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maybelateron

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Everything posted by maybelateron

  1. maybelateron
    Agree entirely. Different if you have already started a dismantle, wearing spikes, and just want to get it finished. NoNo for me pruning smooth barked trees in the wet.
  2. maybelateron
    Yep, it's pretty straightforward if you put all your invoices onto the computer rather than the old days of throwing them into a drawer. I have a couple of non VAT registered friends who do just that, and then run around madly on 30th January trying to sort out a tax return!
  3. maybelateron
    Same story in Stoke on Trent and surrounding areas. Also we have a lot of tired looking mature/young mature Beech in our area. I remember the Beech took a real scorching in the drought and heatwave we had, was it 2 or was it 3 years ago. Wonder if that is a factor?
  4. maybelateron
    I beg to differ. I went VAT registered 8 yrs ago. We are 95% domestic, and are never short of work. Also being able to reclaim VAT on expenses can help to some extent as it reduces running costs compared to not being VAT registered.
  5. maybelateron
    Saturn Machine Knives, Sheffield. You organise courier to take them, then they send them back. In January they charged me £60.60 to sharpen 2 sets for a Jensen 540 and one set for a Forst TR6. Can be a bit slow turning them round at times, but I'm always happy.
  6. maybelateron
    Groan groan, yes I missed that one too.
  7. maybelateron
    I am near Stoke on Trent, if that is any use for you to come and have a good look at it. I have some land to use it on for demo.
  8. maybelateron
    I have the hydraulic tip muck truck and I rate it. We use it less now we have a Bobcat E10 with a thumb, but it is great for some jobs. Easy to steer, easy peasy to steer if you are taller than me, as you take some weight off the rear rear wheels by slightly lifting the handles; no problem as the balance is good. We have used it with the skip full of timber and 2 guys on it for ballast to pull a big trunk over, where there was anchor point for winching, and no access for anything bigger or heavier. I would say its weakest point is traction uphill on grass/mud when loaded heavily.
  9. maybelateron
    Some years ago we had to dismantle a Hornbeam with a single BT line through that would be difficult to avoid breaking. Rang BT and was told £199 + VAT to come and quote for dropping the line. The BT guyI was speaking to was really helpful and said he was not on a recorded line and could give me honest advice. His advice was explain to the customer, let the cable get broken, then customer report it. Said that would be cheaper. We did the job, just managed to avoid breaking the cable, customer gave us a £100 thank you bonus.
  10. maybelateron
    I'm happy to come down and shift logs on my terms. To be fair the team look after the old codger really well.
  11. maybelateron
    Even better is when they start by asking at 1pm Sunday: "Do you do free quotes?" As a general rule if I am quoting for work for a customer who has chosen to ring at what I would regard as an inconsiderate time, eg 1pm Sunday, 8:30pm Friday, I tend to add a bit on to my usual rates to allow for "messing us about tax". Eg - "I will move all the pots out of the way before you come" but then they never do. Had a call the other morning at 07:15 from a regular customer, wanting to check when we were going, despite me having given her the date some weeks previously, and it not being until next month. I commented that it was a bit early, and she said she wanted to get me before I was at work. Has she not heard of voicemail? Anyway, this will be the last year we do her tall and very wide hedges in a sloping garden, further from base than we need to travel to get enough work in. Rant over, thanks to the OP jfc for opening that can or worms🤣
  12. maybelateron
    Agree 100%. We are on the verge of declining some of the more ridiculously wide tall hedges these days. Even if we can get the MEWP to it, it is still real hard on the shoulders. I think some customers have no idea how hard their hedges are to maintain.
  13. maybelateron
    I am 61, started climbing 20 yrs ago. Not planning on stopping any time yet, health permitting. Mick Dempsey sums it up in saying that dragging brash and timber on the ground is harder. I am a faster and more efficient climber now than 10 years ago - experience helps, plan your work as Mick says, also the confidence to drop or lower bigger sections that as a beginner. let the ground crew cut it up. Also kit gets better all the time - zigzag and pulley👍, Blakes hitch/Prussic loop and no pulley/friction saver👎. I also find comfortable spikes with velcro straps a big advance.
  14. maybelateron
    Insulating tape or gaffer tape tightly round rope where it is to be cut. Then cut cleanly with Opinel knife/Leatherman or similar quality. Then heat an old flat file till red hot and heat seal the rope. Cheap and effective.
  15. maybelateron
    Absolutely brilliant
  16. maybelateron
    Been chucking it down all day. I was hoping to use the flail mower on the back of the compact tractor tomorrow to clear some overgrown grass on a steepish bank under large dead beech we are going to dismantle. Think i will leave it a few days, don't fancy getting stuck at the bottom of the bank!
  17. maybelateron
    You'll never beat a 200T for top handled power, agreed. But my MS160T and MSA220 are great for early starts in built up areas! Then when the thinner stuff is off the top we start the 201T at 8:30.
  18. maybelateron
    That was such a subtle difference - did that count as one. Naughty one was beyond dispute!
  19. maybelateron
    On the face of it his request sounds entirely logical. Only scenario I can see where the next TO might have a point is if the other trees are old pollards being redone, or smaller trees, and the customers trees are very large, healthy, not previously pollarded. Out of the 4-6 local councils/TO's I deal with, sadly there is one TO who seems to have a habit of refusing works that I regard as appropriate, and sometimes suggesting alternative pruning which is just daft. The other TO's are fine.
  20. maybelateron
    Devastating for his family and friends, very sad all round
  21. maybelateron
    Well said that man.
  22. maybelateron
    How roood!!
  23. maybelateron
    I found that when I put some oil in the fuel tank of our Echo 2511 (realised before starting it, iirc) it took a large amount of cranking over to clear it with fuel, compared to the same event on a 201T. And no, this is not a weekly occurrence, just cos I am honest enough to admit to having done it twice in a century!
  24. maybelateron
    Another reason why’s we love our electric saws - half five am and climbing with leccy tophandle, intercoms in helmets, MEWP on battery mode. Customer wasn't half surprised by our progress by time they were up for breakfast.
  25. maybelateron
    I would vote for diagnosis being ADB. Been up to Scotland twice recently and loads of roadside Ash with it on the northern limits of M6, then the A74(M). On a brighter note I just love seeing all the big healthy Elms in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

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