Electric vehicles

[6feetdown]

i was self promoting actually

i know iam not the best digger driver as i dont do it enough but i do know whats right and how it should be done
last job
this is what we started with
View attachment 67602

and this is how it turned out
View attachment 67603

Lovely job Bob

 

[V8Druid]

i was self promoting actually

i know iam not the best digger driver as i dont do it enough but i do know whats right and how it should be done
last job
this is what we started with
View attachment 67602

and this is how it turned out
View attachment 67603

stunning !!

 

[V8Druid]

Also been initially judged myself plenty of times too and took great pleasure in proving people wrong.


Heck I could write all night about people who were wrongly judged.

aye -- McCarthy and Stone's land buyers thought they were dealing with some old boy in dirty overalls.
The day I handed the keys to the MD of the land dept., 10 a.m., 29th May, 2014, he said to me ...
" I wanted to come and meet the bloke who managed to get us to pay the most we ever have, for an acre site .. can see why, but jeez you drove a hard bargain "
" never judge a book .......... "

 

[Furniss]

So all this proves we are wasting our time being conscious of image when it comes to company cos is doesn't mean a thing.

 

[LKSF]

So all this proves we are wasting our time being conscious of image when it comes to company cos is doesn't mean a thing.

No, it's about how you want to play the game. Everyone has the choice. Everyone's approach is different.
I take morals over money everytime, but that doesn't mean I don't understand the opposite ways, I can understand them. I just don't agree with them.
I would say it's geographical too.

 

[Gecko]

a good craftsman will/can turn out superb work with the most basic of tools,

Basic, yes, but not crap tools.
When I was still in school and on a tight budget, I bought a Sandvik hacksaw (the best (and most expensive) on the market at the time).
I couldn't bare to bin it because it'd cost so much, but it had a twist in it and always made a curved cut.
Several people arrogantly said "a poor workman blames their tools", but when I proposed swapping, the tone changed.

 

[bobthebuilder]

stunning !!

all done with a 15 year old takuchi 125 and 3 ton dumper ,helped that nothing left site

 

[JD450A]

You can turn out good work with s**t gear if you have the skillset.... no skillset and the best gear in the world isn't going to help.

Something I have noticed in recent years is a worrying downhill trend in customer expectations... there was a time not long ago when most jobs I would be expected to save turf and put it back on the trench.... these days no one is bothered. In many cases most aren't bothered about saving topsoil.....

 

[LKSF]

There are undoubtedly people around who think appearance is everything, but also the other way than has been mentioned.
If you turn up in a new van with a load of new tools up North someone will think you're obviously charging too much.
I remember meeting the criteria for owning a flash classic car so took a large loan out and bought one. I grafted hard to pay it off early as I don't like debt (contrast that to today's norm).
I'd take it out on Summer evenings to visit potential customers, but always parked out of sight and walked the last bit.
I was conscious of being judged by it.

You can turn out good work with s**t gear if you have the skillset.... no skillset and the best gear in the world isn't going to help.

Something I have noticed in recent years is a worrying downhill trend in customer expectations... there was a time not long ago when most jobs I would be expected to save turf and put it back on the trench.... these days no one is bothered. In many cases most aren't bothered about saving topsoil.....

In reality what does that mean?
Surely not putting the old in a skip and buying new in, or what?

A while ago someone was advertising hundreds of tons of TS delivered for free on FBMP, sadly I was way out of their mileage range otherwise I would have taken it all.
It would have filled in and smoothed out a lot of hollows and difficult clay ground.

 

[Furniss]

Something I have noticed in recent years is a worrying downhill trend in customer expectations... there was a time not long ago when most jobs I would be expected to save turf and put it back on the trench.... these days no one is bothered. In many cases most aren't bothered about saving topsoil.....

So the low standards of workmanship have lead to lower expectations from customers.

 

[Smiffy]

I don't think you have to have new or fancy tools. Someone else on here said a well presented smiley transit is just as good which is true.
A) the vehicle chosen should be reliable. The corsa mentioned that was constantly in the garage is no good. If you can't drive the most reliable vehicle you can manage then you aren't going to be as reliable as you can be. Someone reliable that isn't the best is 100x better to employ than someone that the best who is unreliable.
B) if we set aside first appearance judgement itself. Going out to work knowing it occurs and not giving off the best image you can reflects negatively on your mentality

 

[V8Druid]

Basic, yes, but not crap tools.
When I was still in school and on a tight budget, I bought a Sandvik hacksaw (the best (and most expensive) on the market at the time).
I couldn't bare to bin it because it'd cost so much, but it had a twist in it and always made a curved cut.
Several people arrogantly said "a poor workman blames their tools", but when I proposed swapping, the tone changed.

was that the rectangular tubed back one ... still got one .. over tightening it puts a twist into the tube -- prefer the chrome flat backed Eclipse and is always the first one I pick up (out of many 'various' saws hanging up)

 

[V8Druid]

If you turn up in a new van with a load of new tools up North someone will think you're obviously charging too much.
I remember meeting the criteria for owning a flash classic car so took a large loan out and bought one. I grafted hard to pay it off early as I don't like debt (contrast that to today's norm).
I'd take it out on Summer evenings to visit potential customers, but always parked out of sight and walked the last bit.
I was conscious of being judged by it.

ran around in anything reliable for years ..
usually SD1s or old Grannies ... (like a big car) ..
soon as i started running RRs (even classic historics) it was -- I must've be charging too much --
the P38 really raised the comment level -
whereas, prior to those, folk used to say "why don't you have a newer car? " ....
was a no win situation, even when I mostly turned up in a boiler suit

 

[Gecko]

was that the rectangular tubed back one ... still got one .. over tightening it puts a twist into the tube -- prefer the chrome flat backed Eclipse and is always the first one I pick up (out of many 'various' saws hanging up)

yep, that's the one.
I tried it tight, I tried it slack and everyting in between.
the blade never sat quite right on the forward pin.

 

[V8Druid]

yep, that's the one.
I tried it tight, I tried it slack and everything in between.
the blade never sat quite right on the forward pin.

know exactly what you mean

 

[Regy53]

Sometimes there is an element of `all the gear no idea`

puts hand up

 

[TiltyShaun]

I have washed my nearly 20year old Iveco to set a better impression and see if it improves my digger driving!!!

 

[jd6820]

Think I'm in the category of the few, where I run a small cheap van (61 peugeot bipper) treated to a 2 monthly wash, full to the brim with tools, quite a lot of budget (halfords advanced, bergen/us pro and clarke advance) tools and the odd smattering of Snap-on and Mac (only the tools that need to be). Then Milwaukee gear that doesn't look pampered. I regularly attend jobs attempted by the all Snap-on brigade and usually cure the fault. Not the fastest by any stretch and have long turnaround times as callouts take priority. But try my best to sort faults properly and not bodge them, usually fix any other bits whilst I'm there as I don't like return visits. I don't believe in a flash vehicle only to be trashed on some of the sites I frequent, regular washing is tricky when I'm going from one job to the next. But I do value reliability so wouldn't stick hold of an unreliable vehicle. Excellent tools definately don't equal an experienced tradesperson. I'd rather pay for the chap who knows the job and turns up with a run of the mill vehicle than someone who rocks up with all the gear and half the idea. From experience, the latter usually costs more and results in less....

Edit: Only ever had one customer ask if I was going to upgrade my van? The reply they got was along the lines of yes if you want to pay me a further £10/hr to turn up in a more flash vehicle then I'll gladly oblige. I bet you can guess what their response was!

 

[topkit]

There is a saying which is very true that is Never Judge the book by its cover, with all of my classic cars I am often judged and I really don't care about what anyone thinks they are all bought and paid for never with finance I own them all outright, I love the looks you get from jumped up nobody's here in Kent /Sussex where there are plenty of them, They like too look at you from their Audi's and the Evokes and you can read their faces ( they are asking themselves how does that person afford that) Especially when they have to give back their Shiney Audi/ EVoke when their Three year lease is up as they don't have the money to pay their baloon payments! Its all about Image for a lot of people down here and I have no time for them! We have the same in the Horse world where people turn up at shows and competitions in 100k Oakley Horse boxes and cant ride or show a horse properly, Our horses come out of a nice but not expensive lorry and win classes and Championships Incuding large county shows Kent, South Of England, Surrey and even The Royal Welsh! These people just don't get it, that money cannot buy success or talent.

 

[bobthebuilder]

i think its far more important to turn up when you say you are going to ,be polite ,get on with client (if you dont it will be a hassle),keep the site clean tidy where possible ,try to point out where you are trying to save them a few quid ,and be honest with them ,
i havnt had a bad payer in 30 years ,with payments ranging from 20 quid to 200 grand