the hedge man

Thanks Steve. I'm going to go with what you suggest. I've been a drama queen, need to man up I do. I hate paying bills late, but I think think in this case im going to lose too much for the sake of wanting to pay a bill on time.

Thanks for the replies guys. To be honest, part of the reason im letting the truck go is because I've be seen in crisis for the past few months. Having to pay the tax bill is simply the last straw that is why im having to let the truck go. Else I would, as some suggest, get on the phone to them to sort something out. Just hard times in general really, get tired of fighting to do a service that I love doing.

cheers guys advice heeded. Actually feel like my head is going to explode today.

its either the truck or my entec chipper that must go to pay the tax bill within days. It really has been the toughest decision I have ever made. I seriously need both. One private customer after another has said they will get their hedge/tree/fence done 'when the weather is better'. God why does life have to be so hard sometimes.

I have fought to save the truck from the axe but it has to go, got a tax bill that i have not been able to raise no matter how hard I have tried. who else is having hard times? I hate winter. the ad is on gumtree if anyone is pretty handy with a spanner.

thought I should mention that any arb-risings will do in actual fact- hard/soft mix doesnt have to be processor size as its all split by hand

anybody?!

Scary job! what did it die of? and dont say death by chainsaw lol

how did it go Jnoon?

as per title, seasoned/part seasoned or green, dont mind. mixed species please.

Wow, only just seen this post. Thanks Rob, I enjoyed that day working for you. Give me a shout if you need me again. Cheers

thanks for the advice so far! yeah, I would image they would be pretty cheap to fix as there really are alot of them around, so cheap spare parts not a prob. I agree Big J, the landcruiser and toureg have both caught my eye, especially toureg, they do look good, I could imagine chugging a trailer round nicely with one! another thing about the navara is that you cant keep things in the back, so silch security. every time i go to a job i have to take all the tools round the back with me- im one paronoid android! with a Disco or the like, you can pop a couple of saws, climbing gear and hedge trimmers in the boot, shut it and then not have to worry about them as they are out of sight.

nice thing about disco aswell is that even the ones from the mid nineties still look good. im tempted to have a discovery career and work my way through the marks, bit odd I know lol.

alot of disco fans round then!

im post '97 licence so i have to be under 3500kg thanks Nick but i aint that well off lol.

what do you reckon folk, im tempted to chop in my navara d22 for a discovery 2. am I mad or would it be a good decision. my navara has cost around 3 grand last year in and out of the garage- not great for getting out to jobs when i need to! maybe I watch too much time team, but I do love them. obviously I'd have no choice but to drag round a trailer with me most of the time, instead of the d22.

its the memory loss thing that happened for me very quickly also. Now a customer can tell me their name and address over the phone I have to write it down because I will forget it, whereas I was fine before. strange how stress has very real symptoms that cannot be avoided.

thanks for the good advice guys. like you say, it's communication that is key. Andy, my quality of work has never slipped IMO as i'm such a perfectionist, I jus dont let it happen even on a bad day. Its the not letting people know that i'm having trouble getting to them, and that is a very important part of the service. as for can I get some of the custrpmers back, I am working on that now, and ive had such responses as 'I thought you went off the rails!' and 'I thought you disapeared off the face of the earth!' but at least they are happy to have me work for them again again as they know I do a tidy job.

Sorry to relive an old thread. But I also want to add my story. I started up 6 years ago now, and when I first started I hit the ground running. I had alot of savings so I could afford the kit, i had alot of cash flow and i was also lucky enough to have an older sister that was self employed and she passed on my details to her large number of clients. But when i decided to move house my cash flow bottomed out and i really started to struggle afordjng to go to jobs so one after the other i was p'ing off my clients and i lost alot of good customers. Round that time wasn't my worst time, as i often had the energy to pull out of it. Mu bad times have been over the last couple of years whereby most of the time i have not earned a personal income, and its been a vicious cycle- start the month off doing the smaller 'money spinner' jobs to free up cash flow then round about mid month i can afford to move onto some bigger jobs, but these often take longer to pay, so its not by getting on for the end of the month that I've got some decent money in the bank, but uh oh, out of time gotta pay the bills- that cleans me out and i start the next month in the same position, damn it. this happening over and over again has lead to debilitating stress levels, I've had all the physical symptoms and has generally made me feel angry alot of the time with people who get in my way, ques in the post office machinery etc. I even had a big fall out with my father mid last year, and i feel bad about that. I've never been to the doctors about this but i know i should have done really. I just feel i have wasted the last few years, and i have put my other half through so much its a wonder she has stayed with me. We are looking to start up a family this year so i have taken up a post this year that will leave me a bit of time to do private work so it will mean i don't lose my industrial unit, truck and equipment, because if i did i would never forgive myself. If i had a son or daughter who wanted to be self employed id be sure to educate them the best i could about the pit falls that leads to stress and depression, and avoid them!

just because of the strain it puts on the body IMO, I have been a career climber since I was 21 (after my 3 years city and guilds) and although its rewarding its also very hard work.

I'm winding down the tree climbing now at the ripe old age of 32. though I'll still be using a ground chainsaw when im 64 im sure!

no jargon in your workplace then!

Mine was getting married in April to my beautiful bride (9 years my junior ) But the topsie turvey work load has been a real headache this year, hope to find consistancy next year now that I have better resources (which has been my other battle this year).

10 Acres of clear fell, personally i would love that contract. I would get a firewood processor on site and sell it straight from the site. I have a high amount of customers now that buy my arb arisings straight from the job as most people who want firewood have log burners so un-seasoned is fine for them. I do lose a touch of value through it being un-seasoned but that way i get a quick turn over on arb arisings.

brilliant! I call mine lethal!! had a few nasty injuries off mine- a couple of gashes on my forearm and numerous finger injuries, my little finger is now wonky due to an incident working in the wet. But then I use my silky often instead of a chainsaw whilst climbing, much safer.