefits you would get if unable to work. Most importantly are you responsible for others eg kids or spouse? It sounds like you are young free and single in which case maybe you would be better off saving for the years ahead when a mortgage, partner and kids mop up every spare penny.

No-one has yet mentioned the Ash Wizard. This is not a vacuum cleaner at all but you use it with a vacuum cleaner, and it collects the ash (allegedly) so saving the cleaner from clogging . I was given one years ago and thought it looked like a right faff so I gave it away and stuck to a brush. If fine ash gets in the vacuum cleaner I guess it will clog filters and bags very quickly, so I tend to think an old fashioned zero emissions brush is best really!

Thanks Donnk, good tip.

Thanks for the idea. Why is the telehandler driver the man to speak to though? I haven’t worked on building sites so I don’t know what the politics might be.

Thanks for that, and if I can get a skilled brickie locally for that sort of rate that will be fine.

I think I am wasting my time....but here goes.... I am in need of a bricklayer for a few days work in Newport South Wales. Anybody suggest a brickie who actually needs or wants a few days work at a decent rate??? When I say a decent rate I know brickies can be on crazy money these days, but I hope I can find one who will work for about the rate a skilled arb climber would expect. Is this possible these days I wonder?

As Tesla have revealed their fully electric articulated lorry I would think they would be developing a pickup. Would be good.... the prices need to start coming down though. Electric vehicles make financial sense for some people if they get access to a free to use charging point. For someone like me even if I could afford to buy one the fuel savings would be minimal. If our government are serious about reducing transport emissions they need to subsidise electric vehicles and hit gas guzzlers harder. Make it an easy decision to switch to electric.

That is a nice truck though what would worry me is payload. My Tranny is 2900 kg with me in it which leaves just 600 kg for your load. My transit also has a crane but is 2 wheel drive.

The Willow or the Birch......!?