JonnyRFT

So today was my first day felling after a 7 month gap between jobs. The company I work for have just brought tree services in house (social housing). It was a big deal for them so they brought along H&S, Mid Management, my Manager, Marketing (for photos etc) and the yard manager. It’s safe to say I was pretty nervous. My first job was to remove a dead Whitebeam. It’s was pretty sizeable as far as Whitebeams go. Anyway, its a clear fell jobby with stacks of space around me. Happy days!!! Before I started, I removed some bark from the base as it was flaking and a lot of insects were present. The base seemed pretty good albeit some rot had set in. After all the other checks I started my cut. I was shaking pretty bad and had to take a moment to calm down. I’ve been working with trees for 6 years and I know what I’m doing but today I felt immense pressure. I went in at 20% to try and keep a hinge on some sap wood. Looked great, straight and tidy. When it came to the felling cut, I started to really become nervous. I ended up withdrawing the saw and I second guessed myself. I suddenly felt like I had no idea what I was doing. I ended up making a second felling cut at a 10% angle from left to right! The tree did fall where I wanted it to (thank god) but it did make me think. When the tree was on the ground I looked at the first cut I attempted, it would’ve been almost perfect. I have no idea why I ended up starting a new cut of which ended up being the mistake. Once my corporate audience left I cleared up the tree and I was totally fine. The pressure lifted and it was like I’d never had a gap from tree work. Today was a good lesson learnt. I obviously don’t cope as well as I thought when the pressure is on. I am far from being professional but I’m normally pretty cautious and sensible with good attention to detail. I’m kicking myself for messing up because that was potentially a dangerous cut.

It’s a T6 3200kg GVW. Combined MAM of 5700kg. 204hp engine too. Every job I do ends up on a weigh-bridge every day. I’m always under the threshold.

I thought my head was going to explode reading through this and the VOSA documents. I can certainly see why it’s so confusing. I really appreciate the replies to this and thank you to everyone who has given their input. The most logical way of thinking (in my case) is to operate without an O Licence due to all of my trailers unladen weights being under the threshold. The exemption rule is stated near the beginning of the document also making me believe that no further action is required. Hopefully that isn’t too naive to think. If I’m ever pulled over then I will quote from the exemption rule.

Because of it’s load capabilities taking it over the 3500kg threshold the O Licence must be applied BUT if your vehicle miraculously weighs under 1525kg unladen then no O Licence is needed. I can’t think of any truck that is 1.5t and could take well over another 1.5t+ Unfortunately, as yours sits at 3000kg unladen yet has the capacity to reach 5300kg the O Licence is a must have.

I mainly use a 3500kg trailer but unladen it’s 810kg, so I’m thinking the following exemption rule applies... “A trailer with an unladen weight of less than 1,020kg need not be taken into account in the weight calculation for a vehicle pulling a trailer. It therefore can be ignored for the purposes of adding up total gross weights or unladen weights to determine whether they are above the threshold for requiring an operator’s licence.” ...so surely (in theory) if I’m below 7000kgs in total with both (for example) a 3.5t truck and a 3.5t trailer that weighs under 1020kg unladen, then no O Licence is needed. I am a little nervy about this because I would hate to not be going by the book.

Thank you both for your help @Jonny69 & @openspaceman.

I think it must be some garbled information I’m getting hence why I’m so confused. Perhaps it’s only one company saying this and like you say, I should just go with another. Because I don’t deal with them direct, I only get my info from my company fleet manager. When they threw the O Licence question, I panicked and thought I’ve been towing illegally for years.

The axel of the caravan was too wide to pass the the arches of the trailer. Tried putting it on the other way first. This was as good as I could get it.

I choose the vehicle and put it to the company I work for. They then ask for 10 lease companies to quote. We choose the cheapest. It’s a company vehicle at the end of the day but I get private use and sole use. I also pay for the balloon payments at the end and sell the trucks off for profit. It’s the only way I can get a vehicle. The company don’t purchase anymore, just lease.

I just want to check with you more informed people that I am safe and operating legally... 6. Drivers hours / tachograph and operators licence - GCWover 3,500kg The towing vehicle for combinations with a GCWabove 3,500kg may require a tachograph if used for commercial purposes and the driver must obey drivers hours regulations. Similarly operator licensing may apply. Hi guys, I know this is mentioned a fair bit on here but I’m actually struggling to search for a definitive answer to the O Licence regs. I’m looking to find a legal exemption for my towing capabilities. The following EXEMPTION is what I’ve lifted from “Gov” “A trailer with an unladen weight of less than 1,020kg need not be taken into account in the weight calculation for a vehicle pulling a trailer. It therefore can be ignored for the purposes of adding up total gross weights or unladen weights to determine whether they are above the threshold for requiring an operator’s licence.” Here’s the info of what I’m currently using/driving... I already hold the B+E licence. I mainly use a 3.2t VW T6 with 5.7t GTW. My biggest trailer is a 3.5t Car Transporter All of the trailers I have are not heavy. My General Duties Trailers are 450kg unladen. My Transporter Trailer is 810kg unladen. I would say my average weight combined is 5000kg as that’s what I’m seeing on the weigh-bridge at the end of each day. I just want to clarify that I’m totally fine right? Now, the reason I ask this is because I’m currently ordering a new truck. I always lease. I’m with a corporate company of which subsidise me for the vehicles I choose and have a policy for vehicles being no older than 4 years old. I ordered a Toyota Hilux with a conversion tipper. The lease company have freaked out, slapped a massive monthly payment on it and told me I’ll need an O Licence. The Hilux Tipper is a 3150kg with a 6650kg GTW. IM CONFUSED!!!!

Not overloaded but poor weight distribution. Had to move this seized up caravan from the working area. Due to the weight being far over the axel, it was prone to snaking and lifting my my rear axel a good 50mm. 40mph max speed up the A11 from Newmarket to Norwich not fun. Felt sorry for the guy I roped in for an escort as I don’t have beacons.

I’m hopefully going Sunday.

I have a T6 Highline Kombi, I use it for work, home and camping. Didn’t want to do a conversion as it needs to be everything for me. So I bought a cheap sofa bed and keep a spare mattress for it when camping. I also bought a drive away awning so I have more space when pitching up.

I went with Lex Autolease. 10 weeks isn’t bad, I waited 6 months for my Transporter so anything under that is fine by me.

Currently (but not for much longer) using my personal T6 for work.

Has he been given a build/delivery date yet? I’ve only just put the order in so I won’t hear for a while but as I have the mental age of a 6 year old child, I’m bouncing around, all excited for it to turn up.

Ah, good to know. Thank you. How is the truck in general? Easy to live with?

Not really, I’m used to it now. I lease a VW T6 at the moment which ended up having the speed restriction. I thought I was being clever by ordering a Kombi with 204bhp so I could have some fun but it got a N1 classification in the end due to it being 3200GVW. Small jobs, backup and mostly chip and towing. It’ll have a bucket on the back when it turns up too.

So I’ve secured a new job at a firm of which requires a new truck. After a bit of searching I’ve decided to order the new Hilux extra cab with the tipper conversion from Toyotas “Trade Plus” scheme. Here’s hoping it’s a good choice. I’m not sure on Toyotas lead times for delivery but I’m damn excited. Here’s a stock image of what I’ve gone for...

Whatcha! New to the forum and kinda new to the arb world. Worked on farmland/woodland with a million bad habits and no tickets until I took a few courses and got sensible 4 years ago. I now work in the housing sector. Started off mostly just small fells and hedge reductions but I’ve just successfully been offered a new job within the Grounds Team as a full time “Tree Operative.” I thought I’d sign up as I’ve never worked full time on the saws as my previous work was sporadic. I have some nice new toys coming my way though; brand new truck, saws, PPE etc. Anyways, no doubt I’ll be asking for advice a fair bit, I still consider myself a novice at this stage. Jonny.