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I have been looking at converted xlwb vans Garth, sprinter etc but none of them have rear seat belts and I need to carry 2 kids so that means a coach built one and a lot of money, so I'm still searching. Erzberg was spot on mate, a bit frustrating as I wasn't competing but I still took the bikes and got to see what its all about ready for next year. Graham Jarvis traveled and stayed with us so his result made the holiday all the more sweeter, and I have his trophy on my windowsill as he left it in the camper, 'result'. Have you been before Garth?

I used to think caravans and motorhomes were a complete waste of time and money, until I borrowed my mates to go Austria for the Erzberg Extreme Enduro this year. I am now a big fan and really want one if i can find one at the right price

They have just bought a new 3pl mounted 22 inch chipper I beleive, whihch sounds handy. James is a good operator, he still managed to blow a tyre of the Fendt on tuesday at the Tyne Tunnel for us though.

Thats what Alex Price said, he rekons because we're quality assured, Ltd company, signwritten vans etc, they know we aren't going anywhere so know where to come.

After the 1st investigation we were told that the U1200 with chipper and chip box could run on red so long as it wasn't carrying a load on the road. The U1500 couldn't run on white at any time. In the meantime the regs changed again so that regardless of carrying a load or not the U1200 could not lawfully run on red same as the U1500 and the valmet tractor we had at the time. We had the same investigating officer the second time and he went through everything again, fuel receipts, milages etc. I'm only passing on my experience for the benifit of others, as I've said I did a lot of research and got caught out, twice. My advice if your not sure is to call HMRC, if anyone wants the number of the officer who dealt with us, (so to speak), send me a PM and I'll happily pass it on.

The site is at 120 Otago Street in Glasgow, the LA Parks depot. The trees are a mix of lime, lombardy, poplar, ash and sycamore. We will be on site monday 13th to thursday 16th if you want to call in we can load with mog and timber brab, or call me on 07881 803584. Cheers, Steve

I was told directly by HMRC that mogs, tractors etc must run on white, regardless of spec, load carrying capacity if they are being used for tree work. You can have it on red but it must be sorned and transported to and from site i.e low loader, same as a harvester or forwarder would be. One of our clients a local authoruty was investigated last year, as were we for the second time, and they had to put all of their tractors on white, even the ones that had gang mowers on, this is because its a duel purpose machine, it may be mowing one day but he next it may have a trailer on carrying mulch or soil and that is classed as transport and therefore white must be used. Dedicated single use machines can sometimes run on red, eg triple mowers as they can't really do anything else, but tractors, mogs etc are a definate white only machine. I'd researched everything I could on the subject and thought I was within the law, but still got caught out, twice and paid for it with fines and back duty. If in doubt call your local HMRC office, they are not very friendly but will give out advice and tell what can and can't be done and confirm on letterhead if you want.

We have won a site clearance job in Glasgow which we will be starting around 13th July. There will be around 15 - 20 tonnes of timber to come off the job, if anyone is interested it can either be collected from site (we can load if required) or we can deliver with our grab lorry. Cheers, Steve 07881 803584

Sorry mate, we seem to keep swooping in and doing some really nice jobs in darlo, then swooping back out for another 6 months or a year. I did notice the pop is not too clever, the client had one fail last year so is considering reduction / removal. Things are going ok at the moment, by the way I couldn't pay half of what you get paid bud.

Thank you very much Mr Wilson. Are you going to Moyles stag night in Newcastle?

Sorry Daz, I've been away. It was Lee up the tree, Owen's still off recovering from his hernia The grab wagon has just over a 13 tonne payload but I really need a bigger skip for it to get anywhere near that amount on it. Is yours running much better after the engine rebuild?

We have been stopped and investigated by HMRC twice in two years regarding using red in our mogs, both times been found to be using red illegally and both times had to pay a £250 fine for each mog, and the back duty, now the investigating officer has clearly informed me that we cannot use rebated fuel and if we are stopped again they will be inpounding / crushing them. I showed the investigating officer literature I had received on course run be the AA from the country's top consultant on agricultural vehicles on the road, who had told me we were able to legally run on red, but this is not the case, also since then the rules have changed twice tightening up each time. Tractors, mogs etc that are used in tree surgery ie amenity work must run on white, regardless of spec, carrying a load or towing, location of depot etc. Its all on HMRC website, and my advice is get on the white stuff before you are stopped and then you will probably get away without having to pay back the duty on the red you have used, which for us, running 3 mogs at the time, a was a hefty amount.

I like the look of the mog and vermeer set up. Since we got stopped from running the mogs on red diesel I've been thinking of something simlar, it would save a fortune in diesel. My though was have a large(ish) tracked chipper, spoke to ACP about a 16" Heizo on 5.5tonne excavator undercarriage with small loading crane, towed on fortuna / mueller plant trailer behind a basic spec U2150 L38 with large chip box. for removing the chip. I wish I could stop thinking about different set-ups sometimes!

What he said

Not really, its just a grab lorry really, I should make better use of it but we also have a U1200 with 3 pl, that has a Scliesling 440 or we can put the winch, processor or splitter on it as and when.

Looks great fun, some similar stuff to the Romaniacs in there, I'm off to Erzberg a week on monday with a couple of mates, for a week of mayhem. Going to the Isle of Man in hour to do some trail riding so I better be off!

The switch is there in the cab but I don't think its working, I'll look into that, cheers,

Thats the one mate! Nice part of town.

Good thinking, I don't think you could actually see the base of the stem from the pavement unless you were stretch armstrong, perhaps he had a look through the gaps in the fence of jumped over to have a look either way it was well spotted.

The tree was in Darlington, the LA tree officers noticed meripulus brackets on the stem whilst walking to look at another tree at another property and informed the owner of the situation. There is a school and a nursery across the road and a busy roundabout beneath it. It was a crying shame as it is in lovley area and was a lovely tree.

Thanks lads, the gear is a big asset, but to be honest without the staff to make it all work its useless. I havn't been out on site with a team for months and I thoroghly enjoyed myself yesterday, it was bit of stress buster just watching and dragging a few branches.

I was, but its a bit too usefull at the moment. I still haven't got the grab sorted for the hookloader, its there, it just needs piping and an A link which I'm struggling to find. The hookloader is good on the road, versatile (see pic) and crane is good on dismantles etc but it can't go too far off road like the mog (see other pic) so I can't decide which one to keep.

Cheers Garth, Its a lot faster and easier than the PM on the hookloader, but the PM can lift a lot more at greater reach.

Cheers Phenom, we had 7.5 tonner with 7.5" chipper, that got all the chip in one load 26tonner for the main stem and U1500 with trailer for the cordwood, the job was around 30miles from our yard and I didn't want anyone to have to leave site to tip. We had 5 staff on site although all I did was answer the phone, take a few photos and enjoy the sunshine, We couldn't start until the tm went on at 9.30 ish and we were all done for 2.30 back at yard, gear away and in the pub for the friday pm pint after work.

A few pics of a nice job on a nice sunny day, made even better by it being on a friday.