monkeybusiness

Nice to hear you Paul, all good here thanks for asking (crazy busy, which is a good problem to have!). One of these days I will pull my finger out and get AA approved (if only to drive down my insurance even further)!

I've been insured with Trust, then Arborisk (only moved due to better price at time of renewal, hadn't made a claim with Trust so can't comment on their claims handling). Arborisk were great when I had to unfortunately make a claim for a stolen chipper earlier this year - they paid out quickly with no issues. However, my renewal subsequently doubled (I expected it to go up but thought that was a bit strong!) so have now moved to Lycetts and saved approx £3k. Lycetts were cheapest out of those 3 for me, but they are all decent competitive firms from what I can tell.

It's all about pressure. You need to know what pressure your pump delivers and match that to the winch's motor. Flow is less important - the more flow, the faster your winch will be though. If your pump doesn't deliver the required pressure the winch won't pull the skin off a rice pudding - if it has the correct pressure but limited flow then it will pull the winch's rated capacity but it might be very slow.

Hydraulic would be the best option for constant duty. We've not managed to kill the winchmax electric winches which is the only reason I would recommend them - we did kill a much more expensive Warn though. If budget isn't an issue then definitely go hydraulic.

Once you have one fitted you find multiple uses for them. Dead handy attachment.

Yes, but constant use will still kill a poor battery, engine running or not. Using them without the engine running is only for emergency use as they will flatten even a good battery in no time. Greenmech offer electric winches as a factory fit option - they are sometimes a requirement on railway jobs where a dead chipper has to be quickly self-recoverable off a railway track. They now also offer a 12v hydraulic power pack to allow the tracking function to continue to operate for short periods of time without the need for the engine to be operating (I believe Forst also offer something similar) for the same reason. As mentioned, chipper winches are great for pulling over back-leaners etc, particularly with a radio remote control as the cutter can also control the winch.

They're good, but will quickly kill a weak battery. We've only ever burned out a Warn - these cheap Winchmax jobbies haven't given up yet (and have had a lot of constant abuse). Hydraulic would be better for constant duty but are no good for self recovery with a dead engine, and are more expensive/complex to fit in the first place.

Yeah - the winchmax come with everything in the box. Depending on where your chipper battery is you may need longer battery leads making up (any auto electrician will be able to supply you the cables with correctly crimped terminals). Just attach positive direct to positive battery terminal and negative direct to negative battery terminal. If you want to include an isolator make sure you get as heavy duty as possible - the ones with the red plastic key can melt if you are doing a lot of winching... The only issue we have ever had is with a bad earth on the little earth wire that comes out of the control/solenoid box - this stops everything working and give the impression that the winch is goosed.

Ring them - the bloke will sell cheaper than through eBay over the phone.

Exactly that. Google them and buy direct, it's even cheaper. Those winches are mega - spend the extra money you've saved on a big battery and decent leads.

Winchmax 13000 kg. I've replaced a few really expensive warn winches fitted to big green mechs with them and they are brilliant (and really cheap, especially if you deal direct). Google them and get your cash out!

Standard BMW driving plum! We like a challenge though!

Taking out a few decent sized trees from really tight back gardens - a bit of crane action smooths the job right out! [ame] [/ame]

Sounds interesting (as long as it is deemed acceptable by the clients!).

Where it is truly ridiculous is in the utility sector. You have to have a refresher every 3 years (which is fair enough) and this has to cover everything you are qualified to undertake (also fair enough). Utility climbers qualified to NPTC UA2.3 will therefore be reassessed in electrical knowledge, ground work (including the use of insulated rods around conductors) tree felling (including assisted felling), and aerial tree work (ie chainsaw from a rope and harness near power lines). However, this doesn't subsequently count as CS refresher (even though it is more in depth than a lot of CS units), and these also have to be undertaken every 5 years! To really rub salt into the wound, we have a client insisting on us undertaking NPTC blower training (which would also have to be refreshed after 5 years). They are happy that we are trained and competent to climb and use chainsaws from a rope and harness alongside their 11 and 33kv networks, but won't let us use blowers without another expensive bit of paper... The whole NPTC job has become something of a money generating scam in my opinion, providing a lot of pointless jobs for box ticking experts. There should be the facility to get an assessor to undertake a complete evaluation of a candidates' skill set either on a work site during a normal working day, or at least to run through every ticket held at a training facility in one day for a flat fee (not having to re-register for every ticket!). I personally hold (and have lads with) CS30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, UA1, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 5, PA1, 6, 6AW, NPTC woodchipper, brushcutter, pole pruner, stump grinder, ATV, tractor. All of these tickets now need individually refreshing either 3 or 5 yearly (not quite true as a number of the CS units will refresh together, but still!!). On top of this are the task specific qualifications required by the various network operators we work on behalf of (SPEN, WPD and National Grid). Throw into the mix quarterly safety days and there aren't that many days left to actually go out and earn money!!!

Ha ha, I remember 25l of chain oil being a massive long term investment!!!

It was a tax efficient way of bumping up the staff's pay.

I think we got £4 or £5 a day but supplied our own fuel and oil for that at Tilhill.

That blue spray indicator gets everywhere by the way! Wear gloves wear gloves wear gloves!!!!

They all have their own issued saws, and are largely very good at looking after them. We have had a couple of bits go missing recently (I am in no way under the impression that the lads are stealing from me, they are good guys that I trust implicitly) but when things are lost/stolen off site it is always company kit. I also have some regular subbies who supply their own kit and it's pretty telling that their kit never goes missing (I'm not suggesting that they are thieves either by the way - I know them all as mates and every one of them is ace!). There appears to be complacency/lack of ownership towards company equipment and I reckon that if the lads were to own the kit themselves they might take more care of where it's left/whether it is packed back into the van at the end of the day etc.

I need to speak to my accountant about the finer details (I'm under the impression that it will be a tax free tool allowance payment in addition to their wages, paid for each day that they provide working saws). That's how it worked many moons ago when I was employed by Tilhill and supplied my own saws. The idea is certainly not to punish the lads - it has to be economically viable from both sides (and this way they effectively end up with their own saws paid for by the company). I'm happy to supply saws that they then pay for from their daily allowance, so there won't be any up-front costs. It is pretty standard practice with several firms in the utility industry - I'm just trying to get a feel for rates. I'm not concerned by HSE etc - it's no different to how we already operate really. Lads are trained and competent, undertake daily recorded PUWER checks - if they turn up with saws that aren't fit for purpose they won't get paid their daily allowance. Yes they will have to provide files/chains/bars etc - I'd imagine it might extend the working life of files and chains a bit too somehow... This all needs to be included within the allowance.

We're having a bit of an issue with employees not looking after our kit as well as hoped... I'm contemplating going back to the old skool and paying the lads a daily allowance to provide their own saws (company to provide fuel and oil, as well as blower/big saws etc when necessary). What's the going rate being paid to employees to provide their own ground saw and climbing saw? All PPE/climbing kit etc will continue to be provided by the business - this is just a rate for 2x saws. PM me if you'd prefer - I won't share any 'secret' info. Cheers in advance you beautiful people!

I think Evans is great - it took big balls to get involved with top gear and he stepped up to the plate. There was no way he would be able to succeed as there was a massive undercurrent of resentment towards him from the press, which fired up the numbskull Clarksonistas who were never going to give him a chance. (FWIW I think Clarkson is a genius and he pretty much invented the infotainment television that TG was at the forefront of. However, the last 3 series had become very tired, monotonous and staged and I for one wasn't sorry when that era came to an end). Evans has relaunched TG and I have to say this most recent series has (IMO) been the best that has been turned out for several years. The new presenters are brilliant - as far as I know Chris Evans pulled them all together and has been deeply involved in the overall production from the start of his involvement. He has had no choice but to fall on his sword to give the current show any chance of success - when it does return for the next series and all of the back-biting surrounding Evans dies down I would imagine it will grow into a big show with massive viewing figures. Just remember that Chris Evans's creativity will be largely responsible for any future success, even in his absence.

Could do with a bigger table on that splitter though! Great set up to be fair - nice thinking!

Ha ha! I don't think anyone was getting near the cab on the Big Feller Eddie - no way would Liebherr want any dirt getting in there! The 970 on their stand was some tool too - it should be for £450k to be fair (but that looked pretty reasonable compared to £170k for a 10 tonne Atlas Copco pecker displayed near by)!!!! Great show, and plenty of food for thought!