Clutchy

Yes both

My newest recruit that I put through his climbing tickets last week rewarded me on Thursday by filling the EVO165 petrol with diesel and ran it for 3hrs (I'm actually impressed it lasted that long). It's all fun and games isn't it?

I too have been using the Facebook log goblins on our council work. It amazes me how quick they collect. Although some dick head decided to not park on the cycle track and instead churn up all the grass and get stuck in a communal area to save 5m walk I normally send someone the next day to confirm it's all gone and a quick blow. I always say that they cannot cut up on site. As I had it before a few years ago where someone decided to start cutting it up at 8pm and I get a call from the Council asking wtf we are doing 😑

In fairness I price everything higher than most so will get my usual hate; But i would genuinely be around the £15-20k + VAT mark. If it needed 40 man days then we aim for £450 + VAT per man per day. So that would be £18k Got a £19k single tree we are doing in a few weeks (inc crane and traffic management admittedly). Should have that done in 2-3 days though. Priced it so high as didn't want it and of course there the ones you always win.

Yep, 10 days seems totally possible. Especially if the drag is really crap (it is really crap as OP confirmed there is no access for skidsteers etc). If you want to keep staff morale up I'd certainly be saying work till whatever time gets you back to the yard for 14:30 if fairly local Not every job has to be done the fastest, if it's crap price it high, allow the time on it. Have done this several times and it's so worth it makes a crap job ok

Straight to instructor, maybe I was damaged since then 😂 Yeah I get it 100% that's how it should be, train basic stuff on the job, but feels like we are in a time where everyone is looking to sue, and so just trying to protect myself/the business Maybe overkill then

The fact that there are qualifications available and are readily used in the industry it will be argued in court that they should have one. I put staff through chainsaw tickets before they pick one up and climbing tickets before they get up a tree. Have fun fighting the court battle of why you let an untrained 18 year old up a tree even under your supervision fall and die when there are readily available courses out there. You also have no proof that you taught them best practice etc etc The qualifications don't mean anything- other than once they've got them it's then really time for us to start the real training. But it protects you from being sued.

Perfect that's mission accomplished, you've just wasted money on a solicitor that you can't claim back (you cannot claim legal costs in small claims). Local newspaper: "Local Tree surgery firm asks to be paid back partial training costs as agreed by employee breaching their contract, who left after being trained" Oh no what will the world think of me and my little business I'm hardly JCB 😂 Again just to be clear, I would only be this spiteful if it were really bad terms it was left on. Also, your example is of a clearly unfair and unreasonable contract signed by a 16 year old.

Wut?? That's not how it works. Or I'm not understanding what you're saying. Claiment (me) sues for £2k training costs Defendant (employee) puts their defense forward. If I win = £2k plus approx £90 court fees If I lose = nothing happens, the claim is dismissed, I lost out on the £90 Nothing really to lose and a small price to pay to worry them and inconvenience them. They would have to be the biggest A hole for me to do this I am actually a very nice employer I swear 😂 Edit: I think I know what you meant now, if I wasn't confident that I could deduct from their final pay - I would take them to court in which place if I lost there is nothing they can do to me and it's no public either.

What are they going to counter claim for? Or do you mean them start a claim against me for deducting wages? Yeah guess that's a risk but I'm pretty confident and for the sums involved no win no fee aren't going to bother and most tree surgeons don't know how the small claims process works so I'll be ite

Being in control (or more control) of your staff by being able to install values, culture and continuous improvement to get the best team you can. Other wise you've got one foot in and one foot out. Becuase you're too scared to go all in. IMO of course.

Sure, but for the 10 minutes it will take my admin to do it, I'll enforce the debt if they have left on bad terms. Whether I win or not I will annoy them or ruin their credit rating.

Cons are You're not committing to them - they're not going to commit to you. People skirting PAYE employment irrationally annoy me, if you're not going to play the business game for real stop playing at all and leave us to it.

Once they've done a month I start sending them on courses. Small stuff like first aid, chipper etc I just write off. Climbing, saws etc it's written into their contract and MORE importantly, I ask them before sending the bespoke training agreement for that course - if they're happy with said agreement. Agreement is that they pay it back if they leave within 24 months (I also add wages lost for the say 6 days they are off, to make the value larger). I then write into the agreement that the balance reduces by 1/24th for every month worked. Plus a few other conditions such as if you're fired and so on. The main reason to do this isn't whether it's enforceable or not, but most employees genuinely think they are tied in for 2 years when realistically they could easily pay it and leave. I will say all of my guys are here by choice I know I'm coming off as a tosser here. You absolutely can write into the contract and training agreement (which they must agree to) that any deductions can be removed from their final salary payment. I have had this confirmed and documents checked over by our HR consultant. Is it worth the battle? No, the last climber that left had £400 balance left. He swapped it for the 3 days holiday in owed him and called it quits. He comes back and subs to this day (is a barber 5 days a week lol)

Another No vote from me

Whenever there is an issue like this it is almost always due to a breakdown in communication and original wishes. If the client told you from the get go that he wanted it ground out to replant, you should of refused the job, as there is no way your pedestrian grinder has ground deep enough. Or client hasn't told you that, and you can rely on your terms, which I hope we're attached to your quote stating that stump grinding is to 'x' depth unless expressly stated. Our terms our 150mm which is sweet f all in the scheme of things, but covers me. As a minimum I would still go down to 300mm If I know someone is looking to replant I will up that to 550mm below grade, charge more and insist that we need to use our large tracked grinder, and tell them to confirm that any alternative quotes are also going to this depth. 2 sides to every story here.

Tried them all - none survive passed 6 months with employees. Fiskars work out the best as you can order new heads and strings for them, but often the shaft gets bent. I have sucome to replacing all the time is what it is

I love it. It means less and less cheap competition which this thread proves. I win the higher paying jobs with these BS companies because no one else wants to jump through the hoops. Which suits me just fine. SSIP's such as CHAS, Safe contractor, construction online etc were all originally introduced to avoid every new contractor having to fill out all the pre qualifications questionnaires. That never happened and you still have to submit all this extra bollocks info. But as I say, suits me - less competition and I charge double the going rate becuase of it

Feeling like taking a punt and just buying this to keep at the yard, looks like a great deal, 2012 - lowish hours. Comes with the bigger 55kw /74bhp engine with a fresh rebuild. weight 2.5 tonne - Pardon our interruption... WWW.EBAY.CO.UK However, I would ideally like to replace one of the teams arb 130 5-6 inch chipper (still keep it, as tows nicely on skidsteer as a makeshift tracked chipper and for tight jobs) but wondered if something like an evo165d or st6D both with metal outers as staff some how smash everything we own up would be better as would work on 99% jobs. Both can be had for less money, a lot younger 2022ish and 200 to 400 hours on the clock We already have an 8/9 inch chipper @1.5tonnes 2022 model Small 23' arb130 would be staying in both scenarios which is what they currently run, so could be used where BC1000 doesn't fit. The 130 chips good but doesn't pull branches in well compared to a larger chipper, weak rollers/crushing power. So a lot more pulling out, turning, cutting again. Nothing wrong with it at all, its a great chipper but obviously has limitations at that size, but can definitely run it as your main chipper if you're just starting out. Easy to flip though 😑, twice. Most our work is commercial and council with maybe 1/3 domestic, usually crap parking though. Council is street trees but parking is bad. In the last 20 working days (4 weeks) that bc1000xl would of been better on 6 days for at least 1 of the teams. We rarely do site clearance. The EVO165 would of been better 16 out of 20 days. After writing that last line I realise I've just answered my own question, but I'm here now so I'm going to post anyway in case anyone has any insights/advice?

If travelling to CM23 is feasible (I appreciate its totally not from croydon, would be at least 1hr 10 in the morning) I will give you a job right now, on the spot, starting Monday or as soon as you are available. I would pay for all your future tickets and create a climbing career/position if that's the direction you want to go in. We also have different skill routes you can go down if climbing isn't your thing. Completely serious, drop me a PM or send your phone number and I'll give you a call. You have simply passed the attitude test, I think you would be a great employee

Turns out, needs to be high quality oil matching the kohler specs Specifically with an anti foaming agent - I ended up using a super bike brand of oil with the above agent (sorry can't find what and where I bought it). Fixed the problem and has been fine since

Rate of pay will vary considerably depending on experience and qualifications. Happy to take you on as a 2nd climber if you're not confident in all aspects of tree climbing. £30-£40k pa as a rough guide. Perks of working for us: - We don't do hedge jobs - We have our own yard to tip at - We don't split firewood, when you're done you're done. Finish the job at 12 - cool, you're done. - Sports massage or physio / osteopath session every month. - Rarely work past 15:30. Leave site 2pm most days. - 25% domestic, 35% realistic well paid council work, 40% commercial work - Everyone is a decent person, we don't hire problems - Own a tracked spider mewp and truck mewp to take on any jobs you want if it makes life easier (it always makes life easier), no more risking your life on dodgy trees because your boss is tight! - Skidsteer for humping logs - Decent kit / vans with aircon etc - Will put you through any tickets you want We definitely don't pay the most, but your work load is a lot less than it will be at 90% of other companies, which has a value. No shouty bosses. Please give me a call - 07919574221 (Harley)

I would say this has very much now happened

Depending on your area (assuming its far enough away from my area, don't feel like training my competition) I'd be happy to take on another mentee as I have found the one I speak with now keeps me sharp, has fresh ideas and is a mutually beneficial learning experience. No need to pay Assuming we get on/you have a good attitude, otherwise I'll probably stop answering your calls 😂 (sorry I know thats well harsh) Feel free to message me

Google Maps MAPS.APP.GOO.GL ★★★★☆ · Ferme Don't mess around going anywhere else, press day entry on the key pad, head right as you come in and follow the road you will see all the chip piles and log piles Its so easy to tip there Do