kentjames
-
Posts
938 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Classifieds
Tip Site Directory
Blogs
Articles
News
Arborist Reviews
Arbtalk Knot Guide
Gallery
Store
Calendar
Freelancers directory
Everything posted by kentjames
-
Never price yourselves too low to start. Having said that I started out at £15 per hour when i first went back to gardening 5 years ago. That price was set with the clients I took over from my fathers retirement but we have increased over the years through £20 and now can justify £30 per hour for one man or £50 per hour for two. This is including all equipment, fuel, rubbish away (as long as its not loads and loads or thats more) and fully insured. Most people like the fixed rate per hour and it works for us, we can usually do most gardens in 45 mins and we have a £50 minimum charge now too. We only do gardening work per hour and that's only if it's going to be a regular. All tree work is quoted and agreed before starting. Other work such as manuring borders or wood chipping borders or hedge cutting if more than a few hours is quoted. But gardening can be hard to quote for some times and you actually win if you have it hourly.
-
Always gotta have it looking good when things go wrong Top advice cheers Barrie, sounds like a very comprehensive service you offer too
-
Have you ever heard of 'Oiling' the aluminium to help keep it free of grime and free flowing for cuttings?
-
Thought as much, thanks Barrie, will order up some of that before the winter!
-
Evening Barrie I did see that a year or so ago and wondered what it was like? Do you reckon that will need undercoat too? Have you ever used any underbody car sealer paint on mowers? Cheers, James
-
Hmm good point, I'll ask them! Thanks, I thought of Hammerite before. Do you think it will need priming with the red oxide primer before painting?
-
Hi all With winter coming i am looking at giving our Hayter Harrier 48 (old style green one) a complete overhaul and refurb! I would like to give it a new coat of paint and tidy it up a little, the deck is solid and the engine has never missed a beat so its only aesthetic really. Questions: 1/ Should I use paint stripper (or i can get it dipped for £10) or just rub it down with sand paper etc? 2/ What is the best paint to repaint the outside of the deck with? (Green would be preferable not too bothered about the speckled affect but BRG is probably the way forward) 3/ Should I prep and paint the underside of the deck and again if so what paint? I dont want the grass to stick so would need to be a smooth finish. Currently it is pealing quite badly around the shoot and occasionally clogs up. I know the above is not arb related but since there are plenty of mower related posts I assume it is fine! Thanks in advance! James
-
Nope, pah lol
-
Anyone been called out on storm damage tonight
kentjames replied to mendiplogs's topic in The Lounge
Am I the only one who gets disappointed when there are no call outs? Hoping for some calls tomorrow! Winds easing a bit down in Kent but occasionally gusty. Think there will be some down but probably conifers -
Wazz, nice job on the chip body, would you happen to have any pics of the build itself you can share? I need to get ours done this winter and have a local welder who is game but we could do with some direction with regards to the framing and how the ali bolts and rivets etc? Cheers
-
Because my dear boy clients moan about finishing a job too quickly and start debating price, even though we price it for the job and not the time spent. The joy of domestic work for old folk. Everyone's been there I'm sure
-
Yeah I agree, it is often said that when quoting for conifers double how much chip you anticipate and then add some more! We did a conifer removal two weeks ago and that was down and chipped by 2pm, we actually had to slow down a bit so that just goes to show you get faster with experience. On another we had it down chipped logged and home by 1pm, we managed to get a second job done that day too. Something which makes conifer jobs easier is getting the chipper to the tree (access on site) and getting the material away and dumped as quickly as possible. Overall I enjoy doing conifers these days more than I used to, they are easy as long as you price it on your side and you dont feel under pressure to get the job done working till dark. We are winning 85% of quotes currently so we must doing something right!
-
We get along fine with just the 3rd adjustable leg - it is very useful on driveways and gardens which slope. There is a model we all three adjustable but I think that's overkill and we wouldnt need it most of the time. Best thing i like about these ladders, you can detach the chain and sling the 3rd leg over shrubbery and connect up the chain through the shrubs! We also put the 3rd leg over fences etc some times which can prove handy too.
-
Get the 3.6m Chris, or 4.2. We have the japanese one from FRJones and wouldnt be without it for hedge cutting, fruit pruning and tree lifting
-
CoPart some times list them under fire damaged or their sub frames get twisted by prangs and they are listed under something else. Worth a look on there for all sorts of plant if you want a project or spares
-
First / top one for me. You can shorten it for logos and business cards etc which is better than the bottom one. and its simple, keep it simple
-
Getting out of the tree and having circulation return to your wedding tackle... Other than that, I really enjoy showing and teaching others especially easier ways to do something I have learnt or been taught myself over the years. Payment works, logging into my account and seeing our main maintenance contract has paid us for a years work in advance worked for moral! Buying and using new equipment - who doesnt like a new toy!
-
I chickened out today after seeing a Silver Birch with a very weak looking union fairly high up and about 20 ft more of tree above it. Decided the tree wasn't worth climbing and risking it and decided with the client to fell it. Stunt fell coming up! Over the top of a brick built BBQ protected with pallets too. Never a dull moment but got home in once piece :-)
-
I used one of those some years back in conjunction with a dewalt laser level on an 8 tonner doing grading work around a house and lake. Found it very useful indeed and saved a lot of guess work on actual levels etc.
-
its more the public liability insurance small print which doesnt allow it for commercial use - i know this but do the other people who hire it - probably not! the ipaf course was £222 when i booked mine, needs a refresher every 5 years
-
I am average or probably in the eyes of others below average. I could seriously do with more experience with other arborists messing around in an oak tree somewhere without the pressure of work and schedules to enable me to try out new kit and gain more confidence. That said, i get the job done, i'm still here and earn good money so can't be that bad really...
-
I have IPAF same as V6 above. Our local hire shop do rental on a niftylift 120T with a familiarisation and handover to any non commercial user but there is a waver to sign saying you have had the talk through etc and accept the liability there onwards. However it does not cover you for commercial use so we got the IPAF certification. Since then I have used much larger mewps including Omme tracked.
-
To clarify I would have said back then I was a clueless 'git' not a robbing one as I didn't gt the job
-
Eggs, just me climbing and one groundy, I usually would bosh down a tree and clear up chip up and do it again on the next one / section.
-
Back then I believe the quote was around the 1800 mark considering we had no chipper or truck and all the waste was to go into a RORO bin. However... These days I would have said £1200.00 with two days for the main work and a few hours on day three to remove timber from site. It's been a big learning curve BUT if you want to be in the arb game to cannot play at it, get a proper chipper and a reliable truck - both of which we now have. 5 shires - I think the crew who won it did so with a 900 quid quote and took three days - personally I wouldn't quote this even these days and I reckon they lost money on it!
