monkeybusiness

I keep swearing that I am going to leave HSBC - I've banked with them for over 30 years and they are worse than useless! It is just a pain to shift everything across (my main concern is asking customers to change payment details - everything is paid by BACS now and they know that is a massive hold over existing customers!). Total thread derail but many moons ago my wife and I eloped to New Zealand to get married (just the 2 of us, it was ace!). We were delayed in Heathrow on the way out and I took the opportunity to call HSBC and explain that I was going to be abroad for the next 6 weeks and would be spending pretty heavily - please be assured that it was all above board etc etc (over the years I've done quite a bit of travelling and always use my current account debit card - not once have I forewarned the bank or had an issue with cards being stopped etc). Everything was going swimmingly in NZ - we had arranged a wedding photographer and were to pay her in cash on our wedding day so we needed to draw a bit out and keep hold of it for said purpose. A couple of days before the wedding I couldn't get money out of a hole in the wall but I didn't think too much of it - we were in a little village and I assumed the cash point had run out of money (there was definitely money in the account). Next day different town same issue - balls! No problem thought I - there are HSBC banks in NZ. I popped into a massive branch in Auckland they day before we got hitched to be told they couldn't do anything... 'You are a global bank - your logo is on my card, I bank with you!' was all meaningless to them - naively I had bought in to all their marketing crap but it turns out there is no interconnectivity as far as customers are concerned... Long and short of it was HSBC UK had stopped my card but made no effort to contact me (there was no shortage of funds in the account) - due to time differences and call centre opening hours I ended up having a phone call in the middle of the night before my wedding trying to get things sorted, and had to wait at a cash point on the morning of my wedding for it to pass midnight in the UK to allow me to draw out a second maximum withdrawal to pay the photographer... And they've now closed all of the branches anywhere near here. They charge me every month for banking with them, and my accounts are always in credit. They have made it extremely difficult to draw out my own cash to make machinery/vehicle purchases when necessary, and charge for the 'service'! I detest them - a truly horrible bloodsucking scourge of a company!

All you need to know is that banks are bastardos, and don’t like to help you!

I had a real fall out with my bank (HSBC) when moving house a few years ago. I'd previously gone limited for various reasons, and have always paid myself as little as possible to limit my tax burden. During a meeting with the bank about a possible business loan to buy some machinery (which they granted but I didn't end up bothering with) the bank manager commented that my income would make getting a mortgage difficult (not an issue at the time as I was already sorted in the house I lived in). As I have my personal account as well as current and previous business accounts all with HSBC the manager could see that things were healthy/affordable and suggested I came to see him if ever wanting to get a new mortgage. Fast forward a couple of years and we decided to move house, and I needed a mortgage for £250k against it. Computer said no on the figures I was paying myself so I went to arrange a meeting with the bank manager - it turned out that particular chap had moved on and I saw someone else. She pretty much laughed in my face when I ran through the figures with her... I asked her how much I needed to pay myself in order to borrow the money - 'It doesn't work like that' was the response. 'OK - forget about my current set up/employment/business. If I get a job tomorrow earning £80k a year, how long do I need to be employed before I am mortgageable for the amount required?' said I. '3 months' she replied. 'OK - I'll see you in 3 months with my pay slips then'. 'No - it doesn't work like that!!!!'.... 'Rrrraaaarrrrrrgggggfghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!' In the end Virgin money sorted it through my broker, happy to lend against the company accounts etc (and I didn't have to pay myself any more). But ideally you want to show continuous growth or you can severely limit the lenders willing to look at you.

What mortgage companies don't like is companies shrinking/making less money than previous years etc. If you are going for a mortgage try and show year on year growth, or at least consistent figures.

The whole thing needs a good shake-up IMO. I’m legally allowed to go faster in my ancient drum-braked Land Rover lightweight on a dual carriageway than the OP can in his brand new Ranger, or BigJ can in his shiny Berlingo van. I’m not sure of the merits of this particular rule tbh...

I think you are correct there. It’s a strange ‘dual purpose vehicle’ loophole, but the mass in service is one of the determining factors, and is the main reason I’ve not gone for one of the bigger engined pickups as they are all legally too heavy (the twin turbo Navara is fast though, only the big engined Amarok is quicker IME). The reduced speed limits can make a significant difference though, as one of my lads’ found when stopped at 86mph on a dual carriageway in one of our vans. He mistakenly thought he was legally allowed to do 70 - it turns out that 26mph over the speed limit is taken rather seriously when it comes to a fine and points (it was a court job!)... Another mate got done at 60 on an A-road in his Peugeot Partner van by a copper who knew the rules!

Not if their Mass in Service is below 2040kg. My Navara is 2023kg according to the V5, so can legally (and physically) go everywhere at a million miles an hour, unlike its fatter competitors!...

Rod Ends | RS Components WWW.GOOGLE.CO.UK Can you measure up and match anything on here?

I’m pretty sure the Ranger and big engined Amarok aren’t allowed to do 70 on dual carriageways, and can only do 50 on A-roads. It is something to do with their unladen weight (or weight in service possibly) being above a certain figure, which classifies them as a different ‘type’ of vehicle (they aren’t the same as the dual-purpose pickups you possibly think you are buying).

So there was no manual intervention to limit/reduce the volumes of incoming water once the failure became apparent then - it was pure luck that the input reduced to a volume that the normal outflow could handle before the spillway eroded further (which would have inevitably compromised the dam)?

They seemed to get the water level down below the spillway super-quickly - every picture I saw of the damaged section had no water running over any of it. How was this achieved - is the weir adjustable to set the ultimate reservoir level?

These roads are too NARROW!!! These roads must be STRAIGHTER! WE MUST IMPROVE EFFICIENCY!!! There is empty land where we can house more people! We must build on it everywhere! Massive areas of this county are totally empty! This is such a beautiful part of the country...

I’d ring a dealer personally, it’ll save you money in the long run even if they just diagnose it.

Which hedge cutter have you got? I’m contemplating one - they do a 30 inch with a single 18v battery but have also got a shorter one with double battery power. I’m loath to buy the 18v if they are about to launch a 36v 30 inch, but would be grateful of feedback on whichever you have.

If you want a ladies saw then get a 550/261.

Ms500i. And get a Husky 560 instead of the 261.

And go with the long dipper on whatever you buy - I have never ever wished I couldn’t quite reach as far, but often wish I could reach a tiny bit further.....

Look at the Takeuchi TB260 and Kubota 57 too - they are the best machines in that weight class imo.

It is a shithouse - you need to do as Mark says (and there is a knack I’m afraid). Terrible design tbh. If you get a combi spanner and grind out the alternate flats you can make a tool for resetting that works though (this is something I’m sure I’ve seen/used but don’t own as I have ‘the knack’ - it may have been a dream though, and I’m talking rubbish again!!!!!

Surely your daily checks would highlight/condemn any kit you knew was suspect, irrespective of the 6 monthly inspection? If loads of kit fails during the 6 monthly inspections it would suggest daily checks aren’t being carried out correctly/at all to me.

Give Steve Johnson a call - 07815 291902

Dunno about the TW but we drag GM 1928 safetraks (approx 2 tonne) around on those GH trailers. They are great trailers (assuming the chipper fits, which it should in theory). Get double leaf springs, even though they are designed to carry the weight on the standard single leaves. If a bump stop wears/breaks off (which you won’t know about) the single leaves can snap (which you definitely will know about!). We broke several before upgrading, then no issues. Ifor Williams now make a version of this trailer for GAP hire and I’d try and buy one of those if you can - they come on heavier duty wheels/tyres, have the double leaf springs (and a few other upgrades). So far ours have been faultless. You will need to specify it with a 50mm ball hitch and a spacer to lift the tow hitch if you go down this route and don’t tow on a ring hitch though.

Dunno, whatever watercourse they blocked to create it I’d imagine.

The pics I saw looked as though they are draining it - nothing coming over the spillway any more.

Grease? Dirty horrible stuff, we don’t bother with any of that....