little_p

This was a driving job with a vehicle tracker fitted. The information system would give regular updates on location, speed etc If the vehicle had stopped an alert was sent out to HQ.It could have meant an accident or the driver had stopped for a piss, if the driver didn't phone in to say that he was having a piss then potentially some kind of rescue team was sent out. In this particular case, on several occasions the driver failed to tell HQ about his break and a costly rescue team was sent out, which eventually led to him losing his job.

Just be mindful that being assertive with employers over personal safety can be a double-edged sword. I know of one organisation where the workers got quite militant over health and safety for lone workers, so the employer put in place a number of measures to protect the workers. The Trade Union went away happy talking about the 'victory for workers rights' that they had achieved. On the whole what the employer had implemented a series of different employee trackers. They also implemented a policy of 'zero tolerance' for breaches of h&s. Now they know where and when Bob is and if he is on the move. It does means that they are quickly alerted to a potential accident. It also means no quick fag breaks or afternoon naps for him. Big brother is watching. Now if Fred stops moving and he forgets to phone in to say that he is taking a piss, that is a disciplinary. If he does it several times, he is an unemployed lone worker. After all, no employer would tolerate an unsafe worker not working the guidelines that they themselves wanted?

A chap that I know that plants trees in dry / stoney / light soil (effectively soil that won't hold much moisture) also a runs a vertical length of drainage pipe at the outer edge of the hole for the tree. FloPlast Land Drainage Flexible coil pipe (Dia)80mm, Black | DIY at B&Q WWW.DIY.COM This black PVC flexible coil pipe from FloPlast is ideal for carrying waste safely and cleanly away from your home. You might want to fence around the tree as well to try and keep livestock and pests off the tree.

There are a few benefits to using a credit card. There is usually enhanced protection for purchases made on a credit card and using a credit card and then paying it off each month enhances your credit rating (and it is surprising what companies look at your credit rating being agreeing to deal with you).

Here is my girl. A Case JX1090U with a Quickie Q46 loader. Very light, so great as a Stockmans tractor, but not sure that I would recommend for heavy loader work. Before that had a Case 4230. They weren't particularly loved because whilst the windows gave a good view, they were like sitting in a cooker in the summer. They can be good value second hand. Sometimes even cheaper than the older Case 885.

Drop BY £6k? I don't think that I have ever been allowed to have a credit card limit higher than £5k! But yeah, they are getting itchy feet. I occasionally 'tart' my credit card (move to another bank offering a better deal) and I noticed that around April time the long 0% credit cards started to dry-up. If you look at the stats on new car purchases, the vast majority are bought on finance. Now that is a sh*t storm waiting to happen ?

There is usually a bit of a trick to getting a good deal to staying with telecoms firms. You usually first speak to somebody in customer services who doesn't have much authority to offer you a better deal. The trick is to get the CS person to think that you are *seriously* considering leaving, at which point they should transfer you to somebody in "Retention". They are the people who have the authority to offer the better deals.

I've got both home and business with plus. net. I find them pretty straightforward to deal with and a UK call centre. Not sure what TV packages they offer as FreeSat is more than enough for me. If your with Virgin Media I'm assuming that you are in a cable area? I don't know what things are like now, but the cable operators used to have by far the fastest broadband. If you do change providers, look at the minimum contract length. Some of them can be for up to 2 years. That is a long time to put up with poor connections and customer support.

That's what I'm saying. There is a lot of timber there. Even when it is felled, there is a lot of work to be done. I was trying to give the OP a visualisation of what would be left behind if they just paid for it to be felled and trash chipped. And another photo of how much firewood would be there. More work (and timber) than many homeowners realise and would be prepared to deal with.

Even if the brash is taken and chipped, there is still going to be a lot of timber there and a fair amount of labour to turn it into firewood. This about half the timber on a similar sized tree and when split it would create, bags upon bags of firewood. Like enough to fuel a house your size for a year or two. Personally I would pay for someone to drop it, take it away and be done with it. This isn't a job where the corners could be cut. Out of interest, who diagnosed that the tree had been infected?

Thanks all the continued responses. The reason why I asked about a MS391 was that it was 64cc and was £507 + VAT (with a 20" bar) so seemed a good compromise between power and price. A proper Forestry chainsaw is a £200 more and I don't think that I can justify spending that much more for the amount that it will be used. What would be the main difference(s) between a MS391 and a MS362? Maybe 'holding their money' wasn't the right term to use, I guess what I was asking for what chainsaws are 'well thought of'. From the comments, it seems that the Makita / dolmar range and a Husky Ranchers come well recommended.

Thanks all for the replies. What I’m reading loud and clear is unless I can get a trusted used saw, I should be looking to buy new. @Khriss I take your point that I am effectively getting a new one for 20% less. All - If I was to buy new, is there a well thought-of “hold their money” type of forestry chainsaw? I have started to look at prices for a Stihl MS391 with a 20” blade. Looking at the Stihl as we have a MS231 and a Kombi, which both seem to be reliable enough. It is 64cc which should be a bit more powerful that the Zenoah that we currently have a blade long enough to tackle some of the bigger stuff that we have on the farm. It seems a good compromise between cost and performance?

I was wondering what is everyone's general view on buying a used Arb chainsaw? Is it plain daft to even consider it? Is there any way to check how many hours it has been used for? Whether it has been regularly serviced? Whether it has been previously stolen? Even how old it is? The background is that I am a part-time farmer, the farm that I work on has a river and two streams running through it, so plenty of timber (mostly alder and ash). I have a Stihl MS231 which is perfect for hedge laying, dealing with fallen branches, small and light stuff etc. Most years we have at least one tree come down that needs to be dealt with by a bigger saw. We also have a Zenoah G561 AVS which we use for the bigger stuff. It is proving to be very unreliable (had a plug and filter change), so are looking for a 'fresh' Arb chainsaw and doubt that will be able to justify buying a new one.