monkeybusiness

What’s going in the 1928 Safetrak in the future Pete?

£1000 a week on a plate sounds good to me - no fannying around with customers etc. If it’s a proper firm it’s a no-brainer surely?!

I agree entirely. Make as many enquiries and as much noise as you can, and don’t be brushed off by the powers that be if you manage to uncover any leads. Every victim of theirs needs to do this wherever possible to raise awareness and make life harder for them as far as I’m concerned. Don’t expect any sort of acceptable outcome though, as you will almost definitely be disappointed. Just hope that unending pain and misfortune comes to these snivelling thieving unwashed inbreeding scum at some unexpected moment.

Sadly, from a law point-of-view they won’t be idiots. They are definitely very clued up con-men well versed in what they will easily get away with. Your neighbours have been ripped off by members of a massive criminal enterprise that exists in plain sight in our society, and is apparently pretty much immune from the law. They don’t have traceable trading addresses, property, or even names - it isn’t possible for the systems of society that we law-abiding ‘normal’ people are subject to to locate and prosecute them as they know and exploit the systems inside out. Once you employ them you are on their terms - you will definitely end up poorer though!

Your best bet is to get another phone and ring them as a ‘totally new customer who has received a flyer’ (you obviously need to try and find out which other letter boxes have been targeted). Ask them to quote a massive tree removal at a different address, and be ready to ambush them outside that address at the organised time. Take firearms and a disguise, and arrange a watertight alibi before the event. You will unfortunately never get yours or your neighbour’s money back (accept that now), but you will get revenge and do the world a massive favour! Also, spread the word that anyone touting for business flyering letterboxes is not to be entertained. There are many many brilliant tree surgeons out there - only employ one recommended by friends/friends of friends etc. There is no need to use anyone totally unknown (this won’t guarantee a pain-free experience, but will definitely improve your chances of getting a decent firm in).

Standard pikey flyer - you’ll never pin this on an actual physical person at an actual physical address I’m afraid. Your neighbours (and subsequently you) have been the victim of untraceable people who know the law backwards and will continue to defraud and rob the gullible and weak in our society. All you can hope for is that the scumbags ultimately fall off their stolen ladders onto their stolen chainsaws and into their stolen chippers....

CIS is fine, it only contributes to what you will ultimately pay anyway (and can lead to a rebate if the accounts work in your favour). Just make sure you get the CIS statements from your employer - they are essentially your 20%!!! Don’t let them fall behind with these, it’s your dosh you’ve already earned!

Where abouts? UK/the moon/Hoth?

That’d last 5 mins on our jobs before the hoses (and pumps!) were ripped off I reckon. For the sake of a basic panel of some sort it seems a no brainer to protect that area (and would make the machine look much better finished to my mind).

I wouldn’t suggest you should dig near the base of the new tree to ‘explore’ potential issues as you will more than likely sever roots and open up potential paths of infection that don’t currently exist. Leave it alone - there isn’t really anything practicable you can do to prevent possible infection. If the tree is healthy then it has as good a chance as possible of surviving/thriving. If it dies off then fell it!

Tree age vs group/area TPO date conundrum I’d guess?... Centre’s rotted away - once it’s felled and disposed of nobody will be able to prove it is older than 10 or 15 years old anyway!

Swazi look amazing! Are they very warm though?

I’ve had this list of options from Sorbus (who are always incredibly helpful) - if anyone has any positive/negative thoughts on anything below I’d love to hear them! Arbortec Breathedry Smock- very popular, lightweight, comfortable to wear, aimed at climbers – needs treating with NikWax now and again, https://www.sorbus-intl.co.uk/clothing/wet-weather/Arbortec-Breathedry-Waterproof-Smock Stein X25 Exo jacket Fairly new- Designed for the network rail contract, better than the last Stein jacket, added comfort features: https://www.sorbus-intl.co.uk/evo-x25 Harkie Innovation II smock, fairly robust fabric, little heavier than others, not a bad shout if you are prone to ripping your jackets: https://www.sorbus-intl.co.uk/Harkie-Innovation-2-Smock-HVO?search=innovation Lyngsoe Hi Viz Jacket – Strong fabric, waterproof, probably not ideal for climbing as a little bulky, well priced:https://www.sorbus-intl.co.uk/clothing/wet-weather/lyngsoe-jacket-breathable-hivis SIP Keiu jacket – Comfy, breathable, not too heavy – but jacket is a zip style, and the hood is it a bit weird when rolled in and tucked out the way: https://www.sorbus-intl.co.uk/clothing/wet-weather/WATERPROOF-RAIN-BREATHABLE-JACKET-ORANGE SIOEN Mildura rain jacket – not in our current stock but we can order it in pretty quickly and has great word of mouth feedback for de veg crews on NWR contracts, looking at around £130ex:https://sioen-ppc.com/en/products/mildura Pfanner nanosheild rain jacket, pretty much goretex but they use Sympatex– brilliant quality, not overly heavy, but need to take out a mortgage though! The hi viz orange one is £165ex vat each.

I hook into the chassis channel if I really want to tighten something until I fart. It stops any potential movement of the tipper bed too.

The sad thing about it was that I bought the BJ as had not long previously bought a real dog of an Ifor GH94 directly from IWT Deeside. It was a real ‘Friday-built’ trailer - welds cracking and then the axle fell off and Ifor really didn’t want to know!.. They eventually sorted it and in reality it was the only bad experience I’ve had with Ifor over 10 or so trailers (all from new). However, whilst all that was dragging on I needed another trailer and bought the BJ (which was a bit more money but was 3.5 tonne as opposed to 2.7) and I really wanted to love it. Reality didn’t meet expectation sadly, and I’ve bought nothing but Ifor since (until a couple of months ago when I bought a tri-axle Bateson tiltbed which ticks the boxes I bought it for better than the Ifor equivalent and has thus far impressed me).

It broke originally (and subsequently) carrying 1.8 tonne tracked chippers (the sole reason I bought it). It’s only carried rollers very occasionally. I’ve never seen the propstands come into contact with the ground - they are totally pointless. The original jockey wheel (fancy fold-up jobby) couldn’t handle the nose weight of the trailer when laden - it’s replacement ‘traditional’ setup has the most ridiculously skinny clamp-bolt that shears off for fun. It was delivered brand new with the brake cables attached/hanging underneath with long-looped cable ties. It went into the dealers for its ‘free’ service after 1000 miles and they presented me with a big bill for various made up issues (including a complete rear light unit - there was a tiny crack in the lens that was of no consequence). The wheels are bloody awkward to swap as they don’t self-centre on the hub and don’t have studs- you need 3 hands to hold the wheel and get the bolts started. They do have good ramp locking-bolts though to their credit - better than Ifor in that respect. I don’t know if BJ know of my issues or not - I fell out with the supplying dealer over that first-service bill and won’t bother with them again.

That DiggerPlant trailer is the same as mine, and it keeps cracking across the bed. The ‘prop stand’ skid feet don’t touch the ground (and can’t be adjusted) so are totally pointless, putting unnecessary strain through the trailer during loading/unloading. Probably ok if you only carry lightweight compact tractors etc, but totally useless if you carry heavier tracked plant and/or rollers (even though they are well within the trailer’s carrying capacity). It’s a shame that they haven’t bothered updating the design as the rest of the trailer isn’t bad. I’ll continue to buy elsewhere though, as they just don’t stand up to our type of use as well as the Ifors we run.

The Ifor solid aluminium sides bend with rings - I don’t think they are 3mm on mine personally. The 13 inch wheel/tyre option is definitely the one to go for (even though it gives a marginally higher loading height). Much tougher tyres with reinforced sidewalls and all-terrain tread. A customer had a nearly new high-sided BJ on site this week - it looked the part and had some good features but all the sides were bent (and they only load brash into it by hand). It wouldn’t last five mins with rings/logs etc, or being machine loaded imo. Ifor rattle etc but they are very robust and hold their money better than anything else.

Sorry all, it’s been done to death over the years but... I need to buy the lads some new waterproof jackets/smocks for climbing in. Who recommends what? Has anything new come to market that is better than all before it? All advise gratefully received!

3t mini digger won’t touch a 2 tonne log - it would drag it about but that’s about it. A 6 tonne digger wouldn’t be big enough for that TBH! Not if you didn’t want to bend your mill anyway...

Looks like rust stains to me. Was other landscaping undertaken when the patio was laid? I’d put money on those stains being created by grinding arisings from someone cutting steel during the landscaping - I can’t see tree work causing that personally. Rust wouldn’t you appear for a couple of weeks after some rain (which we’ve only recently had). Politely ask him to prove it was caused by tree arisings and not by the landscapers.

Check the hydraulic pressure the various machines run at/deliver. It makes significant difference to performance of some attachments (and may be tweakable, but will void any warranty). It’s not all about flow rate. I’d also speak to John Craig (JCC) - he is apparently the oracle when it comes to diggers/forestry. And you also want to look at machines with decent clearance below the track frame, and decent clearance between the tracks and upper structure. These can both be improved upon but it is not easy or cheap!

A telehandler will carry a fair load up a hill on the forks - the weight over the front aids traction. A small tractor won’t have the weight to get enough grip - it’ll spin up before running out of puff dragging a trailer imo. Forks or a transport box on the 3pl and reversing up the hill would work, but may not be practical for your needs.

Get a trailer/crane setup you can operate from the cab (no matter how basic) - it speeds things up no end.

The base anchor is tied but not loaded - the loading is taken up by a stopper-knot on the base-anchor side of the cambium saver. Clever system, I like that idea!