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It could be a bit closer - it could be lying just over the end of my garden, rather than nearly 4 miles away! Certainly worth considering. Alec

My apologies. I just wanted to join in and I don't know enough about cultural practices in Norway. Alec

That wasn't the point I was making, although a breakdown can be a useful approach to meeting price objections, even in a situation of competitive quotations since it ensures that the customer can validate that they are comparing like for like quotations in terms of what they will get as an end result. The point I was making was that the price which the OP was quoted may enable some businesses to make a perfectly respectable income. To understand whether that is the case, it is necessary to understand costs so that a price can be set which generates the desired margin. The size of company and finish time is relevant in understanding the costs, which is why I mentioned it - if a team of 4 finishes a job very early, it indicates that the job could be completed by a smaller team. A smaller team has lower cost of wages, so it can quote a lower price and still pay the same wages to the team and make the same margin. Similarly, the people who add more if they feel the customer can afford it may reasonably lose a number of jobs to those who price based on margins instead. It is a competitive market, although less so at the moment. That means a customer is likely to get multiple quotations and choose the lowest from someone they believe will deliver to the time and quality they require. I am not talking about a race to the bottom, or buying work but I am talking about working out what rate is actually needed for profitability at the level which makes it worthwhile to you. I am also saying that one approach to achieving this is averaging a number of different effective rates for different jobs which require different levels of skill. If you have a USP and there is enough work that requires that, you can premium price every job accordingly but if it is sufficiently niche that you also do more general work, you are unlikely to get the same rate on jobs which do not require it as someone else can reasonably quote lower - their skill level may be lower overall but they can be equally competent to deliver the job in hand. Alec

I can - I will post a photo of where some of it has ended up when I get a thread started - only my phone camera has broken which is holding me up a bit. Alec

How have you been taking your Hamamelis cuttings? They should work from softwood cuttings - wait until shoots are about 10-15cm long of this year's growth and are flexible but no longer soft. Take a plastic bag with you as you take the cutting, pinch out the top as far back as it is soft enough to pinch, to just above a leaf. Take all the lower leaves off except the top two and put the cuttings straight into the bag. As soon as you get them home, put them in a pot of either perlite and vermiculite, or sand (not quite as good but still works). You could use hormone rooting powder if you wanted. Put up to 4 or 5 cuttings in a 10cm pot, around the edge, get the potting mix well watered and then put the whole lot in a clear or transluscent plastic bag to stop it from drying out, and put the bag on a windowsill or other bright spot that doesn't get direct sunlight. After a fortnight, check carefully for roots every week or so. Once a cutting has rooted, pot it up and keep it wrapped in a bag, gradually opening it a bit more every day or so. First sign of wilting, wrap it up again but if no wilting it will take about 5 days to acclimatise it so it can stay unwrapped. From 5 cuttings you should get 2 or 3 to root that way. Alec

I have milled poplar. It can have ripple and pips and be stunning, or it can be very plain with almost no grain or other variation but it still makes a decent alternative to where you might use generic softwood. Whereabouts in South Suffolk (I can look over the border into South Suffolk from where I am sitting, but it's a rather long border!) Alec

OK, a left-field suggestion. How about exploring whether there is demand locally for a chipping service? While you are establishing your farming business, some extra income may be useful. You would need to have the capital available to invest and you have running costs (including insurance) but as a sideline, underpinning either tree work firms or members of the public who have cut the hedge/pruned a tree and now want it gone, there may be an opportunity if the figures stack up. You want the arisings so you don't have disposal costs to factor in, which may make it cost-effective even if the asset is not running at particularly high utilisation. Alec

What style does she like? Victorian style panel doors, older style ledge? Natural wood or painted? Pine or something else? If you have a router, ledge doors are extremely easy to make, although they are also pretty cheap to buy for the same reason. If she goes for ledge doors and wants some decent ironmongery I can recommend the Suffolk Latch Company - Authentic Ironmongery Door Furniture | Suffolk Latch Co. WWW.SUFFOLKLATCHCOMPANY.COM Traditional Hand Forged & Cast Iron Door Hardware. Shop for Window Furniture | Cabinet Furniture | Hooks & Brackets | Studs & Nails | Free UK P&P I have used theirs on the doors I have made and fitted here. Alec

You have spotted that these are only the labour component? I have already allowed for other costs within the overhead. If you are saying that £113k is insufficient for the wages for 2 people, that suggests that your people are extremely well paid? Alec

This thread really doesn't do the image of tree surgery any favours. A member of the public had a tree they wanted removed and had a perception on the price. When people put up an indicative price which was double that and the OP commented to that effect, the response was aggressive and then the thread descended into moderately homophobic abuse. A parallel has been drawn with surgeons - imagine what you would think if you were discussing a procedure with your surgeon and he called in a second opinion which degenerated into a slanging match. Not very professional. The OP has then validated his opinion by having the job done for half the indicated figure, and the response is to suggest that he had it done badly or by cowboys. This gives an impression of the trade which does not paint it in a favourable light. If you want people to understand why something costs what it does, it helps to give a breakdown. With that in mind, I have quoted Skyhuck's post as it is one of the few constructive posts on this thread. I'd be interested in an assessment of the following: Assume a tree work company of 4 is charging £1050/day and is running at 40% overhead. I am basing this on standard SME rates. This figure may be slightly high as a manufacturing company would have similar capital cost and higher site costs. I am making the assumption that the running costs (insurance, lighting heating, fuel etc all balance out). Assume an earning year of 45wks, allowing for annual leave, public holidays and illness. Assume 4 days earning, 1 day called off/maintenance etc per week. That means gross labour income of £113,400. Assume the team includes a couple of early career groundies on £20k, that leaves £73.4k divided between the two experienced staff, which sounds a bit low. However, there is also pricing jobs based on competition to take into account. That tree had already been dismantled - it was just the stem to chog down and cart out (plus the grinding). From the limited photos, it didn't look like there was any difficult rigging out to avoid targets. That puts it within the range of a smaller or less experienced team, so if the bigger, more experienced company with the experience to do more complex jobs wants the job, they will have to price down to it - if Michelangelo had offered a service emulsioning your ceiling at the weekends, he could not have charged the rate as for painting the Sistine chapel. It sounds like a it was a fairly early finish. That suggests a team of 3 could have done it. The same figures as above for a team of 3 would see £93.4k divided between the two experienced staff which sounds quite reasonable. Skyhuck - would you care to comment on my wet finger estimated figures? Alec

I think you have a few choices - the main one being the size you want to keep them at. If you are going to plant them out eventually then they will do best as full sized trees with an upright main stem, so let them grow as big as you can, the plant them out and grow some more. If however you want to keep them for longer on your balcony, you will have to decide what size you really want them to reach and keep them trimmed to that. At the smallest size, yes you could bonsai them but keeping them from drying out may be difficult on the balcony. If you want them as small trees then the size of the pot will determine the size of the tree. It is hard to say exactly what size pots they are in, but approximately a 50-60cm pot should allow them to grow happily to about 2m tall. You will have to change some of the compost every few years and trim the roots back, and the shoots more regularly, but they will do OK, just like a rather big bonsai. The shape is up to you. It is best to cut back to a bud or a branch as any piece of the plant which does not have any buds to shoot will die and either then need cutting off or will slowly rot away. When they are small like that, you can generally see where the new buds would grow from. If you want to change the shape more on existing branches you can bend them around by tying them up or down with string, or bending wire around the trunk and out onto the branch. Leave it in place for a few weeks and it will mostly have taken the new shape, just don't leave it on too long though or it will dig in. Enjoy them! Alec

I would echo a lot of the comment made so far. Learning by watching someone and ideally having a go while they watch you is the best way to make sure you are doing things right. That could be a course, or it could be someone on your site who is prepared to show you. One thing to bear in mind is that you are probably going to be strictly ground-based. That opens up a few options. I would suggest going as big as you can afford on the saw - 60ish cc would be good but probably outside your price range new, which will probably be the limiting factor. The old Stihl Farm Boss range would probably be a good choice - renumbered as the 291 or if you could run to it the 391 would cover the bar range you need nicely. These saws are more sloggers than racers and a bit heavier but solid with it. I do buy secondhand as I can fix the basics fairly easily if needed, and secondhand can be quite old as the well built professional saws do keep going a very long time and it isn't an issue if a saw is out of action for a few weeks while it gets fixed, unlike if you are earning your living from it. Check parts availability if not buying a current model but for example you can still get pretty much everything to keep a 1980s Stihl 039 Farm Boss running. PPE - chainsaw protective boots, a hard had with ear defenders and a mesh visor, and leg protection are the essentials. Most go with chainsaw trousers but I prefer chaps. This is because I am often going to do a lot more than use the saw. If I put chaps on over a pair of jeans just when cutting I can avoid snagging them on brambles or ripping them when reaching. They are also a lot lighter and more comfortable when carrying around whatever you have cut up afterwards. Boots - again, being ground-based, I prefer Wellingtons. A bit clunky but waterproof and last very well. My chaps have so far lasted 23yrs and my boots lasted 15 before they cracked. The hard hats go out of date - bear in mind that dead branches have a nasty habit of dropping off when you start cutting so an in-date hard hat is a must for me. Gloves - I originally had chainsaw gloves but realised that if you are holding the saw properly it is virtually impossible to cut your hands with it. I now use AV gloves instead, but I am using very old, heavy saws (1960s/70s design at over 100cc) with bad AV protection built in. A pair of gloves of some kind is a good idea to keep your hands warm when cutting. One thing nobody has mentioned - I would also buy a Silky handsaw, probably about 30cm blade. My preference is a Gomtaro but others have different preferences. They are all good. These are extremely fast cutting high quality Japanese hand saws and for small quantities of cutting in hedgerows etc. it takes a whole lot of the hassle away. You can walk down a hedge line and take out anything up to around 6" (so long as there isn't too much of it) with no noise and no PPE required other than to avoid the brambles and nettles. I have dismantled whole fallen goat willows along my boundary in less time than it would have taken me to go and get the saw, fill it up, put on the PPE, cut it, take off the PPE and put the saw away again. Alec

If I was milling it, I would ask whoever was felling it to do so in advance, say during the week for milling on Saturday. If local enough we would stand and look at where it wants cross-cutting but it could be marked up on photographs. I would anticipate three lumps - the upper two and the main trunk. Once felled, we would know what we were looking at. Three perfect sawlogs with no defects would be nice, but realistically it won't be like that - with photos of top and bottom ends you know what you are working with. If it's too bad to get anything out of any of it, that would be clear in advance. Some metal is to be expected - just have to take spare chains and hope you are lucky with the cuts. Alec

If I was anywhere like travelling distance I would jump at this. I want to floor my living room in brown oak so it would be perfect for me. Unfortunately the logistics stop it working on this particular tree, but the deal is sound. People who use or sell timber buy sawlogs, people sell sawlogs - this is a sale for the price of a couple of boards which is good for everyone. And yes, I would mill the two main sections above the fork too - they look a decent size and are sufficiently upright that they could yield some nice timber - probably not brown though. Alec

Assuming you want non-FAC, make sure it is as close to the 12fps limit as possible. Try a few pellets from different brands at a fixed target and see which group best - different guns like different pellets. Once you have found something it likes, get it checked again to confirm that you are still within the 12fps limit as when you are running close to the limit, some pellets may just take you over. Accuracy comes far more from you than from the gun, but it's still worth having something half decent with parts availability, making sure that any internal roughness is smoothed out and it is properly lubricated in the right places. Worth having a scope but bear in mind you are only shooting out to about 40yds so it doesn't need to be extremely high magnification. There is then the inevitable .177 vs. .22 debate. At this power range, both have one major advantage and one major drawback so you take your pick - the .22 has more stopping power so should be a cleaner, more effective kill in a non-perfect hit zone but the .177 has a flatter trajectory so the shot will be more accurate when the range is not calibrated (I find vermin doesn't tend to sit still while you get out the tape measure). Spring, gas-ram and PCP are all personal choices. An older, good quality secondhand springer or a modern PCP would probably be the most cost-effective. You tend to get used to the trigger but you don't want it too heavy. If you are walking about using it then gas and a safety catch would be my choice to take that opportunity, but if you are waiting for things to come to you then it makes less difference. It is worth trying a few to see what feels right - the length can be adapted using butt pads but there are some surprising differences in overall weight, which when it gets too heavy can be difficult to aim from an unsupported standing stance. Alec

If it's phototropism then cutting back will just result in recurrence. The alternative is to bend it to shape. If you tie in a pole with bicycle inner tube and leave it for a year it will stay straight. Of course, it will probably still bend away higher up. Alec

Yep, that would get me pretty outraged 😁 Alec

It's a nice job that's been done on that. It will grow back but ideally I suggest finding someone who is able to summer prune it for you, taking out the water shoots in June/July before they get too big. That will slow it down a bit and make the job much easier and quicker (and cheaper) but you need someone who understands what they are doing. It will still produce a lot of fruit. Are you aware that Bramleys will keep through until March? That may make good use of a few, for you and others. Whereabouts are you in the country? There are some people who will take them for juicing/cider, in exchange for a couple of bottles. Ultimately if they get composted, so be it. Alec

Yes, but it isn't really the right time for it. You are likely to get most success from softwood cuttings, taken from this year's shoots when they have grown enough to become stiff but not crack when bent - probably May/June. You cut off the soft top, strip all but the top couple of leaves and stick them in a pot full of perlite/vermiculite, or sand, get it damp, put the pot in a bag or a cut up clear 2l plastic drink bottle and put it on a windowsill that doesn't get direct sunlight. I do elm this way, about 15 cuttings to the pot so you can get over 100 plants eventually on 2ft of windowsill. Once rooted they need hardening off and growing on until the autumn before planting out. The alternative which is less effort but lower success rate is to take cuttings just as the leaves fall and plant them outdoors in pots of sand plunged into the ground. Once they have rooted and leafed out they can be lined out in a bed and grown on for a year. Both the above will give you much smaller plants than you would be buying as whips but you can either grow them on for another year or plant them out and take more care to keep the weeds off. Alec

Hello Emma, Could you confirm - are you looking to create a bare trunk of 1.8m and then foliage above it? If so, what total height do you want the trees to reach? Also, what kind of look are you after? You have suggested evergreen and cutting back, which would effectively be a solid wall of green, like a hedge on stilts - is that what you are after or do you want something with a less formal shape? If the latter, it will need more subtle pruning or choosing something which will never get too big. Marc has suggested having a look at pleaching which can be a very effective look. Alternatively a tree with a suitably shaped crown might do it. Most trees will naturally be fairly balanced - that means they will stick out to the sides as much as they do along the wall. What is the other side of the wall and is that a problem? Alternatlvely, this could be managed by careful shaping. Apart from the ubiquitous conifers such as leylandii, other looks you could consider include holly, which could be variegated to give a lighter overall effect and if you plant male and female, one of them will then also give you berries for a bit of winter interest including birds. If the overall height you are looking for is not that great there are also many shrubs which could be grown up on single stems. Some of the Ceanothus spring to mind - blue flowers. If you don't use the space so much over winter and early spring then an alternative would be beech or hornbeam (depending on soil and location) which if regularly trimmed will keep its leaves over winter, giving you a less heavy look than most evergreens - these really will pleach well. The beech hedge outside my window is still well covered in last year's leaves now and will soon be leafing out again. Alec

Before we moved here in 2008, we used to live in the centre of a village and I made a fair dent in the heating bill by using the open fire in the living room of our Victorian cottage. I burned anything I could get which, given that I was rebuilding a wooden boat at the time, included a lot of oak offcuts and sapwood. We were next to the village hall which had formerly been the school (our house was originally the schoolteacher's house). The other side of the hall lived the most miserable individual imaginable. He used to write letters to the council complaining about the noise of the children playing in the school playground, which were ignored. Unfortunately, by the time we lived there, noise had become something that the council would take seriously, even when it was minor, infrequent and at reasonable hours. I remember arriving at the hall for the village fete one year and being greeted by someone who asked us to please talk quietly to avoid disturbing him! Anyway, the point was that I used to cut the firewood on the drive of an evening, using a handsaw. It was perfectly feasible to cut as much as I burned and because of the material I had it didn't generally need splitting. He still complained about the noise though, with a nasty little note stating that making so much noise (a handsaw) in the evening (7-8pm when I got home from work) was antisocial behaviour and threatening to report me to the council for running a business from my home. Let's just say a discussion ensued and I continued cutting my firewood. Where I now live the neighbours would generally prefer it if I stop using the chainsaw by 10pm and please can they have some of the sawdust when it's oak, for use in their smoker. Alec

I haven't got space for one - there is already a sword hanging there. It belongs to my wife! Alec

If you still have the bar, I would keep the chains, particularly if you have a mini-mill (the vertical one) or may get one. It's a good length that for squaring up beams or taking edges off logs which are a bit too wide for your mill. If you don't have the bar and won't have a mini-mill, I think it depends on what kit you have. I have the chain breaking/making kit and the Granberg grinder as on long bars you end up needing to take a link out of the chain during its life. I also have spare links. With that kit in place it's 15mins work to make the three necessary breaks and two joints and most of that would be getting out the kit, counting links and putting it away again. I would use all of the 8.5mm chain and add a bit of the 9mm chain. Setting the grinder to the 8.5mm and then sharpening/re-setting would have it sharpened and ready in another 10mins, so under half an hour. I don't earn £60/hr so that would seem like a worthwhile use of time. Without the kit, it depends how much it would cost you as to whether it is worth having it done. I would keep the rest of the chain - useful if you ever hit some nails and need to replace a length where some teeth have been ruined. Alec

Just a thought (you have seen the trees and we haven't). Is it worth checking the TPO comment as those are rather unusually small to be covered. If there is actually no TPO then does the shape of them lend itself to a reduction? Fruit trees are regularly pruned anyway, the apple is already below the 3m stipulation, the quince only needs 50cm removing and the pear needs a metre. Only the pear sounds like it might actually need enough removing to question retaining form. If they are reduced below the 3m stipulation, no insurance report needed. This is what we did with the pear less than a foot from our wall. In practice, the pear will almost certainly be grafted on quince rootstock (at that height, probably Quince A) which has a fairly weak, fibrous root structure anyway. Standard planting spacing would be 12' and the odds are that there are no roots of any visible thickness that even reach the house, although I am not qualified to say that! Alec

Well at least you get plums - my blossom gets taken by the pigeons and I would rather have plums than pigeons. Alec