WorcsWuss

Sort of. They can CRB check you but you will probably have to pay. If you are not left unattended with pupils technically you don't need to be CRB checked. We just get our site managers CRB'd and they escort anyone who isn't if they go outside the work area.

We do quite a bit of building work for schools, they're a peculiar thing. There are various different types of school, some with more autonomy than others. As an independent looking to work direct [which is far more preferable than tendering LA run schools projects if you're small and don't have time to produce huge quotes] you need to target specific types of schools. The new academies control their own budget and spending. These are GOOD. Foundation schools [ex grammars etc] are state schools which have some money of their own, might own the site and the council leases it back, that sort of thing]. These are GOOD. Church schools sometimes have projects funded by the local diocese, so approach the school and / or the vicar at the attached church, depending on how closely they work. Private schools can do what they like. Many are struggling a bit financially at the moment unless they have the facility to accept large numbers of foreig students. These are also GOOD. PFI schools, usually called 'community college' or similar, are just rented space for teachers. As stated, all the maintenance is carried out by private contractors working for the PFI consortium's management company. These are OK but will screw you. State schools, the traditional primary & high schools, have little control over their budgets and generally wouldn't bother spending what little they do have for themselves on something which they could throw back at the LA on safety grounds. You will struggle with these unless you can get on the council framework and become the go to guy for that small area. These are RUBBISH! To find out what sort of school you're looking at, check their website or phone them up and ask. If they're worth chasing try to speak to the Business Manager, Site Manager or Head teacher. Hope that helps...

I don't think so, no! I have a few ISC krabs but I generally buy DMM through choice.... Guess it's like everything else though, it's all down to personal preference.... I sometimes find the ISC Supersafe gate easier to release than a DMM Locksafe, don't know why....

Have you seen this...? Unipower - Tractor & Construction Plant Wiki - The classic vehicle and machinery wiki

4x4's are very expensive to insure for young drivers, down to engine CC, weight and desirability to thieves, it all adds up to make them pricey. Small vans based on low insurance group hatchbacks are the cheapest vehicle you will be able to insure. I know it sounds hideous but if you find a Fiesta or Corsa [small petrol engine] and drive that for a year it will pay off quicker than trying to drive something bigger as a name on someone else's policy. I wish I'd taken my own advice when I was your age! Fortunately things were a bit easier for me, even though it was only coming up 15 years ago. I had a Golf Gti at 19 which was 500 quid TPTF to insure and a Range Rover at 21 which was £900 FC... I got quoted the exact same figure for the same vehicles now, 13 years on, so I dread to think what it would be like if I was still 18! The insurance companies have made it very much that you need to start small these days... there isn't really any escaping it I'm afraid!

Without question, if you need a versatile working vehicle which makes good sense as an asset on the books [depreciation is lower than virtually everything else on the market] a Defender is a stunning vehicle. They sure do have shortcomings but they're nowhere near as bad as usually made out. And I'll back up the claims that LR's are reliable. I have a 1994 Disco V8. I paid 900 quid for it unseen off eBay. I use it hard, every day, in forests, up motorways. In the 2 years I've had it I've had to replace an oil pressure switch [fiver] and it's just failed the MOT on 1 headlamp beam pattern, brake pedal rubber & intermittent ABS lamp fault. It's costing me 250 quid to get all that, and the advisories, done and a service [not had it done yet!], front CV joints, wheel bearings / hub seals & brake fluid while we're at it. 250 quid in repairs over 2 years seems pretty good to me. My brand fire new BMW gave me more trouble.... Had a TD5 engined Disco 2, lovely engine, my favourite LR diesel I think, hugely tunable but TD5 Defenders are getting very desirable, particularly as the motors in new Defenders are getting smaller... there ain't no replacement for displacement as they say! [beware of early TD5's, throttle response was poor, improved on later ones] 300Tdi's are a great engine [had a Disco 300 a while ago too - we like Discos!] very simple and reliable. Still based on the original 2.25 petrol I believe! Buy a good one, look after it [rot is the trickiest thing to remedy, oily bits are cheap and easy to change out] and you should be very happy. [You'll get used to the poor driving position, crap heater, noisy cab, slow progress and slightly wayward roadholding in the wet....]

They have more in common with a series 3 than a Defender... Leaf springs [albeit parabolics] are the main difference... Iveco engine is allegedly very good. Interior is a matter of taste, a bit LDV for my liking... as is exterior styling. Build quality as mentioned is a bit hit and miss. They are cheap though....

I've just taken delivery of and unpacked the little Tanaka I ordered. Will hopefully get out and use it at the weekend, will let you know how it goes. First impressions. 1. It's no Stihl! 2. Chain brake doesn't snap on as easily as I would like 3. Clutch cover is flimsy [particularly when operating chain brake] 4. Not enough clearance behind outboard clutch & body of saw to fit chain easily 5. No dogs fitted [optional] Anything else will have to wait till it's started and run. Sounds like I'm disappointed but I'm not! Feels nicely balanced and build quality generally looks good. I reckon it will be fine for me for how much use it will get.... Still would have bought an MS200T though if I could have afforded it!

I have a Canterbury 'Cold' long sleve base layer shirt which I wore when I was coaching mini's, that gets brought out when it's real cold. I do find it has a tendency to ride up though which is really irritating. No problems with restricted movement mind you. Get them from all good sports shops!

No... it's a steering wheel centre for a series 1 [?] with a dip switch in it.... later ones had a button on the floor I think before it ended up on the stalk....

Keep telling yourself that as you doze off at the table in the restaurant, the button pops off your skinny jeans and you fart in your sleep.... Look on the brightside, every day that passes, this behaviour becomes more acceptable....

For the first time in as long as I can remember I had a renewal for car insurance come through which actually went down... Disco was 300 odd quid last year, £244 this year... Happy days!

It's just coming up to a year since I quit. I went cold turkey and haven't had a single puff since, which I'm quite proud of since my boss smokes around me... I've tried many times before but this time was just the 'right time' somehow and I am ashamed to say I found it very easy this time, especially considering I had got up to a 20 a day for the last few years and overall had been smoking for coming up 15 years. Should I have quit sooner? Possibly, but I enjoyed it and I don't think anyone who still smokes should be made to feel bad about it, it's a personal choice and it used to 'mean a lot to me' in a funny way, I loved it! However, in the petrol station the other day I was glad I did quit... Last time I bought B&H silver they were £5.20.... nearly 7 quid now! I don't feel any healthier, and certainly no wealthier, but everyone assures me that I am both!

You won't learn that, but here: NPTC | Assignment Schedules is the page with all the assessment criteria for NPTC courses. CS courses are down to the right. Wade through the first few pages and everything you will be assessed on [and hence should learn] is listed. Download, print, read & digest before you go on the course, will help no end. I have a file with all of them in, plus any other info I come across. Very handy resource I find!

Obviously you're going straight to hell....

This certainly is a job you learn by doing, but in 'doing' it are we not in an evironment with experienced people showing us the way? That would be a form of training and I would agree that this is a perfectly acceptable method of learning a skill or trade, it's how I have done it afterall so I can't say too much. However, there are many people starting out who don't have that facility so need to have formal training. And then there must come a point where if you're fresh in where no one knows you and you want to be responsible for performing a task, then you need to be able to prove competency. Which comes back to tickets. I don't have any climbing or aerial tickets, but I still posess the skills to safely complete some tasks. I also have enough experience and have had some formal training and testing to be able to identify where work falls outside my skillset. But so many people lack that basic ability. Knowing what you can't do is as important as knowing what you can do in my book. So, that ramble leads me back to the original question. I have just bought a top handled saw off eBay. I don't have tickets specific to its use. However I have plenty of experience of a top handled saw, having previously had an MS200T which I bought from a proper Stihl dealer, they didn't ask for tickets. It's just like everything else. If you have enough money you can get whatever you want. Look at footballers, who can barely tie their laces or spell their name, splashing out on cars far too fast for them which they then crash while hungover. If you can only buy a top handled saw with a ticket, then all training providers will have to possess a stock of top handled saws to allow us to train in that ticket to allow us to buy and use one. Then training gets even more prohibitively expensive in these lean times, thefts increase, the black market takes over, things get worse rather than better. We all know that we are responsible for our own actions, if we buy something which we don't know how to use, it's our own bloody fault when it bites us. Common sense must be allowed to prevail. Idiots will always find a way to do things they shouldn't, no rules or regs will really stop them. Honestly, it's just netting the gene pool, skimming off the rubbish... Quite often the status quo is just fine, I think this is a case in point. But please don't play them when I'm around... Simon

The rope is tied off on top of the bridge, then thrown round underneath and pulled up the other side. They jump away from the bridge on the opposite side to the anchor and the rope is nearly at full extension and swinging them before they hit the end of the line vertically. All that said, you wouldn't catch me trying it!

Personally I'd go with what I knew, felt more comfortable with and had access to. So for me that's land based machinery. We don't have a fancy logging winch either so it's a just a couple of long heavy ropes & slings, a tractor to pull the limbs up the bank and a telehandler to lift them from there.... Hell, I make it sound so easy!

Sister in law.... posting photos like that of ones own sister would be a little bit too back country for a family forum I reckon....

I opened the laptop to find lots of pages open at Aquafell Xpert boots this evening.... bizarrely the one thing which isn't on my spreadsheet.... [and I think I'd like to try the Harkie's actually....] Next year I'm going to not put a Range Rover on the list and see what happens....

Haha, I did an excel spreadsheet which I emailed to my wife..... Pinto, Revolver, Silky.... But obviously mostly socks....

I presume it's tied to a tree on the bank? And if you lay long lifting slings out across the barge before you load it you can lift the bundles of brash off with a tele handler....

I used to sell Kubota equipment, brilliant range of kit, incredibly strong and well made, I don't think I've ever heard anyone say a bad word about it.... I recall taking a 6100 in as a PX, I'm a bit young to have sold them new I think, very simple & sturdy tool though. If it's in good condition then that would be a useful machine.

You did exactly the right thing and I think it was a fair solution in the end. It does smart a bit when something becomes your fault simply because you were there, when it's actually due to lack of upkeep by the owner, but that appears to be life unfortunately. Presumably this hasn't become a talking point locally and done your reputation any damage?

If any will, they will..... I think I should get some for when I take a young boy into the woods on Sunday....