monkeybusiness

Check valves mate - they have to be fitted if the machine is used for lifting operations.

Does it indicate low oil pressure? Check connections to the pressure switch (and make sure there’s oil in it!)

I’m not convinced by Milwaukee and Dewalt any more. They definitely do good tools (Milwaukee Fuel range for example) but they also sell budget stuff which isn’t any better than the own brand stuff mentioned earlier imo. Pick up a Dewalt or Milwaukee drill in screwfix and have a feel of the chuck etc - the stuff they always have on offer on display tends to feel like cheap crap but they sell well on the back of their name. I’m moving across to Makita now from Hitachi (which is also good imo) as I bought a couple of Makita electric chainsaws for a job and now have loads of their batteries. Everything I’ve got so far I’m really happy with - the quality seems to be there but it is still early days.

I’ve had a good chat with Killworths today about an 8.5 Tajfun - it seems to tick my boxes and seems a quality bit of kit. Their cable does look good - I’d come to that opinion before seeing the latest posts here too! I’ll be honest and say that I’d kind of discounted the smaller sizes purely from a ‘bigger is better’ perspective but maybe I’m being a bit hasty with that stance? But I have done quite a bit of varied winching over the years and it’s not often that I’d wished for less pull so I’m a bit torn now. In terms of cable length, there is one immediate(ish) job that has approx 100m haul up the bank of a quarry - the tractor should run up and down it but is unlikely to drag trees back up with it, and one bite will be more efficient than two. Not 100% decided yet but am getting towards it - thanks for all the input so far chaps!

NPTC assessments aren’t a bad gauge, particularly when you get into dismantling/windblow/large trees/UA tickets etc. You need to be half decent to pass any of those IMO, but they aren’t actually necessary outside certain client’s requirements (utilities mostly) so not many bother with them. The BALI/CSCS bollocks wouldn’t recognise any of that though. Basic chainsaw tickets don’t tell you anything mind - even digger drivers could probably pass them!!!

Same as Erbauer then?

At the cheaper end of the power tool scale I’d have a look at the Aldi range - 3 year warranty is a big selling point imo. (Though I’ve no personal experience so may be talking rubbish...)

I similarly am a fan of training/assessments and the associated competence cards etc - as you say it can help separate the wheat from the chaff, and more importantly in my opinion develops individual staff and in turn the business as a whole. However, I really strongly detest wasting my and my staff’s time (and my money!) being forced to undertake box-ticking exercises simply to keep irrelevant people behind desks in work. In some cases I believe that belittling brain-draining courses can create resentment towards whichever organisation/employer it is that insists upon them - staff lose interest and switch off and the whole process takes on a negative turn. (As an aside, I feel that this can also be the case with over-the-top safety briefings/non relevant toolbox talks etc - when guys are being preached at about someone twisting their ankle when climbing some stairs as they weren’t holding the handrail etc (yet are then asked to climb a tree next to live power lines and chop bits off with a chainsaw) they can start to switch off to more relevant safety information).

I’m looking to buy a forestry winch (about which I’ll confess to not knowing a great deal)... It’s to 3pl mount on a 150hp 6 cylinder tractor, I’m guessing it wants to be 8 tonnes plus, and carry as much cable as possible (at least 100m, ideally 120m plus if possible). It needs reasonable line speed - we already have a big hydraulic winch that would pull a house down but is very slow (great for individual massive pulls or recovery, but no good for production extraction). What’s good/bad/essential options at this size etc? Do any of you have experience of similar sized winches that you would thoroughly recommend or otherwise steer clear of? Many thanks in advance!

I still fail to see how the ROLO ‘course’ is anything other than an expensive tax that could be replaced by an online card-check system (that granted wouldn’t earn the course providers their money-for-old-rope) that would negate the need to waste a day sending staff to jump through hoops. It’s all a massive load of bollocks IMO - I’ve held (and continue to hold) CSCS cards for various plant operations/crane supervising etc since 2002, and have got just about every relevant NPTC ticket (no blower ticket though I’m afraid!)... I’ve never been refused access to a site to undertake treework because I don’t have a BALI card. When my lads’ CSCS cards require renewal I’m not going to give BALI a penny - I’d rather put the money towards getting them machine operators tickets instead (instead of wasting time sitting in a classroom with their thumbs up their arses).

Has it got plenty of oil in it? Unlikely to need bleeding.

Yeah, we are in Cheshire. I’d seriously price up a new ridge in a plastic/box profile/onduline (whatever is cheapest basically) as you may find it is cheaper and easier than the hassle of getting a match with the existing. You’d need to agree it with the landlord but they should be happy with a new ridge if it looks tidy, whether it is a match to the rest of the roof or not. I hate this sort of thing - not only do you end up with an unplanned cost but the hassle and general fannying around are even more of an inconvenience in my opinion. One of my lads ripped the handle off an old cast iron water pump ‘trying to free it off’ - this ended up in a frantic eBay search and a drive to Peterborough to get an exact match. I wasn’t best pleased, and neither was the customer (understandably) until it was all sorted. And then there was the total arxxxole who had us take a knackered ash tree down at the back of his house over an equally knackered ivy covered asbestos roofed garage, who subsequently had a new garage roof out of me when he falsely claimed we had damaged it (we definitely hadn’t). He didn’t even pay for his tree removal (Scottish Power did), and they knew he was lying but I had to swallow the cost as we did a lot for Scottish Power at the time and they didn’t want an upset customer....

The LISS course really is the biggest money-spinning scam I’ve heard of - it takes a day, costs a load of dosh and you don’t learn anything. It is a tick-box exercise to generate money for BALI. There is no reason that candidates can’t pass the H and S test (£15 - £20, done wherever you can do a theory driving test as well as at some other training centres) and then submit their NPTC or equivalent competencies to prove that they are skilled workers. But no - if you want the correct card you need to cough up, waste a day and come away with absolutely no more knowledge whatsoever. I have no problem whatsoever (from an employer as well as student/attendee perspective) with training courses that develop candidates in some way or other. Wasting time and money to buy your way onto a worksite stinks though. Mark Bolam - what are the potential changes you’ve heard of? Good or bad?!

To be honest, your repair looks crap and stands out like a bulldog’s balls. I’d not be happy either if I was the landlord (I’m sorry to say!). I don’t see why your insurer wouldn’t cover this if you suspect the repair is going to end up expensive - it might be worth making your broker aware of the situation and explaining you are working towards sorting it without claiming, but there is a possibility you may have to pay for a new ridge (can’t be that expensive in reality surely?).

I understand a chipper manufacturer couldn’t supply a machine with a modified engine - it would be down to an end user to take the decision to remove any emissions gubbins and retune the engine to a previously available specification in the knowledge that the engine was no longer covered by any warranty. I for one wouldn’t be too concerned about doing something like this to a Kubota engine as they are well proven to be ultra reliable in their previous more basic and more powerful incarnation. I bet the 165 would be a real beast with a third more ponies.....

This is what I want to know too. Can’t be that difficult to get more power out surely?! Tweak the pump and off you go...

Disconnect the block connector and run a wire between the two terminals on the machine side.

Sounds good (and expensive!!!)

Do you know if it is proportional control or go/stop with the tracking Pete?

That’s ace! Definitely going to end up pushed too far by someone ‘brave’ on the RC unit though I’d imagine...

I don’t know anything about timber prices but can get my head around supply and demand. If the seller can get that price for his oak then that is what it is worth I guess.

Crappy news, sorry to hear this. On top of everything else install some security only you know about - don’t tell anyone who works with/for you as it could well be an inside job sadly. Also get some blank shotgun cartridge tripwire mines. Have you got power in there (no need to answer, just for consideration). If so, get CCTV if not already installed (you can watch it live on your phone), recording to a cloud-based server in case they take the hard drive. Don’t put signs up. You can set cctv up to send you a message on your phone if it detects any movement. Layer the security, and make it impossible to get in without making noise. Don’t just use off-the-shelf locks etc - get something made that would need to be cut with a grinder (noisy) to access any locks or hinges for example. Bolt croppers are silent but are no good if they can’t reach what needs cutting. If you catch anyone in the act, hide all evidence of them and you ever being there...

Does this translate as ‘I want brown oak for less than £180’? Maybe post what your budget is and see if anybody can supply.

Sounds like it might be sucking air into the system possibly when cold - check all connections between the pump and the tank.

I’ve seen Mike today for the first time in ages - your bits are in the workshop being fabricated apparently!