flatyre

I just sprayed the laptop with beer! All joking aside they're serious stats, back in my mid twenties prime I was a bricklayer who windsurfed at every opportunity, and I barely maintained a 13st 30" waist!

during the grass cutting season I have two rover mowers in the van for 90% of my customers, a Hater Harrier for a few picky customers and a Bolans mulching mower for those who want the grass cut weekly. I have a few customers with gardens big enough for a ride-on but they don't like the finish so I just use the Rovers and take twice as long which suits as I charge by the hour for grass cutting.

Not sure what you mean, seen plenty of guys operate a 4x4 and 16ft Ifor with a beavertail setup that has enough room for chippings, timber/rings and a tracked chipper.

i'm 5"10 and 12st 12lbs and according to the online NHS BMI calculator I need to loose about a stone. But the NHS BMI is just a VERY rough guide, There is no accurate weight scale for humans as we are such different heights, builds etc. The NHS BMI checker does not take into consideration I have a very physically demanding job and have worked my butt off since I was sixteen (now 37), I may not be "ripped" but like most of us on the forum, i'd say a fair bit of the "excess weight" is more muscle than fat. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it MR Rt Hon Jeremy C**T MP Secretary of State for Health.

Well I've decided not to let this guy wind me up, but he's not getting away with thinking I'm gullible either. So i'm going to open an ebay case, nothing will come of it as they can't call round his house and force him to hand it over, but at least he'll know I'm onto him. He lives in Totton Hampshire by the way.

I can understand its a lot of work on his part for a fiver but that's ebay. I've bought saws for £20 and sold them for £180. I've also bought a few turkeys that cost me money. I still took the time to box them up and post them as that was the deal. You sell on ebay you take a chance, win or lose you struck a deal so deal with it.

Hey folks I occasionally buy old saws on ebay to fix and sell on, its a hobby thing as much as for the money. I recently won the bidding on a Husky 50 rancher with a duff starter recoil. I actually bought it to keep as a backup, I have a little Husky 36 which kicks about the back of the van for months on end but always starts regardless, saved many a day when the primary saw lay down. Hopefully the 50 is just as reliable. The listing was collection only but I contacted the seller well before the end of the auction to see if a courier collection was ok, which the seller was happy to accommodate. Unfortunately for him I won the auction with a bid of £5. Since then he has been slow to relay the relevant information for the collection, and very blunt. I emailed him the collection docket and told him it was to be printed off for the driver to scan. He doesn't have a printer or access to one! I contacted the courier who said they would collect anyway on Monday, apparently they didn't turn up, or the next day or any day. When I emailed him regarding the matter he just offered to refund the £5. Now on one hand i'm thinking of just accepting the refund and being done with it, on the other hand part of me thinks stuff that, he put it up for auction with no reserve, I bid, I won, so give me the damn saw. I might be reading too much into it, but can't help thinking he's pissed off because he didn't get what he wanted for it and is just being awkward to the point where i'll walk away. What to do?

Just tell them all trees go to heaven!

Today was meant to be horrible, but the weather people got it wrong. Blue skies all day, dusk wasn't until 17.20, seen a few shooting stars on my way to the Indian. After a solid month of rain between showers, no light until 8.30, four o'clock darkness, cracking day, the clear skies dropped the temp right down to where it should be this time of year, even that was nice as the high temperatures were starting to get unnerving. Didn't get to any jobs, just spent the day welding my new trailer up, sitting by the stove now with a glass of red, kids in bed, probably dose off in half an hour, love it:thumbup1:

I try to spend an hour or two a week on my equipment, servicing saws or slapping more waxoil under the transit. Unfortunately with this prolonged wet spell, I'm all serviced up. As i'm a fairly new operation still trying to drum up business I've been out driving around spying up possible jobs, if I see a house with an out of control hedge or a dying tree, or a house with plenty of trees on the property, i'll stop and pop a letter through the door. Might drop a hundred letters and only get a couple of jobs, but its building up the work for when the rain stops.

still raining, still blowing stink. Any tree felling games for the playstation out there?

I'm sorry but I don't care how good the latest transit is, its so ugly I couldn't have one about me. I have a mk6 which I might sling for a very clean mk7 in a while, it'll need to be a very very clean mk7 as it'll have to last until the mk9 comes out!

gotta love transits, they can make your blood boil one minute, then make you feel as squidgy inside, bless them!

well it blew stink and pissed down here today, and yesterday, and the day before, and pretty much every day for about three weeks, and apparently is to continue blowing stink and pissing down for at least another week. Not much fun when your trying to weld up a new trailer outside standing in a quagmire! never wanted frozen ground so much! (Sorry I know other people have more to deal with than a mucky yard)

The trees were inspected four months ago, must have been a Friday. I told the caretaker to contact the electricity board as they might remove the tree free of charge if it proved a hazard to the power lines. The electric board turned up tonight in two vans and a cherry picker (big callout fee, maybe the police should charge call out fees). I apologised for being the one who instigated the issue but they said they would only remove what was in contact with the lines and it would be up to the school to arrange any further work (never happen). They snipped a few twigs with loppers (literally, I didn't hear a saw) and were away in five minutes. The tree is riddled with holes so something is eating it. I might request permission to remove the tree myself free of charge for peace of mind, as no-one else thinks its serious enough to warrant investigation.

glad it all turned out, goes to show a bit of courtesy goes a long way:thumbup1:

This tree is in the school grounds next to my house, its about a metre and a half off the telegraph pole which leads to my house, and will most likely fall into my lane blocking me in. The education board has a contract with another firm so I wouldn't get the job, just don't want it taking the electric out. Both the school and my house are on a hill. The tree is about six metres north west of my house which is where most of the wind comes from, so if it came down it would probably hit the house as well. I pointed it out to one of the teachers, question is should I be concerned enough to contact the education board?

I did a little job for an old lady a few weeks ago, topping a conifer hedge. First off she haggled over the price for six weeks, then demanded I removed the old fence around the front garden too (for free). When she sensed I was nearly finished she disappeared due to an urgent matter. Then when I called back she wasn't in, finally caught up with her and got a cheque which bounced as her pension hadn't gone in on time. I finally got paid for the job in cash. She showed all the signs of a non payer but turned out ok. I think sometimes customers just don't realise they're being a pain, like we operate a finance deal or something. Anyway it worried me a bit as I've never had a non payer. How do you avoid them, take a deposit? There are a lot of big well known well established firms in my area who could ask for full payment up front as they are trusted, not sure if I could get away with taking a deposit as i'm less well established?

Just out of curiosity if a situation like this arose and a neighbour phoned the police, would the plod not put it down as a civil matter and not get involved. Not sure if its just a Northern Ireland thing but over here most issues regarding property short of burglary, arson, vandalism etc. are classified as "civil matters" which are not dealt with by the police (or anyone as far as I can tell). Good friends of mine had new neighbour move in next door, and immediately asked if they could remove the hedge between the two properties, mate apologised but said no as it was only 5 ft high and provided privacy as well as keeping the kids and dogs in. Nice new neighbour ripped the hedge out one day while mate was out with the family. He called the police but was told "civil matter, we can't do anything".

I clean out the flue every autumn before lighting the stove for the first time. If its been particularly cold i'll give it a brush mid winter. Its good practice even if you are burning well seasoned wood. But thanks for the advice, can't be too careful. The residue doesn't seem to stick anywhere else, like the fire brick lining or the roof or grating, or even the unburned wood when the draw isn't enough and the fire goes out. Maybe it sort of condenses on the glass:confused1:

As someone pointed out, if there is some sort of feud then there will be two very different sides to it, if you want to hear both sides you're going to have to ask the neighbour. They may play ball, they may not, they sure as hell won't if you start cutting without conferring with them first.

I have only been in this sort of situation a couple of times, but I would definitely recommend talking to the neighbour. maybe explain that if foliage etc is encroaching on their property and they don't accept the opportunity to have it removed now free of charge, the owner fulfilled their legal obligation which was refused, and if they decide they want it removed at a later date, they will have to do so at their own expense. Its sh*t talk but might work. Failing that if they have any shrubs, hedges etc that need a trim, offer to do it in return for access. Just make sure the work you offer to do for free doesn't take as long as the time you will save by getting access! Just appeal to their good nature, explain you're just a worker here to do a job, which will take a lot longer and be more dangerous without access. if they're any sort of decent human being, they'll not put an innocent stranger out over something you had nothing to do with.

some years they're everywhere, other years they seem to disappear!

Last year I caught a lot of mackerel and decided to smoke some of it in an old metal barbeque. Basically smothered the burning coals under damp oak chips, put the fish on a rack, closed the lid and adjusted the vents to allow just enough air to keep the chips smouldering without bursting into flames. The fillets were cooked in about two hours, which is a bit too quick, but had a lovely smoked taste. Anyway I have a small Stanley stove in the living room, but in order to keep it burning all night I need to shut the air vent almost off so the logs also smoulder rather than burn. Problem is the lack of draw means the glass is covered in sticky residue. This is just an idea but my local butcher sells ham shanks/ham hocks which are tasty but need to be slow cooked. They make great roasts in the oven over root vegetables, or in a pot with lots of herbs and spices to make pulled pork. If I put a slab of oak on the stove and set the shank on top and left it for a few hours, would it give the meat a nice flavour, or just poison me?

I buy a cheap pair of rigger boots every year around October/November, The budget shoe stored do the fur lined fake leather ones for £25/£30, Waterproof, warm, offer some protection, and they're cheap. Use them on mucky jobs, walking the dog etc. great for pulling on and off easily. [ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/LADIES-RIGGER-SAFETY-MIDSOLE-LEATHER/dp/B00L48HB5Y/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1451826478&sr=8-4&keywords=rigger+boots]MENS LADIES RIGGER SAFETY BOOTS MIDSOLE STEEL TOE CAPS FUR LINED LEATHER SZ 3-14: Amazon.co.uk: Shoes & Bags@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41WQKOAu22L.@@AMEPARAM@@41WQKOAu22L[/ame] Not sure why it says ladies rigger boots