monkeybusiness

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!

Yeah, I was talking to the fella from Liebherr who heads up the refurbishment team and he was rightly very proud of it as a showcase. I couldn't believe it when he let me have a go, and I was surprised how well that shear cuts through limestone too....

Saw this today - it's a beast! Lots of great attention to detail - there is a lot of really tidy work just gone into that hitch set up alone. The build pics alongside were amazing too! I was hoping to have a poke around the grapple saw but sadly no... Good luck with it Eddie, it looks very ready for action now!

Apparently the new Discovery has some sort of trailer stability software too. IME, if you are towing anything at all heavy you need a decent trailer (serviceable tyres and brakes that work correctly etc) with 50-100kg nose weight (definitely not negative nose weight) with a level or slightly high hitch (ie imposing weight on the tow vehicle's rear axle, not trying to lift it). If the trailer is heavier than the tow vehicle it is absolutely imperative that these basic rules are followed, and speed is kept low. Other than my incident recounted in the earlier post I have experienced serious snaking 3 times in 20 plus years of towing large and heavy trailers (I know it's 3 as each one was terrifying and not quickly forgotten). After each event I realised that all 3 were down to poorly distributed loads on relatively light weight tow vehicles.

We did a quick 'Advanced Towing' seminar at a client's safety briefing and the instructor advised braking hard as the trailer pendulums back into line and then getting straight back off the brakes as it swings through - exactly as you describe this helps pull things straight at the same time as shedding speed. I recently had the opportunity to try this method on the A55 heading down Rhualt hill at 50-60mph (long and steep dual carriageway with a massive bend at the bottom that you definitely don't want to hit at 90mph with a trailer on the back!) and it didn't quite go to plan. It turned out one of the tyres on the rear axle of the heavily loaded Ifor 12x6 tipper had a slow puncture and this set things off when on the overrun as I crested the hill - there was a good half mile of brown-trousered-tank-slapper action as the truck/trailer combo wanted to pick up speed due to gravity and I tried to ride it out to see if it would calm itself down. In the end I was across both lanes and the hard shoulder so went s**t or bust for the timed brake stab and it all ended in tears with logs everywhere and a rather bent pickup and trailer (but no injuries and no third parties tied up in my mess, so pretty good outcome really). I would still try the brake stab as a last ditch attempt if in the same position again as the logic behind it makes sense and I'm sure it would work in some circumstances (and probably would have done if attempted earlier in my little escapade). I wouldn't ever rush to accelerate out of a snake (unless going uphill, but I've never known a trailer snake uphill as they are being dragged and are not doing the pushing) - I think you would need a lot of power to pull anything violently snaking back into line and then you still have the issue of too much speed with something unstable that you still have to slow down on the back. To the op - I'm glad there were no serious injuries - the Toyota looks to have stood up well (I'd hate to think what a defender roof/a-pillar would look like after that sort of treatment!). Enjoy Glastonbury, everything will feel better as the weekend progresses no doubt!!!

Have the ground levels been altered in the garden? The levels around the base of the tree look odd (particularly in the 4th pic in the original post).

Nothing track based comes close to the TT for excitement from a spectator's point of view. Anything motorbike based is leagues ahead of the monotony of a formula 1 procession nowadays imo - everything about F1 is sterile and soul less. MotoGP is ace, the riders are incredible! However, those that participate in road racing are proper balls-to-the-wall committed lunatics and I would recommend everyone should go and watch it (even if you have no interest in bikes or motorsport in general you would struggle to not be blown away seeing bikes pass you within arms length with no barriers other than the odd stone wall/barbed wire fence at 170mph plus on bumpy country roads! It is MEGA!!!