Simon Stewart

If your still looking Alec, we've got a harvester and forwarder and will be available in around three weeks time

Busy Daddy can hac it, though it must be 20 years since we worked together and the years have obviously been more kinder to me than him

We had a TD5 high capacity stolen from the Durham area on Wednesday night

Stitching on load bearing parts of the harness need to be identifiable from the general stitching that makes up the padding etc. and this is usually done by using a different colour thread for these parts. HOWEVER the comment about the lines of different colour on the bridge being wear indicators is DANGEROUSLY INCORRECT. Replace it Pal - ASAP!

I spent today at my local Mountain Rescue team giving the kit its 6 monthly inspection and I got to thinking how many of you know what service these teams actually give. Most will think that they are there purely to help walkers or climbers from the local fells or mountains but these days this is just a small part of what they do. My local team has over 60 callouts a year, manned by volunteers and funded by donations but only about ten percent of these callouts are for people on the fell. What they actually do is give invaluable support to the Fire, Ambulance and Police service, searching for missing vulnerable’s, from children to altzimer sufferers, recovering bodies, giving ambulance support during the winter, technical rope rescue in confined spaces, quarries etc and supplying swift water and flood teams wherever and whenever they are needed, 24/7 365 days a year. It’s a credit to the team members that although they are volunteers, the professional services see them as equals and also actually sometimes receive training from the rescue team members. What I’m trying to get over is when you see them fundraising, don’t ignore them thinking that what they do is just for the walking, climbing community, It’s not!

Clause 12.3.5.2 of BS 7985:2002 recommends a minimum anchor strength of 15 kN. Does the label say it is meeting the requirements of BS7985:2002 by stating the 15 kN. or is it saying that that is the safe working load? which is different to Minimum Breaking Strength. As far as I am aware all textiles should be 22kN mbs, are you getting your info from a metal part or textile?

Always stay professional, never threaten them with dumping crap on their drive or other revengeful actions. I think I would let this one go but you have learnt a lasting lesson. Make sure you write down what is agreed in a duplicate book, this could be the start of your invoice, write the price on and give them a copy. When you have done the job make sure they inspect it with you before you leave and on your copy of the agreement have something written like 'work complete to customers satisfaction', get the customer to sign against it, you now have what you need to get paid. Remember, Every day is a school day.

I saw you today, you passed me while I was getting a bacon bun. It sounds realy smooth.

Doncaster by-pass, drive-by photography 28/8/11

Tidy job, did you make the winch tray yourself?

This will be the hardest thing you have ever done, if you are not 100% comitted you will fail, banks wont look at you unless you can give them security or a guarantor, you will not get a mortgage, every penny will go back into the business and for every one person that will help you there will be ten hoping you fail. At some time you will need to start employing and thats when your problems will realy start, that truck and chipper that serves you well because you look after it will be constantly broken, you become responsible not just for your living but for those you employ and that good reputation you have spent years building will be lost in one moment by a stupid action by one of your staff. If you think your man enough to deal with it all then you need to follow your dream and give it a go, if you succeed you deserve the right to stand tall and be proud, if you fail you still deserve the right to stand tall and be proud and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Good luck.

We also use NFU and Trust, our fleet is with NFU and our gear with Trust. We get better service from NFU but I think that's because we use a local office who know us, they always make an effort to find out exactly what we need. We have had payouts from both in the past and found them very good and fair.

Finish looks good from the saw, nice days work