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Grass cutting contractors. Dim, or deliberately stupid


Pennine

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1 hour ago, blackrose said:

 

Not mine - my sympathies are with the OP. 

 

The grasscutter should get his arse kicked and probably sacked or contract not renewed because he didn't do his job properly. I've done plenty of manual/menial jobs for minimum wage and I'm afraid the relative wealth between the labourer and the person whose property they are working around is irrelevant. It's pretty obvious from that photo that the grasscutter didn't give a sh*t about the boat and I'm afraid care of the property that they are working around is part of any contractor's duty of care.

 

As has been mentioned, all the grasscutter had to do was work in the opposite direction in order to send the cuttings the other way and not all over the boat. In addition, it's not as you say just about getting a shiny boat dirty, it's also about the potential of stones or other debris to damage the paintwork which won't become apparent for several months.

 

 

But he may have put several stones through his paintwork.

 

 

Well it is a canal forum so the complaint is sort of relevant. ?

If it can be shown that the contractor was briefed on how to work around moored boats and that briefing was ignored maybe yes a disciplinary at least but you are assuming the instruction was given, it could have easily been a newby who was keen as mustard.

What normally happens is they walk past moored boats and ignore the narrow strip along the canal side which is a fair compromise.

People often moan about a bit of grass and dust thrown up by grass cutting and frankly they need to just accept it as part of life but what the OP pic shows is a lack of consideration 

18 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

People with skills command a higher rate? What world are you living in?

Tell that to a nurse and a banker.

Employed to cut grass you are paid to cut grass, it matters nought what your skills or qualifications are

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17 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I don't carry tarps on my boat and I also don't know Fountains timetable as to when they would be cutting beside my boat. So if it was me I don't see how I could have deployed them.

Fair enough, if you can't carry them you can't use them, it was just a suggestion. We did carry them and were able to be used once in that situation. 

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Email message today about the south Oxford from Pigeon's lock to Banbury from CRT - totally overgrown and swamping Fountain's attempts to cut it back.

 

I've been around the 4 counties this month and the Shroppie visitor moorings are in a sad state.  My mate says the south Stratford is the same.

 

Back on the Coventry and fighting overgrown offside trees and limited navigation width as well as the overgrowing towpaths.  Dangerous for ankle injury and almost impossible to find the dog crap unless you stare at the mutt while performing, though other droppings still lurk to get into your treads or between the toes.

 

 

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6 minutes ago, rustynewbery said:

I've been around the 4 counties this month and the Shroppie visitor moorings are in a sad state.

 

Are they? I'm currently based on the Shroppie, at Wheaton Aston heading south, and I can't say that I've noticed any truly problematic grass. And I walk every mile of towpath that I cruise past in going back for my car.

 

One solution if things aren't to your standard outside your deck, of course, is to lop it down yourself rather than to complain when others don't do it to your satisfaction.

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30 minutes ago, rustynewbery said:

 

 

I've been around the 4 counties this month and the Shroppie visitor moorings are in a sad state.  My mate says the south Stratford is the same.

 

We are there now, they have mown the locks but not the lock moorings or the service point, there are two more mooring bollards between me and the lock

smallDSCF5219.jpg

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19 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Absolutely correct. 

Our grasscutter, of course, is going to get his arse kicked (and probably sacked or not renewed) for doing his job, due to a complaint by someone fifty times better off than him who doesn't like getting his shiny boat dirty.

I'm afraid all my sympathies are with the strimmer.

What the OP is told and what will happen are probably 2 different things. If the grass is cut, then CaRT probably coudn't give a tinker's cuss as long as there is no compensation to be paid. As long as you get back to your boat in a short time, brushing a bit of grass away is not much bother. If your boat has been dumped and left, then it may take a little more time to clean. There are moans if the grass is cut; there are moans if it is not. If the grass is not cut by your moored boat, then it is a pain for the next person there who cannot see the holes, dog mess etc.

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42 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

And to saveCRT money. I look forward to my licence reduction. The northern end of the South Oxford is the same. 

Perhaps they will spend some of the several million pound grass cutting budget on some other maintenance rather than reducing your licence cost.

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I got thanked by a Fountains chap a couple of months ago for lifting my mooring pins so he could just drive the big mower straight along the bit of grass and back again.

 

I pointed out that of he'd had to go round my pins the strimmer chap would have to finish the bit next to my boat ...

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4 minutes ago, Tonka said:

We carry a pair of shears on the boat so as we can cut the bank if we need to. Just imagine the money we could save if we all did the boats length every time we moored up.

That's what used to happen, my dad always got the shears out when we moored up and trimmed the grass back.  We carry a pair of shears and do the same if required.

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58 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

That's what used to happen, my dad always got the shears out when we moored up and trimmed the grass back.  We carry a pair of shears and do the same if required.

Same here and they were needed this week on the S Stratford

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1 hour ago, Tonka said:

We carry a pair of shears on the boat so as we can cut the bank if we need to. Just imagine the money we could save if we all did the boats length every time we moored up.

I'm sorry, but I have a mower and an electric strimmer, so the bank looks better after I have departed than it did when I arrived.....and 70 plus foot of it too, none of this 57' short arses or smaller. ?

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22 minutes ago, matty40s said:

I'm sorry, but I have a mower and an electric strimmer, so the bank looks better after I have departed than it did when I arrived.....and 70 plus foot of it too, none of this 57' short arses or smaller. ?

I only do the bit where the ropes are tied and where we get on and off bow and stern.

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On 23/06/2021 at 18:15, Nightwatch said:

And to save CRT money. I look forward to my licence reduction. The northern end of the South Oxford is the same. 

Thinking back over the years, much of the section between Napton and Braunston has always been a bit of a jungle.

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4 minutes ago, Stilllearning said:

Back n the 80s when I worked in the conservation world, Fountains were widely considered to be best avoided. I could say more but best not.

They are part of the OCS empire I believe. OCS (Office Cleaning Services) were one of the companies to avoid as in employment at Management level.

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