Pedroski

Is that the non-working fake Husky 395XP?

Probably not the right place to post this, but I spotted some Mosaic Puffballs today on the hills near me. According to my field guide they're rare and shouldn't be showing fruiting bodies until beginning of June! Here's a pic. The larger one was at least 6 inches across! Anyone else spotted any?

That's nothing. We had a broom nicked last week. It was leaning on the back of the truck between truck and trailer, in a posh place..... and it got pinched in the 5 minutes we were carrying tubs of compost from trailer through to back of house! With a jerry can, though, could you just run a cable lock through the handles to the tie down points or something else in the van?

I saw that interview after the crane op I know who is working there pointed me to it. Not sure the guy I know would have been suitable for interview - there'd only be about 5 seconds left of a 10 min interview after bleeping the language He's been on the top crane there from the start. I'd love to go up there and have a proper look.

Apparently, a branch got caught in his harness and it left him suspended upside down!

Which crane operator did you speak to? It wasn't Dan by any chance was it?

Time to relax with a glass of wine and Corrie!

Stu, are you still living at home? Reason I ask is that Direct Line policies can be linked. So, for example, if your father or mother has got no claims discount and insures their car with Direct Line, then this discount will also be applied to a second car on a linked policy, even with you as main driver on the linked policy. I've got a Merc and the Jeep linked, and the full no claims discount is applied to both of them. Another benefit is that named drivers also accumulate no claims discount, so if my wife decides to get her own policy on a car on her own then she will be legible for no claims discount.

Actually, yep, I agree with that - if I was buying a pruning saw for employees then this would probably be the one. I'd rather they lost a cheap F180 rather than the PockeBoy that is double the price.

Dave, have a quick look at this - Growth & Development. It explains about the root system of the sequoias. Some of the larger ones have a root system where the surface roots reach out over 200 feet in all directions, so the one tree will be taking nutrients from an area of over 4 acres! The entire root system is usually within a few feet of the soil surface. Think about how much tree litter, animal scat and other nutrients will fall on an area of 4 acres, and it gives a good idea of how the trees can grow the way they do! Amazing really. A quote from that link: "Despite its immense need for moisture and nutrients, the giant sequoia does not use up or over exploit the resources available to it. On the contrary, it tends to establish a very stable, long-term relationship with the soil around it. Systematic analysis and measurement of soil conditions around sequoias of varying ages show constant and reliable amounts of various chemicals necessary to a sequoia's well being."

Nah, that's not how I meant it to come across Rupe. I know that EL is to cover my liability to the employee, and is nothing to do with his or my liability to a third party. P'raps I confused the issue when I said that the sub-contracted climber is responsible for his own risks if he's in charge - by 'his own risks, I was referring to his risks to himself, i.e. injury.

No, there is honestly no mistake. I've got the policy doc here and my payments are going through all proper. Try it yourself - go to Tradesman Insurance - Public Liability Insurance - Direct Line for Business and obtain a quote for tradesman insurance. I did mine as a sole trading landscaper, with EL for temp employees for 50 days per year and for up to 15 temp employees at one time. Without tool cover it was less than a tenner per month.

Sorry, that's rubbish. The Stihl gear heads do NOT 'fail frequently'. We've been using them extremely heavily for years, and I can say, hand on heart, we have NEVER had one fail, and neither has a colleague of mine who runs several Stihl hedgecutters for roadside work. The ONLY maintenance we have had to do on gear heads is to check the grease level. Your maths are wrong. The only issue we have had with Stihl gear is with the later 4Mix engines which is why I'm going off them. I know you promote Tanaka, but after experiences with their top handle saw they're right off our list now and will be until we get a chance to demo and try one out properly.

Try Direct Line. They were cheapest by far for my on my Jeep Grand Cherokee with business use and everything else.

With water and electric already there, I reckon your best bet to make income off the site is to use it as a camping area. Do a google for camp sites in the UK (there are plenty of web sites where you can find lists of camp sites and facilities) and you will see the prices that they charge per person or per tent. People are going mad for camp sites that are fairly basic, often with just water, a loo and a shower block. These are things easy to provide with a small timber building. And you can earn off it nearly all year round. With 25 acres you have a good size area and you could also hire the site out to school, youth groups etc, with just basic facilities.

Rupe, I do get it, and you've just confirmed what I said and this was also confirmed by the insurance co yesterday - I don't need EL for the instance I mentioned. However, for my work, where I might (or do) use employed labour under my control for ground work then I DO need EL. I'm tempted to stick with what I've got already!

I'm getting the Makita next time round me thinks. Under £400 for long reach hedgecutter, AND 'strimmer' attachment. More power than the Stihl and Tanaka, light weight, good reviews. Might even consider the AMA after hearing good stuff about them. The Stihl 4-Mix jobs are a right let down - Had mine from new for a few years, was using it every single day until I got hacked off and started using my FS85 again. The 4Mix ones are too heavy, too vibey, and the torque when accelerating knackers your wrist after non stop cutting all day. Also, and it's not just me this, they leak fuel from the tank into the carb/air filter when lying down in transport, then they end up hard to start (impossible sometimes without removing saturated air filter). Ours have been completely rebuilt and still the problem persists. They are also much louder than the 2 stroke ones, whatever the specs would have you believe. Avoid the HL95, and instead look for one of the 2 stroke ones if you must get a Stihl.

Not sure if it's ok to post on the review forum or not? However, I had a Silky F180 and was very disappointed with the plasticky construction and feel to it. This saw is a far cry from the brilliant Silky PocketBoy saws. I know it's cheaper, but it's nasty.

Carlos, at the moment I have a PL and EL policy with Direct Line - it gives £1m public and £5 employers liability, plus tool cover for employees (incl temp ones). Cost is only £12/month or so. However, it doesn't cover tree felling and lopping, and so I am looking at a policy through Tree Surgeon Insurance : Specialist Tree Surgeon Insurance and Arboriculture Insurance ; Get a Quote. For just PL, I've been quoted just over £200/year. They were quite explicit in confirming that if I call in a subby climber with his own insurance, and he is in charge of the tree work, then I don't need EL to cover him as he is responsible for his own risks, not me, so long as I'm not the one giving orders - all to do with the "master and servant" relationship. As for insurance for yourself, income protection insurance is probably your best type of cover to have. This will cover 60% of your taxable income should you not be able to work through injury or sickness. Some personal accident policies say they pay out for overnight hospital stays, but the fact is, if you cut yourself or break a bone the chances are you'll be in and out of hospital same day, and your recovery time will be at home, where you will be stuck with no income.

I quite happily footlocked 40ft up a nice fat rope back in August that a couple of us has slung up for a rope swing. I didn't even think about the height of it until it suddenly dawned on me that it's a long way down if I let go!

Down here near Brighton. We've got the travellers and Eastern Europeans doing driveways at the moment, builders fencing and landscaping, blokes gardening for peanuts, travellers doing garden clearance. We've got work and have a good customer base, but even the rich ones are looking for people to work for pennies.

Just sent this to the seller.... "Ben, I think you ought to know that the chainsaw you just sold for £320 is NOT a genuine Husky 395XP. It is a Chinese 'fake' that can be picked up for peanuts. The buyer obviously hasn't realised, but he will as soon as he starts to repair it. If I were in your shoes then I'd cancel the sale."

It's like any other work. Wanna be a brickie? Employers all want experience and want to pay low money. Go it alone, then how do you complete against all those already in the game? Same with everything - too many people looking for work and not enough customers to create the work. There are too many people here!

No problem

If you do want to skip footlocking, then it's dead easy to get up the rope using an adjustable footloop attached to the top ascender or Prusik