Marc

Yes exactly I should of made my point clearer, we use avants so the seat belt use is mandatory, often the loads we work with are not to heavy and the operator has to jump in and out all the time so a Vermeer or other stand style skidsteer would be an advantage.

I think he means the paid for ads featured and such like. Our website still come top of the list but we are now half way down as our local competition and distant competition feature above us as a google featured ad. We will not bother to chase top spot as the internet side only makes about 10-15% of leads of which we will win about 60%. When our leads are more from the internet we may think to go featured. To be honest I personally use the internet to find local trades people so do some of my family and friends we all avoid featured ads as often they are not a company local or end being some kind of franchise or sub it out set-up getting commission who will find a local tradesmen. Also having chatted to various friends and family they are also beginning to shun trusted trader type sites and featured ads as all have noticed they are mostly scams with falsified feedback and not an indication that they are trusted at all.

Well glad you understood what I was on about as re reading what I said I have no idea what I was rambling on about, which is pretty standard at this time of year whilst replying on a mobile phone and self medicating with copious amounts of alcohol at mid day. I always think the base anchor and pulling trees over is a good example, often srt workers harp on about the merits of top tie over base tie when it comes to doubling the loads, it is actually a little more complex than that, the case in point is pulling trees over surely you would get twice the pull base tied over a top tie? The reality is different you gain no real leverage advantage and no extra strain v top or base tied and when implemented correctly you can reduce or more favourable load a tree by spreading- through multiple forks, anchoring on adajacent trees etc. The link you post covers it well.

What I like about those Vermeer skidsteers is the ability to hop on an off so easily, on some of our site you will get kicked off if your not wearing a seatbelt, they even want us to have a green flashing beacon which is activated by the seat belt socket, as our machine does not have it they are not forcing us to retrofit thankfully. Definitely interested in a mini skidsteer that you can stand on particularly one that fits through a standard gateway.

I think that's what he means also, but it will not it will potentially reduce the load on the anchor by a small margin, and the force will always as a rule be pressed downwards in a rigging scenario. Had this discussion many time with base anchors and the slightly iffy though that you ar doubling your load at the anchor point, which is not strictly true there are so many variables. One example is how we often install pull lines from the ground and base tie when straight felling, base tying as we all know exerts twice the load at the top point, so should we also not get twice the pull going by by the twice the load at anchor point? The reality is no you do not, at the base you actually get no extra torque than you would if tip tied, and the base tie exerts no real great strain at the point in the top of the tree where it is deflected down to the base tie. Force vectors twist my mind, I wish I could grasp the finer details and calculations, in reality you not going to need to make those calculations but and understanding of the concepts help.

I think I have seen said video, is this also the video made by Avant.... We would still not be without our skidsteer. Another benefit of Avant over a skidsteer is visibility particularly when working alongside ground crew.

Those Norcars are top heavy! And I agree you want tracked use tracked, although the skids that Treefitter uses with wheels which you can strap tracks to seem a good idea. I have worked for treefitter and can say the skidsteers he uses work very well for him and suit his work very well. Also he is a very good fitter and looks after his fleet to a high standard. We also have skidsteers, we own a Cat and hire in a bobcat when work load increases. Avants though make up the larger part of of the equipment we use, they are light and easily transportable behind a pick-up where as the skidsteers often need to go onto a low loader. Avants are also lighter on the ground and tolerate uneven terrain to a certain degree. At first I was not keen on the plastic body panels, our original avant is a steel body panel type, our fears though have proven to be unfounded as they are resilient and if badly damaged cheap to replace and keep weight down. I am also from Abingdon area growing up in Drayton and now live in Wantage.

Where there is a will there is a way.

Fan of Avant here also, the multione I have never used but never heard any complaints either. Compact site clearance and large rear garden work is where they shine. Although we may look to a skidsteer in the new year, would be nice to have something to squeeze through a gate and still have decent lift with various attachments. We currently have 4 Avants in use 520+ 528, 640 and a 750 only ever fit grabs, forks and buckets to them, looked at the flail but was disappointed.

RIP George a real decent human being who will be missed.

Well if your original question is something to go by then moving the bollard away from the tree could reduce the pressure, although as has been said here so many variables without seeing the tree and loads it's not possible to make an opinion. If an experienced climber said to move the bollard I can only assume there was merit in doing so.

Courses, diplomas and good old CPD are valuable although I feel strongly nothing can make up for time spent actually doing the job in a wide range or real world scenarios.

I always considered it as reducing, when the ground anchor/bollard is directly below the pulley and braked it will mean there is x2 the load at the pulley, move the ground anchor/bollard away increasing the angle and it will reduce, until it is greater than 90degrees then it can begin to ramp up and quite significantly. There are just so many variables to every situation, I tend to prefer using another anchor tree where possible when using a GRCS with the need to haul or lift with the harken winch.

It could be safer to place a porta wrap on a neighbouring tree due to increasing the rope angle, although it's usually just easier to put it on the bottom of the tree your working on. Also what is a certified arborist? ISA? Never met a certified arborist just those with plenty of experience.

What makes them worth it out of interest? They are no different from any other carabiner just more unreliable. I am a big fan of DMM kit myself to, just not their carabiners.

Maybe DMM carabiners are not for you, I quit using them years ago as ppe they are just not robust enough without constant maintenance.

Thanks Dean, I think everyone should realise this is a unique series of events that got us to where we are and something I doubt will happen again any time soon. For perspective we would be happy to deal with Dean at Global again, this is nothing but a deal that didn't go well, no one owned it which lead it to escalate horribly, causing stress for all involved it happens. I hope this all comes to a satisfactory conclusion in the new year, there is nothing more I can add at this time.

You need to buy in pairs so you have one to tow it out! Did you get your pto shaft sorted?

Technique and time, problem is in time you could end up with muscular skeletal issues etc. Always a tough one, I developed horrific tennis elbow (or golfers forget which one) I'd wake up in the night with it. Realising this I focused hard on trying to avoid using that arm and avoid using my arms in general. The only advice I can give is try to avoid using your arms to haul, use your legs as much as possible even if to split the load 50/50. You can try pulleys, but reducing friction will increase the load you haul and hold, a pulley saver is essential in the long run though if you stick to DdRT. Buy a foot ascendor this will help but do not rely on it, thunder pumping with one leg can also lead to problems, I have both a left and right foot ascendor and alternate between the two. Basically look for every easy less physical way for advancing as possible concentrating on using those legs. The best thing to do is try to eliminate body thrust and leave it just for those short sections, wether you use a ladder (which I do not approve off ) or try to incorporate throwlining and SRT access which is what I did for many years. Throwlining though takes patience and time to develop the skill but it is by far the most most important tool in my humble opinion.

I am dealing with the finance company direct, they agree the finance should be reversed until the machine is fit to be delivered. They 100% do not own our trade in, the finance was made less the trade in value which they have been paid by the finance company, upon delivery of our new machine we will issue them invoice of sale transferring the machine to them, the machine continues to be in our asset register until this point.

You would always be welcome Mr Bolam with your TW125 as long as you don't mind me feeding it with the excavator. And I never said they were a bad dealer, this is just a deal handled very badly. Although the MD should take a good long look at his tactics and perhaps learn from those below him.

The issues are weights and compatibility with our braking system do you guys use or even fit air brakes? We recently bought a Stocker 8 mounted on Mack which arrives soon from the states, not my cup of tea though and we will have to go through the process of registering it for use on the roads, more than likely we will remount the spade and fit it to something more UK friendly. Our regs are really a pain in the ass.

This whole thread will probably do that... I didn't want to get this far but they barely respond to me in time now, any Swedish dealers that could help Josh? Was looking through Europe with no luck really. In contact with the manafacturer but not holding my breath. The dealers will probably blame me and not deliver.

Thanks for all the advice. My main concern is this really is the only machine to have in its class there is no other option.... Maybe I am to soft but I do understand the issues they are having, to some degree but my sympathy has gone as I informed the MD that the process could take a year to complete and was assured it wouldn't take that long. Our part ex machine is not a patch on this machines capability so we are in a right old mess here. I am flat out trying to run the day to day stuff hence it's only the weekend that I really get to think about it, and seeing the machines they are currently demoing to customers that are fit for purpose and us left hanging hurts. So again I appeal to the anyone from this supplier who reads this tonight, do the right thing tomorrow. Reverse the finance and provide a suitable loan unit or somehow fix the loan machine you have given us so it will be fit for our contract next month. Then we can renegotiate the finance as agreed less the discount.

This was part of the email response I got after I sent this ""Hi #### can I ask why we are still being charged for a chipper we have yet to receive! I thought we had agreed this would be stopped until we have received our chipper which including the deposit and monthly payments we have been parted of a large amount of money and have nothing to show for it other than a very tired, battered and to be honest very lacklustre machine!!! If this is representative of the machine we will be getting and in light of waiting almost 1 year! I am afraid we may have to cancel and look at other models within the range."" And their reply, at precisely closing time on a Friday! Even though they had ample time to reply sooner. ""I have discussed your email with ####, *and we are a little bit lost at your question. You currently have two machines that you are using – the trade-in #### and the loan #### – both of which actually belong to us. As far as I am aware, you are getting productivity on these two machines. I do understand if your new #### had been delivered to you, you wouldn’t have either of these machines. In terms of monthly payments, if you don’t want to pay the finance for the new machine, then we would need to raise hire invoices against the two machines you have.* * We are completely aware of the issues around your new machine and are doing everything in our power to rectify the position for you i.e. with the agreed £#### discount against the new machine when it is delivered and secondly with the loan of the two machines. *While the machine we have lent you (the ####) is a bit tatty due to its age, you should be still getting productivity out of it. "" To be clear they absolutely do not own our trade in machine as yet.