Joe Newton

Fell and replace sooner rather than later. It could carry on for another decade or two, but then it's a much bigger tree with a compromised base, and your tree surgeon will roll his eyes when you ask why it's going to be more expensive. 

Look who's back. Tick tock, Mr Wick

18 hours ago, Con said:

Just had a look at them. Do you climb/spike in them?

I've had a few pairs of salewas. Don't climb in them anymore as i like my arbpros, but they were great for pruning. Bit flimsy for spiking all day in.

1 hour ago, Dan Maynard said:

Ah that's not the question, we could probably all have done something else for more money but where's the fun in that? 

Yeah your right. I chose financial instability and less money for the priveledge of dragging my sorry arse round an underquoted slimy tip reduction in the wind and rain for a day rate, while the pricks on the ground watched. Couldn't believe how much fun I was having. 

Still couldn't be employed though. The immense privilege of telling people to bugger off is an worth it.

Reckon your initial post was spot on. £400 if it's local, £500 if its a bit of a drive or you don't care.

If they were getting other quotes they'd likely find someone cheaper, but at least that cheap person isn't you.

Will it not flop?

Can you collect from site? Transport your loader?

The price you pay will depend on if your local tree firm has to go through effort to deliver, or if you can save them work by collecting from site.

Plenty of folk would let you collect for free if it saved them dealing with it and you left a tidy site. 

Yes that's what it is. 

1 hour ago, AHPP said:

 

Yep. Had this yesterday. Told the guy to run it because I wanted it down, away from the basket. He ran it through a fence.

Cheaper than a mewp though!

I don't mind dying a few rigs when needed from a basket, but if its a full rig down I'd prefer to climb.

If its a big tree that all needs rigging you're generally into crane territory anyway. 

They're are loads of different options, you don't need a chest harness to connect the elastic to etc. Gotta find what works for you.

The DMM Tendon does look a tidy solution though

2 minutes ago, AHPP said:

So this bungee goes over your shoulder or through a neck tether?

Guessing you haven't climbed on SRT mate. Have a quick search on youtube, it'll show you a lot more. 

2 hours ago, MattyF said:

I don’t know if I agree with that statement mate , in my view all tree work is easier except maybe dead wooding out of a mewp especially removals.. I think that’s when a mewp really comes in to its own with the ability to set up big rigging for stems without teetering around on spikes with a 3ft bar , big pulleys and heavy ropes.. raising crowns is easier , reductions take a knack as you kind of have to relearn them as most of us are used to picking a line from inside the crown they can look a bit odd and out of balance until you get used to finding that line again looking in from the outside of the crown and it’s very easy to over prune and leave an unnatural finish…
I think as long as you have a relatively fast mewp moving it for positioning as it’s needed for most trees to get the most and keep things safe I don’t think it is no different to a climber having to re route and certainly isn’t as fatiguing. 

I get what you're saying. My main point is that on most large removals, drop zones are usually limited at best which means parking a very expensive machine in harms way. Especially in urban scenarios where you're limited as to where you can set up the machine. 

Rigging can also be a right pain, having to position the basket close to the peice to make your cuts, and trying to move out the way before the swing back. I know i can move clear faster on spikes.

If there's a nice clear drop zone and plenty of options to position the mewp then it's fine, but then i could probably climb and free fall the tree equally as quickly. 

34 minutes ago, tim361 said:

If your trying to work out the value of something that has VAT included in the price divide it by 6 will give you the VAT amount, times by 5 will give you the price ex vat. 
 

120 / 6 = 20 the VAT

20 x 5 = 100 the amount before VAT

Yes. That's how maths works. You can't just take 20% from the sum total.

I'd get £1500 just for my little van if i did it. 

Don't forget that you might've bought a new truck with vat added, chainsaws etc. Anything that's not classed as consumables can be backdated and claimed for retrospectively as Capital Expense. Goes back a few years if i recall correctly.

Those rules changed with IR35 IF I recall correctly.

No issue these days working full time on a self employed basis. 

49 minutes ago, JBH said:

Qualified but no experience?

 

Go and work at a company

 

It usually takes 5 years for a climber to possibly be worth hiring as a subcontract climber and capable of doing most things in tree work (possibly)

 

You might disagree now, you'll agree in five years though

Yup, but expect to be on low wages. 

If you're hoping to make a decent rate (or decent money at all) this isn't the best industry to be jumping into.

 can be fun though. 

49 minutes ago, JBH said:

I thought you needed a years experience minimum between cs39 and cs41?

Nope, unfortunately not. NPTC can make more money this way.

49 minutes ago, JBH said:

NPTC/LANTRA/ABA really needs an hours based sign off system like IRATA

Completely agree, it won't happen though. 

Thank you for your service.

If you're planning on going self employed, you'll be going in as a ground worker. No experience = no value.

If you're considering PAYE, you'll be seen as more attractive as a groundy with the potential to progress without any investment on behalf of the employer.

Nobody has time to train a subby on site, but they would do for an employee. Commitment goes two ways. 

2 minutes ago, Steve Bullman said:

I pay an account also, would he a fool not to. You don’t need an accountant to do your vat return though, unless you are still doing everything on paper? If you are using quickbooks or something similar then a bay return takes approximately 30

seconds depending on the speed of your internet connnection 

I don't pay an accountant. I would prefer to buy my dad was a head of finance for a multinational corporation. Hence "overqualified". He's very capable but a little bit straight laced sometimes. 

1 minute ago, Steve Bullman said:

If Andrew Tate was a tree surgeon he’d be called Joe Newton 

If that were true those bitches would be paying me, damnit.

1 minute ago, Donnie said:

I already pay an accountant for my books as a sole trader, as he easily saves me the money I pay him with his tricks and it keeps everything right so not bothered for paying an accountant at all. Worth letting them crack on!

 

 

Sounds like a no brainer for you mate.

Remember when you realised that as a self employed person kit was 20% cheaper?

Same again but with a healthy rebate on top.

Most of my clients are VAT registered anyway (though some are on a weird scheme where they only pay 10% or something).

For the ones that aren't registered there's an easy workaround. 

15 minutes ago, Donnie said:

So as VAT registered, you pay tax quarterly too as well as your vat returns?

No, but because you've been doing quarterly vat returns your tax return will effectively be done for you come the time.

Nobody likes paying tax more frequently than necessary. Given the choice I'd do it every hundred years or so. 

9 minutes ago, Steve Bullman said:

You don’t need an accountant if you’re vat registered.

 

the part about getting girls with bigger titties is correct though.

 

when I went vat registered (voluntarily) o saved enough each month to cover the finance in a brand new Navara 

I think i was confusing being VAT reg with being limited. Good to know.

I don't want a new pickup. The extra money would be useful for coke and bitches though. 

You should be able to shoot trespassers in front of their families, and invoice them for the ammunition...

Well somebody had to say it and Steve banned the last guy. 

53 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

I don’t think you turn over enough, so there’s no choice.

Yeah you can. For most people VAT registration is something to avoid. For some it's an opportunity.

I'm in a similar mindset to Donnie.

As a freelance climber i obviously earn far more than him, and get girls with bigger titties.

In seriousness, my expenses are probably a good bit lower, but just for the CAPEX reclaim and the vat off my fuel it would save me a bit each year.

The only issue is I'll have to start paying an accountant. My dad does my books (overqualified) but isn't chartered.

Another benefit is that your tax return is kept up to date alongside your quarterly vat returns. 

On 12/02/2024 at 12:53, Haironyourchest said:

 

Yeah, that's the one I got, the Steiner +. I moved the wee dressing to a personal boo-boo kit, it's not suitable for a life threatening bleed but good to know it works all the same. Replaced the entire contents of the pouch with a single celox z-fold rapid, at €75 a few years ago. I have another pouch kit in the van with a tourniquet, 2 Israeli bandages and a CPR face mask. Used one of the Israeli bandage a few years ago at the scene of a car accident on a casualty. Serious scalp wound but weirdly not bleeding much. I was worried the injured party would faint and fall over, further contaminating the wound. Having a nice long bandage with a built in fluffy cushion pad obviated a lot of the stress of the situation.

Are they're no homeopathic remedies for life threatening bleeds/ heavy trauma?

A colleague of mine is a purveyor of the devil's lettuce.

His fiance was round one day whilst he was at work. He came home to find her on the floor experiencing some pretty advanced state of anxiety.

Ambulance was called and in the aftermath he discovered an empty packet of very strong edibles, disguised as a popular chocolate treat.

Apparently one square was enough for my seasoned colleague, whereas his fiance had eaten the whole bar (10x the recommended dose).

To this day she beleives she had an undiagnosed heart condition, and he's too terrified to tell her the truth. 

43 minutes ago, Steve Bullman said:

Yep got a ninja foodie. Don’t use it a massive amount but it’s great for certain things. The dehydrate setting makes some mean beef jerky 

Interesting, I've been dead against one but this changes things.

How much can you make in a batch and how long does it take?

I was looking into getting a dehydrator but for the price of the Foodi Max i might as well go for that instead