monkeybusiness

Man decapitated in wood chipper accident, coroner says | Reuters Dunno if it has been posted elsewhere, and not 100% clear if the rope went into the chipper or was being pulled by a winch, but terribly sad whatever the circumstances. I thought it had a relevance to this post though.

Nope - there is still £1000 up for grabs if anyone has any info. There was a rumour it might be in the St Helens area - keep your eyes peeled 'cos I want it back!

I've got a 52 plate Toyota Dyna with the 2.5 d4d hilux engine and I would recommend you avoid them like the plague - mine's had a fuel pump (£1k) and an EDU (which I'd never heard of and even the Toyota dealers I spoke to had never fitted one) for another £1k in the last 12 months, plus a £350 sump as the original had rusted through. It's only done 110k miles.

That's a brilliant film - thank you for posting! Sad to see the big old trees coming down but absolutely fascinating! Those blokes were double-hard, we are all little girls by comparison!

Treeseer - I agree with your take on this, but surely 9% and 4% are way too specific and therefore a little pointless. How can that be measured accurately?

Pete, why don't you do a PTO 1928? I think there would be a good market for it if you could make it light enough.

A couple of my mates bought 2 ms261s and we all thought they were great at first. However, they have both had new crankshafts under warranty because of the needle roller bearings failing, and are about to go back a second time for the same problem. It is basically a major design fault with no current fix - they are simply put back to standard. The lads are trying to get their money back whilst they are still under warranty. Do not buy these saws would be my advice, and if you've got one that has gone wrong whilst still under warranty then do what you can to get a refund. I have always been a Stihl fan, but bought one of the first Husky 560xp saws on a whim (which subsequently went wrong, but is now fixed). It is the best saw I have ever used - it is supposed to be the Husky equivalent to the Stihl ms362 but it is miles better. The ms361 was a mega saw but I reckon that this is even better than that. All the new Stihl kit I have used is pony compared to their older machinery, and as far as I can see Husky have upped their game. Now they need to get the long promised climbing saw to market...

OK, sorry for expressing my opinion. I have obviously upset you and your concise posting has made me realise what a fool I have been to think like I do.

Can you build folding prop stand legs into your ramps that transfer the majority of the machine's weight straight down into the ground - they would need a bit of headscratching as the loadbed of your Nissan will drop as the grinder moves off the ramps and onto the pickup.

Very very good, my early one was pony but they fixed it and now it's mega! Get one, you won't be disappointed.

No, they've never really excited me enough to bite the bullet. I've only seen/heard horror stories from colleagues that have run them, but to be fair they've never run new ones. I'm sure it's the same as any machine in that there are good and bad (largely as a result of poor maintenance I'm sure) ones out there, but everyone I know that has had one hasn't kept it. My comments relate to the new machine talked about in this thread - I feel it is prohibitively expensive to run one of these machines and make money from it (mostly from an initial investment/depreciation point of view). There will obviously be jobs that it would get through more quickly than the standard tipper and chipper combo, but for the money I would personally run 2 teams (even if one of them was in a 'classic' mog for arguments sake) out of a couple of vehicles for the same investment, and hire in big kit if necessary. I'm not getting into the whole mogs are ace/mogs are crap argument - if you can set one up well for less than 40k then I can see their place if well maintained. I just personally couldn't see how I could make that particular £100k investment pay for itself, but that's not to say nobody can. The proof will be in the pudding I suppose - let's see who buys them.

I think running a log splitter/processor/saw bench off a £100k investment is a bit of a waste tbh - you'd be better with a £1000 yard tractor for that. All the other bits and pieces you mention wouldn't get used by the majority or arbs on a regular basis (except perhaps for the crane, but that is very much access dependant and therefore suffers the same limitations as the mog mounted chipper). Large fuel grade chippers really need a bit more power than a mog can muster to be of any real commercial use. It is cheaper to hire in an agricultural tractor with a 50k box as and when necessary IMO. The mog is great, and if money was no object and return on investment didn't matter then I would have one, but it is still only one vehicle, and as a result represents a massive investment that is ok at a lot of things but not really excellent at any of them. I can't see many owner operators forking out for one of these machines, they will be supplied almost exclusively to end users who won't really have to justify the expense in commercial terms (local authority etc). The major downside to this machine is that is is just 1 machine for the money, so can only support 1 team. If the hype was true then every arb firm would run them as they would be unable to compete without. It does look kool though!!!

It's not often that you need to carry 3 tonnes day to day IMO, and if you do you simply take the 2 vehicles and trailer (unfortunately on those particular days you can't send a second team out to earn money elsewhere which they could be doing otherwise). Granted it has a PTO but in our industry that's only really useful for a chipper, and if your chipper can only be used when attached to the mog then it isn't as useful as one that can be tracked into back gardens/down footpaths/along field headlands etc. If large scale chipping is required then a 3 tonne payload is pretty pathetic in real terms. You'd be better off with a bulk trailer. That role could just as easily be performed by a much cheaper tractor. The high bodies on mogs mean that loading timber by hand is also much harder than it needs to be, so a crane (ie more money) becomes a necessity. I really like the idea, but I can't see how it can be justified (if money was no object I would obviously have one though!).

It does look the nuts, and I would love one! However I really can't see what that set up can do that a 3.5 tonne tipper, large road tow chipper, tracked chipper and Landy/other 4x4 and tipping trailer couldn't, for similar money, with masses more useability in just about every treework scenario I've encountered. (I would still love one though!!!)

There's a grand in it for you if it's my machine - get the details and I'll be on my way! my number is 07970 188050.

Judo and dreadlocks?

I think it is the biggest Norway Maple, not the biggest tree.

Check your switches that swap between tracking and chipping - if they are fitted they can corrode. Your best bet is to phone Greenmech - they will defo fix it down the phone cos they are ace!

That is crap - I know how he feels. Can you post any pictures of the machine so people can see what they're looking for? If I hear of anything in my hunt for my machine I'll PM you.

Cheers for keeping an eye out but that one's mine! The stolen one is still stolen unfortunately.

Not sure what back door you've got but I got this piece of zintec cut with a return folded along the bottom to cover my mesh rear door - it is a little heavy for the flimsy Ifor Williams prop if you drive with it propped open but it does the job. Make sure you weld the antiluce nuts though otherwise you can get in with a combi spanner...

Your carvings are great - you are dead right to be proud of them! Don't worry about following Si, he was useless when he started out (we all had to humour him...)!

Just be careful of ALL powerlines - those twisted insulated ones aren't always insulated, and some electrical companies insist on treating them the same as live open conductors. The attached pic is poor, but it shows where damage in the insulation has lead to a phase to phase fault that was buried in ivy. You couldn't see the problem from the ground at all, even when the offending tree had been removed. That twisted cable would make you just as dead as the 11kv conductors in your situation. Never be complacent with electrical apparatus - if in doubt then speak to the relevant electricity company.

Speak to Engines Plus - they are the importers, are extremely helpful and know these inside out (I think you should rebuild it with a head gasket for the turbo version of the same engine as it is much stronger and prevents the problem you've experienced). 01453547273 Good luck!

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.