Tom D

Nothing wrong with welding a ram if it's done right. You can even buy hydraulic ram kits where you cut down the tube and the rod to a length that suits you and then weld the end cap in place. These are fine for lifting if your welds are up to the job.

Told you!

It would stick out a bit on that trailer, I have a 6' wide trailer and it fitted quite nicely on that. I think it would work though. The bandit makes quite a big flaky chip, it probably wouldn't be ideal for biomass. It would be good for riding arenas though. Where are you?

The top crush is essential IME on brash. It chips timber no problem without it. It's not a hizohack part. It's an Alex price add on. The valtra is about 140 hp.

Another vid of the heizohack.. [ame] [/ame]

Like Ian says if they're fresh with no experience then see how they go dragging brash. If they have got chainsaw tickets chances are they'll have their own. All the lads I have employed started with their own gear, I then replaced that when it wore out.

Totally agree with all of that, but the economy is changing, and unless HMRC adapts the deficit will only get bigger. Much as I hate paying tax, I can still see the need for it.

Not new, just over £6k for a 2yo 10,000 miler, it's cheap motoring..

The insurance definition of an employee and HMRC's definition are completely different. The whole thing is as clear as mud. Hats off to you for doing the right thing, we do the same, it's hard when many competitors don't. Let's not forget that employers pay 13.8% on top of employees wages so there's a big incentive to use subbys. Plus we're now obliged to provide pensions too. This situation is not just restricted to the arb industry, there are 4.6 million self employed people out there now, way more than there ever have been. All these people are paying way less tax than they would if they were employed. This is a massive headache for HMRC, it's costing the country billions, the upshot of this is that they either find a way to tax these people or they put even more taxes on the employed or on businesses. Either way it's not good. For the good of the country we need to change the law on self employment. Fwiw we have full time employees and use bona fide subbys as well as zero hours type staff. Although we don't have any on our books at the moment, I'm not sure what the pension obligations would be on zero hours guys either.

When I started out I was dead against finance, preferring to save up for kit. But then I realised that you make more money, faster, with good kit that gets the job done and doesn't break down. To use the example earlier why save £10 a day to buy a chipper when you can buy it now and pay 10 on finance? Then you have the quality machine right away with all the advantages that brings. There are some risks to finance, my policy is to always have enough 'equity' in the machine that you can sell it and pay off the finance. This means putting down at least 30% deposit on a new machine and 20% on a second hand one. Far better to have a decent machine with a warranty than an old banger.

Maybe eggs will sell me his milk float..

Jees eggs! There aren't many vehicles not capable of speeding. All I meant was that i was pleasantly surprised at how well it went for a 1.3..

My Forst is nearly new, there's 2.5 years warranty left on it, I'll even help you sort out finance on it if you like. It's only done about 60 hours... save £2k off the price of a brand new one....

I have pretty much settled on a corsa van, it's a nice little sportive model, only 10,000 miles and goes like stink.

I've got a nice Forst for sale.

Is that a disc chipper? The only morbark I have used was a big drum machine..

Oxford are a good make. Murex too.

£7k on an 18k machine is a HUGE difference. I'd be expecting a lot for that extra money. The ST8 is the best 8" chipper I have used. the other chippers in the Forst price range have their issues too. I know a hire company who's timberwolf 230's chassis started cracking up, and that's a big issue. With the forsts the issues have been with components that Forst don't make, and parts that are easily changed.

Those others are not really in the same price bracket though are they? How much is an 8" shliesing or Vermeer?

Here's a video of the heizohack at work..

Ha that's funny, I bought the bandit from Richmond! I'm about 2.5 hours north from you, easy run straight up the a1.

We have two large capacity chippers available for hire. The first is a bandit 250xp pto machine, this is available without an operator for use with the hirer's tractor. (Tractors can be hired for about £400 per week if needed) this is a hand fed machine but it will take pretty much anything that 2 or 3 men can lift / drag. The infeed is 12x19". The chipper can be transported on a trailer behind a 4x4, it weighs about 2 ton. The weekly rate for the bandit is £350. Here's a video of the road tow version for information.... [ame] [/ame] The second is a crane fed Heizohack, this machine comes with an operator and is capable of handling very large volumes of brash per day. The day rate for this machine is dependent on location but will be around £950 per day. Scotland central belt and Northumberland only. Contact Tom on 07801 538717 for more info.

Are there any other trees that you could attach the log to? If so smoke them and winch them up and strap them to the other tree..

Why would you know better than the lady from vosa? The tacho legislation is intended for hauliers. Not builders, landscapers, glaziers, or tree surgeons. Hauliers, that's it.

I think if you're going down that route there are some decent 5-7 tonners that are little bigger than a transit, some of the ivecos for example.