Matthew Storrs

Is this true tho? looking at a 130- yes there is more weight spred over the front axle but there is more weight altogether so the amount still on the back axle will surly be the same if not more then a 110- so back axle will still be just as overloaded

Does this include two blokes- surely its costing them to go to work?

15 on mine but regularly run it with 18, I love my 357 though recently got a 576xp and already have a 395 so find that now i would prefer a 346 for the small stuff

yes, well i will certainly be taking the time next week to engage in a little light discussion with the TO. you are right Tony i will always be dealing with these matters from now on- not the customer and when they are specifically related to the tree I always do, but in this case he was just checking to see whether he was in a conservation area as he is near the border and clearly one thing led to another.

Fair enough, my wording probably isn't upto latest spec (whatever that is) But this wasn't a formal TPO application and was merely the best way of explaining to the customer how much I would intend to remove, I was only ever going to reduce back to suitable growth points which were far and few between due to the nature of rather leggy Eucs and a more precise percentage was hard to give. The tree has 2 boughs over a house, 1 over a green house and 1 over the road /pavement, so i can't agree with her desicion at all- particularly as she based it on a viewing from google earth at the time. She also made me look a bit silly to the customer by saying the tree wouldn't recover from the reduction when its in my best interest for the tree to not only look good but also respond well too.

West Devon:sneaky2: Im sure you know who im on about!

Recently, I went to quote and advise on a Eucalyptus which i would say is 50ft high and growing near to the customers house, however its the neighbours tree and he doesn't want it removed completely. I suggested a 30-40% reduction gave him a price and he seemed happy enough with everything. Anyway he had to check to make sure he wasn't in a conservation area and whilst on the phone metioned to the local TO that we were intending to do to the tree. TO's reply was that it was a bad suggestion as a 30-40% reduction would probably kill a Euc. I have in the past reduced and pollarded many Eucs and they have never died so im a bit confused now. Anyway TO has now placed a TPO on tree, I must add that this tree is hardly a thing of beauty at the moment and the intention is to retain the tree and not fell it but the TO has seen it on google earth so i guess she knows best:thumbdown: what do you guys think?

aye its the most useful machine i own i think once you get at few attachments for it. mine was 9k a few years ago. 6k would get you the same model but with a few more hours and a canopy instead of a cab!

Gibbon- what about a mini digger with a grab- heres mine at work extracting some timber from a wood. the big sycamore log is probably at its max. Its won't fit in the back of the landy but its worth bringing another vehicle to the job (or tow it to job in the trailer then load trailer with timber and pick digger up later) You can get a decent mini for £6-7000 plus grab at £600. Its great for flinging brash into piles and also pulling brash out of rivers if you do much embankment work. Also easy to hire out for other work. I have a postbanger and hydraulic auger for mine and it makes it a very versatile machine. I find the fact that its 360 slew coupled with the longer reach makes it better for brash/timber work then a skidsteer type machine.

Yeah the cabs are awesome. could easily get three of us in there if needed (probably not legally though!) Id like a timber trailer to go behind it like elfinwoods, always looking out for one.

think he means his tractor. but might be wrong

Here is mine when i first got it 2 months ago, done just over 3000 hours, mechanically its all together but needs new tyres before winter.

Nice. How does it cope with that digger on the back? My 7045 is currently undergoing a bit of tlc, new steering joints allround, brake shoes and new front shoes. struggling to get the steering ram joint though. When all is done I will join the zetor porn club.

steady on- its not that bad:sneaky2:

haha Il wait til you post pictures of yours then:lol:

Hodge I was going to post some pictures of my new(old) zetor, but shes going to feel embarresed if i post it along aside yours. Il wait a week or two until all the fuss has died down and shes got some new tyres on!

surely your not going to be unfaithfull to your trusty Zetor:001_huh:

Good choice! Not sure about the mink oil, I use the special beeswax which Pfanner do for the boots. Its quite good because once youv melted it into the seams it solidifys again and stays waterproof for quite a long .I say waterproof if you held your foot in a stream for a few mins you'd probably get a wet foot, but in long grass and rain etc Iv never had wet feet. The wax is quite pricey tho £16 (will do about 5-6 recoats if you do it properly) so not sure if there is cheaper stuff which will do the same thing? I just felt like spending at the time:biggrin:

An Ash from a few weeks back. this one had quite a backwards lean towards the barn so split leveled it.

Yesterdays sycamore fell, Had to fell it off a bank into a boggy woodland, was tirfor assisted as caravan 10ft behind it.

wow- that looks in super condition, well done nice find!

Well the fact that so many people claim to suffer headaches/nausea/sore throats from standing in clouds of petrol but not from Aspen says it all (unless its a placebo effect). I can't pass the cost directly to my customers because i could use the normal stuff but to hell with it. Im not going to risk my health and possibly loss of earnings due to future ill health just for the sake of an extra 20 or 30 quid a week.

Just up your daily income by a tenner, the customer will hardly notice and you can use aspen and buy new kit:thumbup1: Im going to use aspen from now on, I have a thyroid disorder which I notice gets aggrivated after hedgetrimming allday. Price is irrelevant when it comes down to health.

But these individuals will consume your thinking even when you are lying in bed, their little jibes and comments will eat at you, and on comes the stress:thumbdown: This is sooo true. im currently filtering out customers who give me that draining feeling every time i work for them due to their penny pinching and their trying to discest the way i run my buisness in order to obtain cheep prices. recently i have been suffering physical symptoms which i notice only come on when dealing or even thinking about these customers. The only way to relieve stress is to relieve the cause of it.# good post stevie:thumbup1:

When you quote, put yourself in your customers shoes and just think how much work they are actually getting for the price. It may seem alot of money when you put a price in for say a days work but we are only capable of getting that work done in a day because we are properly tooled up and experianced enough to work efficiently and quickly. Just be totally fair to yourself when pricing, work out all your costs and your own wage plus profit and give them the price, if they arn't happy with it then its not worth doing any cheaper. Its easy when you self employed to allow your wage you take from the buisness to get mixed in with day to day buisness costs and before you know it you find you are undercutting your personal wage to pay for buisness costs just to try and be cheap, In the long term it justs leads to stress and you rushing around like a blueassed fly just to make things work. Put in a fair price and I think most customers are happy with this provided you arn't trying to take the p*ss. Any who arn't can go elsewhere.