Mole Trapping For A Living

[perthshire keeper 1,239]

cheers for that pal, how do you rate them?

a wee read back thru this thread will tell you but in short...they take a lot of getting used to BUT if you can trap moles consistently with them then trapping with every other trap is childs play....they sort the men from the boys...you can have one on LOAN if you want to try but my half dozen of bills traps mean the world to me so dont lose it!

[franchi 0]

perthshire how do you get the groove in the plastic gas pipe ones ?

 

and who showed you ?

[perthshire keeper 1,239]

perthshire how do you get the groove in the plastic gas pipe ones ?

 

and who showed you ?

now that i cant divulge trade secret sorry..........

[franchi 0]

lol penny washers and Bob Merrin spring to mind just wanted to see if you would give the man credit

[perthshire keeper 1,239]

lol penny washers and Bob Merrin spring to mind just wanted to see if you would give the man credit

yes and yes....but it took me a long time to get it out of him...and i dont want to give away any hard earned knowledge

[franchi 0]

no it didn't

I was there when he told you, we were coming out of a field and you hadnt even heard of Bill before Bob told you about him oh and while were on the subject there are still folk in cumbria charging £1 A mole what makes you £5 better than them ?

[perthshire keeper 1,239]

no it didn't

I was there when he told you, we were coming out of a field and you hadnt even heard of Bill before Bob told you about him oh and while were on the subject there are still folk in cumbria charging £1 A mole what makes you £5 better than them ?

i do fear your mixing me up with some one else chap...... ive seen bob 3 times this year...once at a sale in cockermouth once in morisons and once on the stbees road when i took a pall to see him about some ferrets....and yes i charge £5 a mole and get lots of work at it because ime good, bob has his farms i have mine.

 

but your definately mixing me up with some one else

[earth-thrower 493]

no it didn't

I was there when he told you, we were coming out of a field and you hadnt even heard of Bill before Bob told you about him oh and while were on the subject there are still folk in cumbria charging £1 A mole what makes you £5 better than them ?

" £1 A mole " Id have thought any stragglers, would have been more aware,nowadays.The days of selling yourself short,i thought, were over...............

[earth-thrower 493]

a trap owned and used by bill troughton

 

 

 

Interesting trap mate.just wondered how the capture rate would compare,to lets say,a duffus ? Or would it all depend on whos setting them ? LOL

[Matt 160]

Scary stuff.

 

I thought £5 per mole was way too cheap, but £1 per mole?

 

Last week I worked my nuts off, and caught 98 moles. I charge £10 per mole, so I turned over £980. Take out the expenses, and I'll end up taking home about £700 before tax.

 

Given the average wage is now over £26k that's not a big earner. With folks doing the job at half price or less, they aren't just selling themselves short, but everyone else who does the job as well.

[perthshire keeper 1,239]

francie....ime £5 a mole better because i am good and ime not a amateur who bangs out a dozen traps and then leaves the "tricky " moles.

 

earth-thrower.. yeh their good but you have to know how to use them the main set back is their slow to set as has been mentioned on this thread..

 

and matt yes very much so but its always the same some tool with a dozen traps willing to take a quid a mole on the weekend.. or even full/part time mowdy men undercutting each other is no good.. i only charge £5 a mole because thats the only way i can stay competitive in this area, some are chargeing a lot more but not getting much work....others much less but no shite of use...all tight as f**k round hear. in a good week on a good farm i can average 10-20 moles a day on foot but getting good farms is hard up here most have lots of moles because their too tight to bloody pay some one to catch them!

 

edit to add... ive never made more than 11k a year in my life lol and at this rate i never will

Edited January 20, 2014 by perthshire keeper

[Matt 160]

I suppose it's all a bit 'geographical'.... It costs me over £1000 per month to pay the mortgage, the electricity, the water rates and the council tax. And that's before I've thought about luxuries like food to eat, and coal for the fire. This isn't a mansion we are talking about either, it's a two bedroom semi detached cottage with no central heating.

 

In reality, I need to gross 33k just to stand still....

 

What would happen if all the molecatchers locally actually stood their ground and demanded a reasonable fee for their work? I know that there are always chancers who want to make a quick buck, but farmers aren't fools, the type of bloke to charge peanuts is usually the same one that fecks them around and doesn't do the hard jobs or turn up when needed.

 

Just out of interest, what was the 'going rate' ten years ago? By my reckoning it should be at least 70% more now given the cost of fuel and inflation in the last ten years.

 

Food for thought....

[perthshire keeper 1,239]

I suppose it's all a bit 'geographical'.... It costs me over £1000 per month to pay the mortgage, the electricity, the water rates and the council tax. And that's before I've thought about luxuries like food to eat, and coal for the fire. This isn't a mansion we are talking about either, it's a two bedroom semi detached cottage with no central heating.

 

In reality, I need to gross 33k just to stand still....

 

What would happen if all the molecatchers locally actually stood their ground and demanded a reasonable fee for their work? I know that there are always chancers who want to make a quick buck, but farmers aren't fools, the type of bloke to charge peanuts is usually the same one that fecks them around and doesn't do the hard jobs or turn up when needed.

 

Just out of interest, what was the 'going rate' ten years ago? By my reckoning it should be at least 70% more now given the cost of fuel and inflation in the last ten years.

 

Food for thought....

ime very new to paid trapping but ive been trapping moles for over 10 years, i would like to make a proper go at it but at the min ime very free and felxable in what work and can do so just do mole jobs around other things..... i honestly thing if all the mole catchers round here stood their ground and charged £10 a mole.....their would be no moles caught..

[jamie mc 168]

Pk, keep at it I no it's hard in this current economic climate but I would put your prices up.farmers like to think they have one up on you but if you sell your self to the best of your ability the work speaks for it's self.lambing is a another option for you? Some of the farm's up hear will not let you on when they are lambing.Atb Jamie

[perthshire keeper 1,239]

Pk, keep at it I no it's hard in this current economic climate but I would put your prices up.farmers like to think they have one up on you but if you sell your self to the best of your ability the work speaks for it's self.lambing is a another option for you? Some of the farm's up hear will not let you on when they are lambing.Atb Jamie

ahh lambing is one of my flexible jobs lol and dry stone walling ect ect lots of arrows in my quiver ive got a month long night lambing job on soon over 1000 ewes