monkeybusiness

Which is EXACTLY why you should NEVER read/sign important documents or post on the internet when pissed!!!

I think the ‘new’ Ifor solid aluminium high sides are actually lighter than the older mesh sides (they certainly feel lighter). The aluminium does get dings easily though (it’s like a fly’s wing!).

Wonderful machine!

I’m sure you’ll make it pay back - from where I’m sat you definitely deserve it. Massive respect for investing in that setup, aside from the money I can see/understand the thought and hurdles you’ve put into it and overcome.

From the pic I reckon that tree might be bigger than you lot are reckoning. Seems to have a lot of leaves/fronds - there could be a world of timber hiding in there that would take more than a couple of hours and a van load to get rid of...

Please stop posting, this is quickly going to get expensive!!!

Sounds like they (the lender) will charge you interest from day 1 and you’ll get a separate payment from the gov to cover the first year’s interest. If you want to pay it all back at the end of the year you will owe 2.5% on top of what you’ve borrowed, and that government payment will cover the interest. (That’s my understanding of what you’ve posted, I’m certainly not suggesting my interpretation is correct though and will happily be corrected!).

Any thoughts on price?

My renewal is due and I’ve only just found out that my current insurer (Lycetts) are no longer in the market. I’ve had a renewal price from Arborisk (who broke the news to me about Lycetts not offering cover any more - it is frustrating that my own insurer who I have given many thousands of pounds to over the years didn’t bother letting me know anything about this but hey-ho!) which is substantially more than last year. I’ve got to get a price from Trust - is there anyone else anyone is using nowadays? I’m considering splitting the plant off the liability cover to see if spreading the risk between insurers helps with the prices.

Your 5/8/2/12 etc cm offcuts from whatever process you choose are going to quickly mount up and also produce a lot of sawdust/waste in their creation. If you are looking for a continuous automated process for cutting rings to a consistent thickness then you need to allow for the odd-length offcuts being measured into the following ring - only the first ring would be the correct thickness unless you can separate this surplus before presentation. I think you need to either rethink your feedstock (buy in uniform timber if you need to sell a uniform product) or adapt your market (sell uneven logs). Obviously you could do a combination of the two and grade your product as you split.

I have been put off Brian James by a 3.5 tonne plant trailer I bought to replace a 2.7 tonne Ifor. It kept cracking across the body and required regular welding (it was only running at 2.5 tonnes laden) - I’ve gone back to Ifor now. Also have had 4 Ifor tippers and they’ve all been fantastic.

Ryetec pto log-splitters look the dogs bollox as well - really fast and well built.

On reflection it is a 10 year old mulcher tractor (pretty much the hardest work you can give a tractor) that has already had a massive repair bill (and a lot of paintwork). And they still want £45k. It’s probably worth something like that, but I’d be looking around in Europe for similar spec/age to see what else is out there before reaching for the chequebook personally.

Sodium chlorate was your weed killer too.

I went to les Cognees forestry show in the French alps and was well impressed with the quality of the French-made firewood kit (all seemingly based around splitting into billets for seasoning). I was pissed and not in the market so can’t actually remember who made any of it though...

That’s a lovely looking bit of kit!

What did you get your MBE for? Arguing on behalf of the Empire?

‘Herd immunity’ as a term was ridiculously made toxic by the press and the point-scoring left, and is now impossible to refer to politically. It is still currently our only way forwards though, and I reckon is the reason the lockdown hasn’t been more strictly enforced (allowing 15000 people per day in/out of the country by air, keeping some public transport running, letting people go to work etc). We will (correctly and in a planned fashion) end up with herd immunity, without using the term in front of the ‘panicking masses’. (Interesting article by the way).

Had the original wave (was a present from my now wife) and broke it - Leatherman replaced it without quibble with the new (current) version which isn’t as nice ‘in the hand’ imo but is arguably better/stronger. Great tools.

@doobin is your man - he swears by an eBay copy (but I’m not sure which).

Our economy and society are very different to New Zealand’s though - it wouldn’t have been possible to emulate their response in this country no-matter how early borders were closed IMO. Keeping it out/containing the virus in the U.K. for long enough for a vaccine to be developed would sink our economy.

This place is obviously full of experts so can you collectively answer me this please? - Until either a vaccine becomes available or we achieve herd immunity (and I’m talking nationally as well as globally here) how does the individual state’s approach make any difference to the total death rate once this virus has inevitably reached all corners of the earth? Providing the relevant health-care services aren’t overwhelmed (as they were in Italy) then the actual death rates are surely inevitable, and will vary from country to country as a result of other factors (how deaths are reported is a massive one - dying ‘with’ and ‘because’ of Covid are very different scenarios), overall health and age of the population, effectiveness of the healthcare system (are many people still alive that perhaps wouldn’t be in other countries with lesser healthcare provision etc?). All of the measures being implemented everywhere are simply to slow the spread to manageable levels - we will surely all be exposed to this at some point and whether we survive or not doesn’t appear to be something that we can change at present.

Ah ha ha!!! My wife is constantly going on about how nothing has changed for me during this lockdown!!!

I used to wear protector pros but had several pairs that delaminated on the soles. Replacement boots did the same so I stopped buying them. Might try them again if that issue has been addressed as I thought they were otherwise very good.

I’ve got the 18v brushless and it is only for light pruning in reality. I’ve also got the 36v brushless groundsaw and if the new 36v topper is comparable it will be excellent. (Apparently the old 36v topper is best avoided though)....