Two man set up...or not?

[Part Timer]

Interestingly they asked me if the tank was professionally fitted. I said yes; I fitted it and bolted it in myself as I value my life. No reaction.  ?

Your lofty reputation precedes you. 

 

[P4dstar]

Interestingly they asked me if the tank was professionally fitted. I said yes; I fitted it and bolted it in myself as I value my life. No reaction.  ?

Ask them to define professionally. You are a window cleaner who works with these tanks on a daily basis, seems to me you're in a better position to understand these tanks and how they work than a mechanic would. It would be like telling a trained mechanic that he couldn't professionally fit his own shelving to the back of a van or a builder that they couldn't complete an extension on their own home or something.

 

[Den]

Interestingly they asked me if the tank was professionally fitted. I said yes; I fitted it and bolted it in myself as I value my life. No reaction.  ?

I find it refreshing when people are straight talking like you Spruce without being arrogant,if I was a aviva representive I would have chuckled at that answer ?

 

[spruce]

I find it refreshing when people are straight talking like you Spruce without being arrogant,if I was a aviva representive I would have chuckled at that answer ?

All those calls are recorded so those reps have to be very careful what they acknowledge or 'agree' to. I'm fully aware of that. They also make extensive notes.

I'm still half way swapping my kit over from my current van to the new one. The new one is insured by them as business even although its not being used for that ATM. They were told it would have a tank, towbar fitted and that I had fitted roofbars a while back.

I've passed my Xsara Estate down to my son as his car broke down in December and isn't worth spending money on with 190k on the clock. I phoned Aviva to cancel my insurance on that car. They also checked to see if the other vehicles were still as previously advised. Without me saying anything, the lady I spoke to asked if I had fitted a tank and towbar to the 'new' van yet? I said no, I'm old and its taking longer than it would in my younger days. I'm hoping to complete it before my funeral though. I'd love to know what she wrote on her notes. ?

 

[spruce]

Ask them to define professionally. You are a window cleaner who works with these tanks on a daily basis, seems to me you're in a better position to understand these tanks and how they work than a mechanic would. It would be like telling a trained mechanic that he couldn't professionally fit his own shelving to the back of a van or a builder that they couldn't complete an extension on their own home or something.

That's the interesting thing. When the question was asked I immediately realised that I could be setting myself up here. Just because we drive a van with a tank fitted it doesn't mean we know anything about how to fit it. But that applies to a workshop as well.

In our early wfp days a fellow windie had 2 Vauxhall Combo vans - one with a 400 liter upright tank and the other with a 400 liter lay flat tank. The Combo with the lay flat tank came later and was fitted out by a dealer who also sold Brodex stuff. The tank fitted was a Wydale unit and the dealer's workshop fitted it with securing bars bent to shape. They made a very good job of making the frame but they used nutserts in the floor to secure the frame to.  A nutsert is a threaded pop rivet. They didn't fit  spreader plates, nothing. Was that professionally fitted? No, but because this windie had a covering invoice the insurance company would have taken it as being professionally fitted.  I only saw what they did with the 2 back nutserts pulled out of the body whilst in normal everyday use.

For me I know Purefreedom supply a crash tested Wydale tank and frame and so I need to copy what they do. They use spreader plates under the floor of the van they are fitting a tank to. Doing that got them their crash tested certification. That's good enough for me.

 

[Cleanco]

Back to the original topic. I’d have to say that it all depends on how you work. If you do a fair bit of travelling then one man per van is far more productive but if you don’t travel much and each person can do their own jobs whilst working out of the same van then two in a van will be more productive and profitable. There’s always work out there though but it will just take a little longer to build if you need 2x the work. One plus though is that some of your expenses will halved.