Nick Connell

I've just taken the fan apart and found all the windings have broken off the centre. What would cause that?

The cooling fan has just given up on my 28rx. It's only done 200hrs in 2 years which doesn't seem a lot. Iam starting to wonder if this is the start of it being unreliable has anyone else had problems with other bits?

At £200+vat for the fan it doesn't sound like a cheapy one. However when I went to order it they said out of stock. When will it be in stock as my machine needs it to work? Don't know...... Helpful I thought!

How long did the fuel spout work on your new Husky fuel can? Both of mine have given up within 2 months. Was hoping they were going to be better than the old ones not worse.

Yep there's a ridge worn on the inside and the brake has worn on the outside.

Yep there was a rim sprocket on it

Any ideas what would cause the sprocket to do this? Snapped the brake band as well?

If your a competent safe climber with kit should be looking at an absolute minimum of £100 per day but more like £120

I have just applied to build a bund along the side of my field and the motorway. I have proposed the bund be 2.5m high and 45degree slope planted with native hedging plants. Hawthorn etc etc.

The council planning people have come back and said nothing will grow on a 45 degree slope and it should be reduced to 33 degrees. I have seen thousands of hedge plants growing on slopes during my career however is there any fact to back up either side other than I take lots of photos of hedge plants growing on banks?

Probably the exchange rate change because of the weak pound.

I would give the customer 2 options:

Option 1 - winch assisted fell, cheaper but more ground compaction damage etc

Option 2 - some sort of remote access, mewp or hiab. More expensive but no damage.

In my opinion it's not worth taking an personal risk for the money you will make out of that job. Let the customer decide what suits their budget.

I've just ordered a new Jensen 540t from Arbrep. I had an almost brand new Forst on hire while my old 1996 jensen engine had seized and it broke down twice in one week which put me off.

Mine went man down the other week when we really didn't need it! I had to hire one in the meantime. It was a nearly new Forst. Sod's law would have it that broke down twice that week. The only positive was it was under I warranty and I didn't have to pay for it although cost me a lot in down time! 🙈

Just make sure you mark it on a non load bearing part like the gate

What size bits of wood are best to fill the barrels with?

I personally don't chase up quotes as I think it's human nature to be almost embarrassed to have to tell someone they haven't got the job for what ever reason and majority of people will go out of their way to avoid these awkward situations. So if you phone people up I think it can feel like hassling. However if you really are short of work then I guess you have nothing to loose by making a call

If anyone is self employed living near Sevenoaks looking for tree surgery or fencing work please get in touch. Thanks, Nick

When I first reached the vat fresh hold I had the idea of splitting in to 2 companies to avoid the vat on one of them purely to avoid loosing domestic customers. I know other local companies that did this. When I spoke to my accountant he said unless the businesses did completely different things then it would be called artificial separation which is vat avoidance and one day the vat man will catch up with you. It is so not worth the risk in my opinion and who wants the expense of 2 lots of everything!

I went vat registered and didn't loose out at all. The best bit was claiming back the vat and all our machinery. I didn't loose a single regular customer and it now makes us cheaper for commercial work as companies can claim back the vat we charge them.

I think basically if your any good you will be fine. Let's face it if your approaching the vat fresh hold you must be doing something right!

Thanks guys, I found a pdf on the temporary works page which lays down the spec of the design for different heights, ground conditions, wind conditions, crowd loading etc etc. Under CDM regs you have to be able to justify the spec apparently. It turns out building a temporary fence around a building site is more involved than building the final fence!

Does anyone know where on the web you can find design specs for site hoarding?

Thanks, Nick

How do you a get a bat license? I want one! Had to do a fell and grind of a 20ft dead lime with no branches in a church yard the other week. Cost for us £450+vat for the bat inspection first £500+vat!

I agree that a drink is best as 20% is a lot to loose off your day rate.

Tate are good, however Jacksons fencing deliver to TW and offer a 25yr guarantee. Those are the top end of the market.

I got caught out with uk fuels card. The sales guy said I would save 3-4p a litre on pump prices. They txt the non vat price each week. Turns out it's always more expensive than my local petrol stations. It's also harder to track what you've spent as they weekly invoice and collect a week after. I really thought it was gonna be useful but just cut it up in the end!

Me! Lol

NPC Tree Surgery