Andrew L

Coming late to this party but: Should not the infographic talk about scanning the ground for services before grinding? What about screening and signage to protect windows and the general public? And 3rd party Insurance? Surely these are the things that make a company differ from the cowboys? Although to be fair my stump grinding course did not say anything about CAT scanning 🙄

And, a response from the council: "Dear Mr Linney, I refer to your message that has been passed to me. I can inform you that the information you refer to is given as guidance only, it does not imply that consent is automatically granted to cutback any overhanging branches without first specifying these works within an application. We have had several instances where a tree owner has complained that their neighbours have carried out works to their trees without first informing them (the tree owner) of the proposed tree works. Dead or dangerous trees may be removed as an exemption, however you are obliged to provide 5 days written prior warning before carrying out the proposed works, this is known as “a 5 day notice”. All 5 day notices are registered as an application. If after 5 working days you have not received a response you may proceed with the necessary works. If the works are considered to urgent (they cannot wait 5 working days) then you are advised to take digital images before taking the necessary action. Deadwood may also be removed as an exemption likewise broken branches. Consent would be required before removing any climbing plants from the canopy or the main stem. I hope this information is of assistance. Yours sincerely," For me the only surprise is "Consent would be required before removing any climbing plants from the canopy or the main stem." I thought ivy etc was not covered by a TPO,,, Andrew

Thanks all for your insights on this. In answer to various comments above: Yes. Both trees are within the client property boundary and so the debate is purely hypothetical but the householder is clearly very keen to make use of whatever options to improve the light to her property. There is substantial and sustained (spade?) damage to the cherry tree roots which I believe has caused die-back to the tree and I duly documented this on my application but this aspect was not even mentioned on the permission: did the TO even go and look?! Who knows? Cherry tree prune at this time of year? Well I was originally contacted back in ~May 20. No response from householder for at least 3 months after quote sent in. First application for works to the council denied. This order gives 2 years to complete the work,,,, But it is interesting that I have yet to see a TPO with a species-specific time of year prune recommendation. However, it is my understanding that both cherry and mountain ash are ideally pruned late winter-early Spring. If and when our learned colleagues at the council do respond to my request for clarification, I will update here. Cheers and thanks again Andrew

OK Just sent this to my local council,,, "Dear Sir Many thanks for your recent email giving permissions to work on the 2 TPO trees identified. I note that the email with these permissions also gives advice in relation to branches from neighbouring trees whose branches overhang boundaries "Neighbours may abate the nuisance of overhanging branches by cutting back to, but not beyond the boundary without necessarily having the permission of the tree’s owner." Given that this note is added to a TPO grant of works, it would appear to indicate that an overhanging tree branch may be pruned back to the boundary even if a TPO applies to that tree ie that council permission is not required. Could I please ask if this is what is intended by this note's inclusion to the TPO permission? My understanding was that a tree with a current TPO in situ could only be worked on without prior permission from the local authority if: 1 It was immediately dangerous to person's or property 2 The removal of deadwood and ivy was all that was being undertaken I would be very grateful if you would please clarify." Let's see what they say. A

Absolutely, but my point is that when this note is tacked onto the end of a TPO permission of work, it implies that the TPO is not required: which is exactly what the householder tried to tell me when I first went to the property. Andrew

Dear experienced colleagues, Just had a TPO letter of approval arrive by email from my local council with an additional note, which I think is confusing. Cut n pasted below, all identifying names etc deleted. "Proposed works: Cherry tree ~remove any deadwood and crossing branches, and reduce the crown height by 1-2m. Mountain ash - deadwood and remove minor crossing branches only to maintain shape and tree form. Following consideration of your application, XXXXXXXX District Council, as the District Planning Authority, pursuant to powers in the above legislation, raises no objection to the above proposal as follows: Consent is granted to carry out a crown clean to one Cherry tree located within the front garden and reduce it in height by up to 2 metres. Consent is also given to remove the dead wood and crossing branches to one nearby Mountain Ash, which is all as applied for. This decision is subject to any informatives shown below: (1) Works hereby permitted should be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the current edition of BS 3998 by a competent person. (2) The tree works hereby approved shall be completed within two years of the date of this decision notice. Please note Neighbours may abate the nuisance of overhanging branches by cutting back to, but not beyond the boundary without necessarily having the permission of the tree’s owner. However, it would be polite to discuss the matter before starting work and you should offer back what you cut. If you are proposing to carry out any other work to a tree that is not on your own land, you should seek permission from the landowner before starting work." In my opinion, the note after the TPO appears to imply that council permission is not required if a neighbour's tree has annoying branches and so there's apparently no need to even find out if the tree in question is subject to a TPO?! Which to my current understanding is absolutely wrong. Be grateful, as ever, for your thoughts on this Andrew

No worries: I told you I failed maths O level first time around. Thank you for putting me straight. A

Update: Youngest birthday has gone very well, she is v happy. I have engaged a bookkeeper who will pick up my receipts on 2/1/21. My work site landlord is happy for me to apply for a Op licence: I am guessing I should be applying for a restricted licence? Planning to do a leaflet drop in my road at least after checking costs before putting out the advert in the local paper. I know almost everyone on my lane, so I don't think there will be objections,,, Meanwhile, struggling with a quote for 140 Lombardy Poplars to be reduced by 50%. Height varies from 50-80ft, tree condition variable. Square plot, road and BT line down one side, farm access and buildings down 2 other and a footpath on the last. Have identified 3 local chip sites, and made contact with the local council re TPO. Defo no CA etc. Back to the hospital tomorrow, hoping for a quiet day,,, A

I am in Sevenoaks area. It's my youngest daughter's birthday so got to go. Thanks for all advice: excellent. The felling near-miss was because I was doing 2 jobs cos of C19. Fulltime NHS ie 12 hr shifts plus commute as well as the tree jobs. I never intended to do this, and was hoping it would stop but here we are. Groundie? Yup, no real harm done, so lucky but it easily could have been a game-over thing, in so many ways. Truly hope he gets himself sorted though,,, Andrew (RGN, RNc, ENP and ex Emergency Planner, so I was expecting the Pandemic, just didn't know when,,,

Ta muchly. Have a waste carriers licence already. Was just looking up the Regs: from what I read it seems to be that if I attach a snow plough to the front of it, its exempt from needing an O licence,,, Seriously, best speak to the site landlord. A

Good idea and I have grandpa rights, licence wise: but doesn't a 7.5t truck mean I need an Operator licence for the work site?

Be gentle with me, it's my first time,,,, OK, deep breath, cards on table. 33 years almost full time NHS (mostly CN A&E), dual qualified, MSc blah blah blah but last 8+ years struggling in a job I detested being a bed manager at a well-known children's hospital. Probably partly because of the grief from the job, the missus kicked me out about 5 years ago. But when I had my own hair n teeth, I used to be a tree surgeon and I had been keeping my hand in around the NHS job. And so, Feb 19 I resigned from the NHS, borrowed £30k over 5 years, bought a 03 plate tipper Transit, an ex-demo TP155 chipper and a 2nd hand stump grinder. Me and the now ex were competing for GB at age-group triathlon, so my fitness/age wasn't an issue. 18 months down the line. Good: The job is mostly great. Don't mind getting wet. Like being outdoors. Enjoy the climbing challenges and like the feedback from doing a good job (absent from NHS job). Debt paid off (with govt bounce-back help), I have a healthy order book and growing customer base. I have been steadily increasing my skill set so now have CS 32 & 40 on top of the basic tickets and put one of my groundie's through his 30. The TP has been mostly reliable but its warranty runs out in Feb 21. This summer I have also bought a 22 ton capacity towed splitter which I bring to bigger jobs to reduce humping about useless softwood lumber and just fire it through the chipper. I use the Arbtalk chip website and have yet to pay to offload chip. Work landlord: Very lucky to have a great worksite. Own secure space for tools and truck/chipper, handy skip burn site and even has an engineer also on site for the inevitable breakdowns etc. Bad: The paperwork, just hate it. Due to C19, I went back to the old NHS job and have been sending my crew out to do non-climbing hedging jobs etc. I have been letting invoices slip sometimes over 3 weeks, which is crap but now up to date. Bank balance is healthy but I am now waaaay behind on it and the 31st Jan deadline is looming. I have decided to splash out on a bookkeeper to help. Groundie's: Hard to find good one's. Just had to let one go: Kit constantly being mysteriously broken but no-one 'fessing up to it. Used a lowering rope and then discovered a 50% "nick" in it halfway along its length, ffs. He'd told me about a forthcoming court case but not any detail: he neglected to tell me he'd been told not to have contact with kids. When challenged he said he hadn't had any contact. Well, he had met mine and a customer's last week: off you f*ck (with a full day's pay for half a day's work, cos I'm soft). The Transit. It has been mostly reliable but it is so slow: we have big hills round here and with any load at all it drops to 1st gear. Its had new clutch, battery, 2 outer rear tyres, windscreen, and the water pump gasket has just let go. But it has just passed its MoT and I only hoped it would last 18 months, so not complaining. LOLER: Due to C19, finding it hard to get my climbing kit checked. Now way out of date but planning to sort this/next week. Legality: Very aware I am constantly climbing w/o a 2nd climber. Truck is always over-loaded as soon as any chip goes in there. All my tickets are up to date (30/31/32/38/39/40/41 plus stump grinder n 1st Aid) but groundie's are mostly worked "under supervision" or whatever. Near misses: There have been a lot. Bust head of fibula May 19 taking on a nasty hung-up tree which I didn't want to do but needed the work. Lucky to get away with only a day off work (confess I quite enjoyed telling the ENP in ED what was wrong at triage: she didn't believe me cos I was still walking ;). Pretty sore climbing with spikes the following week but doable. Working flat out, knackered: managed to top myself out of a tree ie hinge and back cut applied and I am tied into the top. Groundie's not paying attention either,,, Only still here because tree hit the floor before the rope got tight on my harness (felling from about 12 ft up). Scared the crap out of myself once or twice but I like adrenaline and its why I left the NHS job. So, background over: crossroads. Debt paid off. £12K in my business account (less this year's tax bill tbc). I have been thinking about getting a 4x4 pickup to replace the Skoda estate which would mean I could pull a tipping trailer (still to be bought) which could either be a back up tipper and/or could take plant to bigger jobs Or Do I replace the truck with something newer, safer (for my guys) and EU6 compliant (I have a London job to quote for, the exclusion zone is coming out to near me in Sept 21)? I'd be grateful for your thoughts Andrew

Coming to this late but "260 working days in a year"?? Je ne comprends pas. 5 days a week 4 weeks a month 12 months or 5x4x12=240 (but I did fail my maths O level first time around,,, ) Otherwise I agree with what you are saying. Looks like a days work and £750 for a 3 man crew seems reasonable particularly if you are not having to take the timber away. Confess I do struggle with pricing, though. Andrew

Be aware the Regs are changing very soon. From memory large scale production has to be certified by March 21, small scale March 22 I believe. And it's a complete ball-ache. You have to demonstrate how you are drying the wood, and storing it so that the customer is burning it at less than 20%. Your drying method has to be compliant with latest emission regs,,, Got to get truck MoTd in 35mins but will try and find the Regs later,,, Honestly? Very difficult to make a living from it without investing very heavily to buy serious kit. Margins are going to be tight. Andrew

Just had a big glass of wine, so please forgive spelling/syntax issues,,, 1st year's Ltd company accounts are due in 22/8/20 after a 3 month C19 extension. My accountant has asked for £1500 up front plus £200/hr (ffs). In his pdf splurge (12 docs in total: as if I don't have anything else to do), he also sent me docs that were clearly for another company. I sent him 8 questions via email 6 days ago but have not received a response. My accounts are with him but he is waiting for my signed whatever-the-f- it-is commandment which he got wrong (one of the questions). I have been with him for about 2 years now, as a sole trader and have never been impressed. Can anyone recommend a good, honest, dependable accountant? Is it possible to get a set of accounts turned around for HMRC in 3 weeks (all my numbers are in EXCEL format, all receipts time ordered and filed). Cheers A Kent, J4 M25 if location matters

Yeah, tell me about it. Silly cow kicked me out of the house to screw her married boss and now she's on her own and can't work in traffic any more (she loved it there, such a shame). Best thing she ever did from my viewpoint!

Spud Thank you. Very helpful. So I have found out that because I was cautioned by the Trafpol at the time of the offence, the 14 days waiver thing does not apply. I am apparently looking at a Band C or D or maybe E fine + a ban likely for a month but could be more, it all depends on the Magistrate. Naturally I will go to go and plead everything I can think of and I have looked into paying for a specialist solicitor to help but haven't done anything yet. Maybe I should give my divorce solicitor a ring tomorrow, she was brilliant dealing with the ex's b-s (who happened to be a traffic cop ). Trying to prepare last year's accounts just now, which is another story,,,, Cheers A

I have really done it now,,, Working away, locked down. Called back to old NHS job (I resigned April 19 to set up tree business) and so got the KTM Duke 690 back on the road. Working at Evelina Children's, St Thomas' and it was good to be back seeing everyone again. Roads were lovely and clear,,,, So Monday 27th April going home. Off the Old Kent Road is an overpass that does a nice right hander before dropping back onto ground level. Its one-way, no pedestrians, no turnings,,, and I usually do go a touch quick around it. I have never seen a traffic car near there before. So you can guess what happened,,, bit more throttle than usual, round the bend, coming down off the ramp and spotted the cop car. Hard on the brakes+++. Pulled over. Very polite coppers. Showed me the laser gun reading: 71mph, in a 30. Oh f*ck. And then I started thinking about it as I rode home. OMG! Clean licence. 7 years NCD on the car. Truck is insured for anyone over 25yrs old so its not a complete disaster. But here's the thing: nothing has happened. No letter, nowt. I have asked around and apparently it can take months. I completely accept it's my fault. Just going too quick. And the funny thing is I chose the Duke because it wasn't too fast (tops out at 115mph) but it does have a massive mid-range and I clearly have no self control,,, Its the waiting that's the worst,,,, A

Probably a stupid question but,,,, Do you get high winds out there "in the middle of nowhere"? The reason I am asking is I can't see what is holding the roof structure to the framework. I am no engineer but it occurs to me that if there was a strong wind, the roof would act as a massive sail and could be lifted off unless it had tie-down straps. Apologies I am stating the obvious and I just can't see them on your pic. A

30/31/32/38/39/40/41 LOLER up to date Called back to NHS for obvs reasons but now available Ring/text 07920 078458 Andrew

Looks like Sevenoaks, Kent from his previous postings,,,

Just applied for BBLS with my business bank as a Ltd company but YES sole traders can also apply. Looks as if you just need to apply via your own bank. I suppose if a Sole trader without a business account, you may need to speak to your bank directly? Cheers A

Thanks for all the comments: I realised when I chose to respond that that was an element of "airing my laundry in public" but I am new to running a business and I wanted to know if the forum did feel I was doing the wrong thing. My first year of business has been a steep, no vertical learning curve. Although mostly positive, I have made mistakes, particularly with quoting jobs and have been financially out of pocket because of it. As a result, I tend to try to work out how long a job might take with how many guys and then add a safety net for unforeseen problems and price accordingly. Before I read Jack's post, I had not given that job another thought. Customer very happy, team happy: all good. So it is interesting to read everyone's comments and perspective, both positive and negative. However I will say to those who do not run a business, that money the company earns does not go to me, it goes to the company. I can honestly say I have never been as poor as this last year despite the company doing well. Why? Because almost every time we make any money it goes straight back into the company to pay for updating equipment, paying off business loans, training etc etc. I pay myself virtually nil. Just enough to pay the rent. Not complaining: I am poor but happy. A

Fascinating because I am the boss described by "Jack R". "Is this unreasonable?" Well in order to make a judgement, perhaps you should hear the complete story: This was a complex TPO job whose main protagonist was a large 60+ft Cedar to be section (rigging) felled in the back of a garden but also involved 2 hedges, a Leylandii reduction (that turned into a fell after the owner changed her mind which meant I had to get the Tree Officer round for re-approval) and a mature apple tree deadwood and thin. I quoted for this job back in Nov, got approval from the council in Feb but diary commitments meant it was going to be undertaken on Weds, Fri and the following Mon. Jack R agreed to work those days along with another completely inexperienced groundie. Jack has a 30, 31 and had just completed his 38 that week. To the best of my knowledge he has not yet done his 39. Jack did the apple tree with his Silky and I also asked him if he would like to put a rope up the Leylandii for me, which he readily agreed to do. Having knocked that out and one of the hedges we then got on with the Cedar. Big spreading multi-limbed tree with a tiny dz and multiple targets. 90% of it needed lowering. After lunchtime I offered Jack to get some spiking practice with my spikes up the tree using my top anchor point. This was of no help for the job whatsoever but I thought it would be good experience for him since he had told me he had no spiking experience other than his 38. On day 2, I offered Jack to climb the Cedar, put up my top anchor point and also the rigging gear: purely and only to give him experience of doing so. It took him a while but I thought it would be good for him to try doing it. After lunch he got another go at spiking. The job went really well, by the end of day 2 the tree was on the floor and cut up and we had walked the timber to near roadside for collection. All that remained was raking up of the site and a hedge trim. Bearing in mind this was Friday afternoon I said to the guys does anyone want Monday off? They discussed it and Jack said he wanted to work. On Monday we were finished by late morning. But the owner also wanted some re-pointing doing and some landscaping stuff undertaking which I gladly handed over to Jack, since that was his background. He told me he would get a full day's work out of it. On return to base, I paid him for 2 1/2 days work at a 2nd climber rate and at no point did he tell me he was unhappy about it. He also chopped through my tool strop which was on my 550 that he hadn't bothered to take off. He said he would replace it but I ended up buying a new one today, 3 weeks later and he has just re-paid me for it. I read his post last night and was pretty shocked by it. I started my business last April. It is small. I have no employees only subbies but I do my best to treat them as well as I can. I put one of them through his CS30 last year at my expense. I have spoken to Jack this evening on the phone and asked him why he did not feel able to talk to me about this issue. He just said it wasn't just me, but something he had come across from lots of tree surgery companies. I have naturally asked around my other subbies: none of them have any problem with what I have done. "Is this unreasonable?"