monkeybusiness

Glad you've clarified that - I thought you were losing your mind.

It theoretically sounds like a win win really - if you are in a position to be without the machine for a week at a time then in some ways I say go for it. My reservation (as a potential customer) is what the cost for a week's hire would be - I imagine that you could mill an enormous volume of timber in that time. If I were in a situation where I had a week's worth of milling in one go I would personally be seriously looking at buying my own mill. The hire cost would need to be very cheap (and therefore not in your favour) to warrant me renting a mill for a week. When I first read the thread title my thoughts were 'This guy is crazy'. I don't think that now, but I'm unsure if it is the right thing for you to be doing. I know that the machine is dead money when sat in the yard, but there is a chance that hiring it out the way you propose (which in itself I don't disagree with) will limit your market too much, or will return too little money to be worth bothering with. I am by no means knowledgeable in the timber milling game however - if you do decide to hire your machine out I sincerely hope you prove me wrong! Good luck either way.

I don't know much about mills but have seen them operating. When in use, what is the most damage that could theoretically be done to the mill (aside from damaging the bandsaw blade on nails etc)? If it is possible for the carriage etc to become twisted if someone is heavy handed I would definitely suggest not hiring it out. If it is just a case of wear and tear items wearing quickly then I can't see a problem, providing whoever hires it has hired in plant insurance to a value that will cover the cost of a new mill in the event of theft or damage when being towed.

Get Swinny's Iveco bought - that looks a good vehicle at the right money and you aren't likely to lose much/anything if you find something else you prefer and end up selling it on IMO.

I reckon that is the best chipper TW make - I started with one and eventually PX'd it for a bigger machine. Looking back I wish I had kept it as well (but I couldn't have afforded to at the time). I have used a few since, and they punch well above their weight IMO. The fact that they are so light means that you can hand ball them anywhere. They are a bit thirsty, but this should be covered by the price of the job. They are a great machine - if I find one at the right money I will buy it. Mr Bolam - from what I have seen of your posts I find it hard to know whether to take you seriously. Please keep up the good work!

LOL...

I tend to agree, but if we are looking in that sort of detail then chippers in general are massively expensive. Why do straight-forward road tow machines cost £10 - £20 k new? All they are is a basic industrial engine (£3k max?), some bearings, some hydraulics, some fabrication, an axle etc. If you look at agricultural machinery/excavators/cars etc then chippers are hugely overpriced. However, it does come down to supply and demand. Chippers are built in small runs (probably less than 10 at a time) and are subsequently very labour intensive to manufacture as there isn't a huge market for them. They need to be built out of high-quality components as they are designed to operate in an extremely harsh environment, and should by rights self destruct very quickly. The companies that build them have to research their designs, and offer warranty with their new machines, as well as stock a wide spares inventory and create/support their dealer network. All of this costs money, which has to be represented in the retail price. I am unsure why basic tracked machines add such a price premium to the equivalent road tow, but when you start adding expanding tracks/separate hydraulic circuits for each track etc the machine gets a lot more complex (not only in the build, but also throughout the design process). There were early tracked machines that were nothing more than a road-tow with the wheels cut off, welded on to a mini digger track frame with the hydraulics plumbed in to the feed roller hydraulics. They were pretty poor in reality - small excavator track frames aren't long enough to balance a woodchipper that has to work on a variety of terrain and be stable when trees are fed into one end. As a result, tracked chippers tend to have bespoke undercarriage (this is apparent when you buy tracks for them, as they are different to most other tracked plant). The feed roller hydraulics aren't up to propelling a chipper anywhere (it will move, but glacially) so a whole new hydraulic circuit with different flow rates/pressures needs to be grafted on to the machine. As a result of this extra hydraulic requirement, a larger hydraulic reservoir/additional filtration is required, to keep the oil cool. Electro-hydraulic solenoids need to be installed in the tracking/feed roller circuits so you can't track into someone whilst they are chipping etc (keeping the HSE happy) - oh yeah, and everything has to be CE certified to make sure it is safe to sell (and legal for that matter). They are dear, but so is everything in our industry! However, once you start using a good tracked machine you will never look back.

They still make the 1928 safetrak, which in reality chips more than the older (on paper larger) machines. The 1928 has a rectangular 11" wide feed hole as opposed to 9" square. Don't be put off by its apparent 7.5 inch classification - I nearly was but am now a convert. If you wanted a 1928 with square blades I'm pretty sure GM would make you one. I went on the factory tour earlier in the year and they manufacture the lot in house - the blade pockets are built up onto the flywheels before balancing so I can't see why they couldn't make the 1928 flywheel with the square blades if so required (although I may be wrong). As a user I wouldn't personally go back to square edge blades though - the disks last for ages in comparison. We are derailing the thread a bit though, so sorry! In terms of budget, £9k will maybe stretch to a worn out second hand orange tracked chipper - you want a bit more to get something good with tracks IMO (I'd budget £14k plus).

I've heard that there are 'political' reasons for the factory not supplying parts to end users, thus driving the business through the dealer network. This is great in theory, but has the potential to be let down by poor dealer service.

I think Timberwolf do a shredder too, I have no experience of using one though.

Tracks can snap but appear OK. They have steel cables running through the inside which break, allowing the track to stretch at that point. Lift the tracks off the ground and rotate them - you may notice that they have a slight kink, or grind in one place as they mesh with the sprocket. If you notice this mark the position and rotate the track so that the marked spot is held tight between the sprocket and idler. If you then release the tension on the tracks you can see the track rubber shrink at the point the steel is broken. If this is the case you need a new track - Digbits are very good and come with an 18 month warranty.

This man is correct. Maintenance is everything! If you are looking at a new machine you want to get as many demos as possible and then decide which suits your needs best. I'm a big fan of the gm 1928 as I have used them extensively and know how good they are. Others still seem to turn their noses up at them (possibly as a result of poor experiences with earlier gm machines). I don't personally rate the tw190 - it isn't a bad machine, but it feeds like a smaller machine due to the square feed. I've used some terrible Jensens in the past, but maintenance (or lack of!) may have played a part to be fair. I know nothing about Bandits but they would be on my list to try if I was looking for a new machine of this size. The Forst looks very good, but is a smaller chipper (which apparently punches above its weight, but so does the quad chip) with a small hopper but no lightweight benefits (it is a lot more than 750 kg). I think their larger machine will be interesting when it is launched though. Phone your local dealers or the manufacturers, try all the machines out in this size category and then make sure you let us all know what you think!

I'd be interested to know how you thought it compares to a 1928 if you demo them both.

Depends when you passed your test - if you're an old fart then you can go upto a gross train weight of 8250 kg (ie combination of maximum permissable weight of tow vehicle upto 7.5 tonnes plus maximum weight of trailer). If your iveco is gross 5.5 tonne you can tow a maximum of 2.75 tonnes before you need hgv if you hold a full pre 96 licence (i think).

Get on them with a flap disk - it makes a big difference on a 1928.

To be fair I did buy 600l, and it was on offer already. And that price is plus VAT. But it is still amazingly cheap I reckon.

Most chain oil isn't bio oil - all lubricating oils are made from base oil with different additives thrown in to give different properties. I would imagine that standard chain oil comes from a purely mineral oil base - the fact that I can buy a quality semi synthetic engine oil for less than a bog standard cheap as it comes mineral chain oil (that doesn't need to be long life/temperature stable/work at high pressure/require detergents etc etc) doesn't make sense to me. Economies of scale certainly play their part, but chain oil's raw ingredients must cost less than high quality semi synthetic engine oil to begin with. All it needs is an anti fling additive - it doesn't have to have any other properties as it is flung immediately to waste. It really should be very very cheap (it is insane that it costs more than red diesel - there is a lot more refining in that product).

I recently bought semi synthetic 10w40 engine oil from my motor factors for approx £1.10/l - we have used this in the saws recently as it is massively cheaper than chain oil. And we use rapeseed oil if bio oil is required, but I'm not convinced it is all that good on bigger bars. Chain oil is crazy money for what it is - there must be serious profit in it. I can't see how a very high quality engine oil can be sold for less money than chain oil (and I spent a lot of effort trying to find bulk chain oil for less money than the engine oil). If anyone can supply me with chain oil for £1 a litre or less then please give me a shout - I'll buy it by the IBC if necessary.

You can get the splined boss from greenmech, any decent agricultural engineers will be able to cut the old one out and weld the new one in.

Any idea on prices for a new rhd 79 series toyota? PM if you prefer, I could be interested in joining you and your mate...

She looks fierce! Great fabrication skills, very impressive!

I'm not surprised he was nervous - it looks like the audience was full of Incredible Hulks from the pic! That is a well deserved award as far as I'm concerned, and credit is due to the AA for recognising what an important tool this forum is. Congratulations Mr Bullman and thank you for all that you have done and continue to do.

That'll be an extremely expensive repair if the A pillar's strength is deemed to have been compromised - this may sound daft but I wouldn't be surprised if the car is written off...

I know nothing about these chippers but I do know that the anvil/bedknife on all chippers needs to have a good edge as well as the blades being sharp for machines to chip efficiently. I would imagine that this is especially important on a machine that feeds itself through the chipping action.

I believe that's the way to go, and that's where I want to spend my money. Just seeing if anyone honestly thinks the Husky is a real player in the marketplace? I might buy one of each and appraise them both, but I do know that the standard 201 is pretty flat.