Tom D

Phone in the van I think, I gave him odds of 50 50 at the start.

Might be selling a tp250 if I can find a bigger replacement….. How soon do you need it?

This was yesterdays job, we picked all the stuff off with the crane that we could reach, then winched the rest within crane reach. Andrew was tied in both sides of the river and therefore suspended in the air, hence no life jacket.

lifting power is great, need plenty weight on machine, i have ballasted tyres and wheel weights.

We've done a few of these now, I just charge normal call out rates, £180 is no big deal when you look at vets bills by comparison.

Fell? or dismantle? If you are dismantling and lifting the lump off with the grab I would try and chase through in a single cut, this way you can feel the tension and compression which will give you an idea where its going to go when it pops off, if you pinch the saw you can get the operator to shift it a little. If you are felling and pushing with the grab then use a normal felling cut.

I have a botex 560..

I currently have a valtra 6400 with a 6m crane, its a great machine and has made me loads of money……………….But, at 95Hp its a wee bit gutless for running a big chipper and also not the best for haulage. I am thinking of moving up to a 6 cylinder machine to give me 140Hp+ preferably with a 50k box, this will allow me to buy a bigger chipper and will haul timber better on the road too. However will it be too unwieldy in the woods and the suburbs? I know some of you run 6 cylinder machines what do you reckon? Options include: T series valtra, 8000 series valtra, or a wee 4cyl N series valtra. The N series are notoriously light on the front end which could be bad news for having a big PTO chipper, but it would be manoeuvrable. The 8000 and T series are much bigger though….

I'd love to try the 540, having said that I have got my 201 back now with a new carb and its loads better.

If it had another 40Hp and decent road speed, I'd be interested in one of those.

Twisty beech, or elm, I'd say. or persian ironwood maybe...

Yep thats similar.

I love that Digger Eddie, why are you selling it? I might have been interested..

TBH with smart phone technology the way it is now I am surprised that you can't just take a card payment on your mobile on the customers doorstep. But yes, we get a lot of BACS payments these days.

Thats the best copy I have seen.

If you need to ask that question you have obviously never worked in the woods.

Short of keeping all your kit in your bedroom I'm not sure what you can do. I have a mate who has new for old insurance on all his stuff, its not cheap but not as dear as you might think and at least in your situation you get brand new everything… you can get it for big kit, he has it on a 40k stump grinder.

Want to swap it for my sturdy 201 Dave?

Nice video. They could be really handy for lapsed pollards.

I've used the tree flex for the last few years, it has never given me any back problems, its groundwork that does that, I find my back feels better if anything after a climb, I wear it fairly low.

is the 9010 any good?

Good job! Bet you'll be doing it again.

a transit load of poplar brash for £350 cash….. They wanted it of stage decoration on a fashion show… saved us chipping it.

The maths on this issue are the problem. Last week we were paid 5.5k to clear a load of trees from a motorway embankment. we produced around 90 cube of chip and 20 odd tons of cord. It was all hardwood and was perfect processor size, small diameter straight and clean. We gave the wood away to a nearby estate on the condition that they took the chip. For us to have transported the chip away was more effort and time and therefore money than giving away £800 of wood. If I had had the option of burning the lot I would have just to get rid of it.. The fact is that we make far more money cutting the trees than we do on the firewood. Also it is usually far better to sell the firewood to a log seller than to split it yourself, I can get £45 a ton roadside for hardwood, and at that price i'd far rather sell it that way than attempt to make a profit splitting and selling it. We get plenty of wood from the small jobs where its not economical to sell wholesale. The problem is on road side and site work, I don't get paid until the site is clear, so when I do a deal with a firewood guy to get rid of the timber and then he drags his feet in getting the stuff lifted it causes no end of hassle. I have had my fingers seriously burned this way on several occasions. Hence I will get rid of the timber in what ever way is easiest. The future of UK firewood is staring you in the face, SOFTWOOD…. you guys will pay crazy money for a lorry load of oversized knotty twisty hardwood that is very labour intensive to process. Yet a lory load of pulpwood will be half the price and will process in 1/4 of the time. Work out your labour costs and you will see that you will make far more £££ selling softwood even though it sells at half the price... Whats that you say? " no one will buy softwood!" then its time you educated them….

Get a proper pto machine with feed rollers, or even one of the old gravity chuck and duck jobbies. The greenmech is a good machine if you are in a wee back garden with a small amount of brash. But if you have a tractor for the same money as the GM you ought to find a second hand pto machine that will be miles better.