Clutchy

Ahhhh, great replies all round. Thank you very much. Will send to GM next time

EVO205D if that makes a difference. The shop we have always taken our straight knives to said they can do it, but they are concerned it may cause an issue with the distance to anvil. I know on the forst ones we used shims after 1 or 2 sharpens but this would be the first sharpen on these discs. Anyone done this or should we just buy new? PFA

Looking to get a few for the vans but so far the ones I can see a small saving on are the diesel only cards and most exclude premium petrol which we use on our saws/grinders. Or is it just the convenience of having payment terms and no real saving? There also seems to be a lot of convoluted/hidden costs after the initial 6 months is up. Any recommendations?

I'm not sure why that last bit made me smile so much but its very true. If you're doing the same work you were doing when you started 4 years ago for example, you're not progressing. Anyway, in regards to what would I charge? I've switched up how I quote now so would go a little like this: 3 hours work x 2 men with minimal plant/equipment and waste would be £84 inc vat per man hour x 6 so £504 inc vat. (£420 ex) Admittedly, probably wouldn't win the job but as Mick says, this kind of work is for when you just start out. It doesn't work when you need to make £1200 + VAT a day with your 3-4 employed men to make a profit, but thats just us. The question was, what would you charge, which should be slightly different for every company. Also, 3 hours is slightly more than half a day IMO unless the next job is real close and the 1st was near the yard.

This Its all well and good DIY'ing on simple fells, I feel this is well out of the remit of DIY. Experience is really needed here, saving a bit of money at the cost of life or injury is not worth it. The tree can twist and fall in such unpredictable ways if you haven't the experience or qualifications for this.

They really are, but currently coming in at 11k more than the CMC S22HD. Both have the same specs, not sure what the difference is for. Happy to pay the larger amount, IF I know why Used one before (see pic) and they are just as wobbly as any other MEWP at full reach haha but yes very good kit. Narrows to 0.8m too

Thank you, exactly what I wanted to hear. They're off the list now haha!

In fairness, 1 has lowered theirs into the late £70's + VAT with trailer, guessing orders are low at the moment given the drop in work. I've thought about 2nd hand and doesn't seem worth the hassle. This MEWP is likely to depreciate to around 55k in 5 years from new so only works out as a loss of £500ish a month. Plus you get warranty and less down time (In theory). That's less than 1 job so I'm just biting the bullet. Don't wanna risk my life on something like this 2nd hand

As more and more domestic tree companies realise the Covid gravy train is over, they're going to bid jobs just to win them and 'keep the boys busy'. Going to see a lot of tree firms go bust or need to downsize fairly soon. Just hope that they do it quickly as the longer it goes on, the cheaper the rates go for everyone. Companies who have added multiple gangs to keep up with their high demand from last 2 years are going to be in big trouble I fear

Any one have an up to date experience with these models? 2021 or newer About to place an order for a tracked MEWP, needs to be 11.5m outreach min and circa 20m up and must weigh a max of 3.5t with skeleton trailer. So far looking likely to be CTE 230 as have used it a few times and is decent with variable jacking. All seem to be around 90k

Is the new river wheel available on predators? I've had a look before and couldn't find it. All the americans rave about it on the fb stump grinding group, looks very effective I think its similar to the sandvik one 🤔

I've heard great things about the sandvik, not sure if there is a way to upgrate them on a predator 38x? Yep same as the greenteeth excapt the teeth have a thread which you screw into. I think greenteeth is the opposite

Ive used the 4 in 1 tooth set up (cant remember the name) for a few years on a 360 and 38x and has been very good. They are expensive and it was fairly difficult to touch up properly. So I recently swiched to the ECO teeth they now do. I liked the idea of being able to turn them up to 2 times (like greenmech disc blades). Realistically you can only turn them once before you are cutting with the blunt side again. They're a lot easier to touch up and work well on the 360. On the 38x however They're so brittle. I've broken countless in a 2 weeks they've been on, even if I didn't hit anything. I've also broken 4 carriers. I'm not aggressive with the bites or anything. I'll call them to see if its a production issue. If it is, I'd like to stay on the ECO teeth. I have around 100 of the other 4 in 1 style but have found no one sharpens them properly.

No, £450 + VAT, would of been in and out in 2 hours and on to the next with the big grinder. Quoted from pictures and questions 🥴

Ouch, teeth aint cheap 😬 I cocked up big time on a stump today assuming I could get the tracked machine in... Instead had to use the wee one. Took me the best part of 6 hours with sharp teeth throughout, couldn't cut it any lower either

Assuming you pay yourself circa 15k a year so you can max profits to be mostly paid in divs If you're a 3-4 man team I think you want to be in a position to pay yourself £60k+ total comp So 50-100k profit a year would be something to aim for. Bare in mind you're unlikely to see this until 3-6 years in at least

No idea but I definitely wouldn't want million pound turn over problems and headaches for only a few K in profit as you say

Definitely, if you're a climber and owner, you should be on a good climbing wage plus a good wage for running the company. It is really important to make a good amount of profit but equally important to put it to work. No point having loads sitting in your ltd company bank account when you never know when you could get sued and lose it all (unlikely I know). So a good take home pay + as many benefits as you can eek out of it (legally...) and looking into other business ventures, property etc.

Always want to see things from different perspectives and you do raise some good points. You do take home a lot less the PAYE route on 50k, net around £37.5k take home vs 15k PAYE and 35k divs. Take home there is £46.3k I do appreciate the negatives of low salary, as it can make re-mortgaging and upsizing difficult. In hindsight, I disagree with my own statement, not only is it cliché, I've learnt that having a high turnover is important to winning larger contracts where larger profit may come down the road In my situation my money is worth more to me out the company than in, as my investments return me more £ for £ than the tree company does. We use it as a vehicle/producer for other investments. I also use it to max my ISA each year. I do need to really start putting more into my pension which will be my goal this year. When I first listened back to the episode it made me cringe so hard 🤣 Sound advice, its all good until it's not

I'm not saying I know it all (far from it) but it does pain me to see other trees surgeons undervalue themselves and not work for profit. This came up in another thread regarding under-pricing and received welcomed feedback so thought it might be worth posting on here I did a podcast on All things arb that may help get us the money we deserve and ensure you're running a business. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2jBIQS1gMG4xnuSjDpR1Oy?si=9XTo87mUT--2AEo6UwF10g&utm_source=copy-link Please bare in mind the rates mentioned in this are a little out of date since all this inflation/rise in the cost of living.

Thanks for the feedback and private messages, will post in the business page in case it's of any use to others

Guilty 😳

I'm not saying I know it all (far from it) but it does pain me to see other trees surgeons undervalue themselves. I did a podcast on All things arb that may help get us the money we deserve and ensure you're running a business. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2jBIQS1gMG4xnuSjDpR1Oy?si=9XTo87mUT--2AEo6UwF10g&utm_source=copy-link Please bare in mind the rates mentioned in this are a little out of date since all this inflation/rise in the cost of living.

Again (I'm sorry) I disagree. The same tree shouldn't cost the same. The level of customer service I offer, from the initial phone call to completion is top teir. I'm well spoken, curtious and all my staff are well dressed, well spoken and polite. Not your 'typical' rough tradesmen. I have a 99.2% attendance rate over the last 4 years and pretty much the only reason it isn't 100% is because we were robbed. Clients will pay a premium for those who conduct themselves professionally, write clear quotes and provide insurance and quals without prompting. Further to this, crown reductions are an art. If you're really good at it, why shouldn't I charge more than average? I'm rarely the cheapest quote, and yet I am sometimes chosen from the 2 or 3 quotes. That confirms the price of a tree shouldn't be the same I do love a debate mind

Not anyone can... Its all about barriers to entry, maybe on small domestic yes, but commercial? Not a chance. Need back ground checks. Proof of quals. I'm not surprised a lot of people are struggling on here when they have this low value mindset.