Dean O

some one near me recently got sold two new stihl chainsaws from such a guy. they were counterfeit - might be that this all they are around for but be wary.

Think of what other cos in your area are called. A new start up in my area decided to call themselves: D&N Arborum services with the tagline "the tree maintenance specialists" Bearing in mind my name is Dean, my co is Arborum ltd and our tagline is the tree care specialists. I was not a happy chappy! I always liked the name "High Trees"

this is why I would just change trucks you'd get more for your SW than say a hicap wouldn't have to spend time sourcing parts or carrying out the work for the swap. If you don't want to sell it, just buy another, go on you now you want to.

You'd be better off flogging the SW and getting a hicap or a vehicle already converted I prefer my 110 tipper to our 130 - but the 130's better at the job.

Ive recently had a very expensive experience with this. On a TW tho, not sure of build robustness comaparability. But check that the shaft and the bearings are ok and the rotor housing is not warped in any way before going any further.

I used leylandii to make a chicken house - been very durable. though it is off the ground. Used it for the framing (with the exceptions of the legs which are silver maple), the floor, the walls are clad in it. timber also remained very stable. completely untreated too. Just started to go a bit algae-fied around the sides that dont get any sun, but as its standing under a large holly and oak hedgrow surrounded by other mature trees at the bottom of the garden in the shade its not surprising after 5 years or more.

just a quick update - apparently genuine TW blades would not of caused this problem - as they "would never shatter". The blades were from a well known source. I'm not sure that it was the shattering that caused the problem or the loose bolts tho so still a heads up on torque settings.

Just a reminder to all to check for correct blade tightness. It seems that the likely cause of a big repair bill may have been a recently changed blade in our tw150. It shattered having hit the anvil, bending the rotor housing, sheering the shaft in the process, and disintergrating the pocket the blade sits in. It was only on putting the chipper back together that it was realised that the housing was bent. Unfortunately it now has to be stripped down again and rebuilt with a new housing. I havent had the postmortem back yet but I think loose bolts may have allowed the blade to move away from the pocket slightly. I'm hoping that TW will get the part there ASAP to lessen the pain as I'm told parts alone are likely to be around £2200+VAT. With the exception of the birth of my second little one its been a bit of an unlucky year so far Boo hoo can only get better

In some of the sheltered lanes around here we have had hawthorn buds open in the first week of feb. Havent spotted any snowbells or daffs yet tho'

Bump - theres gotta be someone out there for you Tim Good guy to work for / with

Sorry I havent got pics - any one interested give me a quick buzz, it can be seen on street view but will need to guide

Cedar being taken down In llandeilo free to taker if they can crane it and take it away - even if you just want it for firewood stood on verge next to road. Traffic management in place next week give me a call if you want it 07533418103 if not it will be rung up for firewood many thanks Dean

Lots to weigh up. Have considered it, especially as weve just had our second and childcare costs are a night mare - or will be when the wife goes back to work. Wife is in a well paid job. only trouble is for me - I dont think I could face trying to build a business again once they are in school and I think I would find it hard working for someone else.

Weve just contracted for this guy clearing land for amphib/ reptile habitat. spoke to him about his kiln he had on site seemed to me simply like an oven using wood as a fuel to cook the wood and reduce moisture content....

Hodge - dont worry so much about going VAT reg I worried about it for the same reasons you are - but you cant fight it. In reality you dont need to put your prices up by the 20% it seems you may have to as you get VAT "back" on purchases etc. If you do loose work because of the increase in cost to your clients then you'll drop bellow the VAT threshold again anyway. You will loose some clients, some of which will be regular customers - you cant fight this either unless you want to be the cheepest guy around. If price is no longer to be your USP then simply dont compete on price. Use your charm, good looks and quality of work.

theres a lot of advantages to being employed - hol pay, NIC's etc. and regular work - employees generally get paid a little less per day but its a trade off. I'm not sure that you would "have to be employed" by him based on the info provided as you have other "employers". It may be that if he forsees employing you continually on the basis he has been then he is better off employing you or someone like you to fill the post. Its up to you to decide wether you want to be employed.

Thanks HCR - the main thing is that I'm not waaaaaay off. It will all be done by hand unfortunately - unless I can find someone local to me with a tracked machine and a large auger there is 120 of this size to be dug.

how many 45 litre pots would expect per person per day including an oblique post and mulch mat, excess soil removed from site. I'm working on 8 per day as a starting point thanks Dean

Ive managed to bend the metal bumper (c section mounted to the chasis) on a tw150dhb 07year I cant find this part stocked in the usual places for spares - can you put me in the right direction for a replacement please - Or can you/ do you supply this part direct. What is the correct part number. Many thanks Dean

funnily enough I carried out my first cat rescue this weekend - twas my daughters birthday but she had just gone down for a nap (2 years old) so gambled on getting there getting it down and getting home before she noticed. Distraught lady and i have a soft spot for animals. I dont think the cat could have gotten any higher, god knows where it was trying to get to. Told the lad I might have to "persuade it" down due to its position, but it seemed pretty glad to see me - so there wasnt a struggle.

buxtons are selling a husky climbing helmet visor and muffs for £75 helmet is a petzl valeo vent, just bought one for one of the guys seems ok.

I find the world of milling a weird and wonderfull place - dont get me wrong I love timber when milled. But this is the sort of thing I would probably cut up for firewood with all those large limb wounds. I would charge to remove it rather than give money for it. Whenever we get something special I can never find anyone interested in purchasing from us. You can barely give it away.

Thanks Slack - yes your probably right. The trouble is the width of the burr being too big for my 36inch bar on the alaskan so I'll have to dice it up a bit first.

Thanks for the advice so far, If anybody Wants it give me a pm, but I had wanted to dice it up and use it myself. Maverick what sort of diameter blanks are most useful? As I could simply mill it into blanks. At the mo my plan is to cut it down the middle lontitudinaly then mill and open the planks like pages so that they mirror each other as I think the right hand side is better than the left. The left side could then be peiced apart and dealt with differently.

Came across this Ash Burr in a woodland we look after a couple of years ago, by the time I'd asked the client if I could take it I couldnt find it again. I'd like some advice on how to make the most of it. Access is poor/ very wet so unlikely to get it out with wheel barrow or arb trolley. so should I mill it with the alaskan through and through into planks (what thickness would be most stable?) Will it be unstable and crack/warp. or should I cut it in half (longtidudinally or laterally?) there is a line of decay on the left of the burr that would have been running from top to bottom when the tree was standing. There is some daldinia growing on its surface all over so hopefully it wont be too far gone but 4/5ths seems pretty sound. p.s its too wide to mill with a 36inch bar on the 660 so I may have to piece it apart any how - cut the left hand side off where the rot is and then mill? Any advice welcome. Dean