monkeybusiness

It looks a very nice job!

Is that guarding from Hywel Evans? Looks ace!

I agree, but it’s not the first issue you’ve had with this engine or Briggs agent if I remember rightly. How much is a new engine? Definitely less than €3000 I’d bet. I doubt they are a great deal less second hand. You have limited dealer comeback as you purchased abroad so you need to live with the fact that warranty issues have to go through a local Briggs and Stratton muppet who has zero interest or financial benefit to sort your problem. Your previous run-ins with this service agent to date have probably bumped you way way down their priority list… I’d personally buy a new engine and get out there working. (I might even buy it off the prat who is spinning you along, in an attempt to garner some good-will). Once back up and running I would then arrange a part-exchange with a local dealer for another machine, and flog the (eventually) repaired engine on eBay separately. And I’d also put inline filters in my fuel lines, and buy petrol from somewhere else!….

Would it not have been sensible to just buy another engine and bolt it in? Leave the faulty one with the idiot mechanic to sort under warranty while you carry on earning money.

I’d flog it now if you don’t really need it - they won’t go up any more and in reality I reckon all vehicle values are due to crash soon…

They will ultimately work to change the way electricity is generated (and more importantly stored). When the uptake of electric cars and household battery storage has gained sufficient traction it will be possible for anything plugged into the grid to send power back - this will help to smooth out the peaks and troughs of renewable energy production as there is the capacity for storage which can be called upon (to the benefit of the battery owners) when demand is high. I’m pretty cynical with regards electric vehicles but can totally see how this approach makes sense and could work.

Bought a copy - it better be good!…

Zwartbles. Real big strong buggers, produce big fast-growing lambs.

Rake it into a pile and burn it - if you have time to let it dry out a bit first then that’s even better. Don’t fanny around hiring machinery if you don’t need to.

Lots of positive experiences on this thread - I’m sure you’ll sleep easy knowing it’s nothing more than a walk in the park @Mark Bolam!… Good luck!

That’s a yew Dave - you’re my wife now…

Looks an amazing place and way of life! Is that 6000 cube on your own or with employees? I know nothing about timber harvesting but can’t help but think that sounds like quite a lot of skinny trees for one man to produce…

12 feet sounds pretty high - what’s the other side/what privacy does the top 4-5 feet give you?

Donnk is a multimillionaire builder from the midlands, who also has a farm I think. Also known as Fred.

Why keep them in water in the bucket?

Please please please do this - ideally film it (or better still, get someone else to film you doing it) so we can see!

What fuel mix are you using? Didn’t you have a problem because of a bad mix recently?

How much money do you have? If you have lots and would rather have a lot less then phone Bartletts - Google will help you find the nearest ‘branch’ (see what I did there?!). They will definitely have a remedy to sell to you. If you believe them and are happy to spend the money it will possibly make up for your knife-wielding barbarism. They probably also have a potion for flies too! Please let us know how you and the tree get on.

You have a very weird looking chubby for your follow sweaty!!!

The only personal experience I have of these machines is an Avant 640 that I hire off a mate from time to time. Don’t worry about them apparently not lifting what they claim - that thing is extremely capable, and will pick up anything we’ve pointed it at... Great bits of kit tbh, I’m seriously considering dipping a toe in. (As an aside, the Bobcat dealer who supplied my digger is also an Avant dealer and he reckons they are very reliable and well built - they have many more issues with Bobcats than the Avants apparently).

In my early days in this industry I started working for a well-off elderly couple who had (amongst many other trees in a large well-stocked mature garden) an absolutely knackered weeping willow leaning precariously over their pond. It was infested with numerous fungi and was ready to fail imminently. When I pointed this out and suggested removal they told me that they had been paying a well known (inter)national Arb Association Approved Contractor to ‘treat’ the tree for several years! They wanted to leave the tree in place as were convinced it would get better... As far as I’m concerned whoever sold them this course of treatment and subsequently kept billing them to administer the snake-oil was no better than the door-knocking tarmac layers we always hear about marching old ladies to the cash machine. (Within 12 months the willow failed spectacularly into the pond and was a right ball-ache to remove!).

A new rat-dog has entered the fold... Meet Bandit, my late Jack Russell’s grandson! I wouldn’t have rushed to have two puppies so close in age but couldn’t say no when we heard about this litter! Saying that, the other puppy (Mando, the Rhodesian Ridgeback) doesn’t look quite so puppy-esque any more. He’s done some growing in 7 months (for scale our lab isn’t small)!

Looks a nicely thought out and fabricated bit of kit! What are the bolt-on eyes on the top plate for?

Was the Dartline boatyard at Bunbury locks? That’s my neck of the woods if so - one of the Johns lives at Church Minshull now.

Yeah, Tebay is the other one. I was in there yesterday coincidentally!