doobin

Love it! It's nothing short of amazing to think what that tiny redwood seedling could become.

In that case, it couldn't hurt to change the words 'Cash receipt' to 'Quotation' on a few of them...

Sorry to burst your bubble, but that sounds like excess building materials. Most likely a bit of larch cladding, if you can get £20 for the lot you'd be doing well. Worthless by that age I would think.

Washing up liquid works well for me cleaning safety glasses. Seems to stop fog for a bit also. To my mind, a visor is face protection from a chainsaw only. No way does it stop stuff from getting in your eyes, I never use one.

Good thread anyhow chaps.For landscaping/countryside maintenance jobs, I follow the following formula: Man days x £150 plus materials plus digger or tractor at £100 if required. Then the total has 20% added for profit. This still doesn't make me enough- I was enjoying a couple of steaks on the log burner after work with my colleague tonight discussing this very issue. Ok, so we both can do pretty much what we want and own 50k of kit each outright. But that's sweet FA in real terms. I'm thinking I need to be charging £200/day for a man. Thanks for this thread, Tom.

I'm exactly like you. What good would separation do? What will you do instead, waste your time/money taking the woman shopping? Count yourself blessed that your hobby also pays your living costs- many folk would kill to be able to go to work and enjoy it.

I burn old fence posts, anything. I still reckon with paying the lad to cut it up it's more expensive than gas!

Well you could have cleaned up afterwards before taking the photos! Looks awesome.

Buy a large sawdust burner to keep you warm in the winter.

It will almost certainly unscrew for replacement- no harm trying. I would consider grinding flat, centre punching, drilling and then using a stud extractor. Would probably work out easier than welding and trying not to heat the plastic surrounding it up too much- that stud will heat right up if you weld it and damage the surrounding plastics, as well as the bit it's seated in.

If it's going to require paperwork with the council, it's £60 up front, which is refunded against the cost of the job if I do it. Did she actually move? Have the new people had them taken out, perhaps ignorant of a conservation area? Or is she a Grade A timewaster?

The site could easily be made stockproof by the temporary electric fence sheep farmers use- they're used to doing this to take advantage of free grazing? Whether you can find one locally or not is another issue! For this particular job, neither of your options is brilliant as you need to clear it up afterwards. Which is a nightmare! I would get a local farmer to do it and put your bit on top. If you're keen to do conservation work and woodland rides, then a flail mower is best for that of course- make sure you get Y shaped hammer flails, not the paddle type. But don't kid yourself that it will do for topping fields, as they're power hungry and bog easily in long grass, especially with the power levels you're talking about. They also leave a dog rough finish which will not be acceptable to a lot of horsey type. You won't want to hear this, but really you need a topper as well in order to offer paddock maintenance. The good news is that now is the time to buy one, and you should get a 5' S/H for £400 with ease. If you're set on cutting and raking this yourself, a single rotor topper run as slowly as possible on the PTO before it starts to not cut will do a passable job of windrowing the grass. Then a second cut to tidy up. HTH

Morning Ty, are you that far ahead of us time wise? I'd say that amount of spares is about right. If a storm such as the one they were contemplating last week had hit, you'd have been grateful for the stock of spares. Plus with chains, you can have one set for softwood and one for hardwood. One thing I would add to your list is chain brake bands. I keep a spare for every saw and always have them on the job Over the last couple of years, I've finally had enough money to start keeping spares for every aspect of my business. My oils shelf alone is approx £300 worth in every type of oil for all my machines. Spare filters for all, regardless of when the next service is, otherwise it creeps up on you. I have two whiteboards which are filled with scribblings of spares/tools I need to purchase. On paper, my business doesn't justify this level of investment in stock. But life is easier since I've started working like this, plus I enjoy fiddling around at the workshop

There's your problem. Like Stubby says, probably the wrong gauge chain for the bar. In all honesty, I'd try for a new bar looking at the photos. I'd also throw it and the chain away regardless and fit a new one. Ask RobD on here and he'll see you right first time.

Gsm security alarm, mobile alarms, mobile alarm systems, gsm alarms, burglar alarm, intruder alarm, boating equipment, yacht equipment, home protection Gerry is very helpful and knows his stuff. I had him install as he was local to me but if you know what your doing then DIY is an option. It's basically an alarm combined with a sim sender that you arm/disarm via your phone. Sensors are extra, you can use anything you like from a beam sensor to a PIR to a microwave or vibration sensor. Four inputs, but I have a few in series making six sensors in total. Including a fire alarm, which is worth having with a stove installed! All sensors can be found cheap on eBay. If anything is triggered, the alarm will text you telling you which sensor has been triggered, and ring you to make sure you wake up. You can also set it to alert another phone, such as a local security guard, which I do with mine. Very useful. It has an output port, so you can have an alarm sound, or not if you prefer. Runs off 12v. HTH- if your near Chichester then you can come and have a demo if you like.

I knew Jon would be at it like a rat up a drainpipe!

Yeah, it's got pretty menus and stuff like mine! Maybe not that similar, but the basics are there One thing customers have said to me is how the online copy of insurance gave them 'instant assurance'.

Comes up first when you put in 'tree surgery Largs' so all working well! That's how I need mine. My website is pretty similar TBH. Welcome to RHD Contactors

Not sure what you are getting at? My bike repair site comes up first when you search for bike repair in Midhurst. This has worked great for me as I don't like to travel for that sort of work. However, unless they are searching for 'you'- ie, your name and what you do, I don't see how this benefits you? Search for my company name and gardening and it comes up top also, its not enough however, if the potential client has never heard of you. Surely you need to be found when someone searches for your type of business, in your location (as per bike business?) I've found a good tip is to do as you have and put a synopsis on every page- 'We are based in XXX and cover the area of Town A, Town B, Town C, etc. Stick this at the bottom of the page and it's not in the way, yet seems to help Google put it together with the type of work mentioned at the top of the page?

Any pointers/recommendations? I quite enjoy doing it myself TBH, but I do it in fits and starts, and think it needs to look fresh each time someone visits really. I struggle a little with Google rankings and all that, but getting better at it. I like to think I write reasonable copy. Not too good with logos/flyers etc- I use a company in Essex called Colchester Press who I would recommend. I have no interest whatsoever in social media, but realise that it can be a good tool. So that will definitely have to be subbed out! A local promo company has offered to do it for I think £40 a month- does that sound a bit much? I'm trying to work her around to a commission based deal at the moment. Thanks also to everyone else for feedback- redesign is in progress and it's looking like it will be one site.

As soon as something like that starts to go wrong with a small two stroke machine, it's time for a new one IMHO. Life is so much easier now all my two stroke kit is under two years old, save for extremely lightly used kit like the post auger. Now I just need to get the mower (almost done it ) plus the digger and tractor (no hope! ) to the same status.

Afternoon all, I hope the Sunday lunches are settling well? Quick round of opinions required if you please. My company does countryside maintenance (nature reserve work, scrub clearance, fencing, equestrian stuff etc) and also quite a lot of garden work, with two contracts for local estate agents and a fair bit of private work. Recently I've started hiring out large and small kit- mainly specialist stuff like log splitters, chainsaw winches, tracked dumper and stuff. Oh, and I also sell firewood. Question is, should I have a website that caters for all this, or multiple smaller ones? The current setup is a main intro page, then one website for countryside maintenance and tool hire, and the other for gardening and log sales. The trouble is this- living in an affluent countryside location, a lot of potential clientèle are 'crossover' clients- they have a garden, a pony paddock that needs topping, and may also require logs plus a new field fence! However, I also don't wish to alienate Mrs Jones who wants a nice chap to come round and do her little garden. I've been told before that 'it might be too small a job for you!'. I pressed further, and added a £60/month job to the gardening round- it might be small, but it's no trouble at the right money. I guess I need to appeal to everyone, which is probably impossible. I'd appreciate your thoughts on this.

You have refilled the oil every time you refill the petrol, right? Common newbie mistake.

181s are great, I bought a new one today? Disagree somewhat re the chain however- I always run a 12" 1.1mm on the 181s, and polesaw- it cuts quicker due to the thinner kerf, and I find it much quicker to sharpen due to the smaller cutters. Love it Unless the 171 chain comes with bumper tie straps? In which case I agree

I've just flicked through that service manual. I've got to say, for such a 'budget' saw, it's well written/illustrated, comprehensive as to maintenance and even includes a detailed guide to felling, bucking and pruning cuts.