monkeybusiness

I'm not sure what I wrote that warranted the post being deleted, but apologies if any offence was caused (I'd had a few beers before posting which was obviously a mistake!). The basic premise of what I was saying is that I think the TW190 is a great chipper, and in my opinion you would be much better buying a tatty machine that you know to be mechanically sound/maintained than one that looks tidy but has possibly not been looked after very well mechanically. There are plenty of people out there who are all about things being shiny shiny but wouldn't know one end of a grease cartridge from the other - you are likely to blow big money on a badly maintained machine.

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High five!!! The colours look amazing, but my rubbish camera phone with its broken lense along with my child like photography skills don't do it any justice at all. Great work Si, it's a brilliant legacy to a massive tree. The detail is incredible!

About £150 a tonne for a timberwolf...

Your story has made my day - perfecto!!!

Cheers bud - I'm hoping for a nice Arbtalk success story (there have been a few real nice people contacting me directly over this so far to whom I am very grateful). I'm all over eBay etc constantly. I think this machine will be moved on by word of mouth if it isn't already overseas (although there are eyes everywhere looking for this). There is a chance that it will be weighed in which would be hugely gutting, but there is also the possibility of the thieves keeping it for their own use. If anyone sees a Greenmech being towed behind a vehicle they don't recognise (we all tend to know the local tree firms in our own areas) then let me know please!!!

Cheers Rich. The chipper is pretty unremarkable other than the fact it is in excellent overall condition - there is the start of some corrosion in evidence on the sides of the feed hopper but that is really it. There are a couple of obvious give aways that would enable it to be identified and some that would be impossible to find unless you knew they were there (which would identify the machine in the case of it being cloned with another). There are photos of it on the second page of this thread. I don't want to broadcast any of the tell tales on here in case the wrong person reads the thread and hides the obvious pointers, but if anyone pms me or contacts me on 07970188050 I can tell them what to look for. Really, if there is a Greenmech 1928 being offered for sale anywhere then I'd like to hear about it. This isn't a TW150 - there aren't hundreds of these machines about and they do stand out as they aren't orange/yellow. I don't personally know of any other firms in my area operating these machines (which seems bonkers as they are brilliant) and I doubt it is much different elsewhere in the UK so if you see one give me a shout and if it's mine you'll get a grand!

This chipper is still AWOL and there is still £1000 for information leading to its recovery. I have had a number of calls of people with possible sightings from all over the UK, and a colleague of mine had a call from the police letting him know his 6inch Entec had just turned up 5 YEARS after it was stolen, so I'm not giving up hope. I will continue to pursue this machine and have spread the word far and wide so am hopeful it may re-appear. If you have it or know where it is then I would suggest you take the easy £1000 rather than keep trying to hide it. And if you are offered any Greenmech for sale, please let me know - think of the money!

I've got an Ifor GH94 with the 10'' wheels for carrying our tracked greenmech and it's great because the floor height is nice and low so you can use the chipper in the trailer (and it loads the correct way round with the feed hopper at the back). They're dear new, but they are very well made. I got mine off Morris Buftons in Ludlow - speak to John there and he'll give you a fantastic discount over list prices. It's actually 9 foot long which put me off a bit but in real terms it means the chipper can be carried with the hopper at the back, and the weight isn't all over the tow bar (I think the GH range is designed with the wheels more forward than other plant trailers to offer a better balance point for non mini-digger plant if that makes any sense?!). I've towed our chipper in an Ifor gx 84 and it had to be loaded the other way around to fit, and there was a massive amount of weight on the tow ball.

If you want to do utility climbing you'll have to do CS40 first.

Get the serial number from the seller and check with the manufacturer to see if it's theirs to sell (doesn't help with cloned machines but the manufacturer should be able to help you with further checks for a particular serial number if you have any doubts). I think most genuine sellers wouldn't have a problem with this.

I've got a DCS7900 - it was my first 'big' saw running a 30'' bar with ease. Most of my mates hated it but I think for the money they are the dogs danglies. It's pretty fubar now though (but it has certainly paid for itself over the years).

You are unlikely to damage a 1928 rotor ever unless you put a BIG piece of steel through - we've chipped a couple of thick pieces of re-bar, a Karabiner and a pulley with ours (not all on the same day) and all that happens is the blades get chipped. They are very very solid - you will never bend the fan blades (the machine would stall first I reckon). They throw everything you put in them a long way (not like the old Greenmechs) but probably not as far as the Timberwolf to be fair. They'll easily fill a 7.5 tonner, and you won't need to sned anywhere near as much as you would with the 190. If you're offered a 1928 please let me know as I've just had one stolen.

Call Terry Crick at Apex - 07791605132 - he's got a good set up also on Cannock Chase (and I would think his classroom is actually closer to you).

Cheers mate, I'm working on it!

That would be mint. The reward would be doubled if that was the outcome!

I'll wind my neck in then - I'm sure you're right! It is to do with the EGR and that's what's fitted on the 300 autos I was talking about. I didn't realise they had put it on the manual gearbox versions as well so apologies. (In my defence I hadn't read your post before I wrote mine)!

Do you mean an ECU? If you do then no it doesn't, they are all mechanical, like the 200. Some of the 300tdi autos in discos and Range Rovers are a bit more complicated but I'm pretty certain they haven't got an ECU.

Just a quick post to share a bit of info I've picked up whilst chasing this machine up. I have spoken to a few trailer 'experts' as I am trying to find an ultimate hitch lock that will secure hitches whilst attached to vehicles and it would appear that they are all pretty easy to defeat if you know what you are doing (and you can be fairly sure the people who help themselves to other people's stuff do know what they're doing!). One of the most important things I have heard is that if you secure your trailers with a hitch lock when they aren't attached to a vehicle it is MASSIVELY IMPORTANT that you block up the hole that the 50mm ball sits in. If you don't, thieves will simply lower the hitch onto the crown of their towball, strap it in place and tow it away to deal with the lock elsewhere, or they even grind their balls down (I'd like to do that to the c***s that took my chipper) so that the hitch will drop on whilst still locked. There are proprietary balls on sale for this purpose, or you can make your own out of an old tow ball but make sure you leave a little stub on the bottom so you can remove it (and don't leave a massive stub or it will be really easy to take your trailer!). There is still £1000 for anyone who can direct me to my chipper by the way - keep looking people!!!

Find out who's doing utility pruning in your area - they often like to have local tip sites for chip.

They should both fit the same - the difference is in the gearbox bell housings (the R380 gearbox fitted to 300Tdis has a longer bell housing and the whole engine subsequently sits further forward in the engine bay than that on the LT77 fitted to the 200 and 2.5 turbo). If the 200 and 300 are both out of Defenders they should go straight in, Tdi engines out of Discos have the turbo located differently and this fouls in a Defender subsequently requiring more modification. They are all basically the same as the old 2.25 petrol and diesel engines - if you put all 4 cylinder LR engines side by side the blocks are pretty much identical and accept each other's engine/gearbox/flywheel mounts.

Steve Stevenson (his real name!) has a really good tracked 1928 for the right money if you're looking for one that can go absolutely anywhere - he's down in Essex or Kent (South of Brum is all pretty much the same to me to be fair). He had it listed on eBay over xmas but it's not there now so he might have sold it - PM me for his number if it's of interest. If anyone offers you a wheeled 1928 please let me know - mine's gone walkies...

I'll be the third if you like, then we can put it to bed and get on with the year! Some bums stole my chipper on Tuesday, which was pretty rubbish. As already mentioned, at least we've got our health and nobody got hurt!

Please do - it'd be the perfect excuse for a holiday if it were to turn up over the water!