Matthew Storrs
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Everything posted by Matthew Storrs
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Yep, its meant to be hot all week and as I spend so much of the rest of the year moaning about the weather I'm doing very little in the way of work next week. Just going to enjoy it. Got to regrade a footpath with the digger on wednesday- but I think I can cope with that. Walking and camping on the moors tomorrow:thumbup1:
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Well for a year I loaded my digger onto the Ifor without any ramps at all. So any ramps is gonna be safer then that, just make sure you have a good method of securing the ramps onto the bed so they don't move.
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Iv got a pair of stop go boards which are mounted on a large tripod, if you have two men on the ground they can set both boards to stop, leave them, clear the mess off then switch back to green- they're great for quiet country roads.
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Spot on
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I assume that's a joke:laugh1: there's accepting a fair price and there's being ripped off, if they're new customers how are they to know the difference, i'd personally go after quality rather then price but if a trades person told me that prior to quoting I wouldn't give him the time of day even if I was only planning on getting just his price anyway.
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And by telling you they instantly put themselves in the cheapest price goes brigade, because they think if you know 10 other firms are qouting then you will be as competetive as possible. Works on some, scares others off
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Yep that's the long and short of it, doesn't really matter what the price is AS LONG AS YOUR HAPPY WITH IT:001_rolleyes:
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Nope, wrong, its a car which runs on small bottles of fizzy drink.
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I once did a big fencing job for a farmer on day rate, I worked with my digger from 8am - 7pm to get a stretch completed each day and charged him only a day each time. Few months later I did 1 day for him fencing a nasty stretch and I finished early at 3pm and gave him the invoice- later I got a call to ask why I had charged him a full day when I had finished at 3! Once bitten, twice shy.
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My Kawasaki backpack blower is 13 years old and never misses a beat, gets used alot . I will definiatly buy one again if they still make them in 20 years when my current one will go in to retirement.
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I hate that sort of pickiness that comes with day rates, if the JCBs on site then quite right the rate should remain the same, same goes for saws or anything else. If you've quoted man with chainsaw then thats what you arrive to the job with regardless of whether its working every minute of the day etc.
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Is the Easy Lift Harness..........
Matthew Storrs replied to Old Mill Tree Care's topic in General chat
Yes strimming without cow horns, pole pruning and ground hedge trimming it is perfect. It take a bit of fettling to get the right set up for each tool and alsso the harness straps but once its on moving the tool is effortless. It is quite a lot of money but anything which makes life easier is worth having. -
Is the Easy Lift Harness..........
Matthew Storrs replied to Old Mill Tree Care's topic in General chat
Er, quite a few jobs I think, it makes the job more comfortable but I wouldn't say it saves a huge amount of time really. Because you have to do all the ladder work without it and it doesn't help tidy up! So it might not nessecarily pay for itself on the job but it will pay for itself in reduced trips to the chiropractors -
I have a 395xp, which will deal with most big stuff well, but if I had more jobs ringing it all up I would defo get an 880. 1200 quid or whatever divided over the 10-20 years is nothing really.
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Is the Easy Lift Harness..........
Matthew Storrs replied to Old Mill Tree Care's topic in General chat
I have one its brilliant for trimming hedges on the ground but its a shame it can't really be used up a ladder - tends to throw the balance a bit. I find it most useful for strimming awkward banks and ditches etc where standard harness don't work very well. I is a good bit of kit and save arm ache big time, I find I tend to go for a lot longer without breaks because of that. -
I was employed for 4 years climbing and grounding before I got my tickets and did some serious trees in that time plus doing street trees for the council and other such organisations. Looking back I suppose it was a bit naughty of my boss really but there we go I didn't have any accidents, did plenty of good jobs and can honestly say that not having the ticket made absolutely no difference in the world. Got them now since I started on my own but really I'm just 2grand poorer and gained very little by actually doing the tickets other then validating my insurance.
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To add iv never found the weight higher up on the flatbed an issue. Just make sure the weight is in the right place and it works fine
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The plant trailer is quicker to load then the flatbed as you don't have to faff around setting the ramps up. Plus probably need to make sure its tied down better then if its on a plant trailer. But if you do other work a flatbed is far more versatile particularly loading and unloading loose materials etc.
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Ditch Clearing ~ how do you do yours?
Matthew Storrs replied to SteveA's topic in Forestry and Woodland management
Iv never heard of anything like that, not to say a homemade rig utilizing a digger bucket or something, would work, but you'd need a way of actually getting the material out the ditch without it all falling back in as you pull the bucket through. Hire a 1.5 ton digger for a day and you'd be amazed how much it can get done cleaning out existing ditches. -
Ditch Clearing ~ how do you do yours?
Matthew Storrs replied to SteveA's topic in Forestry and Woodland management
I do agree, I quite like spade work, easy stuff is quite therapeutic and hard digging I find I get really into it. But if my machine is sitting nearby the spade usually goes out the window! -
I don't know, I think there is a lot to be said for specializing in what you do best and equipping yourself accordingly rather then offering everything under the sun and losing your trade in the wash so to speak. Personally iv decided to be more specific now, focusing on building my business on what I can be most efficient at.
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I used to offer fencing as a supplement to tree work, now tree work is so hopelessly sparse iv basically knocked it on the head altogether and just offer rural/agricultural fencing and digger work. Far less hassle I find and less overheads, also I find I don't have to find as many jobs to fill the week because on the whole my fencing jobs tend to be bigger ongoing type works. Grass cutting is OK if you have a decent round to make it pay. But rarely pays for one of jobs.
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Ditch Clearing ~ how do you do yours?
Matthew Storrs replied to SteveA's topic in Forestry and Woodland management
Or a 1.5 tonner. I do loads of ditch clearing with mine. Did some the other day across peat moorland I kept having to pull by self out as it was such a swamp - hence the reason for clearing it. 50 meters takes maybe half an hour with a small machine- and about half a day by hand and you'll be tired by lunchtime. -
Just a thought, When I approached trust to insure my trailer they said is doesn't apply at on site but also it only applies if its kept in a locked compound- whatever that may be.
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Most of it is just common sense. It doesn't cost much to comply really but could be helpful if you have an accident in some way. IMO Loler is like an MOT of your kit, yes its a good idea to have it checked over by someone who knows what to look for but it isn't going to stop you having an accident if you abuse your kit/lose your brain.
