monkeybusiness

Stoke has two ski slopes and a tropical waterslide paradise. It’s essentially got all of the best bits of France within easy commuting distance of pretty much everywhere in England. What’s not to like?!

I’m not surprised you are run off your feet if you only charge £5 for two visits and a survey/report!

£500 to take a few metres off the top of a massive beech tree in a busy public area sounds cheap, and doesn’t include the consultancy fees that will also be due. I can’t see there being much change from £1k, and the tree is still in decline and will probably still need removing at some point in the future. And ultimately removal is only likely to get more expensive. I’m not convinced that the contractor should be tarred with the ‘thieving, lying bastard’ brush solely from the limited evidence you’ve put forward here. We’ve been contracted to undertake a small, very straightforward site clearance over the last couple of weeks and the unnecessary barriers that have been put in place by the arboriculturalist and ecologist (who both work for the same consultancy) has been disgusting tbh - they have bullshitted the client to essentially feather their own nest, massively ramping the costs of the project up inventing reasons the works can’t proceed to justifying further (chargeable) site visits. They are an extreme case but it isn’t the only time I’ve witnessed ‘consultants’ behave like thieving lying bastards tbh. To the OP - for what my thoughts are worth I’d prepare yourself for losing the tree. Kretz is pretty much the worst fungus (alongside Meripilus giganteus) from a tree destabilisation perspective - once you see the fruiting bodies the root/basal decay tends to be rather advanced. The tree can appear to be in great health, but can fail ‘unexpectedly’. I’d be surprised if you can find a consultant willing to gamble their professional indemnity insurance on retention if there are any targets within falling distance (and your photos appear to show that there are). Exploratory work to discover the extant of the decay won’t be cheap - I’d save the money and put it towards removal and a nice replant personally.

Stickerapp - pretty good value for limited runs.

Get the GH equivalent - the Ifor all-welded (as opposed to riveted) trailers are the dog’s danglies…

You sent it away 18 months ago and haven’t had it back?! Wowsers! When did you first chase it up?

Lee (the OP) is a top bloke, I thoroughly recommend him and his services.

I’d definitely suggest you get a decent demo of the boomer loader before purchasing - I’m not saying it won’t lift that but I’d want to know for certain it could before parting with my money personally. There can be a significant difference between claimed figures and real-world lifting capacity, particularly as the centre of gravity of the load moves forwards of the tipping point (as in the case of pallets/IBCs etc).

How are you going to load that log into a vehicle/trailer/onto a pile with that grab? It might drag it closer to where it needs to be but there’s still going to be some manual handling by the looks of it (and a second area full of sawdust). That grab looks handy for dragging brash through narrow gaps, but I can’t personally see much other benefit.

Show us pics of the whole tree - that’s ace! Incredible how trees adapt and stay upright.

I love the fact that KTM demoted him (to Gas Gas, which they own and is essentially the same rally bike but isn’t marketed that way) and he beat them! (And KTM could really have done with a win as Honda have dicked all over them for the last few years…).

Looks good - I’ll follow your progress with the Sany with interest! I’d suggest getting cab guards if sending it out handling timber…

Farkinell!!! I bet that was a bit ‘5p 50p’…! Glad all involved are ok, I was anticipating a tree-felling incident gone wrong story, yours is a bit too real-life though!

How?! Sounds a great story (providing nobody was hurt)…

Took my 12 year old with me today to knock a couple of trees over that had been left because of bird nests - I let him wedge over his first tree and he loved it!

Won’t carry much chip though!

OP - buy a 3 litre Iveco daily. They are the best tow vehicles available.

I wouldn’t worry about it, he’s a right old knacker!

I don’t think it’s a shampoo. You might be better with TFR to get all of that shit out though…

Good news! Who is the dealer, as they sound like complete muppets? The issue was pretty obvious, even for those of us with no experience of anything made by Grillo…

For an ancient old fossil you have a distinct lack of grey hair. Just for men?…

And charge customers like a wounded rhino for your time/knowledge/expertise in situations like this! It’s a no-brainer, get refreshed and upskilled ASAP, it’s a great bolt-on to your existing business.

That’s how we use it, and it’s a brilliant resource!

Check the front wheel arches under the seats and the step area for rust on the Cabstars - they rot quickly in these areas.