Pedroski

Ooer!

Loving this thread Might start my own one as a traveling tea boy/bacon sarnie cook

What about the 25% reduction suggested? And perhaps the tree outside the garden - reduction there? Might be worth speaking to TO. Definitely GOOD that they can't be felled in light of TPOd trees already having been felled to make way for the bungalow. That article only mentions the felling - what's happened with the application to reduce? Who lopped off the lower branches without permission? Re the son needing sunlight to treat a vit D imbalance.... well, perhaps leave of the sunscreen for a few hours.

You don't need to appeal. Just put an application in for works to a TPO tree, like you would any other. Justify the work you want to do and then they have to justify any reason for refusing it.

God looks after me when using a chainsaw. I have never had an accident - not so much as nicked a boot. If I do have an accident then it is God's will. Therefore I don't bother with insurance as it won't cover an act of God

Tom, I've only done a few like this. But what I did was look at and price the job, give quote to customer and agree work subject to there being no TPO restrictions. THEN check restrictions and book a fella who can work on that date. The longer the period between checking restrictions and doing the work, the greater the chance of a spanner being thrown into the works.

We bought one a few months back. For the money, can't fault it. Paid for itself in first half hour of use! Sticker fell off on first outing though, and I don't like the pretend screw heads moulded into the the air filter cover - make it look like a toy.

And to the contractor, why leave it so long to do the work after the TPO enquiry has been made? Obtain TPO list, verify no TPOs on the trees and get someone to do the job immediately. Delaying things risks the outcome that has occurred in this instance.

My brother-in-law is an instructor on the speed awareness courses. After years and years in the RAF then as a driving instructor, I think he's found his vocation as he loves lecturing people!

My destiny is controlled by physics. For every action there is an equal and opposite action. For every pound I earn, someone takes a pound away.

"should" being the operative word, used extensively throughout. Not "must". However an employER will have legal obligations to protect his employEE, and to help prove that he has done everything to protect his employEE then it is useful for the employER to be able to show proof of suitable traning and employEE comptetency. The employER may be in a situation where he MUST prove that his employEE has received suitable training provision, and relevant tickets provide this proof.

Oi, it's usually the other way round - little old ladies trying to diddle me work mate is on hols at the moment. Left me to do a "small" hedge yesterday after a deal little old lady was happy with a quote he gave..... 10 weeks ago! Priced in half a day he did. Got there and found small hedge 10ft wide, 10ft high and had 3 to 4 ft new growth all over it, half of it above a 5ft wall, and he had priced in to do all the other shrubs and tamaris etc. Me and workmate's nephew spent far too long there - almost 6 hours instead of 4. Lady asked if we could just do this and just do that. I invoiced her the original amount of £192 incl VAT and she had been quoted £160! (she obviously didn't read the "+vat £32" on the quote! Still, she was lovely - made a nice cuppa and brought out biscuits, and was happy with the job for £192. Normally I would have charged for all the extra bits, but I was in a good mood and workmate was away so I couldn't go through what he had initially said!

Come on, you do realise you're encouraging people to do stuff that does me out of work and should be left to the professionals?!?! I'm off now to go cut down some trees

Hope your days goes well today

Don't know if anyone can help. I caught the tail end of something on the radio yesterday and want to find out who said it. All I heard was that the tax revenue from self-assessment tax payers has fallen and that some MP has suggested that the tax rate for self-assessment tax payers should be increased from 20% to 40%. Did anyone else hear this?

John, you're right. I was going to suggest that because cheap chainsaws are so readily available through DIY stores and ebay and other on-line suppliers, that Aldi selling them probably wouldn't make much difference. But then I thought about it a bit more. There are several things I have been tempted to buy in Aldi and Lidl (and Asda etc) purely because they are there and I thought they might be useful. The same will happen with chainsaws - people who wouldn't normally buy one are more likely to buy one just because it's there. I can imagine Mrs Smith buying one for her hubby because she's fed up with the state of the back garden. It's different if someone has already decided they want to buy a chainsaw and then seek one out, but sales of stuff like this in Aldi etc, is more likely to be a spur of the moment decision. A couple of years ago, our local Lidl advertised that were doing specials on snorkels, facemasks, wetsuits etc. I looked in the leaflet and saw they were dong a nice massive diving knife with a leg sheath. This Lidl is right in the roughest estate in the area. I got straight on phone to the local police, who got on to Lidl and the knife was withdrawn from sale before it even got into the shops. Thing is, a knife is a restricted item but a chainsaw isn't so I'm not sure if they would be so willing to remove them from sale.

If we were closer, we would easily get done in one day what it would take you to do in several days.... and it would cost £400-£500. Seriously, unless you've already got access to tools and people, it would be worth doing as Easy Lift Guy suggested and get a firm in for the first job, who will take everything away for you and leave you a garden that you can subsequently maintain more easily. Much less headache. And by the time you factor in the cost of tooling yourself up for the job and getting rid of everything, you'll probably save by having someone do it for you.

But what about companies? If a company needs to buy a top handle saw for their trained operative, do you turn them down?

ACE! :lol: If you wanna do a fantastic enduro, then go and do the Dawn to Dusk (D2D) at Seven Sister in Wales. You can choose either 6, 12 or 24 hours or pain, either on your own or with mates to make a team. Done it several times on KTM200EXC and loved it despite only ever placing mid field, and getting hurt and all sorts. Great atmosphere, and it makes for a fantastic weekend away. Every time I think about it.... I want my bike back! See Dawn to Dusk | the UK's premier Motorcycle Enduro event

Point, apart from piss taking, is why on earth should there be a minimum price for chainsaws to stop "the wrong people" getting them? There is no reason why price should ever be a barrier - plenty of people with money to burn are more stupid than people with nowt. Look at the fool who killed himself yesterday by driving his £300k Zonda like a knob!

Steph, I've just found the PPE: ALDI - Thursday Special Buys 23rd August 2012

Bit like cars - all those cheap ones attract the wrong type of driver in my opinion. If cars were a minimum of say £300,000, it would put a lot off. I paid £300,000 for a 200mph Pagani Zonda supercar, about the same on Alexander Amosu suits, and then had some driving lessons. I'm only a part time weekend driver but treat the car with utmost respect. Hmmmm

There's a fantastic track down this way - Golding Barn Raceway. I organised several track days there, up until 18 months ago when I had a really close call! Smashed my bike, really badly battered myself, fixed my bike then sold it. It was my pride and joy and I still miss it now, but couldn't afford to be out of action, what with family and work

Paid £400 for a 2 yr old Commencal Supernormal - cracking bike, fantastic condition, £1200 new! The lad was selling to fund an upgrade. For £300, I would definitely be looking secondhand, not new, to get something really decent.

Environment Agency and DEFRA have some good info on Japanese Knotweed etc.