Jonny69

Thanks That and deans look much more like the stone walling I would expect from someone good. Are the aesthetic quality's of the wall important for it to be structurally sound? Or can a crap looking wall be just as strong? Jonathan

Any chance of a pic of a really good wall to highlight the differences please? I have no idea what most of the words in the posts above mean.

Ebay are some buggers. This was never the case and then they cottoned on the fact they could charge the end of auction fee with the VAT included. So now they take 3% of the Vat as well as the sale price. In effect the person selling the item claims 17.5% from the buyer but has to pay more than they get paid (17.5% to customs and revenue and 3% of the VAT on the item to ebay) Very naughty if you ask me but obviously legal. Of course they will claim it was to ensure buyer awareness, i.e the price they type is the price they pay. However missing out on 3% of the VAT that goes through ebay every year must be a huge loss in turnover.

Not only that the total repayable is scary, but depending on the type of lease deal he may not even own the chipper at the end of the agreement. Or may have to pay a sum to purchase off the company leasing the asset.

They had the range at saltex. The saws were a bit gammy but there is a long reach hedgecutter attachment (I cant remember whether it is for sale or will be soon but they did not have one to see at the show). I had a dream that night about hedgecutting in silence and with no fumes choking me in a shrub bed. Although I may have to start going to the gym if it is a light as they say it is. Sounds a great idea to me. Also there were some leccy secateurs and long reach secateurs. If they do some that are as good and as long as the Wilkinson Sword ones I have at the moment I would be very tempted to buy the complete set. With regard to battery life, I believe they were quoting 4-6 hours continuous on the hedge cutter, though it was September last year I spoke to them. I too was sceptical about this figure. There is only one way to find out though and I will be trying to get some to try for the summer holidays when the school shrub cutting starts.

You are so nice, and have so much faith in human nature. Maybe I am just cynical but anybody near my chip or log pile will be shot by the farmer; no questions. Having said that I do deliver free firewood to people who have helped me out in the past, this ensures me help for the future too. Would it not be easier for you to charge a small fee for the chip and get someone to police it, like a lad (preferably a bouncer) on the gate two sundays a month. Make those days the only time you can pick up chip. Anything over his wage goes to charity.

Robert, not sure on the digger, can not really tell how big it is. Presuming that is a 3 ton dumper, it will weight about 2000kg empty and the trailer (I've got one and it is great) will weight best part of a 1000kg with the three axles. I would guess the trailer and dumper is legal and would be fine behind a defender, disco, land cruiser, patrol. However not sure what you can legally put behind a tranny.

Steve it looks as if you have a gross train of 5500kg and your van can weigh a max of 3500kg...............so you can have a 2000kg trailer on the back. (im not sure which model you have though so these figures may be different, check the plate) Please also note the the GTW means nothing really when it comes to towing a trailer, for instance you can not vary the weight of the truck to increase or decrease the amount you can tow within you 5500kg limit. Some people seem to think that if there truck is empty they can tow more behind it because they will still be under the GTW. Not the case, GVW and GTW (trailer weight) are totally separate figures and neither can be exceeded regardless of any other factors. Renault UK - Renault Vans - Renault Master Panel Van - Specifications Although this is not really the issue, the problem is because the trailer has MPM (maximum permissable mass) of 3500kg you are not supposed to put it behind a vehicle which only has a towing capacity of 2000kg, regardless of how much load is in the trailer. Every pick up in the country, bar some of the American ones or if you have them uprated and re-plated is illegal to tow a 3500kg trailer. Although I will say that no-one cares, everyone does it and I dont personally know anyone that has been done, I know a lot of people with 3.5t trailers behind pick-ups who tow it day in day out. The law is very silly as a Navara/ranger etc on the road is a lot safer than my landy 90. Having said all that, nobody seems to care and everyone does it, hell I cant talk I was towing illegally for nearly three years before I got my trailer test. I was at a nissan dealer not so long ago looking at a Patrol, the salesman tried to tell me that I would be better off with a Quashqai "I am certain that they can tow 3500kg sir, lots of people buy one for their horse boxes". Do they really.......hmmm. Anyway, nice trailer I had a look at them at Saltex this year, I will definitely consider one when I come to change. Shame they dont come in 12ft/6ft6 yet, hint, hint mr atlas

Unloaded and loaded line speeds are very different.A ramsey/milemarker/Superwinch (hydraulic) dragging a two ton landy up a muddy hill will probably be a similar speed to a Warn 8274, however unloaded the 8274 will pull the rope back in much faster. I believe the recommendation with milemarkers is a PTO hydraulic pump, which drives the motor in the winch (expensive but the best option). Put the transfer box in neutral, pick a gear to suit the line speed you want. They are supposed to be very fast and reliable. This what the man from milemarker told me.

This thread really is an insight, my suspicions have been realised, I can not compete in the small firewood market............may as well go and stack shelves at Tescos. I cant help but think that based on some on the quotes given here the contractor will lose money. IMO £200 will roughly be your break even when you factor in ALL the costs tractor, ins, days off, saws, rain, breakages etc. £300 is more like it, you would probably still be better off on the Dole. CM Hort has it about right at £350-400 you will be earning a pretty a good wage for what is, at best inconsistent work (as he admitted). Sorry if this sounds rude as if I am dismissing people, but seriously take a look at your bottom line, oh and that is not the pub banter bottom line, the reality the accountant hands back to you. P.S If you are talking beer tokens for the lads then fair enough, £250 cash, but only when you have nothing better to do and if the customer makes quality Earl Grey. Jonathan......never lifting an axe again

Not sure if ed is on here any more but the are some photos on the forum somewhere and a vid on youtube. I would imagine putting a diesel engine on it would not be too hard if you wanted to reduce fuel costs. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVtJdeBuvLI]YouTube - Hornet pro 38 stumpgrinder[/ame]

I have seen a very similar machine work on boxer 532. It was unimpressive TBH. There is so little of the horsepower getting to the cutting wheel it bogs down alot. The Powered grinding heads like Ed sells look very good (though I have not seen one in person), im not sure if he still makes them or if anyone else does anything similar. If that is a no go I dont think it would be that hard to mount a rayco head and engine to a bracket that clips on to the loader. You could then power the slew and height through the boxer hydraulics at tickover with a simple vale block. RAYCO RG1635HD Stump Cutter Or even the head of one of these.

Clearly the Eastern Europeans really will do ANYTHING for £3.50 an hour.

KK, just had a quick google. The spiderjack has one cam that accepts ropes from 11-13mm. I have run it with 11mm and 13mm ropes and I much prefer the thinner rope for smoothness. Cheers.

I use Yale Blaze, about the thinnest climbing rope you can buy. I am roughly 5'7 and 10.5 stone. I am not certain on this but I think you will be better on a larger rope. The larger climbers that I know tend to prefer thicker ropes (bigger hands). Although you may be the exception that proves the rule. Best to blag a go on a few ropes and see what you like. I believe there are two cams for the spiderjack, one for the larger ropes.

SWB the less friction and narrower rope you have the better for the spiderjack. I love mine, though I did not like the lockjack at all when I tried it. For working the spiderjack is great, if you want ultimate control (competition climbing) a well setup VT is better. But for day to day working the spiderjack is a great tool. Although not ideal when you are climbing above or near your anchor point as it self tends very easily and you have to pull some slack through it or put a knot above the spiderjack to stop the slack from pulling through. If you dont already, force yourself to footlock more as the spiderjack is great for having almost no sitback and footlocking with it is very efficient.

Now your talking serious hi-fi kit, none of this foreign solid state muck. I will post a pic up of the current Audionote setup in the lounge after Frank has shown off his Linn/Naim. Also I am going to dispute the "fact" that Naim make the best hi-fi kit in the world (I have heard most of it), Frank pm me if you would like to come to the house and hear some serious toys, the kettle is always on for other saddos like me who want to discuss hi-fi or listen to some LP's.

Hi, I always run my throwline back through to leave to anchor point, rigging point or both in place. Then just pull it all back through in the morning. Most people will never even see a throw line.

Down the Slope, I bought one in November 07 (I have the finance agreement in front of me). I Hire purchased it for 60 months (5 Years) at £70 per month with a total amount payable of £4905.69. To avoid any confusion please know and understand the APR when you take on these lease deals and remember the Lease companies know very well how to relieve you of an extra 1k over five years. Also I would love to know how you get 60 hours from a set of knives. Despite me being very careful with what went in the machine I used to change mine every 8-12ish or the wood never pulled in properly.

That is not good at all. I had a 16 year old son with 0 experience and no kit to come and work with me today (could not get anyone else on a saturday last minute), maybe I am too generous but he was chuffed with his £70. Anyone the grounds for me is on at least 65, up to 100 for the better more experienced ones. You may as well go on the dole, life would be a lot less stressfull too Forgot to say this is not a dig at you, just maybe you need to have a rethink on your current employers.

Hi, I recently sold my M300 (7 months ago). The chipper was about a year into its Hire Purchase agreement. The machine new was 3489.36 + VAT and I paid the VAT of 610.64 as a deposit. Fixed rate agreement for 60 months at 70.38 per month (no vat added). Just trying to work out where the contract lease part of it comes in and what it really means or if there is just another man in the middle taking a cut? Thanks. Jonathan

Hi, is there any deposit to pay on the initial payment? and who owns the machine at the end of the period, do you have any sort of option to buy back? Thanks. Jonathan

I know nothing of coppicing a woodland but saw this on ebay which might help timber and brash extraction. Forwarder,Forestry,Arb,chipper,firewood,county,spliter on eBay (end time 28-Aug-09 13:48:55 BST)

That doesn't leave many ounces for brainpower! You need to find a good bike shop that you can trust (I used to work in a fairly major one) and now would only let one of the 12 staff there touch my bike, the rest are muppets. You will probably want about 40psi in the tyres for general riding and 25-30 if you want some traction, I run about 18-20 off road but I am only 10.5 stone. Any more problems? Heres a pic too, never looks as steep, sketchy, rutted, loose, in the pics.