monkeybusiness

I’m really lucky to have a couple of brilliant engineering firms on the doorstep - they can make just about anything and have regularly pulled me out of the mire at the last minute. One in particular (Harbrook Engineering) builds stuff for people all over the country and have never failed to deliver perfect kit/repairs - they are between my house and my yard too! They are genuinely worth looking up if anyone needs anything fabricating as they only make good stuff. One of my best mates made/fixed/dismantled whatever I put in front of him (immediately whenever necessary) and was the most incredible mobile fabrication engineer. I’d suggest an idea or show him something that wasn’t quite right or outright destroyed, and he would come up with a solution that would work every time. Unfortunately he died at Christmas and it has left a massive hole (from both a beer drinking and making stuff perspective). As Eddie said, it doesn’t necessarily come down to cost, and excellence is out there. I’m more than happy to pay every day of the week for something that is worth its money. I do get frustrated with crap service and salesmen’s lies though....

Rip out the non-beech and interplant - it’ll look crap for a couple of years but will all come good in the end.

Definitely not a man. Worst excuse I ever heard to become tractorless. I’m not sure you should ever be allowed to buy another one tbh. A tractor is for life (unless part-exed for another).

What’s your budget and what’s your wish list? How mechanically minded are you? What can you tow?

Tight fit with the gripper!

Old shape second hand only.

What’s the age/mileage/spec/price BigJ?

I thought they’d at least offer - at no point was it even mentioned. Seems odd to me but hey ho.

No longer have a tractor? I’m not sure you can call yourself a man anymore... New tractor required immediately!!!

Possibly doesn’t show any internal dings/damage as obviously as smooth ali, but the stuff Ifor Williams use is as thin as a fly’s wing and does show the marks to be fair.

It looks smarter than the chequerplate from the factory though IMO.

This week has been an improvement - when I phoned Engcon and Approved on Monday morning they were both rather receptive and assuring (which was good)! Engcon delivered the hitch etc on Tuesday afternoon and it is now nailed on to the digger - all good. They’ve sent a slightly larger grading bucket than ordered as the one I asked for is out of stock but have told me they will swap it for the original size if this one ends up being too big for the machine - told me to use it as normal and if not happy at any point then I can swap (can’t say fairer than that). Approved are still full of bullshit unfortunately - on Monday morning they assured me that they were building up the hitch and fitting it to the mulcher that day, and it would be ready for collection on Tuesday. I told them I’d collect on Wednesday - perfect they said. I didn’t make it on Wednesday, but had to look at a nearby job on Thursday morning so rang (the relevant person was busy and obviously didn’t bother to ring me back) and so I subsequently turned up at 12.30ish. ‘Oh, we haven’t done it, we will fabricate the hitch now!!!’ Twats... I went and got a butty to give them some space, and hung around with my thumb up my arse for another hour whilst they finished doing what they assured me was being done on Monday. (I have to say that their fabricators are fantastic guys - really nice fellas and very good at what they do). Once loaded, they landed an extra £200 plus vat bill for the hitch (even though it was listed on the pro-forma that I’d already paid in full). I paid it as I’m obviously a total mug. The icing on the cake was that they supplied me with a £7500 hydraulic attachment and didn’t supply it with any hoses - when I queried it they said they could make some up but I’d have to pay extra. At that point I didn’t feel like giving them one more penny so I thanked them and left. But they did offer me a free mug, which I declined... And the digger that I ordered with an extra counterweight still hasn’t got the extra counterweight. And it has peeling paint with rust showing through. So it is still at the dealers... But the mulcher is rather good - I hosed it up and chucked it on the Takeuchi and it runs like a dream! Hopefully I’ll get a chance to give it a shakedown tomorrow.

I love the overhanging eaves/veranda idea - this is definitely something I’ll explore. Any thoughts/examples of people having log stores accessible from both inside and outside a house?

I’m not saying that will definitely fix your issue... Are there any restrictions/joints/quick release couplings etc in that hose run? Focus on those first (go up a fitting size where possible). My example had QR fittings which were more than likely the pinch-point, but we went bigger right through (which was expensive!). If there is a suction filter make sure it is clear and capable of handling the flow. Also check that any internal tank strainer isn’t blocked (often only accessible after fully draining the oil). I’m guessing these machines work in a dusty/gritty environment - what’s the tank breather situation? Can course particles find their way into the oil (potentially blocking the in-tank strainer before finding their way into the rest of the system)? Is there plenty of oil in the hydraulic tank (providing a decent ‘head’ for the pump)? I’d still check for upstream air leaks first though.

I had cavitation with a pto hydraulic pump running a big winch and had to up the delivery hose to 1.5 inch diameter - no issues since. It didn’t require a particularly high flow of oil, but the bore and length of hose was enough to limit delivery.

I need inspiration and would love to see/hear any ideas the combined genius of Arbtalk may throw up!... We are going to stick an extension on our house and currently have a blank canvas in terms of design (obviously everything will be subject to planning permission in due course). We have a couple of log burners and a seemingly endless supply of logs - I have recently started splitting into ibcs to minimise manual/double handling (as opposed to splitting into a pile and subsequently re-handling when required for burning). The processing area and ibcs aren’t stored by the house, but I can move them to the house on a set of forks easily. What I'm looking for is an elegant (read ‘not an eyesore!’) way of storing the logs in the ibcs at the house. (I’m not totally committed to ibcs by the way, and am open to alternate practical solutions). Even better would be a way of storing the logs at the house in such a way that they could be accessed without going outside in the rain when we run out at an inconvenient (ie poorly planned) moment... Any/all ideas and suggestions welcome!

Air leak between the tank and the pump more than likely. Is there a filter before the pump? Check the seals if so.

If you get in early there’s a good chance the commercial nurseries will have some really tall bare root stock - it often sells fast though...

Any timber fairies in Reading (Theale) please give me a shout on 07970188050 - we’ve got approx 10 tonnes of firewood that needs taking away from roadside. Willow, conifer and some mixed hardwood (bit of ash and birch in there). Ideally will be in lengths but can be cut into manageable pieces if absolutely necessary. Nice one, Dan

Depends how big it is when you put it in! Bare root trees of a decent size are relatively inexpensive when compared to the alternatives, and in my experience will grow as fast as similar sized laurel/faster than just about anything else (particularly if in the sun). We've had no issues with winter leaf loss either, however it is treated. And it provides more habitat value than laurel. And it isn’t laurel!...

I’d recommend hornbeam - looks very similar to beech/holds onto its leaves in winter when kept as a hedge etc, and is tolerant of poor soil (often found where coniferous hedges have been removed). It grows faster than beech too - we’ve had great success with it over the years in exactly your application. Our trees come from Prees Heath Forest Nurseries near Whitchurch - 01948 841353. Everything native is grown on site from UK sourced seed, no imported crap, and they are solely a trade nursery so their prices are excellent. I’d be hanging fire for a few weeks and sourcing bare root trees tbh, they will be significantly cheaper! (Edit - and you can flail the bejesus out of hornbeam, it seems to love it!)

Not sure whose cages you rattled Eddie but I owe you a pint - finally appear to be getting some progress with both Engcon and Approved (both are promising to have my bits available by Wednesday this week). Cheers!

That’s a really common way to dry/ process timber on the continent. Less splitting and chainsawing, cross cutting is done with saw benches. Timber dries fast once split and bound. Depends on having good straight grained timber to be able to split into billets (not ideal with arb waste). Looks a great setup Marcus!

We have an old Ford 3000 that runs the log splitter and is used on a flail mower once a year to sort out a new plantation we put in for a customer (which also gives the tractor a well-needed workout). Last year robins were nesting in the tractor’s cab so the mowing (and splitting) had to wait!

Would it not be better value for the landowner to pay hand cutters to fell to waste? Even a poor cutter should be able to smash through a couple of hundred of those a day surely?