Jamie_tardi
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Everything posted by Jamie_tardi
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They have a Renault megane front wheel drive box on them. I was a tech for vauxhall a few years ago and these things use too eat gearboxes like a fat kid eat cakes.... They are ok as long as you don't want too pull a trailer of a reasonable weight I.e. A chipper is bad. They drive well when nothing is wrong with them and are quick. But I wouldn't recommend for arb work! Also the engines in all those vans and gearboxes etc are all the same... Slight differences inside and exterior but pretty much the same van
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young'un requesting opinions of the experienced
Jamie_tardi replied to deezyboy's topic in General chat
Well done on owning your own firm! I'm in a similar position and age(ish) too you, I'm 27 btw and started a few months ago. I found that by buying a bit of kit I seem to be able too get the work for said kit as I push for that work a bit more, I started with 2 saws and a chipper and now have a full garden maintenance setup, 5 saws and all the climbing kit..... I find that if you inform say 1 of your regular customers you have said kit the word can get around too their friends/colleagues etc and before you know it your employing people! -
Mate that chipper! Would love too have a go at one of those arm fed chippers... I would agree with dismantling as looks good for the paper and to be honest once the lines are in etc it's just as easy too section fell
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This thread didn't quite reach my expectations when I read the title grass cutting started about 3 weeks ago for us as it's been so mild... Seemed too have missed winter in Berkshire!
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Done my cs units not long ago 30,31,38,39 cost me £2200 for the lot using my own gear/ppe, that's just my tickets though!
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My chipper throttle handle is currently 'fixed' by ramming a bit of willow in there so it stays on full revs, i could fix it properly but that would be sensible
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No one telling me what too do anymore (except the odd PITA customer!) earning what I'm worth instead of the crappy wage I was on before, getting excited when the phone rings from a random local number.... Only been self employed for 3 months but so far so good!
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I agree with enforcing a license rather than a blanket, of course your still going too get idiots who think they are 'tree surgeons' because they have a chipper and a top handle saw, these are the guys that land themselves in hospital.. Like the other chaps have said I think going into using a rear handle saw in a tree is not a brilliant option.. I'm not saying I'm a saint with my top handle as I have used it one handed before but to be honest I'm quite a safety conscious fella and try too limit this... If you haven't used one with one hand your either lying or a much better man then me!
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Pretty sure I don't chip fences or wire mesh/rubbish bags, you can't blame people for not wanting too put that through their chippers, I wouldn't put it through mine... I only chip branches, and apparently after all the jobs this week exclusively leylandii :l
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Assessing how much I can spend but I'm very interested in those hb20's.... I really appreciate all your input guys thanks a lot!
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Just so we are clear riding too work is a mindset regardless of distance, I done it for 4 years so I could squirrel away as much money as possible, it was 17.8 miles each way... I also trained and competed in ironman triathlons whilst climbing for my main job, yes it's hard but if you want anything worthwhile in life you have too work for it... So you know David I'm 27 now and have 2 vans a 4x4 trailer chipper, all he climbing and rigging kit as well as saws, mowers etc, and 2 employees and a business partner, hardest thing I have ever done in my life but totally worth it....
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That hb20 really does look great, it does to be honest need too be pedestrian any bigger and I can generally get my 5 tonner in... I've heard a lot of great things about bandit machines (never used one personally) so will have a look about one, any ideas what one will set me back, the dealers site says price on application, just a ball park figure would be brilliant
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Also I don't mind sore shoulders as I get the lad too do the grinding... Got too spice his day apart from loading the chipper
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Cheers lads I just don't know I'm a little worried about access as you know what it's like when you have that right awkward bastard of a alleyway you need too get the grinder down and Sod's law the one I get will either A. Not fit or B. Will not be man enough for the job. I'm kind of lucky that a lot of jobs have decent access but they are generally big old lumps of trees... I'm kind of looking for the middle ground if it's too big I would just have too hire a big grinder or attempt too get my digger (which is always a recipe for a mess)
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Alright chaps, I recently set up my own firm about 3-4 months ago and am looking into getting a smallish stump grinder, I already own everything else chipper/trailers etc which I have pretty much spent my life savings on... Anyway business is good and I'm fed up of renting a stumpy every bleeding week... I'm not exactly loaded as being new I'm always shelling out for something... Anyway my budget would be 3-4k second hand is fine and I live in Berkshire I don't know where too start with brands/dealers etc... Your help would be greatly appreciated many thanks jamie.
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I think 250 per man is a push for 8 hours an example of what I would quote is £150 for each man for eight hours then add on a waste disposal fee, if someone quibbles how much said fee is tell them can dispose of the waste themselves.... Either way you win
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All right mate, first off its better then cleaning eh? Next the company I own is divided into two parts really, one is garden maintenance and border work which my partner runs and I run the tree surgery side, now back too the point, if they are big trees I would definetly price them separately and I would cost into waste disposal separately from the usual garden waste disposal fee as chipping and disposing of trees/logs etc can be costly. Oh rent a chipper if you don't have one it will make your life easier, just factor it in. With the rest of the stuff if it's just usual shrubs and nothing too big just price the rest as a whole job, if your reducing a hedge (depends what it is) can be more too depends on size of the hedge + amount too be reduced by.... Anyway I'm rambling a bit, long story short I would price trees separately from rest of the work... Hope it helps cheers
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Used it for 3 months absolute crap, the job leads which are a small price are small pain in the arse jobs and the bigger ones have such a high price too get the number of the client it's stupid, one lead on there I saw today was £66! I also would tend too find the only people who used it were when they had exhausted the regular forms of getting trades in as the job was too much hassle, a example was remove small conifer hedge and she'd with asbestos roof... Budget £100...
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From a ex mechanic... If you do get a new box get a new clutch even if it dosent need doing there should be no labour cost for this as it's been removed anyway (don't forget too get slave cylinder done too!) the labour cost for fitting a new box should also be very similar too just getting a new clutch (add 2 hours really)
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Diff lock - before I did al this fun arb stuff I was a gardener for my sins and we had the honda 535-536s which are ok except they are slow as dog turd and the box/chute system is terrible for a professional mower, as soon as there is a sniff of wet grass you will have your hand covered in green gundge.... The Viking also has a mulching deck for lazy gits such as myself. Also the box on the Viking dosent have a crappy chute system!
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Shouldn't most stihl dealers be able too get hold of this? I use Vikings and the parts seem pretty simple too get hold of. I might just be stating the bleeding obvious though
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I generally just tuck mine in too my boots. To be honest it's not a massive pain in the arse taking the wellies off to clean them out, or alternatively just wear water proof trousers over the top if it's raining and it doubles too stop saw dust from getting in said wellies
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What about grazon, selective herbicide that does not kill grasses but does kill all other weeds, nettles brambles etc. However it is really really strong and you use about 6-8ml per litre and you can only get it if you have the license (unless you get it off flea bay)
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We have just taken on a lad straight from college in regards to the insurance all they wanted to know was that we had full employee liability insurance... Not the subbie option.... The college also came to the site to check first aid boxes, safe working practices, ppe etc etc. But cost wise it didn't cost me hardly anything to add him on to the insurance. Hope this helps
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Hey all! I'm lurking no more been reading the forums for a few months with great interest, especially about SRT climbing which I tend to do a lot of! Anyway a bit about me, I'm 26 years old nearly 27 (old git I know!) I'm from newbury in Berkshire England and have been climbing for about 2 years now and I have recently started up my own firm, just spent the best part of my life savings on kit! I know I'm not as experienced as a lot of you lads on here but I'm getting there! I mainly work on medium too larger trees and have a mix of work from woodland maintenance too felling/pruning etc! Anyway just saying hi so er...... Hi
