JLA1990

Many thanks both. That’s the only provider I can find in the country, can’t be right? @slack ma girdlei shall give you a call this week.

Hi all, What qualifications are there for dismantling/felling trees using grapplesaws/shears on an excavator? how are users currently proving competency, is nptc fmo 2.2 the only current qualification, If so anyone know who’s offering this course? Thanks,

Stihl 461 will handle the gorse but as pleasant suggests you’re gonna need a dealer near by. As good as they’re, hitting that spec veg consistently you’re gonna need parts on the reg. Obvs I have no idea site conditions etc but for the price of the cutter could you not get a tractor/mulcher in? That would do more in a day than you would in a few months constant cutting.

In a nutshell…. - consultancy fees - time spent + 20% (no all risk costs/price work) - stand down fees (contractors getting paid to do nothing) - compulsory purchase/compensation - Ecology & planning - all of the above milking it for all it’s worth the list could go on and on, as feckless as the ecology work going on is it’s a small proportion of the overspend. I was awarded (subcontracted) in to undertake grassland translocation works…..lead ecologist had never project managed such works same can be said for the woodland trans works 👍

Can anyone recommend a provider, preferably NPTC. Based in Gloucestershire but happy to travel

Thanks very much… rather than taking over the thread I’ve gone down a Google/YouTube rabbit hole about offshore diving/working.

Thanks! Very interesting, what kind of depths can the divers work at?

Can you give a little more info on what the divers are doing and what all the dials are recording…looks very interesting, a world i know nothing about.

I can help, pmd you.

I love dogs! You could buy the new prinoth raptor 100, I think you’d get loads of work trading off the novelty alone (first & only one in the country).

As you've touched on start small, get a feel for what's needed in your area (unless you want to travel) and build from that. As the two guys above have mentioned its far easier to fill a week if you're flexible and can keep overheads low (trailering around your own kit etc) sourcing out to other contractors can work but because interest rates were so low everyone and their dog has kit now hence the 'find your own clients' comment. I have never worked in domestic, previously ran a company but stepped away end of last year and am now in the throws of deciding what i want to do (i have set up another company), its becoming very appealing to stay small and become an owner operator however i would likely buy a 14t excavator but i have an old client base i can turn to. i would really hold off with something like a wtc as some of the day rates I've been quoted recently I'm not sure how they're making money, plenty of margin for me to just pm jobs and subby everyone in at the current rates of larger machinery (food for thought)

Do you have any experience operating larger pieces of kit? There's money to be made being an owner operator but only getting the client in yourself not subbing for other firms. Primarily it all depends on how much money you want to make.... decide what work you want to do with what machine and start making enquiries/lining up work. Hire at first until you have a healthy forward order book then outlay for the machine. This doesn't have to be large bits of kit either plenty of work with avants,roboflails,3t diggers etc, you can easily make 40-60k with a small machine however if you want to break this ceiling multiple bits of kit or larger kits required. Personally in these times I would face the larger overhead of hiring (if you have the cashflow) rather than owning especially if you have no client/contact base.

Ecology Surveyor available to work alongside arb crews carrying out nesting bird, Bat roost assessments, ground checks (reptile,gcn etc), badger sett monitoring/mitigation. Relevant class licenses held to carry out a suite of surveys and mitigation works.

Get on Facebook marketplace, 100 odd pairs available (some good deals to be had on boots too).

I was aware of the rusting issue so I’ve had all mine undersealed (currently have 2 x 2018, 1 x 2013, 1 x2020 models). Not had a single problem, I get them sealed every year as we do quite abit of off-road. Personally I’d fully recommend them especially if you’re towing at the legal limit, wouldn’t have any other truck.

Long shot I know - Anyone know of a yard/unit available in the Gloucester/Cheltenham/Tewkesbury area. Looking for a mix of a small outside space and unit (approx 1000-2000ft2). Cheers,

We run Fs461 with mulching heads, heavy use on all of the above vegetation on a daily/weekly basis. Lasted three years without fault and then all we’ve had to do is repair/replace drive shaft. If you’re using it fairly infrequently and maintain it properly I’d wager it lasting many years without fault.

If you’re sowing over an already established area the above is bang on the money…… it takes time! if you want it quicker I’d suggest strip and buy in wildflower turf - really economical solution 🤣

Similar scenario (I’m 32 and the business had gone in to its fourth year). Tree work alone wasn’t enough to sustain the profits I wanted so I diversified into ecology/site clearance works, not sure if that’s an avenue you have/want to explore - greater profit margins, larger projects with a sustained work load. I had the same ethos in respect to not wanting to make cuts, although I didn’t rely on advertising as I knuckled down and put in many hours talking to the right people in different sectors mainly big project management companies for large development companies housing/commercial. Hope it’s not coming across “trying to teach you how to suck eggs” just saying there’s possibly markets you have not yet explored where the margins are significantly higher than dealing with domestic/council work.

I recently jacked in being a company director for this reason, I had two teams which allowed me the 90k I was after however with recruiting being my main headache (could talk forever about this) I decided it wasn’t worth the stress. I’ve now stepped back into construction and although I take home less I have healthy cash flow (customers stick to payment terms unlike my previous clients mostly house builders), low overheads, more free time. I’m going to take a few years out and hopefully get back into the tree/de-veg game when things have improved (Hopefully). Based on my experience as I’m sure a lot of people will agree your money is hard earned in this field but with the added risk of injury, machine breakdowns, weather, payment delays, staffing problems etc it has to make financial sense. For me, I’ve come to the realisation there’s easier ways of making money.

As @Clutchy says, outstanding training cost is deducted from final Salary payment (The training cost decreases following time served).

Perfectly legal and I’ve had to action it a few times. (I can confirm advice was given by someone who wasn’t fat or blonde).

Justin kingswell is your man, his hitachi or pinroth will do the business alternatively break up the stumps and tub grind for biomass.

Maple tree care - based in Nottingham