Macca

£550 - £150 is good money for a physical job

Sorry didn’t read the first post

Flat blade means you can make a gob cut/ felling cut! Curved blade although good at cutting makes precise cuts difficult.

I have gomotoro but I only use it when I don’t want to use my top handle saw (very rarely)! If your new to this u will use ur silky more but u don’t want to end up depending on it! Get a gomtaro and use it only when u need to!

Saying its easy, doing on the other hand.......................[emoji16]
 
Making good money in this game used to be pretty easy, 10 or so years ago, but these days everyones a tree surgeon and chippers are cheap.

Fair play- but a rough calculation says you if you go out with a 2 man team, truck chipper and usual standard tree gear- you’d be needing to clear £700 a day, after paying your groundie a decent wage and covering buisness costs you could probably pay yourself £90k if you did £700 220 days a year,
 
Who can honestly say they do that on a one man band operation?

Turnover but as a one man band occasionally using subbies.

And of course I never accepted cash for 70% of my work, because that would be immoral and upset the big established company owners.

My point is there is good money to be made if you have the drive. If you settle for picking up sticks and putting them into a chipper for someone else the good luck making 20k a year!

Is that really a reality though- how many employed climbers are on £30k plus and more to the point how many tree businesses on here (or any where) are able to pay themselves £90k- very few I’d guess.

Groundie and climb at the weekends until you get good enough to earn decent money. 5 years in you will easily earn 30k plus or have the balls to go it on your own and earn treble that.

On the plus side there is always gonna be a need for people to cut trees!
The Warehouse workforce will be robots in the not to distant future.

I was with Arborisk moved to trust this year as they were cheaper and have a new for old replacement policy on all your kit.

Arborisk said they would only give the depreciated value so it was a no brainier for me.

Put it all on black!

Wales

12 weeks back into lifting after 9 years off and having a blast. I've more of less completely eliminated my leg and back pain (something for which I've had all manner of treatment, including surgery, physiotherapy and very strong pain killers) which has given me a quality of life I didn't think I'd ever get again. 
 
From a lifting point of view, progress has been quite rapid due to the fact that regaining strength and size is quicker than gaining it the first time around. Up nearly 10kg from 12 weeks ago and I'm progressing with my lifts each week. I'm also surprising myself with what I can do. I genuinely didn't think I'd be able to squat due to leg pain. Yesterday, I spent 25 minutes squatting, which felt great. I practiced technique, mostly stayed light but went up with singles up to 90kg (which felt very easy, but having not had a bar on my back for nearly a decade, I thought it best to stop there).
 
Trap bar deadlift is also something I'm going to do regularly. When I lifted in my younger days, I went up to 260kg on deads, but my form was always pants. The trap bar allows much better leg involvement and I can keep my legs straight. 5x115kg was easy enough but everything aches profusely this morning!
 
Anyway, as I said in the other thread about back pain in which I talked about weightlifting, don't see it as something that inevitably ends up with you muscle bound and a beefcake. It's just a good part of keeping you fit and well and strong in later life. You'll only get big if you eat accordingly. Stretching has it's place, but is no substitute. Throughout my adult life I've been able to place my palms flat on the floor (not just touch my toes) and I've had chronic and debilitating back pain for most of it. 

how is it ergonomically compared to the 150 and any diff in weight. 

It has more grunt than a 150, needs the Stihl chain to be at its full potential tho! Sugi chain doesn’t cut as fast.
150 bogs down on bigger stuff.

As you are 40 with a business to run it will probably be a waste of money as you will not push urself like someone who is trying to feed themselves, but I think you should do it with the intention of gaining a greater understanding of the industry.

Thereafter you can take on tree jobs (which you will probably under price)employ subbie climbers and have a better understanding of the job!

This being said I do get a lot of jobs where they want Fencing, landscaping and tree works which you might now feel confident to take on!

Happy new year

Cool thread!

I’d give you free wood if you were near me! Most guys who run a tree business without a yard the wood is a hindrance. Fair play mate! Just refer to yourself as a log goblin and all will be good!

Have done it 5 times now so know it well.

The customer service from Rob D is amazing.

Height of summer or winter! Never spring or autumn.

Use U shape steel pillars and just slot them in. Means you car remove them when u are doing tarmac and scrap metal.

Socks

The echo pole saw can be interchanged with a hedge cutter attachment heavy tho!

The Stihl ht131 is the best pole saw I've used. Husky and echo are a bit of a pain to use in comparison.