Chris Sheppard

That course sounds quite interesting. Been looking at putting a bigger retort together for a while. Got a tiny one made from an old gas bottle nad an oil drum - works great in the garden but deosn't make a lot each time. Like the idea that you're never actually burning the produce and it doesn't need a lot of fuel once the gas gets going.

I thought that too

I'm told it is, but not holding breath

they are great aren't they I don't think any saw out there can touch them for flickability for snedding.

I like that

very very small "cockpit" area, not a lot of room to drive wearing big boots. They do do some bigger ones though. I did look at these before I bought the old Carraro. I'd say if you were goign to look at an alpine type of tractor then 35hp minimum, smaller than that and they are little more useful than a quad as they won't handle normal small implements that well and they will feel cramped to drive in boots.

Take side cover off, pull old spring out, fit new one - all in situ. Once you've done it once you'll be fine

£36/t is really quite cheap at the mo.

Bang on as per usual

Just replied to you're other post - dead simple to do. Probably shoudl change them in pairs but I never have done as yet.

Decent set of fairly narrow nosed pliers, get one end of the spring on then the other and gently tap down into place - first few attempts might frustrate you but it's not bad to do. Watch out for it pinging off before it's seated down properly.

Chances are there's a gamekeeper stopping them from felling the rest of the year And yes, I'd agree, @£40 a tonne they should be queing up for it

Yep, and you'll get quite proficient in replacing them too, my 353 is bad for eating them and I've known an odd 346 or two to be partial to eating them too

We're using a 30hp Landini 4wd at the mo which is on taller and wider tyres than standard and leaves very little in the way of ground damage and weighs only around a tonne and a half or so inc the loader. there is a pic of it somewhere on here with the winch and the trailer on. It really does punch above it's weight. Kubota, Iseki, Kioti all do "proper" compacts (as in not just the tiny little ones) and most of the manufacturers of normal tractors have a compact or two on the books. I used to run an alpine (a 50hp carraro) for a couple of years along side the County and it was great for what I wanted to use it for. It did lack on ground clearance, but made up for that with manoevrability and stability - it would do side slopes and go down hills steep enough it would have been hard to walk across. I really should have put some better tyres on it but in the end I needed it less and less and was using it just for running the splitter or sawbench. One downside is they are generally a bit dearer than a conventional tractor though.

That looks ace

Doh, makes sense

I've never, ever heard one called this until reading this thread - am intrigued

I'd agree with what he others are saying - if you had that sort of money to spend then it want's to be a tractor of some sort, especially given the fact it can be used to power implements too. For the low impact sort of stuff you're looking to do then a decent compact with proper tyres or an alpine would be a good move. Both types have their pros and cons dependant on what you want to use them for.

Dependign on where you sourced one, around £120 -£170 for a TCT one. If circumstances were a little different, I'd be snappign Hullsmillfarm's hand off

Useful looking thing and shouldn't be too hard to make either. Think Tajfun do something similar too

Mine had the extra plates on, din't know about it trapping rust but that's good to know Mine did need a rear crossmember by the time I sold it though (should never have sold it though)

It's possible............... Yes, that's how I know

Good advice Tommer also, don't be put off by ex utility ones - generally they've been well maintained (though may have had some hard use) but they haven't been messed around with liek some you'll go and see off ebay etc. Gives you a bit more of a blank canvas to start with. The good thing with defenders is that there's very little that can't be done by a good home mechanic and parts are sensibly priced and easily available. Things that can be good bargaining points are leaky swivel seals, knackered bushes and trailing/radius arms/panhard rod etc as well as tyres - all fairly easy fixes but time consumign or reasonably costly to sort.

Bulkhead rot and chassis rot are a good start, but neither are incurable

That's a bargain