Daniël Bos

I got sent the following. I suppose a fair few of you are aware of this already but spreading the word more won't hurt. “Forest Research is working in close collaboration with DEFRA under a new contract called ‘Living Ash Project’ to find ash trees that may be tolerant to Chalara ash die-back. Along with colleagues at Earth Trust near Oxford, seed has been collected from ash trees which were previously part of the ash improvement programme before Chalara ash die-back came along. We now want to find ash trees that are tolerant to the Chalara fungus, but also have better than average growth rate and stem straightness. That really would be a win:win. Trees are currently being raised in the Forest Research Chalara-free tree nursery in Scotland, but by spring 2016 we want to plant 3 sites in Britain. Each site will have to be 2 hectares (5 acres) of uniform land thought to grow good ash trees. The site will be protected with a 2 metre high rabbit/stock/and deer fence. Forest Research will pay for all the establishment costs including the fence and planting of the trees. We shall require regular access to the site for maintenance and assessment reasons; this means we shall require a 5-year ‘Access Agreement’ with the site owner. We shall also retain the exclusive rights to the IP of any trees selected on the site. After the 5-year period we hand the site back to the owner who may want to take advantage of planting the fenced area with another species. If we are lucky enough to find some larger sites we have do an additional experiment of just 0.5 hectare (approx. 1 acre) where we want to test out a range of different ash species collected form arboreta across the UK. If you think you have a suitable site of 2 to 2.5 hectares (5 to 6 acres), want to help, and are located in an area where Chalara ash die-back is already present, we would like to hear from you. Send me an email and I’ll arrange for one of our research foresters to visit you and inspect the site. We’ll then decide if your site meets all our requirements and take it from there. Thanks for reading this. Steve Lee Programme leader for Tree Breeding Forest Research [email protected] “

Thanks for all your input so far people! It's really great to get many different angles on this to help "calibrate my moral compass" I suppose it's easy to say that it was no good to start with afterwards. In my country ve haf saying: "With hindsight you can look up up a cow's arsehole"... Yes, I should have been clearer about what I find unacceptable. I'd just not come across somebody with even lower standards than me before. I've had about ten different people working for me. Ranging from super efficient never need telling ought to severely autistic and dyspraxic. The question is now, after the experience with this boy, how much pay is fair for his last two days?

1. The first day he'd come a long way -85 miles- every day after was weakness from my part. I prefer positive motivation. 2. Yep, but all I need is a person to throw twigs. No skills or quals needed. 3. I did,*on the second day I tried some gentle encouragement On the third day of work, I let him no in terms not to be misunderstood. 4. There's lodging as little as 2 miles away but he chose to stay 35m away as it was cheapest. 5. No way of knowing that from a phone "interview"

Just to clarify; he's gone and he ain't comin' back! Wages are for the last two days only, the first four were paid in full.

A little while ago I advertised a job as I needed a person, four days a week to help me clear my back-log of hedges (I lay hedges...). Not many useful replies I got but there was one that seemed promising. The chap lived a bit far away though so decided to stay in a B&B some 35 miles from the job... We agreed on £70/day, 8 till 5. Main part of the job is throwing brash over the hedge. No skills, no qualifications no tools needed. (and he came with none of the above) Day 1, he was late, no explanation or apology. Needed showing what to do etc so not much of an impression. Day 2, late again, no explanation or apology. Seemed to get on ok? I had to rush off early to sort issues on the farm at home so left 1.5 hours early and told him to finish off (about 40 mins work). Day 3, We agreed on a late (9:30) start as I had to take lambs to the abattoir in the morn first. My car broke down on the way to the job and as it was my birthday I thought: "%%% it, I'm going home!" called the boy (who told me he'd been on site for 10 minutes, it was 9:50 and paid him anyway for the whole day. (I like being generous on my birthday...) Day 4, late again! I got to the job, finished the work he was supposed to do on day 2 in less than 20 minutes. So, when he did arrive I told him about my being unsure as to tell him to *** off or not and if he wanted to work he'd better get a *** move on! A decent bollocking it was, and it was just. It helped a bit as well as he worked harder for the rest of the day than the previous days. Then followed a week of no him, as he said he couldn't find suitable accommodation. I sorted out a B&B a lot closer to the job, on my route there to save him the travel. It was £25 (£10/night more) so I offered to pay £75/day and he'd easily save the rest by not having to drive 35 miles twice a day. All good? Day 5. On time! I collected him from the B&B, went to work. He was rather slow I thought, but he was doing just brash and it can be a tedious task that is often more work than it looks. Day 6. On time again! At break time I tried to gently express my need for a bit more speed (after having carefully enquired to his physical well-being, he said he was ok), at lunch time I tried to entice him to work a bit harder by asking what his favourite drink was. I promised him a bottle if he'd catch up with me (which is how far I was expecting him to get. Nearing the end of the day. I've finished pleaching (end of the hedge, yay!) so I spent a couple of hours throwing brash, like the boy. In the two hours I cleared 30m. In the two previous days (5&6) he'd not yet cleared 80m. I measured this as I was amazed, surely he'd not been that slow? I went for a little stroll to cool the head. On the way home I asked him to calculate me this: If I take two hours to clear 30m, how many hours could I reasonably expect somebody else to need to do 90m. We're on site for 10 hours, 2 hours of breaks etc, leaves a generous two hours extra I thought? So how were we to address this issue? I suggested I could pay him less than half, as he'd done less than half the work. I could take it on the chin, it is unreasonable to expect people to work (i was going to add "hard" then, but don't think it fair) I dropped him off at the B&B, saying "I'm not expecting you to work quite as hard as me, but a bit more effort would be great. Or do you prefer to be paid a lot less? Think about it, have a good meal, get some rest, let me know" I thought "that went ok-ish, I've stayed calm and friendly and given him a chance to step up and be counted as a Man!" Next morn. "I've decided to not work any more, I'm going home. Pay me what you think is fair" So, dearly beloved member of the jury: How much?

I run on white, but have started adding 2-stroke oil (about 0/5l per 80l tank) which makes a massive difference in engine sound and feel. It is much smoother, sounds less harsh, and starts easier. This oil has a red dye in it... I presumed the vosarians can somehow tell the difference and I have fuel receipts with the mileage on them in the car. But can they really tell the difference, and how?

Or: let's hope they do! Its a tad careless to take lazy risks with the lives of others... Even vosa folk are human and have been known to issue an unofficial warning if faults are remedied there and then.

Glad I'm not your friend... :-) If he's an actual friend you can surely discuss this with him? (Something about hours spent x day rate here). Whenever I work for friends or family I make sure they know the cost (often reduced or fees waived, but make sure they know the normal rate) before and are happy with it. Not much worse than having to hassle someone who you thought was your friend for money!

Somebody slap the record player please, the bloody needle is stuck in the same groove again!

If it didn't break until after 18montgs of use, I can see their logic. If it had broken soon after purchase, a manufacturing fault would have been easier to prove.

I wasn't saying either one is better, just that the op's question isn't fully answered after 35 posts of shouting from either side.... As I said its a huge step from his/her current ms181, so I'd thought its perhaps not going to be worked too hard? For firewood I'd say 365x-torq BTW, most bang/buck by far, nil-cost upgrade to 372 spec, proven rugged, reliable design and cheaper and more powerful than either mentioned above.

That's a lot of drivel so far... Both are a huge step from an ms 181! What do you need it for?

He'll be sorely missed. Rest in peace Patrick.

Snow in several Russian colors, Restecp to the builders!

Finding an entrance where they can... Soup, soup, a tasty soup!

Aye up, I need a person capable and willing to wield saw and sword all day in the mud, battle Hawthorn, Dog Rose and Blackthorn, tidy up the mess I make, put up with my non-existent sense of humour -insert awkward silence here....- and still not complain. I'm a hedge-layer in need of assistance as I'm well behind on schedule! The successful applicant will have serious self-loathing, a bad back, sore arms and bad scratches all over their upper body (well you will after a couple of days anyway regardless of how fit and happy you were when you started. The job is near Deeping st Nicholas, is for 3 or 4 days a week from last week till the end of march. Payment, You should be happy to be given the chance! when I was your age... Or £70-ish/day depending on ability/skill/go-get'um-ness. Contact me via PM or text message (07 889 774 773) please (after work hours I don't like answering the phone, during work hours I don't hear the thing) Cheers, Daniel:thumbup1:

I may know somebody near there....

Overlap two ladders slightly, g-clamp them together and set up a string to ensure flatness.

Most trailer brakes automatically disengage when reversing.

I don't believe in superstitions, I think they bring bad luck.

Optima yellow top yts5.5.

Hello Jamie, welcome to Arbtalk!

I took some lambs to the Abbatoir this week and will be making some when they come back. I'll be following this thread closely.

I love my 550, but when I bought it there were no heated handles in production yet. And there was something special about my 346 the 550 doesn't have even though the 550 is quicker.

Some cruel bittersweet comfort in that...