Conor Wright

some people have too much free time.

I registered for vat early on.. its a double edged sword.. have to be a little more expensive (23% over here) but it reassures customers you're not a fly by night operator, however I do find myself absorbing at least some of it in many quotes as most of my work is domestic so it can be hard to be competitive.. then again those wanting the cheapest possible job are not always the customers (or jobs) you want! Bought much of my machinery from europe so no vat charged on import and vat back on fuel, chains, repairs, ppe etc.. even the dogfood! (but just for the gsd, the beagle is not classed as a guard dog so not a business expense, sadly!)

Not sure for the 406 but think they are all on air.. as far as i am aware the older mogs will need the couplings updated and an emergency brake line added if not already available but you are on the right track, try to get the auxillary air tank with the axle if possible, you will need one anyway.. I cannot advise regarding trailer compliance once its finished.. over here (ireland) you now need type form compliance for any trailer over 4 ton and 40kph. thats what as stopped me from having one built from an old lorry.. it may be worth looking in holland or germany for a specially built unimog trailer, three way tip, air, right type drawbar etc.. not a huge amount there but always one or two that will be worth the money..

For occasional use try the basic stihl pants? not too dear and fairly hard wearing.. but warm and not overly well made.. a bit short in the back for me allowing sawchip to meander its way through the air and eventually into my nether regions where it presented itself as an insatiable point of itchyness, usually making itself apparent when a customer was present.. I started with a pair, SIP have some reasonably priced front protection pants too or go the whole hog and get a pair of pfanners and enjoy some comfort!

This doesn't affect me in the slightest, being in rural west of Ireland many people rather burn turf than logs anyway.. make of that what you will.. ( you can grow a forest in a lifetime, good luck trying to grow a bog.) I still sell a modest amount of firewood.. well air dried, most of what i will be selling this coming winter will be from three to four years old stock.. a mixture of forestry softwoods and various hardwoods brought back from jobs. By the time I process, store and deliver this it barely pays to do it, winter pocket money and free fuel (excluding time and machinery running costs) is about all it is. That said there are still people out there cheaper than me, they have to either be a. on social welfare or b. "obtaining" the wood for free or c. both. Wouldn't like to be relying on woodfuel sales for all my income. Surely investing the same amount of time and effort into educating people about natural drying techniques and how a little time can save a lot of energy (air vs kiln) is more sustainable than forcing air dryers to either pack up, go underground or invest in energy hungry drying devices,even the ones that use waste wood from onsite still have to be built and that has an environmental cost too.. Ignorance and short term gains? or is it getting so hard to get enough biomass chips that this kind of underhand tactic may be implemented?

seriously cool looking. Be safe though, that pattern wouldn't look so good on your forearms!

Good thread, having read it from the start it seems as if I made a similar pricing structure to Tom D within the last year or so, I had found that The "business" was stagnant, ie. I was working as hard as ever or possibly harder/longer and wasn't banking any more money. I was pricing on a day rate, often undercutting myself by underestimating how quickly I could do a job or working long days for no extra just to keep prices down.. not allowing for complications, tiredness, weather affecting work rate etc.. essentially being part of the problem by ending up being cheap by comparison, the only loser being me in the long run. Now I use better equipment, granted I have some loans but nothing close to unmanagable.. get jobs done faster, price per job, allow for it not to go smoothly.. don't worry if I don't get every job, achieve a higher quality finish as I'm not in a panic to get to the next customer. I have (a little) more time to do things i want to like sign up to arbtalk and walk through the woods, You know, non work related things! In short, I would advise anyone to ditch the "day rate" and price jobs as individual one off items of work and see where it gets you, you can always drop a bit off to secure a contract. Not so easy to try add some on at the end when you see yourself going home no better off. Remember, not everyone cares how long it will take, they just need to know you can do it, do it well and do it for the price agreed for the job in question. There is a living to be made in this area, not by robbing anyone but even less from stealing from yourself.

Is that your old 250 i'm looking at then? its with John Mason, sub 4k.. Genuine question, Is it still a good machine?! age isn't as much of a factor to me as maintenance and overall quality of the machine.. penty of dirt out there ex hire or thrashed by careless employees! plus the schliesing is in holland so transport will be higher cost.. would like the option to have both front or rear depending on job, adaptability is key!

Tape it down in case you roll over.. stretch and twang.. and your back on your comfortable side again! We all have a comfortable side don't we?.. or is it just me with me bad back.. and hip.. and shoulder... sometimes knee too..

On that note has anyone seen or used the little battery pellenc saws? I demo'ed the pellenc backpack powered hedgetrimmer and was impressed..saw will run off the same kit, could be an alternative to either hand or petrol powered? no fumes, can cut bigger branches faster and easier than handsaw but.. extra bulk if climbing.. but it will run for hours! price is a bit eyewatering at close to 2k for the battery.. theres something almost soothing about using a handsaw, especially a good one like a silky. its more primal I guess!

Thanks John, Theres something about the schliesing, looks tidier and probably the better machine for domestic work.. lighter too.. especially if i was to end up front mounting it then drawing the digger behind.. had an idea that the farmi may work better as a crane fed machine.. 45 degree infeed hopper might improve visibility.. by the time i finish making my mind up both will probably be sold!! Thats farmi v schliesing sorted, now back to ducker v schliesing.. Sorry Johnny, kinda hijacked your thread there!

200t and don't mention the wrist pain to anyone.. but in all seriousness I have recently had a look at the silky pole pruners, i do a lot of overgrown conifer hedge work from a cherrypicker and the extra reach coupled with the silence compared to a polesaw appeals to me. plus its a cleaner cut.. not that the connys seem to care.. In agreement with sambo that it may be a loss of machoness..that said there's nothing too manly about spending the evening sprawled on the sofa bleating in pain after a back wrenching 200 ft long slog through a manky wet 25 ft high leylandii hedge covered in old clippings left from the previous cheap quoters who never came back a second time.. engine powered saws get heavy in conditions like that... must admit that rarely happens since i bought the cherry picker, just the odd out of reach branch in a corner these days.. on another note.. how do people not see their gardens disappearing under a mountain of needle bearing green crap?! I've seen thirty foot wide "hedges"

It gets its share of abuse, not so much since I got the mog, but 315000 miles and still flying it! Great workhorse, personally I think that generation of Toyota was the perfect combination of old school heavy built reliability and modern(ish) refinement. Aiming to bring her to 500k miles! provided no one pulls out in front of me!

Please ignore the lack of spare wheel and new hitch in last photo. nothing happened. nothing at all.

durability testing of ifor williams trailers. result. pass.

Interesting. sounds like the way things should be once more, walking through a sitka stand or even a large open field of monoculture anything, one feels a certain unease.. well, i do at least.. sadly this disconnect from nature is becoming more prevalent, less and less landowners owning more and more land for solely financial reasons doesn't help either. The cry from the dying hippie that we should all plant a tree may not help either because in my experience half of them will be unsuitable species, badly planted in the wrong effin place! Large scale biodiversity projects are needed now.. (posted by a chainsaw wielding hypocrite who makes a financial gain from cutting down said trees..) anyone..?

In a similar situation myself.. will keep an eye on this thread.. Looking at a schliesing 300 or farmi ch250.. not sure which would be better.. from what ive seen the schliesing would probably be better on twisted macrocarpa or leylandii but the farmi could be crane (or digger) fed. not sure if a ducker could be compared to a farmi? but anything would make more sense than the 5inch shredder i have now! Either the ducker or schliesing will look the business out front on a mog!

Thanks Steve.

Finally decided to sign up after months of reading various posts and gaining advice (and a few laughs as well!) Lets see how it goes.. Quick intro.. self employed, work is varied, trees, light groundworks, hedges and occasional landscaping. toys include a u1200 mog and three ton digger. based in the west of Ireland.