monkeybusiness

Un-twiddle your screws. If that doesn’t work box it up and post it back to the supplier.

Did you run it with mixed 2-stroke fuel? I’ve heard of people mistakenly putting neat petrol in the fuel tank and 2-stroke oil in the oil tank before (which ends in disaster as the saw doesn’t mix its own fuel/oil)...

Had they shot it first?!

I had a big building firm take over a year to pay me for a mulching job (the only job we had/have ever done for them). The job itself was a couple of grand and involved transport and nights away, so I’d stumped up quite a bit of money just to do the work. I had chased numerous times on the phone and by email and was constantly fobbed off, and think they only ended up paying as it must have been about to roll into a different financial year (this was before I knew about Thomas Higgins, so hadn’t used their ‘muscle’). Anyway, money eventually received, mental note never to work for them again, no harm done. 12 months later I received a payment of nearly £800 from the same construction firm, followed soon-after by a request for me to send it back as it had been paid in error. (Our invoices state that interest will be charged at 10% per month on overdue payments, but the reality is that this is generally unenforceable if not agreed at quotation stage). I ignored the construction firm for a few months (as they had done me), and took great delight in eventually informing the construction director that I wouldn’t be returning their money and as far as I was concerned they still owed me further interest on their previous overdue account. He called me a thief - I don’t agree. Small (lucky) win for the little guy for once IMO!

The costs rise but all have to be paid back by the non-payer if you take it all the way to court. As long as you are chasing money that is genuinely owed (no room for dispute) and the firm you ate chasing isn’t likely to go bust then I’d rather pay Thomas Higgins (who know exactly how far they can push it, and exactly the right way to do it legally) than take it on myself. The initial £10 letter followed up with a phone call (from me) a week to 10 days later explaining that if payment isn’t received immediately then I’m going to have to take the next legal step which will massively increase the customer’s costs has always worked so far.

Use Thomas Higgins (google them) - it costs a tenner and they do all the hard work.

The electric tip Ifors all have a hand-pump backup anyway, so no need to add a second set-up.

Inbred to the max!!!

It’s a workout... Definitely works but is much harder than you’d think!

Makita batteries last weeks/months if not plugged in. And you can get a car charger...

Have you tried Adam Readhead? He’s always advertising Timberwolf chippers on Facebook (yours might be a bit new for him though, he seems to deal in older kit).

There are also a lot of bounce-back-loan ‘millionaires’ with money burning holes in their pockets - I think kit will maintain value for a while yet personally. A machinery dealer on another forum reckons business is booming at present!

Makita all the way here - much better value and far more versatile than the Stihl system. Makita twin battery brushless saws are very good - they all have the same powerhead, the different model numbers refer to bar length and tool-less tensioning so just buy the cheapest/most basic which I think is the DUC305 (30cm bar).

I can see that being an ongoing issue, very difficult to overcome. Small price to pay for being otherwise FARKING MEGA though!!!!!!

Love it!!! Have you had any issues with trapped and/or bent bars?

How big/how much are you expecting to spend etc? Have a look at hornbeam too - looks very similar to beech, tolerates poor ground, grows faster.

Get signage made up on either foamex or a better bet is dibond (aluminium backing). Foamex can expand/contract a bit in the heat. Screw either to the ply. I did once use vinyl graphics (single colour logo) direct onto painted plywood and it actually looked pretty good and stayed on for the life of the boards so that is an option.

46 grade hydraulic oil in my Bandit chipper (that’s what Global recommend).

These are worth a look too - https://www.johnadamssupplies.co.uk/

I have used Aalco - really good setup, loads of info on their website. I think they price by weight from memory so the price changes with metal value. http://www.aalco.co.uk/literature/files/aalco-stocklist.pdf

You can get a plain top plank so you don’t need to cap it - just cap the ends as you are doing. I’ve never built an ali floor but do have a couple of tippers with them - they are light but dent pretty easily. For the marginal weight increase I’d be inclined to go with easy peasy steel personally, but totally see where you are coming from doing it properly!

Just be ready for a bit of movement/bending/twisting from galvanising. And make sure you drill plenty of drain holes to allow the zinc in/out of your box section.

If you can fabricate/weld etc then salvage/repair your subframe, tipping floor and corner posts (all in steel). Then get ali planks to the correct size with the correct channel profiles to close the ends, clip them together (they can need a bit of persuading to clip in - don’t be gentle but make sure you don’t wreck them!) and then bolt the sides and headboards to your steel corner uprights. The ali board panels are strong enough to not need full framing. Tail gate build the same way out of ali and bolt steel hinge pieces on (weld the other halves to your rear corner posts). You’ll do it for less than £2k I reckon.

Check your fuel filters too. Is it down on power at all? Does it sound rough? What colour is the smoke?

Paint to match your vehicle tipper body (not specific vehicle paint, just the cheapest slap-on paint you can find that is close in colour to your tipping body) - chuck a few coats on. With all the will in the world plywood sides won’t last for ever (particularly if you leave woodchip in there for prolonged periods of time). Even not well looked after you should get 18 months-2 years out of 18mm wbp before it needs replacing though.