Ty Korrigan

4 hours + prep. Root plate completely ground out. It was 270cm across the roots. I couldn't cut it any lower due to inclusions. What really had me worried was the tough roots which produced long fibres and took an age to break though to the stump which wasn't too bad. I turned the teeth and the wall of knarly roots fell beneath them. I'd put €720 inc vat on it. No clear up. I'd have charged much the same with a larger machine but The Boss does not wish to throw €20k+ at a larger more productive grinder and the B20 copes just fine with most stumps. This was not at all my average stump and if I was faced with monsters like this on a weekly basis I'd certainly be pressing the accountant to release the funds. Lucky the soil was dry so the wheel didn't suffer clagging. If I'd done this job in last Winters conditions I'd be on a loser. 79.8 hours on the clock. Stuart

I do. Profiting from the dry weather, I scratched around the roots and used the blower to remove the soil. The Douglas I am currently chewing my way through is proving to be a tough nut. It is 3x the length of my mattock. The roots are hard, producing long fibres. I'll turn the teeth again after lunch, gallette with clients homemade cidre. Stuart

Today, one of 5 mixed conifer stumps. A Picea stump after I'd cleared the soil with mattock and blower. 4.8hrs machine time today plus prep. 5 hours being my limit of endurance especially when the weather is in the high 20's. The Picea wood was reasonable soft and the B20 flew through it. I ground a cedar down to 40cm+ by digging a slope. A windblown picea was a fecking mess of tangled roots but succombed in the end. A couple of pines tested my patience with their dense fibrous cores. Tomorrow I tackle a large Douglas (130cm) I've already nibbled at some of the surface roots up to the stump. Different proposition, very tough and fibrous. Once I've chased the surface roots I'll turn the teeth. The QRMS teeth are less sharp than the Greenteeth which causes me to think of getting a stock for just such occasions. I used to change to Red Teeth for conifer on decent soils, much faster. Anyone know if these still exist? Stuart

On this council job I had a few comments and puzzled looks from the head of 'espaces verts' (parks and gardens) Jerome clearly expected something more... more machine in fact. He asked me if this was what I had used for all the other stumps? He was quite happy as they had been ground out to his expectations. I do feel 'pre-judged' at times, turning up looking under equipped and perhaps amateur. However, as soon as my clients see the machine set to the stump and my own mad energy as I battle away, they are reassured and can see just what they are paying for. Some even say "enough enough, we don't want to dig a well!" then offer me a coffee or "something colder perhaps?" This particular stump belonged to a oak whose roots got buried too deep when the area was developed. It took 20 years for the tree to become such a hazard to the local footpath that it required removal. My secrets for grinding using such a small machine are to change the teeth often and preparation, cutting the stump as low as possible. Almost 2 years old, it paid for itself in less than a year, grinding stumps up to 1.5m and on one job alone, 57 leylandii stumps taking 18hrs machine time and 8 preparation. I'll be on about 100hrs by the 2 year purchase aniversary. Running Greenteeth copies which are a little slower than the Original Stay Sharp originals but very much less expensive. I've only broken the pull cord so far. The Honda engine is easy to start and smooth running. The tacho I fitted is a great aid, for servicing and statistics, machine time/manual labour. My only regret is not buying the B22 which is self propelled. Being only 62kg I find advancing the 125kg over chip fatiguing. Looking to the future at other machines, Jo-Beau 37-110 because of it's compact design or one of the FSI and Bandit, that ZT1844... Stuart

You can retro fit an hour counter for around £20. No skill required. It winds around the spark plug and with thick double sided tape, mine is glued to a flat on the handle bars. Stuart #tinytach

So... todays client brought this out and asked my advice. As Spud knows, my advice is only his advice filtered down. Anyway, it wasn't oiling so I showed and told and whilst I went back to work the client took it apart and found the big white plastic sprocket had worn off the wee teeth which mesh with the axle. A sliver of aluminium foil as a shim and away it went. I'll give it wang myself as I'm on site all week. He's had it since new, bar is original. Stuart

Hello, Well I started the Solis this morning after giving the 2 jubilee clips a few more turns and the air seems to have vanished overnight from the pistons. A slight jerky movement remained but disappeared quickly during use. Thank you for your advice. The problem was a cause of great anxiety. Last thing I need is a tractor issue when I'm battling a shonky chipper daily. Stuart

I'll take some tomorrow. Cheers Stuart

It was running fine. I assumed air entered the system from that. I was unable to fill it before reconnecting. Filter is before the pump. Transmission and hydro are same fluid. Stuart

Could the air be entering via the suction filter? It is a bit primative looking and closed at each end by large circlips. It is the only thing I have dismantled, to clean it. Stuart

So... I left it overnight. Topped up the oil and tried again. Vibrations as the hydraulics work and a tank full of foaming oil. At a loss. Stuart

I've just removed for cleaning the suction filter on my Solis. Reconnected it, topped up the transmission/hydro oil, cavitation when using the loader and 3 point...merde alors! Peeped down the hydro filler, like a creme brulé down there. What can I do to cure this? Stuart

I run a small meth lab from an elderly neighbours garage. He is a retired chemist who says I've given him a new lease of life. Stuart

I didn't need to apply, lockdown didn't restrict us and €1500 per month is a risible amount compared to what may be turned over. Just continued as our normal busy self then got even busier during lockdown when others were refusing to work. I couldn't get groundies at first so got used to self motivated lone working on small to medium jobs then with a local paysagiste whose own staff refused to work and an excellent climber who didn't qualify for the aid, between us we cracked on with the commune contracts without the public walking through our barriers or protesting our felling of trees. I really enjoyed lockdown and positively profited from it and am slightly shellshocked by it being lifted and dealing with traffic and people again. I felt the same after returning to the UK after cycling across Australia in 2009. I do know that many self employed expats who could have worked safely were tempted by the governments largesse and the €1500 is actually more than they would net normally. Stuart

It is the same here. €1500 handed out to self employed Brits here is actually more than many would have actually taken as a net wage. Stuart

A good place to ask is the FB page Bucherons et Elagueurs. Use Google translate and tag my mate Vincent Cauco who runs one and is an Anglophile. Regards Stuart

Here in Frenchy France, Albezia sp. are the last to emerge but they flower for 4-6 weeks July-August. Stuart

Whew! France 1 has just done a report on the 'decalage heures des enfants' which is talking about childrens routines during lockdown and many not settling until 11pm. We are not alone and I am not a bad parent. Stuart

I know it is in French but: Matériel forestier CMS : Fendeuse de bûche EVO 14 treuil + groupe hydraulique BOUTIQUE.CMS-CONSTRUCTEUR.FR CODE REDUC:- 5% de remise supplémentaire aujourd’hui avec... Any opinions? Also looking at Rabaud and Balfor. Stuart

Yesterday, mowing the grounds of an absent Parisian family I was struck by the rich colour of these Iris. Stuart

It was an online group for ex-pat Brits who hot a head of steam up over my suggestion that knowing one chestnut from an other was normally learn't in the playground not as an adult. However, it was a French client who got sniffy about being corrected over their conifer ident. Stuck up sticky beak snowflakes seen to be on the rise these dark days of Brexit, 5G, pandemic and looming recession. I dared correct my own wife who actually believed that the islands shown during the weather forecast on France 3 where actually just off the West coast of France. She had never noticed that France 1 put those same islands on the right of the map. I informed her they where on the other side of the world. (guadalupe, reunion etc) Tonight she is sulking. Stuart

Cheers, No, I wasn't about to change my Efi for a GXV...lol! Stuart

Specifically the Honda GX series with cast iron bore. If oil is changed every 50 hours (tacho) how many hours might such an engine be reasonably expected to last. I've no issues with the two I own, just curious. One is a GX160 in a Honda pro mower (no tacho) from year 2004 and the other a GX390 fitted to my FSI B20 currently on 65 very profitable hours. Regards Stuart

Hello, For a 26hp tractor. It isn't my main occupation but as a bolt on service it wins sales. Need to split up to 1m, seen some with a winch or lifting aids. I'd like a fast cycle. What do members of this parish suggest? Plenty of brands selling Chinesium but I'd prefer something better quality. Thanks Stuart

My kids are just 4 and 6. I think a few months of disturbed schooling won't write their futures off. However, in the home environment, my wife cannot seem to settle them into a learning routine. Without the energy burnt at school and after school club, our house rings with cried and shouts often until 11pm. I take them out when I can but I'm still working, busier than ever not having my usual team around me. What does amaze me is not what the kids do not know but what the adults do not know. I've recently quoted for taking down 'pines' I made the mistake of trying to educate the client in my cheerfull pedagogical manner, only to be curtly told that I was wrong, these were pines because they had needles, cones and clearly smelt of pine. We will see if I get the job but I'm not optimistic. Another recent discussion on a FB gardening page became weirdly heated when I suggested that knowing the difference between a horse and sweet chestnut was as important as knowing the difference between a daffodil bulb and an onion. Several posters had been claiming that they or others had always eaten horse chestnuts, others having no knowledge of the game of conkers and others accusing me of arrogance and bullying for correcting people who might never have been privileged enough to have seen a horse chestnut before. I'm surprised because I didn't grow up in the countryside but on the edge and could tell the difference between the two at 3 years old having walked with my father in the local woodlands for both, to eat and to play and plant. I'm not trained in school teaching methods but I can and do show my kids the flowers, fungi, leaves, animals and recently the stars and satellites, hoping to catch sight of the Starlink. I plant bulbs, capture insects and let my 6 year old think she is controlling the mower. I try to teach them the importance of re-cycling and the pleasure in dropping bottles down the recycling hatch to hear them break below and of course I read in English most nights I've the energy for it though I often fall asleep before they do. Stuart