Pedroski

Have you tried sending an email to DMM?

No, the tax relief covers more than just cleaning. The wording on the HMRC site is thus: " When you can get tax relief for tools and specialist clothing As a general rule an employee can't get tax relief for the cost of clothing they wear to work - but there are some exceptions. For example, if you work in a sector like the building trade or the metal working industry you'll have to wear protective clothing like: overalls gloves boots helmets If you must pay for the cost of repairing, cleaning or replacing this type of specialist clothing yourself and your employer doesn't reimburse you, then you are entitled to tax relief. However, you cannot claim for the initial cost of buying this clothing. You are also entitled to tax relief if you have to buy - out of your own money - the tools you need to be able to do your work. For example, if you're a hairdresser your employer might require you to provide your own scissors. The tax relief also applies to the cost of maintaining and replacing the tools. What about uniforms You can get tax relief on the cost of repairing, cleaning or replacing a uniform if: - it's a recognisable uniform that shows you've got a certain sort of job - like a nurse or police uniform - your employer requires you to wear it while you're working - you've got to pay for it yourself" (ref HM Revenue & Customs: Tax relief for specialist tools or clothing) Check out the words I've put in bold and underlined.

I think it only applies if you're employed by a company but expected to pay for some of your own uniform. If you are self-employed then you should already be putting workwear down as a business expense. If you are employed and your employer provides a uniform free of charge to you, then your employer will be putting uniform down as a business expense already.

ATC1983, are you serious about the Buy To Lets? Them BTL mortgages can be pretty hard to get at the moment. I was reading the other day about a bloke who is having bank trouble. He went into BTL after being made redundant from a factory job. Ended up with 8 or 9 properties, all rented out, then ran into problems when a couple of tenants got behind on rents. Meant he went 2 months behind on mortgage payments and now the bank have taken control of the properties and are taking the rental income. They won't let him sell them!

Dunno why I read km instead of miles! Dim moment, just for a change Still think it's worth pricing high, what with being alongside a very busy main road etc.

Good point.

Well maybe the better option is to price it and get some cheap labour in to do it. There's plenty about at the moment. While it isn't a skillful job, it will probably still require use of hedgecutters to cut undergrowth back, it will still need to be covered by insurance and if someone else is on the job then the person running it will need to have EL insurance in place to cover them. Bear in mind also that this job is roadside on a busy road, and to comply with H&S from point of view of protecting whoever is doing it, then there is likely to be a need for coning and signing as well as proper hi-vis gear. Round these parts, a whole lane of the A27 has been closed in the past to enable 'operatives' to safely clear litter.

Are you sure Bobcat isn't an option? You could drive along the path scraping as you go then just bucket the soil into the hedgerow, or shovel the soil out of the bucket into the hedgerow. Obviously you'll need to close the path though doing that. Can't price without seeing the job, but 500 metres of shovelling compacted soil and grass off a path and clearing undergrowth back is a lot. I'd say the estimate above of 2 men, 2 days for £600 is way off. I'd probably suggest £3/metre and see what happens!

True, maybe I shouldn't have said anything. Certainly wasn't intending to advertise the fact that it's ok, but it's something I did. I certainly wasn't at the top of a 25 to 30 ft tree - probably only 15ft up and wedged in a really tight connie. Just took the top out from there and dropped it. In my defence, trying to get into where I had to be using a rope could have resulted in strangulation, and without rope, in this particular case, I couldn't have fallen more than a couple of feet if I tried - that connie was so dense.

Hmmm, never managed to get my rope stuck in a groin before

I believe it's one of the prototypes. Original had eye to eye attached using a carabiner. The designer is now working on a dogbone that goes through the hole, and each end of the dogbone is a square section with hole through it that cord is passed through and secured with stopper knot. I'm sure this will continue to evolve. I believe there's also talk of having a spring loaded mechanism for something or other. And yep, it's midline attachable. I've had a thought..... SAR/ISC Rocker under the hitch. That would push the hitch up nicely and enable load sharing so you can descend easily.

Many of us are perfectly happy to pay well above the going rate in recognition of what the freelancer brings to the job. You need to pick and choose who you work for. Negotiate things properly before the job, grow some balls and don't get done over.

Surely that all depends. There are landscaping firms that do tree work with their own climbers, all above board, and I should know as I work for one. If the guy I work for were to take on a freelancer for jobs then that freelancer is gaining paid work, at more than the going rate for money, AND experience. If my mate has a freelancer in for jobs then that freelancer gets £180/day and calls the shots on the tree work. Good money and good experience. Mind you, the freelancer needs to be good so someone with no experience won't cut it. Also, not all landscaping firms are equal. IMO

I climbed and took down a 25-30ft apple tree today with a Silky and no rope. I was safe as houses. Yesterday, at the composting yard, I kicked a banana skin out of the footwell of the truck, I then stepped out of the truck, stood on the banana skin, slipped and almost landed flat on my back. This was witness by one of the guys working there who laughed his butt off and proper took the mick. This was far more dangerous than today's job on the apple tree. I need to check H&S to see what is said about banana skins.

Even sticking to tree firms, he'd still be letting someone else build a business on his abilities. Whenever anyone works for a firm of any sort, then that firm is building a business on the abilities of that person. Climbing for a gardening/landscaping firm (one which obviously has proper insurance and people for tree work as well) could mean that he has work to keep him busy and earning all the time.

Yep, the Wrangler is for Daisy Duke wannabes. I got a proper man's Grand Cherokee. Fat leather seats, better fuel economy than a LR (I average a whopping 16mpg what with living in a hilly area but get over 30mpg on a gentle run), good heater and aircon.... just need to chop the roof off the back to make it easier to chip into

Mind reader! Yep, that's the decent picture I found

Don't worry - I get it now that I've found a decent picture.

It's a descender. What advantages does it offer over something like a Petzl Reverso or a DMM bug or a fig8? All of these are midline attachable and tend well by pulling the slack through them if wanting to do short ascents.

Tyres make a massive difference too. So many 4x4s have useless tyres on them. LRs usually have tyres with some off-road ability. My ol' 4.0 litre Jeep has brilliant tyres, diff locks, good articulation, good ground clearance and a low CofG, and will probably go anywhere.

Fingers crossed he'll be ok. Thoughts are with him and his family. Scary what can happen so quickly.

Yep, the Pellenc will run all day. HOWEVER, we looked at getting two Pellenc hedgecutters and battery packs, but the all in price was £5k.... FAR TOO EXPENSIVE. I know contractors who have been forced into buying them in order to win certain tenders, yet they won't use them in real life - the whole battery pack + cord to attach to machine is just completely impractical for any work that involves climbing trees or ladders, or scrabbling around in the bush etc. And the work they tendered for, which was around schools etc, hence the need for quiet equipment, can just be carried out when the schools are shut! The Stihl saw, which is 'only good for 150 cuts in 8in larch' can be recharged in half an hour. With 2 battery packs then you've got enough for 300 cuts in 8 inch larch, which in real terms equates to many many more cuts in the typical stuff it might be use for, i.e. stuff of just a few inches. And it's a fraction of the cost of the Pellenc stuff. The Pellenc chainsaw is almost £1k on its own, and on top of that you need at least another £1k for the battery pack. And can you imagine snedding with battery on your back, and the chainsaw attached to that with a cord? Or working in a tree with the cord in addition to all your usual climbing gear?

That's actually a very reasonable price for a Li-Ion battery of large capacity. if you want proper high prices then look at the Pellenc stuff! Well over £1600 + vat for their biggy - mind you, it really is a biggy.

APOLOGIES to Albere! Sorry fella..... didn't mean to do such a massive hijack

I know you weren't having a go It's just healthy discussion and it's good to see how various businesses operate - it's certainly not a one size fits all situation. What we've have to do, from initially being just a gardening firm a couple of decades ago, is to diversify in order to keep in work. And it's paying off as we're managing to ride out the tough times. Looking forward there is the possibility of taking on additional full time employees - fingers crossed.