Mr Ed

Sorry, dont misunderstand me, I think the quality of the laski was mediocre - it just had better features than the Vermeer. My comment on all grinders is that they all get a really hard life, and even the best of them will have bits falling off in time. A good owner operator will keep his machine in good condition, regularly checking nuts and bolts, greasing where needed, and keeping the belts in correct tension. But you get a numpty who does'nt care, and the machine will be hanging in no time.

My 372 pee pee's on your 441:aetsch:

Most excellent saws. Remember that they are badged Makita, but are still Dolmars - a well respected name in building saws.

All stump grinders fall apart over time, its the nature of the job. My reasons for rating the laski over the vermeer (252) are better swing out controls, more stable base unit, bigger wheels and tyres, better engine guard, and better build quality.

At the risk of offending Pete, I would not touch an old greenmech with a long barge pole. The older models had a lot of quality issues... Timberdog, work out your own math. If you are paying £35 a day to tip off your brash, thats £175 a week towards a chipper... plus all the time you would save not slashing up brash in your tipper... I would say that £5k is what you have to pay to get a reasonably decent chipper.

Its good to have a plan Lee. I want to have both of my trucks shotblasted and resprayed. I recently put a bid in on a woodland, so If that comes off, I will be relocating my business. I want to do more work for estates, and less for builders. With any luck, in the next 3 months, all my kit will be owned outright, no more finance for me.

The county conversion Transits were awsome off road. Massive ground clearence + rear difflock. I think a modern 4x4 transit would be a usefull vehicle.

When I had a lot of guys, we used to carry all our gear in a 4x4 county Transit. Brilliant tool, 6 seats, tool lockers, heater, gas ring & kettle, go anywhere ability.

Used a Vermeer, or a Laski? Ive used both, and the Laski is a better design than the vermeer.

Bah Humbug.

Not bad little units. Better than vermeer, not as good as carlton...

You forgot Narcissistic. Narcissistic Personality Disorder From "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" of the American Psychiatric Association, 4th edition, 1994, (commonly referred to as DSM-IV.) Narcissistic Personality Disorder: "An all-pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or in behaviour), need for admiration and a marked lack of empathy which starts at early adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts." At least 5 of the following should be present to qualify a person as suffering from NPD: (1) Possesses a grandiose sense of self importance (for example: exaggerates his achievements and his talents, expects his superiority to be recognised without having the commensurate skills or achievements). (2) Pre-occupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance and beauty or of ideal love. (3) Believes that he is unique and special and that only high status and special people (or institutions) could understand him (or that it is only with such people and institutions that it is worth his while to be associated with). (4) Demands excessive and exceptional admiration. (5) Feels that he is deserving of exceptionally good treatment, automatic obeisance of his (usually unrealistic) expectations. (6) Exploitative in his interpersonal relationships, uses others to achieve his goals. (7) Lacks empathy: is disinterested in other people's needs and emotions and does not identify with them. (8) Envies others or believes that others envy him. (9) Displays arrogance and haughtiness.

Munky, I was earning $50 - $100 an hour in Brisbane 10 years ago. I pay my guys what their worth.

All I know is, get the saw that blows the exhaust into the other users face I think the logosol is slightly better (more complex / expensive) because it holds the saw in a clamp / rails...?

I look at pictures like that and I always see sawlogs:fisheye:

I mainly top trees like veteran oaks, big ash, that sort of thing. My main reason is like Marc. A topped tree is better than no tree, particularly with species like oak, that support a vast micro eco system. Sometimes you have to look beyond just the health of the tree, and to the wider flora and fauna they support. I have found that Old Oak can be topped back very hard, and grow a complete new crown, extending the life of the tree dramaticaly - particularly if there is severe structural weakness in the timber. Unlike a lot of you, I do not do much domestic tree work. A lot of my work is on the edge of woodland and highways, or around utilitys. In a domestic situation, the aesthetics of your work is important to the client. I do feel that getting people to hard reduce,pollard or top their trees is a better alternative to felling them, grinding the stump out, and completely removeing every living trace of that tree. If they were topped and maintained, our urban treescape would be much better off.

nah, just cleaning up the pics thread. Its a good subject though.

To stop the picture thread getting clogged up, heres a thread for you. I will start by saying I regularly TOP trees very severely. I have my own reasons I will expound on, but you can continue your discuss here -

Leave, definately! it looks fantastic. I have just saved the top fork of an oak we just felled. It has some attractive cavity's, so I'm going to put it in my garden as a feature.

REED! welcome brother!

Nice pics, care of Mr Mctree

oak dismantle over road

I'm sure your right. your sources seem impecable. I was given the info by a Unimog 'Specialist', and it was confirmed by a VOSA official - just goes to show you should not trust what anybody says.

Nope sorry. Once a VED class has been issued, its stuck for the life of the vehicle. Hence a unimog registered as HGV will not be able to be changed to agricultural vehicle, and a snowplow will always be registered as such. However, I think they have clarified the wording on the usage.

Yeah, i did a bit more research. Thats why I ditched the idea. Thanks for the clarification.