jfc

As Matty said and I have found lots more folk keeping the logs from jobs, even if they don't use it, their brother, uncle, neighbour... etc have asked for it. I will drop conifer off for free or beer money. Decent hardwood I would pass on to folk who help me out or sell a transit load for sensible money.

Diesel can be run on red diesel at £1 a litre. Saving soon adds up compared to petrol costs.

I paid £5.6+vat, at start of 2023. Got a very good trade in on my old b20 at the same time. The new style tooth arrangement is taking some getting used to. Apparently all 8 teeth don't wear equally, 4 wear much quicker than the other 4. Anyone else found this issue? Personally I'm not finding this arrangement is an improvement. J.

If it's got a TPO on it you'll only be allowed to do what the TO (tree officer) agrees to. Depends on the TO if they will be happy with a re-pollard or similar, usually have to be compliant with BS3998 British Standard for Treework. There's a copy of a bs3998 .pdf kicking about somewhere on the net. You are unlikely to be able to write a TPO/Bs3998 compliant application yourself, it will depend if the TO takes pity on you and helps, or asks for a arborist to do one. You might be better asking an arb to do an application on your behalf. I would probably charge 50-100 quid to do this, dependant on how much time it takes and how easy the TO is to work with. Jan.

think you mistyped that - is an eejit!

Very interesting series of Picus, thanks for posting. I can't tell on my phone what is that on the left, is it Meripilus? Cheers, jan

On a job beside a public car park this guy comes out raving about the dust on his car, I tried to offer him a tenner to get it cleaned but he was so aggro and sweary I never got chance to give it him. Next day he's parked in the same spot and we had a repeat performance. I told the groundie to give him the money if he could get him to calm down enough for a conversation. He never got a free car wash as he was such a pr!ck about it.

This looks ominous, as I just sent a battery charger back for repair 3wks ago and haven't heard anything, phones are mysteriously out of order (for over a week now) and email's not been answered. F@£k! They expanded to their midlands depot just as the arse fell out the Arb sector - I've only bought essentials this year and know of lots of firms struggling up here, so can't see anyone buying much at present!

Another vote for Husky extending one. Can reach so far with it, it has speeded up a lot of hedge trimming jobs.

IMO proper tree companies do not knock on doors to get business. That's generally cowboy behaviour! Use them at your own peril! Pricing seems excessive from the photos. As others have said can be pruned at any time of year. If it is a decent sized limb (>15cm diameter) it may be better reduced rather than removed, so preventing creating a large cavity on the main stem. j.

The lager drinkers will be carrying 'man bags'!

Hi Justaman, IMO it's tough times to be starting a company, I'm doing OK but my plan for this year is to keep going as a business, income and profit will be a lower than previous years. I started off small and kept overheads as low as possible, did a mix of trees, gardening, landscaping and mowing. I did a little subbying but only on climber day rate. After a year I got finance for a chipper and few months after a transit tipper. I had built up a bit of a client base and company name by then. I have gradually focused on trees/hedges and dropped most of the other work and no longer subby. IMO you are already paying 20% of turnover for advertising, which is a lot. I'd be very cautious about getting loans at present as work is patchy, but I am not really a gambling man. In my first year I earned a lot less than I had as a subbie/employee I just sucked it up and put most profit back into the business, over time I have gradually got to earning a reasonable amount. All the best. J.

The people on here know what they are talking about (mostly!), and what you have there isn't anything to get excited about. If you want to generate some sensible interest carefully clean up the stems, take measurements of diameter and length and if possible move them roadside so someone can just load them up. If you can't move them think about how anyone else could do it ie machine access etc. Few things to think about 1. for milling garden trees are not popular as often have embedded metal in them (ie old bird feeders etc). If access is a problem then the limited value of these logs will be further reduced and I would want paying to remove them, you might find someone keen but the mostly professionals on here look at that and roll their eyes.

I'm passing on sunday, I can bring the transit and fit it all in (might feature in overloaded thread), you pay me £450+vat and I will take all the birch away for you.

All my husky saws (555, 550 and 560) are still going well after 5 to 7 yrs of almost daily use, varying from couple of cuts to hours a day. I get them serviced but that's about it, no mech issues just av springs and pull start replacements. As has been said, amazing machines for the use/abuse they get. Wish other stuff was engineered as well as them!

Op said the guy wanted more money and paye. Employing someone will cost you a lot more NI, PPE, hols, ?pension, admin. We're talking thousands extra a year. Maybe 30% more than self employed. If they want a higher hourly rate too you are going to be paying way more than you do now. Think carefully about it, especially as work seems less secure for many companies at present.

All good advice above. 2 out 3 local authority near here have online maps. Just do a search for 'council name' tpo map, probably best done on a laptop as you can zoom on the map more easily. With luck the council will have a website.

Got enough work to get by on. I'm not packing as many jobs in a day, spacing stuff out and using the free time to get on top of some maintenance etc and try not to worry about the future.🫣

I know a guy Jez, who will cover Angus, he's based in fife but will travel. Pm me and I will forward his details.

Hi, Interim service at local garage on 14 plate transit, oil and filter changes. About £375+vat. Done as part of mot etc. What vehicle and year is it you have? This might help others find similar vehicle costs.

All good points above. Beech has no heartwood and so the decay can spread easily across the whole diameter. I've seen big beech with what appeared to be fairly limited Kretz infection (couple of small patches) but the stem was really, really decayed. This stem is about 1.5m diameter, tree was about 30m tall, shame it had to be removed, but severely decayed and in a public area.

I bought Understand Tax for Small Business by Sarah deeks,best £10 I've spent on a work book. Saved me loads and kept me right, covers all the questions you've asked. Buy the most up to date copy.

For transferring to a new tree I use a vt hitch and pulley to capture progress. Also add in a foot ascender sometimes. Although I will often just pendulum across then climb back up the new tree, if that's easier. I like the captain if doing long balanced branch walks, allows you to have another angled rope to lean into. I also saw a vid of a guy using one to support the end of a small branch he was pruning. Often don't use it for weeks then it is just brilliant on the right job. Jan.

250 a month is a lot of money a year. My entire yearly advertising costs less than 250, but I have been going a while. I have a website by Steve Bullman and recently restarted bing ads, I found Google ads a rip off. I suppose you could give Yell a 2 or 3 month trial and see if it pays off, so long as you aren't committed to a 1 yr+ contract. Long term I would look at other ways of promotion. J.