Thesnarlingbadger

Looks like a nice job. Fingers crossed it'll bounce back.

I have recently been asked to give a beech a lovely 60% reduction :-/. I advised to fell and replant and that I would even come and do the planting for free as I just couldn't bear to do what was being asked of me, there was no way the guy was going to except my 30% reduction idea because "if I'm paying money I want to see a bloody difference". Put in my price and stressed that taking it down and replanting would be my preferred option and it wouldn't cost any more (as I'll take the hit for the firewood). Phoned up to check if it's in conservation and it's not. Just waiting to here back from the customer :-/.

Looks like a nice bit of pulley work going on there mate. At least there was some justification for removal when you got to the stump. :-)

I for one think the AA are a great organisation and companies that have that AA status seem to do fairly well out of it. However these tend to be companies that have been running for a long time and have build up the cash to throw at this kind of scheme. I am in no position to go arb approved as I still have a nice long list of kit to buy. This doesn't mean I don't work to the same standard as an AA contractor and clients can see this when I do a job for them. Not being arb approved has not ever been an issue for me as most my work is domestic and 90% of my jobs are from word of mouth, in my opinion I think this is still the best form of advertising and AA contractor would not gain me enough domestic work for me to justify it at the moment. To the OP what I'm saying is I'm a small business to and I don't feel I have ever needed any scheme to gain me more work. Maybe I'm wrong but I just think if you do a good job, work hard, are polite/friendly and leave the garden cleaner than you found it you will never be too short of work. Also out of curiosity how many people out there that own their own business have every been asked if they are Arb approved when quoting? I know I haven't. The only thing that I may be asked is am I insured or qualified.

Cool I'll take a look at the Ace ones and look on e-bay for some more heavy duty ones. May have the need for one next week so might try and fast track one. Just one of those items you plan to buy but never do until you need it for a job. Cheers for the input.

Hi all, In the market for a mechanical winch, mainly going to be used to pull over trees, with the odd few small stumps pulled out. Was looking for something 1600kg+ rated capacity but the Tirfor winches are a little too expensive for the moment. I just wondered if anyone knew of any decent alternatives, not a fan of second hand as I like knowing that the equipment hasn't been pushed to the limit in the past, plus if it does fall to pieces at least I have more chance of getting my money back. I will probably invest in a high quality winch further down the line but as I mainly do domestic stuff I am in no need of one just yet. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks people. P.s I put it in forestry as I figured thats where most winch questions pop up

Black books was good. Spaced. But I still like the classics. Monty python, faulty towers, dads army.

I brought a Nilfisk after inquiring on here about what one to buy (maybe 6 months back). I am very impressed I think it was around the £250 mark but worth every penny. maybe a bit more heavy duty than I need to wash the truck and chipper but I would highly recommend them.

Yep I love my job, love it even more now I've set up by myself. If I won the lottery I'd by some big kit and still climb. It's not a job it's a hobby. There are some crap days but no matter what job you are in you have good and bad days. Wouldn't look back.

Misses got me a GoPro. I did not expect that at all. Well chuffed, itching to get up a big takedown now :-).

If you want to build confidence in your equipment get up an ash or beech. Do some big limb walks. The beauty of these trees is you can get an anchor in right at the top of the tree making it easier to move about. But as said before climb anything you can as you will not only be climbing nice big hardwood trees all the time. I would say climb in the rain but non until you are a little more confident as climbing in the rain can be twice as hard on some trees and it can make you very miserable (you don't want to loose you love of tree work just yet). In work try and get some time on spikes as well as that is another learning curve and one you will need to do at some point soon. Good luck and have fun :-)

Good idea giving them the printed option :-).

I personally think some laws need to be changed regarding this. If I was employed by someone who sent me out to work on a TPO without permission (in which I was completely unaware) and I got a criminal record, I'd be livid. I think you take it in good faith that the tree has been checked prior to work. Also if you are a sub contract (sorry freelance) climber asking the person you are working for to see paperwork that confirms the tree is not TPO'd or in conservation you can be pretty sure you won't be getting much more work off that employer in the future. I'm not saying don't check and I ask on certain trees but I've worked on a scrappy conifer hedge with a TPO on it in the past and no way in hell would I every have questioned that unless I was quoting the job. Just my opinion.

I will put a link in my website and point people in the direction as I've had issues trying to put more than one PDF in E-mails before. I'm not that skilled when it comes to computers so I'm looking for the simplest option that keeps me in the clear. Cheers

Yeah want to avoid anything like that if possible.

Ahh cheers I'll check the AA website. Later on, good idea.

I would assume the company is responsible as it is down to them to make sure the tree is not under conservation/tpo. I'd be pretty pissed off if I went to work for a company and got told I had to pay a huge fine because they didn't look in to it properly.

Yeah I was thinking of doing a similar thing. But the way I have it at the moment they would go to the website then be sent to a T&C's PDF link at the bottom of the website. I guess I was on the right tracks just over thinking it.

Ps I realise they are only valid if it's in writing. Most my quotes are emailed and replayed to before work is carried out anyway. Haven't been set up that long but don't fancy getting caught out on something petty on a big earner.

Yeah that's what I thought but 99% of websites don't seem to have a link to their T&C's so I just wondered what other ways people get around it and how important it all is. I just want to say that I'm not liable for small marks on the lawn etc.

Where do you guys put your company terms and conditions? I've written mine out and put them in a PDF jobby but I'm not sure where I would put them. I originally thought I'd just put a link on my website but after looking at other peoples websites no one else seems to have done that. Would I just pop an extra PDF on my quotation E-mail with it all in or just not have anything except for larger contracts. I mainly do domestic work but would like to be able to put the T&C's somewhere so that people can view them if needs be (covering my own ass). What do you guys do? Also I noticed a lot of people do have 'website T&C's' which I have not even looked into, is that something I should be putting up or is that not really that important? Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance people :-).

Yeah it says in the add the neighbours are fine with that. So it must be ok I guess :-/.

Nice work. As you mentioned Ian the shading may be a good idea, to give it a bit of depth.

Dead Robinia is a right pain in the arse too

I'm in the wrong job, that sounds like the life haha