Ty Korrigan

Working alone removing oaks. At lunch it started to rain heavily and in town I stumbled on market day in Noyal-sur-Vilaine this Tuesday. No restaurants open, no warm cafes or bars to hide in, however... To my delight, a food van selling high end saucisse galettes with lot's of different options. Usually you get a cold saucisse in a damp flaccid buckwheat pancake but these were excellent so I had two sitting in my steamy truck washed down with half bottle of local cider, marvelous! Stuart

Well, if it adds £120 to the selling price then why not. Stuart

Can it not be bypassed? It seems a bit superfluous, after all, it is only there to ensure you don't run the machine with the belt cover off. Stuart

Here is a wee mod for your wheezy little Briggs: Bolt-On Turbo Kit BACKWATERPERFORMANCE.COM After close to 2 years in development, BPS is proud to... Stuart

I speculate the 6" roadtow Rabaud will be around €28k plus vat Certainly TP175 35hp diesel is around this in France whilst the same machine in the U.K is £17k (€20k) The Rabaud does have an interesting variety of blade/flail configerations mounted on a drum. I wonder if cutting along the grain is faster, and uses less energy as well as less stressfull than cutting across as with disc chippers. Certainly the CS100 is a greedy little bastard once it grabs a length of pop, outchipping a 6". Stuart

French, well made and 'très cher'. You'd be better asking on 'bucherons et elagueurs' on FB using the Google translate tool. Stuart

37hp Efi though... Stuart

Keep us posted please. Particularly interested in the durability of the infeed, the effectiveness of the rollers on all sizes of material and whether it blocks or material gets stuck in the flywheel. Cheers Stuart

I've owned 5, the best being the 200 but when my company folded it was auctioned with only 120 faultless hours on the clock. Our 2018 re-start up budget stretched to a new 150 which now has 230 hours and several serious issues requiring a factory visit once lock down lifts and the ferrys run again. We are considering moving it on once repaired, I've no confidence in it's longevity. A GM dealer in France told me not to chip 6" material or problems will be expected. In many ways it is perfect for us, lightweight, folding chute, productive on larger straighter wood, great chip, easy to maintain. Downsides, hates smaller forked material, weak crushing ability, flywheel gets lumps of wood jammed within which sets of a terrible vibration which if the engine isn't stopped can literally shake the machine to bits. The infeed has deformed and buckled upwards in front of the rollers. Combined with the weak rollers which are often unable to pull smaller or forked material in, this lip then prevents it from exiting. Above all, I'm tired of complaining. I'm just looking for reliability and longevity. It is not enough anymore that my issues get resolved, I no longer want to have issues that need resolving. Stuart

@Mick DempseyWhat are the obvious differences in construction over the 750kg class? Or the nuances which make a Schliesing worth the extra? I did briefly own a GM200 which I thought a machine for life. I might still dip into the GM pool again if their Evo proves solid but my wife is keen for me to look outside the box for our next chipper. Stuart

Any model then up to 45hp? Stuart

I've been asking around both in UK and France. No-one seems to say a bad word about them. Either because they are genuinely good or so rare that few are around to complain about. They come in petrol, diesel and battery with a natty folding chute. I've only seen them up close at the shows though. Certainly the larger models get sterling feedback. Blade changes look simple enough too. Stuart

Denial... I thought only French GM dealers suffered from this but like Covid-19 it seems to have spread. Petty fogging over banalities whilst offering a no quibble guarantee. I'd have apologised, sent a replacement by 24hr courier. Imagine then the engine suffers an issue and the owner gets accused of running it into the ground over a manky filter. Stuart

Quote "Our success depends on reliable and robust equipment" As does every arb outfit who invests in a chipper. The last thing we want is for it to sit at a dealers for weeks on end over banalities or to suffer serious design or mechanical faults that are not caused by the operator but poor design and manufacturing. I hope this model changes things for Greenmech. Stuart

State pension... I know it is not much but is this not important? Can't be pleasant to arrive at 67 to find out you are not elegible for one. I know it is regarded as important in France almost a national obsession the number of trimestres paid and points earned. I'm still paying £3 per week class 2 as an insurance against future political upheaval as well as the French contributions. Stuart

Cheers, I'll copy this info to the garçons... Stuart

Does anyone know if Bandit have improved or brought out an improved version yet? Stuart @DavidCropper Yeh, same twunting company ALM...

Hello, A French friend has issues with his belts, 4 in 130hrs at €300 per belt. Several others too as it turns out. The French supplier is in denial as usual. So, asking for these guys, is there a fix for this? Stuart

Common street tree in France. Pollarded regularly. Great parasol canopy for shade. Stuart

Hello, Old thread but I thought I'd ask. Are Schiesling REALLY worth the extra lucre? What problems, breakages have people had? What are Schiesling or their representatives like to deal with? Regards Stuart

I know but it released the flood gates of frustration all the same. Stuart

Just a reminder that I didn't start this thread... Stuart

I've elected to wait because the infeed needs changing and the flywheel too. If you recall, I have bounced back from losing my former business due to the machinations of my former business partner, "The Perfidious French Git" We had no savings, no income other than €900 a month state aid. We borrowed from family both U.K and Morocco, enough for a wee grinder (€3k less in U.K), the chipper (€7k less in U.K) My wife bought back one of our trucks at auction for a few grand. I make no excuses for not buying 'local' as such a saving could not be ignored nor would GMs regional rep consider any price movement. So, my hand was forced. I have previously owned 3 French GM machines, the GM190 was €10k more in France than the U.K. I still have the quote from TJWhites. Even so, we still bought through GM France. That GM190 turned out to be an utter dog. I've dozens of videos of rollers jamming on 'sticks' much as my current machine does. Bear in mind 3000psi runs through that system. The local dealer was clueless as to the cause. It spent weeks sitting forlournly in their machine park whilst we rented theirs at €240 per day. 3 times a hydro 'U' bend connection let go, first time at 28 hours, it is the one one tucked up underneath and a shit to access. It simply refused to stay tight. The final occasion on a clients recently laid tarmac drive pissing out over 10litres of hydro oil. It also had far less throw than our demo machine had which was mysterious and annoying. Shovelling chip forward in the chip box and cleaning it off the ground. That was not a happy time. GM France eventually visited and agreed to exchange the machine for a GM200 which served for 120 faultless hours before my ltd company liquidated. Greenmech, you've been making chippers long enough now, perhaps your Evo series will eliminate many problems. I'll be seeing you later in the year. Stuart 20200318_154650.mp4 20200323_164306.mp4 20200403_143907.mp4

You know... I'd really like that to experience that level of service without asking. I currently have 3 issues which are a little more serious than mere 'cosmetics' and impact greatly on the machines usability, efficiency and even future value. Now GM have kindly offered to let me bring it back to the factory where they will no doubt work around the clock by candlelight light under the post Brexit, post pandemic austerity measures to ensure my continued customer satisfaction. I'm resigned to do this but these stories of great customer service from U.K GM and Forst dealers make me a little nauseous and really highlight a cultural difference between the U.K and France. It is not unimaginable though...to have it picked up by GM France, for there are precidents who were given a shiny new loaner for the duration and had their machine returned in a 'detailed' condition, not entirely the stuff of wild fantasy. However, more likely, even if I had bought my 150P in France, paid full list price, sucked off the dealer and his wifes dog, I'd still more likely get little more than a gallic shrug and lose my machine for an unknown number of weeks/months. For if an easy to diagnose and cheap to fix engine fault takes 4 weeks to turn around, how long would a French dealer take to sort out 3 far more serious issues? This is no reflection on the help and support given by PeteB, Ashley of GAGroundcare or Jase Hutch and his team who I shall be seeing once the fog of pandemic has lifted. Stuart

Except fuel Efi pumps it seems... Stuart