Andy Collins

back in the 80's when I ran a gang of YOP lads doing coppicing work, the BBC news did a film about the government on getting long term unemployed back to work for their dole plus a tenner. Took all day to shoot a 5minute article, but then in 8hrs they only wanted to work about 5mins anyway:biggrin:

Actually, all the wee chippers are utter rubbish. Wouldnt touch one with a barge pole. Tommers right, we've bought into the hype and become blinkered. Useless, heaps of junk metal. (now no-one will want one and me, Stevie and the rest of of the wee chipper club can earn easy money all day, every day. Mwuhahahahaha)

Oh Tommer, dont you share our enthusiasm for the wee beasties? I use a variety of chippers depending on the job in hand, up to the Schliesing 220 tracked model, and of course it horses for courses. To compare the Jo-Beau to a bigger machine is unfair, you dont expect an MS200 to fell a 7'dbh tree do you? But where it comes into its own is in those horrible tight access places where the drag is a real pita. I know it works out well for me when needed, and its saved me paying an extra bod on basic chipping duties. I know it more than paid for itself in the 1st couple of months I had it, and it will always have a place in my schedule.

Matt, its about selling a service, nothing more, you sell tree work, and clearing up, so sell the benefits of keeping chip as mulch too. I rarely remove arisings from site now, and they want to give/sell their logs away if they dont need them. The tree belonged to them standing, so its theirs on the deck, unless they dont want it.Micro-chippers have their place, but there are obviously times when they just dont cut the mustard. As you say certain jobs they cost more time than they save, and hiirig or buying another machine is the answer. I've had very few trees that the Jo-Beau cant deal with, but you have to weigh up the money saved on extra labour to drag through awkward passages etc over the convenience of blowing the chip into a corner. Even with bigger tracked machines, the clients now want to keep the chippings to retain moisture and suppress weed growth. I dont believe I've ever lost time with the extra dressing out and stacking, you just have to think for the little machine as you go along. With a little set of ramps, you'll easily put the chipper in a small van, or on a small trailer.

Is the use of detergents going to be any worse than the abrasion within the ropes caused by grits etc? Or does the limited research not go as far as to determine this? Are there any instances of rope failing due to the use of detergents, if so were they bio or non-bio detergents. Surely any degradation of ropes through this is going to be so gradual that the ropes be replaced due to other reasons first?

Thread title fine-tuned now:thumbup1:

Thanks for that Robert:thumbup1:

can you not set up a Paypal account for anyone who wishes to donate?

He's wisely moved down here, to the Land of Milfs & Money, still a bit tight though.

Nice little box there James:thumbup1:

I used to hire one of those regularly, and even thought of buying one. Then they became hard to find, and the Jo-Beaus came onto the market. I larfed and larfed at the J-B then, a toy chipper and all that. Now i have one and love it.

My thoughts exactly. I'd hate to see him spend say 300quid on something that will struggle to do the job, if it was nice straight grained timber it wouldnt be a issue, but well-seasoned, twisty rings from the bottom end of the butt of beech is going to push a small machine to (IMO) beyond its capability. He's from 'oop North somewere, so grudges spending a shilling, mind I could lend him maul and grenade so he sees what real work is.

just had a client ring me for advice on splitters. He is looking at buying a 5tonne leccy model. My opinion is that this isnt going to be man enough for heavy duty splitting (he bought in about 3tons of seasoned beech rings, 3-5feet dia) Now from a commercial point of view I would have thought a bigger machine, say 13tonne would just do the job, but its a one off domestic purchase fr the home-owner, and he needs to know if 5tonne is enough. I've never used one of these small splitters so dont know what they're like.

:congrats: Nice one Paul. Its good to see an employer playing the long game. You seem to have a very good common sense attitude towards your staff, their development and a view toward their long-term employment. Its a shame a few more dont invest in their staff to this degree.

You sat and read all that tosh?

How do we measure experience, it cant be put in a bottle to see how far up it fills it. I am experienced now in several "skills" and am certificated in some of those skills. But those certificates I do have do not measure the level of skill or experience I have. Therefore on paper I am less "skilled" than many college leavers. Some claim x number of years "on the tools" but may be fencing, landscaping, doing a bit of brickie labouring etc in that time, my time is daily time on the saws, so in practise I have many more hours under my belt. Personally, at nearly 46, I'm sort of where I'm happy, I'm still learning new skills, and lovin it!! Yes, qualifications have their place, and thats alongside experience as CPD.

It is possible to spray a small tree, use Provado Ultimate Bug Killer, a pre-mixed insecticide. Follow instructions carefully. Tbh I wouldnt normally bother unless its a really heavy infestation. If there are signs of ladybird or hoverfly larvae or adults feeding on them, I would rather let nature control them and keep its balance

Firstly, welcome to the forum, hope you enjoy it. On the subject of makita saws, the mid range (50cc) and up saws are good enough for what you want, just check with your local dealer for availability of parts etc. I'm afraid someone else will have to advise you on the truck side:001_smile:

Get a cut-throat ya wuss, these new-fangled razors are for the girls bits:biggrin:

Or you can use the Quicklinks button on the right and go from there

go to User Control Panel>edit my profile change your profile then save changes. Hope this helps

Thanks everyone, usefull info there:thumbup:

I totally disagree with you here, (I've not used these for cards yet) but for a business starter, watching costs, I can see the point of them. Everyone has to start somewhere, and to save a shilling on a card in order to have decent working kit is far more important. Better to save a bob on the cards, and have PLI and full ppe and training IMO. Some are so obsessed with the image, they forget the bigger picture. Look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves:thumbup1:

Its rain water run-off, so basically pretty clean. I was imagining a residual circuit breaker to be a built into the wall jobby.

I'm guessing I need a clear-water submersible pump, trouble is I do not understand the terminology I'm reading:blushing: ie max grain size, does that mean the grit in the water? In the catalogue it mentions residual current circuit breaker must be used on some models:confused1: I cut trees, I'm no sparky!!