Theocus

He does take things a little personally! I whole heartedly recomend Riko kit and even believe i have created some sales for them, Jim is a great guy to deal with at Riko, I dont do so called slagging or cheap online personal jabs, and I even need to order some parts in the near future, Its a little silly to post all of that when there is no need, i dont intend to go to details. If equipment is great we praise it, recomend it and enjoy using it. The internet is an open database of knowledge and searchable items. I search on Arbtalk for information on large equipment, fungi and for the social side of it. Hence the title of this thread!! I will continue to post constructive comments about equipment and any tips to assist others, as Marlon mentions he too is having issues with kit, it happens!

We have the predator 450 and its a good machine, fairly light and agile, has enough hp for the bigger stumps and the great thing is with the multitip head you get allot of inertia with the fly wheel mass which means it doesnt slow like some others. The controls are very user friendly with forward and back being on the handle instead of a lever like the carlton. this means both hands are still on the handle when moving! The machine though is not made by predator but instead a rebranded Laksi. This is also used by greenmech and another which i cant remember. Its a basic machine which to be fair is great because you can easily fix it. I have seen a Carlton in action, used a Rayco, demo'd a HB20 and bought a predator! All have good and bad points just get demoing and see what you think.

Its less than a year old, i bought it second hand with little or no use, it is still probably covered under a manufacturers warranty but they would only replace the legs with the flimsy original design. I would rather do it myself and know it wont fall to bits after. There are ramps to get the boxer up on the back of the flatbed but i really dont want to risk that either!!!!!

I wish i could lift the recommended weight, its also has relief valves on the hydraulics so i cannot over load it. The problem is i just dont think they test smaller machinery well enough, the bolsters for instance where the welds have been ground started to split after the first day of use. Trust me when i say i take it easy on my kit but these things are pretty weak. If a machine is built so that the crane can lift 400kg at full reach then the legs should be able to take the force created by this. The physics involved are huge, even picking bits up close in you can see the body torsion and flex in the legs!! Hopefully by beefing it up and putting a decent set of rear legs on the trailer too will prevent future failures. I have just had the 2nd splitter head go on the log splitter too, this is cast metal and again we are getting this beefed up also!!! Its very frustrating, often i look at the instructions to see if it ever says "for domestic use only"!!!! The problem is when you go back to the manufacturer with a bit of constructive criticism they get very defensive!!!

Yep here are a few, it seems that most things by riko tend to fall to bits or are not strong enough for the job, even on their own admission the 4.2m crane is too big for the trailer spec and hence why the legs bend in the A frame. I have even upgraded the 50mm box from 4mm to 5mm thickness to compensate but this has had no benefit. I am now putting in 100mm box but as you will see from the pictures it has meant a complete rebuild. I think their slogan should indeed be overpriced and under engineered!!!! I will also throw in a Riko A12 log splitter with weld failure for your entertainment!!! This also trashed the ram and many other parts!!!

I have one of those, can lift a ton, welds and body designed to take 1/2 a tonne!!! Mines not very old and I am having to rebuild it to strength.

Pallet fork are the best attachment for tree work i have, the grab bucket is very good for brash though. Those dingos look fun, be interesting to see what you think.

My one was assisting me loading my vented bags about today, very very handy bit of kit. These bags are a proper cubic metre and are very heavy!!!

Never had a big greenmech and tbh always steered clear, did have a cs100 but barely used it. Although today the local greenmech dealer did give me a call for a chat which always goes down well with me. My BC200xl has done approximately 230hrs, its been back to vermeer 7 times, the first time was at 8hrs, its almost caught fire, the solenoids stopped working, its sheared bolts, they bent the back on delivery, it shakes itself to bits when you start it, it dropped loads of hydraulic oil on a clients drive, the insulation in the bonnet dropped over the exhaust and melted to the engine, the electrics dropped on the exhaust and melted through and now the hydraulics have got to the point that the infeed rollers struggle to pull wood through. This wouldnt be so bad if i hadnt let vermeer know in december that it had this problem and its not fixed yet!!!! I did get a free pen though with Vermeer on the side which i have to say is working well!! For 23k i did expect slightly less hassle! grrrrrr rant over! The machine is a 7.5 inch chipper, but i think a vermeer under 9 inches are just not worth it. Even their turntable thing is a practicle joke! The bandit 75 is a good little machine, we demo'd one (as you can probably see why), the turbo engine has a decent amount of grunt but sat next to the 200 it didnt keep up although i am now willing to take that hit!!!!

Mine is a boxer 427 with a bucket grab, there is a thread at the moment for mini loader at work. There are pictures of various skidsteers and loaders.

Just like to retract my statement!! I have found out the reason over the last 200 hrs of ownership why no one mentions them!!!!!

Thankyou all, it is a great thing to do and has really focused our business. I can already hear the creek of a few new doors opening for us!!!

the 620 and 625 are amazing chippers, i could fix mine with a hammer and a welder when ever it had issues. the new Vermeer chippers are shockingly bad!!!! i would trade my 200 xl in tomorrow.

didnt even wobble it!!!! thats a huge weight of wood sat there!!!! We were just seizing the photo opportunity!!!

We also own a Boxer 427 (Big Bolts old machine!), its a great littletool and truthfully where ever we can we get the machine on site to assist. A few pics of it at work!! its amazing what it will lift!

Tewkesbury, you can tip at mine.

Paul, thanks for a great day today, the whole process has been a real help to my business and really streamlined how we work. Looking forward to the future with the AA. David

i think i know whats wrong with it, what are the serial numbers for the machine and i will see which hammer i need to bring down to Bristol to fix it with!!!!!! lol

I am based in tewkesbury and am always looking for people.

Has anyone had any experience with this mill as we are looking to purchase one or similar. Searches on here have drawn a blank as to advice and past experience of this machine. They look like a good machine and reasonably priced.

Sell your trailer, buy a tipper trailer and don't muck about with bags. Saves you loads of questions, and an easier life!!!

I had one recently out on demo from Global, seemed to be a good machine, the central pivot was a very easy to use.

I am getting a peli case, it's a bit expensive but will last.

I have one of the Riko timber trailers and its actually pretty good for moving timber. Nose weight is controlled by a hydraulic ram to move the bed back and forth and the jockey wheel has a weight scale on it so you can see how you are doing. Only issue with Riko is build quality, the legs bend very easily when picking up at full reach, i have uprated the leg thickness from 4mm to 5mm but still they bend!!! not having a trailer it is easy to dismiss its use but i wouldnt be without it these days. I also run a skidsteer which picks up twice what the trailer can!

Lol, use the arboricultural association website and go to downloads. Very useful.