Thesnarlingbadger

That’s also a good point if I was subbing and the boss asked me to use two lines I wouldn’t grumble because it’s their ship at the end of the day. Im just saying I’ve had maybe 10 or so different climbers come in and do some work for me since the start of these new regs and most of them are still working for me and out of them only one was using double ropes so I was just wanting to see if it was different in other parts of the country.

Thanks for the input on this. I think the way I see this is if 95% of people aren’t bothering with this then why the hell aren’t the AA reviewing this again and saying actually no one is going to be using 2 ropes unless it makes there lives easier on the job so let’s review the situation again and come up with a better way of doing this. Mick I know exactly what your saying but I just think that it’s so over kill on most trees that common sense tells you how ridiculous it is. I would say I’m more carful I. A tree now than I was before and that’s because I don’t want to have an accident and the AA turn round and say look if you had to ropes in this wouldn’t have happened.

Good to know guys. I think from what I have heard most of the country are sticking to the old rules.

The only time I want to see that many ropes is when the misses is getting kinky

Thanks Steve that’s good to know. I thought maybe the rest of the country were sticking to the rules and it was just the south west that stuck there middle finger up to it all.

So it’s been on my mind for a while now but I just wanted to see how many people are actually climbing on 2 ropes? I’m going to get a load of crap from the AA for this I’m sure but I’ve been climbing for 15 years or so now. Learnt on 1 rope and have tried 2 ropes but other than the odd occasion can not seem to get my head around it. I have tun my own business for the past 6 years and have Subbies working for me. Every climber that comes through climbs on a one rope system bar one chap who came to do a few days with us. He was a nice guy and a fairly decent climber but he spent so long organising his kit that a half day job ended up taking a whole day and we had to go back to sort the stem the next day. Not having a go at him and if that’s the way he wants to do things that’s fine but I would have had the tree down in half the time and been out of there by 2. What I want to find out is how many of you are climbing on two ropes now and is anyone finding a quicker way to do things on this set up? I stick to every other health and safety aspect of the industry but I’m finding I’m to long in the tooth for this one. I’d like to hear form some of the older crew on this one as I find it hard to believe there are many 50 year old climbers out there throwing two ropes up the tree. Obviously this is a bit of a awkward subject given the fact that H&S is involved and if you would rather send a message to my inbox I understand. It’s been driving me mad the fact that every single person I know (bar one) agrees with me that the 2 rope system is ridiculous 2 years on. Let me know your thoughts and que the abuse I’m going to get from this. Thanks

Just heard this off a mate but it’s probably old hat as I’m not so up on current jokes unfortunately…… Micky and Minnie Mouse are in the divorce court and Minnie’s lawyer says to Micky “so you say you want to divorce Minnie because she is a bit silly, I don’t really see how that is grounds for divorce”. Micky at the stand Micky says “no I said she was F*****g Goofy”.

I had one for a week and it bent slightly meaning I couldn’t put all the extensions back together. They seem solid but the ally they are made from is weak and i have only ever use Jameson’s since, which are fine but do end up taking a beating and over time you will need to replace poles. I probably buy 4 or 5 poles a year but it’s the guys using them more than me and you expect to have some collateral running a business. But a replacement pole costs £50-80 where as a whole silky set costs a fortune.

It’s the same as keys that fit any lock type things, unless your a locksmith the only reason you are buying them is to do someone else over. Drives me nuts.

That’s fair enough and yes your right if someone did pinch a truck they might not even think to look for a tracker. As you say can’t do any harm having them in.

I think the light fingered follows have things that find trackers. A chap who has a scrap yard down from me had all his skip lorry’s fitted with trackers and well hidden and about 2 years or so back had all the lorry’s nicked and all the trackers we left in a pile in the yard smashed up. He got them all back a week later because the dippy idiots didn’t change one of the rear licence plates and got palled by coopers in the midlands somewhere. But he seemed to think they had some sort of scanner because they were hidden at the back of the engine and they were only about the size of a large match box.

Don’t think there have been any significant branches removed from the tree in the past but I could be wrong. The branches around this level are all basically epicormic not hiked than 3” diameter but there may have been a larger branch removed 50 odd years ago when the trees were a little smaller. The Tree officers in the area are aware of this and are going to decide what would be the best course of action to take. Removing the tree would be a real shame as it makes up a row of 10 with a matching set of 10 the other side of the lane but that being said it is a high risk area of the tree did come down in winds.

That’s my concern, that it could be anything and not knowing really means removal to keep things safe. There’s no songs of the tree compartmentalising around the scaring and I would say that the rot is spreading but I don’t have a previous point in time to compare to. It might have to be remove and replant but if it is fungal then I’m concerned a newly planted Lime will not take in the same spot.

Maybe. Still not 100% do you know what time of year the fruiting posies would show with this? If it is Kretzschmaria I would say it’s fairly advanced stages. Thank you

We reduced an avenue of lime trees last week and when we came to the last one and started reducing it we noticed it felt a little more ridged than the other 9 in the row and realised it had a huge patch of rot on the back of the tree. The trees are all TPO’d and I have spoken to the tree officer and sent over photos and she is as miffed as I am. We are trying to work out what is causing the issue and I don’t want to remove the tree if not completely necessary but the area has high foot fall and traffic and is right next to a garage and within falling distance of the house so I’m fairly concerned. It almost looks like phytophthora but not got the bleeding stains that you usually get with this. I have tapped the base with a mallet and all sounds solid enough but the rot starts about 4m up and is about 1.5m in height and 0.5m across and the rotting wood is like polystyrene and the tree sound hollow all the way around this part of the trunk. The tree is the second one in the row of 10 trees and is sheltered and probably why it has not come down in the winds a ninth or so back but is not as tall as the others. The new growth looks healthy but I know limes can be bloody rotten and still look in good shape. I’ve attached a couple of photos. Let me know if anyone has got any idea. Thanks for your help as always. Cheers

I know tell me about it. Some people look at life in a different way to everyone else I guess. Still I was stacked with work around the time and a couple of phone calls sorted work for the day.

Had someone ask me to trim and reduce a conifer hedge a few years back. About half a days work for 2 of us and I quoted £270 or something. She said that was fine, so booked in the work and sent the quote through. Turned up to do the work a few weeks later and the hedge had been done by some travelling friends who she said charged £1000 but said they could do it then and there so she decided to have it done as the weather was nice. She then said that they through everything into the neighbours garden and could I clear it away. Yes no problem but it will cost you £600 as the neighbour have no access to the back garden and it is all in a stream about 20ft down from your garden. She told me that I was a rip off and that I should be ashamed of myself after she had been done over by travellers, I should be doing it for free. I apologised and explained why it was going to cost what it was. She then went down her road and told every neighbour what had happened and that I was a robbing bastard. I then got 3 called from her neighbours about work who all explained to me that she was a nightmare and she had actually done the job herself with her husband. Her neighbour with the conifer leftovers in his garden explained that he asked them not to drop the branches in his garden to which she told him that she had someone coming round to clear it up in a couple of weeks. Beggars belief.

This is true, but we do have a lot of other work as well as ash dieback and to be honest if the trees are too knackered I’m pricing for a MEWP and or a crane. I’m aware it’s not going to be around for long and if I can use it as a way increase profits and buy larger kit that that’s something (similar to what a lot of older firms did with Dutch Elm. Not that I’m happy about taking ash out as it’s an awful situation but I guess issuing it to an advantage is the best we can do.

I would say anything can come under this legislation if it’s causing a light issue to a neighbour.

Yes some of the jobs we look at are fairly large site clearances and a lot of roadside ash dieback. We cope with what we have but I have no doubt we have lost a couple of jobs due to not having the kit at the ready. Not that I’m worried about that but we are an expanding company and I’m always looking for ways to go a little bit further. On a standard day I’ll have one team out working on a commercial job or a large domestic job and another team or two out doing smaller domestic jobs or I’ll be out stump grinding. I wouldn’t loose the domestic side of things but would like to aim for a bit more commercial as that is what seems to bring in the money.

Yes once all the costs are taken out of the £125k a year we are left with about £50k and then I pay myself part of that and put the rest back in to equipment. So it’s never going to be a rich man’s game this industry but I do it for the love. Yeah sorry I should have explained that better, my parents got a loft conversion and I’m back living with them while I save up to buy a house. I have 3 kids with two ex’s, don’t live with them but support them.

Non taken, the reason I need to take home that much is I run 2/3 teams generally have a couple of chippers as 3 trucks the yard to pay rent on and the insurance. Fuel costs are about £1500 a month and after all the out goings for the business I have 3 kids and am trying to buy a house for the first time. Generally I’m not a greasy person and I spend next to nothing on myself other than the odd pint on a Friday but I find if I don’t charge the prices I do I am feeling like I’m not getting anywhere. Plus if I have a bit of equipment or a vehicle brake down on me I want the money in the bank to deal with it.

I never said there was anything wrong with not being vat registered. I just couldn’t stay that way with the type of work I was taking on. Not sure why it matters if they are called customers and clients, generally I will call people from the commercial side of things clients and domestic customers.

Yes I’m looking in to tractors and timber trailers at the moment to speed things up a bit. I’m happy working for the commercial side of things as I know that work is what brings in the money and is what I need to grow the business.

Quoting for jobs must be one of the hardest things to get right all the time. And I’m finding now that a selection of my regular clients don’t want to pay more ( yes I pruned your Apple tree 4 years ago for £225 but that was 4 years ago and now I have more overheads and am VAT registered so it will now cost you £360). I understand that the cost of living is sky rocketing but I need to make £500 a day after vat and staff are paid to keep the business running. I have found since going VAT registered a few years back my work has shifted massively to the commercial side of things (not the end of the world but the guys moan able wearing hi-viz all the time and hate it when there isn’t a cup of tea all day). The domestic side of things I try and keep cheep but find by doing that I’m shooting myself in the foot. I have just reevaluated my prices and am now charging £300 more on a 2 man day from when I started. Some jobs I’ll drop the price a little if it’s a nice job or I know the customer is friendly but I rarely do this because it’s only me who suffers. I quoted someone £450 for a sycamore take down the other day, half a days work with 3 guys and the customer said she had been given a quote for £250 and could I match it, not a chance. Also I’m fully aware that the staff are going to start needing more money with rising energy costs etc and that is another thing I have to prepare for. Tree work in general has always been a cheep game and prices for work haven’t changed a huge amount in the last 20 years compared to builders or other trades. We had a loft conversion 15 years or so back and it cost around £17k and a neighbour has just had one done a few doors down by the same builder we used for nearly £50k (almost identical work). I don’t see our industry changing our prices like that but then maybe I’m wrong and I’m just looking at my area. I’d be interested to know what other peoples thoughts are on industry prices etc.