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We are in the wrong job lads

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townfanjon

townfanjon

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A sort of rant , lol.
I have a massive beech hedge around my gaff and my tree sturgeon / hedge cutter man came and lopped it today .
theres no rant with him, he's a pro tradesman that's why I use him.
so, 2 off them , 5.5 hours a piece probably 1.5 hours travelling (round trip) charged me 320 quid , equates to about £25.00 quid an hour. Like I say not bothered about what I paid , my point is they charge £5 an hour less than me ....
but they can't set a house on fire, flood it , burn it down and potentially kill somebody.

I think you may see my 'rant' lol
 
It does seem expensive for a hedge trimmer . I E it's not like they have the same costs in tools, courses , insurance , maybe certain tree surgeons yes but hedge trimmers no.
 
Did he take it away? Or bring a chipper and leave you the chips? Either way that'll cost. Saws access training climbing ropes that you'll put your life in to so you wouldn't scrimp chain saws poll saws chain saw trousers..plus a lot of surgeons have a yard to cost in aswell.

He he won't burn a house down but equally you won't drop 1/4 ton of English oak on a passer by. He won't flood a house but could end up in the hot seat if he accidentally killed a protected tree.

swings and roundabouts my friend. He's probably on uk tree feller forums commenting on a post where someone is claiming he is to expensive as a pikey with a chainsaw is out doing it for half his price and killing the industry
 
gasmanrob said:
Did he take it away? Or bring a chipper and leave you the chips? Either way that'll cost. Saws access training climbing ropes that you'll put your life in to so you wouldn't scrimp chain saws poll saws chain saw trousers..plus a lot of surgeons have a yard to cost in aswell.

He he won't burn a house down but equally you won't drop 1/4 ton of English oak on a passer by. He won't flood a house but could end up in the hot seat if he accidentally killed a protected tree.

swings and roundabouts my friend. He's probably on uk tree feller forums commenting on a post where someone is claiming he is to expensive as a pikey with a chainsaw is out doing it for half his price and killing the industry
Click to expand...

Post of the week!
 
is it NOT that he charges to much than we have been conditioned to charge so little?
Lawyer charged me £100 to sign a bit of paper (10mins work).....
The system is getting worse for manual workers and tradesmen :( ...we are treated shockinly.
A doctor ranted about how much fees etc she had to pay to stay in her job...we have just payed out 6X what she paid and ours is EVERY 4 years . ANd compulsory training is 4 yearly too...
I dont think he has charged so little ...I think WE are getting humped by those (supposedly) above us ;)
 
Nephew was a tree surgeon come grass cutter for some 6 years.
And I suppose tree surgery profits can be a bit like plumbing profits in many ways, and I'm not talking twee beech hedge, no offence meant.

Proper Ivy covered tree, a no no for a chainsaw blade.
So they'll strip off the ivy prior to cutting much like a plumber will remove old pipe before the refit.
They'll fell and chop down said tree, plumber may remove hwc.
Plumber will take old copper to be weighed in.


Tree feller will offer and pray big time that when they ask client if they'd wish to have the tree removed client say's yes. Tree surgeon charges their time for removal takes tree to yard seasons the wood and sells the following year for roughly the same cost has the whole original job, thereby doubling his profits, Oh and they usually own the yard.
 
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Rob, yes he took it away , that is one of the many reasons I use him.( great post lol)

It would have taken me a day to lug it all to the tip , another reason why I use him . Yes he was cutting a hedge today next time he is back, he may be pruning a tree. I have no problem whatsoever paying him that wasn't the reason for the post.
At what we have to go through to get qualified, keep qualified . What most of us charge is a joke .

voivoid's , I couldn't agree more with the first line of your post.

i think my prices are going up !, lol
 
The other day my girlfriend phoned me and said someone her brother worked with has a problem with his boiler but he doesn't want to pay! The lad is a no win no fee solicitor and earns a decent wage and then gets good bonuses as well. I said not a chance give him my number and let him call me and I will tell him what I charge, she then asked if I could talk him through over the phone, I said yes not a problem for a fee as he charges £25 for just picking the phone up!

Her brother spoke to him and said what I charge and he said I'm not paying that much!

In this country there is a lot of job snobbery goes on, ok so I haven't been to university, I don't have letters after my name etc so people expect you to work for peanuts. Generally it's the people without money that are happy to pay without question.
 
I think the problem with a lot of people these days is this that fail to make a distinction between us being a tradesmen and running a business. They see what we charge and assume that's profit. Luckily not All are like that.
 
i'd charge next door £25 fo carrying one adjustable and a screwdriver round!
 
Tree surgeons (real ones) have to go through college and a lot of training too you know, they don't just get handed a chainsaw and told to do their best.
 
julesverne said:
I think the problem with a lot of people these days is this that fail to make a distinction between us being a tradesmen and running a business. They see what we charge and assume that's profit. Luckily not All are like that.
Click to expand...

I think scriptwriters and screenwriters should shoulder some of the blame, as it's always the plumber, in film or TV, that gets demonised as being "the trade" that rips off joe public, and that causes fallout.
 
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Mark don't wind me up pal,I am just on my way to look at an isar , and apparently the son in law wants to be there !!!!!!! Lol. He works in an office #upmyarse

will post later
 
I think I'm confused - I have no idea what you just said.
 
The problem with plumbing heating is the 'i can do anything man' these types of diy/ trades or whatever they actually are don't do anyone any favours.

They turn up wanting peanuts to fit a sink , bog ,radiator and the cust is happy for them as all they see is pounds saved.

If insurance companies cracked down on who actually is qualified to do this or that then i would imagine you would see a drastic difference.

As for TREE SURGEONS i wouldn't fancy slipping over whilst revving a chainsaw for £20 AN HOUR
 
if only are trades where like the US each trade sticks to there trade mostly, none of the odd job man whos claiming benefits and just needs to top up his beer fund by fitting a new bathroom for peanuts
 
Mark,
we will start again , forget my post 21
In your post 20, are you referring to my post 19 or my original post 1.
 
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