[islwyn]

Taxman here, all of you who posted figures of hourly rates expect a visit. All of you who boast of no undercutters in your area, they will arrive soon. WAKE UP! Children are having their nails pulled out with pliers in syria! Mass strike here this month, don't u just love public workers? Public workers paying your wages, think of a trade? plumbing comes to mind. Plumbing is dead, window cleaning going same way fast. Use your head. Other posts i read are things like is undercutting fair? When you have all killed this trade, what job YOU yes YOU going to do? Banker? just think Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya etc.etc. When DJ Cameron really starts to spin those discs, when he needs mney for more apache heli's he gonna take money from where he can find it. Show me a skint wc? Havig bad day, but it needs to be said. Close this site down now x

[Richard Neal]

Eh ?

[dai]

When  my van died I decided not to replace it, I now use the car and a trailer.
I use a 50 ltr trolley system which that has a hose reel mounted, this suits my round, if I wanted too I could put a tank in the trailer instead of the containers. My Mrs fills containers when I'm out working, just chuck out the empties and load up with full.
Since I started drawing my old age pension nearly 4 years ago I only work 4 days a week, my prices are not the best.
 When you live in an area with so many on minimum wage and loads of window cleaners, you will soon be undercut if you price too high. I do smallish 3 bed semis with a con for a tenner.[ very compact] In other areas I can get that for just the house.
I have lost more than I have gained in customers since the recession started to bite. People are really feeling the pinch around here. If I can start domestic cleaning at 8.30, I am happy if I earn £130 by 3.30. I can't keep up the relentless pace i used to, and try and give myself a break every couple of hours.
Just a slurp from the flask and a glance at the paper and back to it.
I too find that if I push it too hard today, I will have less energy tomorrow.
My trailer has a ramp for the trolley and this has made things a lot easier. I do have the option of using a longer hose reel, and using the system as a van mount, I just prefer using the trolley with twin containers, and a lot of my work couldn't be done with a van mount unless I used 250 mtrs of hose.

[John Walker]

To all you oldies from another struggling oldie - just one more year to go before my State Pittance.

I recently got to a point where I was really struggling some days.  25 litre containers/trolley set-up etc etc....

Following advice from another recent thread that I started, I've made some major changes to my system.

My pole was an SLX 25 but fitted with an alloy gooseneck and Super-lite dual trim.  I've now fitted a carbon fibre gooseneck and Superlite Xtreme brush from Gardiners - the difference in weight with pole extended off vertical is amazing and I really like the brush.

I bought a 200 litre tank and fitted it in my Picasso and made up my own pump box which also powers a bilge pump for the times I have to use the trolley.

Now I spend every day without lifting any heavy weights.  It was the weight that was causing my joint and muscle problems and generally making me feel very tired.  Some days I felt quite unwell but check-ups at the doctors show nothing nasty - just the start of old age symptoms and pushing too hard.

When it was first suggested that I go 'van mount' I thought there would be lots of situations where I wouldn't be able to use the hose reel.  The fact of the matter is that I only need the trolley for a very small proportion of my work.  I'm using 60 mtrs of the yellow 6mm micorbore hose.  My pump is 100 psi and is controlled by an analogue Varistream.

Hopefully food for thought for my fellow oldies....