monkeybusiness

That is mint! More pics please!

Don't worry too much about how much 'tread' the tracks have - it is a good indication of how old they are but they are more likely to fail through stretching/snapping before they actually wear out. Have a good look at the sprockets (wear here is obvious as the teeth become narrow and sharp) and rollers (have someone track the machine while you watch - make sure there isn't any play/movement around the roller's axles as this will mean the bearings are shot). The idler (opposite end to the sprocket) should also not have any play in it when tracking. All of these will cost decent money to repair - rubber tracks themselves are not as expensive as you may think (a couple of hundred quid a side on a small machine).

Price it around what you know it would cost you to do with your HB20 (ie 5 hard days) and then hire a bigger machine for a couple of days instead. At least you then have a bit of leeway if you need to run on to an extra day's hire, or you can come back and finish off with your own machine if there is still some to do. Don't forget to allow for spare teeth with the hire machine - not from a hire charge perspective but for speed of work if you are using it yourself.

What happens when you drop a really big lump in there that needs cutting up to move? I doubt the material is very chainsaw resilient?...

I think the usual way of doing it is to extend the drawbar on whatever you are towing, as opposed to extend the hitch out from the back of the tractor. This is relatively easy with agricultural trailers (which can even be made up with a telescoping drawbar, so you can extend it for when you are towing with the chipper in place or shorten it to a 'normal' length for use without the chipper). It is a lot harder to extend the hitch on a road going vehicle's trailer fitted with over-run brakes, and almost impossible to do so cheaply and retain the ability to make it adjustable. Extending a trailer's drawbar will put a lot more load onto the tow vehicle (not a particularly big deal with a tractor, but more so with a car/van) and will also increase the trailer's tendency to cut corners. My advice would be to stick with an agricultural trailer in this application.

It will fall between the bolsters on a forwarding trailer - this will frustrate you immensely! Use a normal trailer - you can load it with a grab but it might be time consuming.

I've had 2x Navaras from new - a 56 plate and now a 59 plate. The 56 plate went into limp home mode a couple of times in 3 yrs/70k miles but it cleared as soon as it was turned off/on again - other than that it never missed a beat. The dealer couldn't trace the fault. The 59 plate has now done 46k and has been faultless. They actually tow well, but I wouldn't tow heavy stuff on a daily basis as I think the clutch would soon fail (1st gear is quite high). If I was buying new right now I would certainly consider another Nissan, or alternatively the Isuzu or big engined Ranger. Hilux is too much money for basically the same vehicle IMO, and underpowered unless you get the 3l engine (for which you will pay mega bucks). I'm not personally a fan of the L200 but I believe they are more reliable now than they used to be. There are certainly plenty about - I would imagine you would find one of these at the right money fairly easily. I don't like the small engine in the Amarok - that must be a pretty stressed unit in that truck if worked hard. Don't fear the Nissan!!!

I'm not sure if winch mounts are available off the shelf for your truck (if they are then let me know as is like one too!). The ones I have seen mounted to rangers are bespoke. You need to bolt the winch frame to the chassis rails under/behind the bumper (you may need to cut your bumper and or grill to make it fit). In terms of the winch you are looking at 12v electric as a hydraulic or PTO winch will probably cost more than your truck in parts. They are very easy to bolt in and wire up. I bought an orange electric winchmax cheap as chips jobby new off eBay and am very pleased with it (I took a punt and expected it to be crap but it is actually very very good). I also have a 12v warn 9000i that came fitted to a chipper - this is also a good winch, but honestly no better than the winchmax yet they cost 3x the price! You will need a good battery on your truck - a winch will quickly destroy a weak battery. Don't bother spending a milllion pounds on expensive fancy wincch batteries, buy the biggest (in terms of amp hours) battery that will fit in your holder from halfords. Get one with a 5 year warranty and keep the receipt - they will swap them without question if or when you cook it. Get some pics up!

Back in the game now though big boy!!!

I bought a timber trailer from Mark at Ryetec and he is a top bloke - if you have any issues (and I very much doubt you will) he will sort them straight away. I would imagine he has one of those grabs in the yard that you can have a play with before deciding whether to buy or not.

That is a great tractor - thanks for sharing. Why did you sell it?

Any pics of this beast?

Impossible to say without seeing it but if you have already ascertained that you aren't comfortable with a decent anchor point allowing you to reach what you want to cut then you need a MEWP IMO. Otherwise you are going to struggle/over-reach/bodge with poles/get Elvis-leg/leave a shoddy job. Someone will probably say that it is safe to tie in to 1" pop and that will be the answer to your question - if you aren't happy with your anchor point (and you know the job/your ability/comfort zone better than anyone on the internet) then you will probably not end up happy with the outcome. Get a MEWP and add it to your bill I'd say.

I've never had any problems with Saturn machine knives (and their sharpening service is very good too). They are all I've ever bought for Timberwolf and Greenmech and I can't say I could personally tell the difference between these and manufacturer's original equipment.

Reversing one of those with a tractor or a car/van are two completely different kettles of fish. I wouldn't consider one personally if you ever need to reverse anywhere - you lose all the steering lock and visibility afforded by a tractor.

I have installed quite a lot of Cobra/Boa and had one constantly undo itself. I think the problem stemmed from too sharp an angle of the rope entering the splice. I moved the splice further away from the branch (ie made the entire branch loop bigger) and it never came undone again.

I don't have personal experience of the Mowi or Palms but I have just bought a KTS trailer off Ryetec and I have to say I am very impressed with the build quality and attention to detail.

Have a look at certainlywood.co.uk - they sell bulk bags and deliver them on pallets. They seem to raise strong opinions on here but I don't know of another nationwide firewood supply company, and they appear to be doing well.

You want the twin wheel 350 if you want any sort of useful legal payload. The cab is tiny too. Good trucks with fantastic steering lock though.

Don't bother unless you want/need to fit bigger tyres - it isn't as simple as just fitting taller springs. You may need to extend brake hoses, you will alter the camber of the front axle unless you buy new radius arms, you will eat propshaft UJs unless you spend a fortune on new propshafts etc etc. Heavy duty springs (or helper springs inside the rears) are more than adequate and avoid all the headaches associated with a lift IMO. I have just read this post and was about to offer you my 110 300tdi HiCap for sale - it is rough and ready but will be going shortly as it is currently not being used. It sounds like you bought yours at the right price to be fair. Good luck with it (I hope you like spending your winter evenings underneath it with the spanners out!). You will probably spend a lot of time fixing things over the next 12 months, but will then have a very good understanding of your Landy. They can be as bad as people make out, but there isn't another vehicle on the market that is as versatile, easy to modify, easy to fix, as good off road, and as cheap to run (parts are cheap and depreciation is glacial) than a Tdi or TD5 Land Rover. Once you have owned one you will be smitten (but that isn't necessarily a good thing!).

I wonder how it would handle stumps?

Use a flap disk on a 4.5 inch grinder - it does a better job than a grinding disk.

Pete - if I had any more notice for this particular job then I'd have been on the phone to you straight away to give that beasty a test drive! However, Bob at Wolves trees has stepped up at short notice - thanks for the heads up Mr Walker!

Hello Can someone point me in the direction of a firm with a forestry mulcher in Brum please? Cheers Dan 07970188050