Dilz

750! i was grumbling when my insurance asked for 3500 kr fully comp ! (280 odd quid)

Another pick from yesterday's job. Its impressive what this little machine will shift even without additional back weights. The timber grab being a manual rotation is a bit of a faff but it keeps the front weight down. Id say anyone looking at the narrow Sherpa should pay the bit extra and get the small / yellow one over the agri version unless like myself you get offered a really good price on an Agri bit that says the Agri is decent enough!

Only regret is not getting one sooner! A mate who i sub in summed it up...."i look at all these cherry logs and i smile because i don't have to move them!" Its allowed me to take on bigger jobs without hesitation...do jobs quicker and loads easier and its getting me more work with other companies. Todays loader mission was helping move a decent sized ash for crane car pickup for a lass who i sometimes subb in. 5 hours more on the machine (i added my own hour counter / tacho). Was a good day...if a bit long. The lass who hired me in said she would have never bothered quoting the job if she couldn't hire me and the Sherpa. The branch timber was grabbed straight from the rigging rope. Same with bigger branches. Also getting the hang of wheelies but got to be careful otherwise it trys and bucks me off 🤠

Currently own a predator / laski 360sw. I use it mostly on small / the odd bigger stump. I sub out the larger stumps / those on slopes / tougher terrain... there is coming in more and more quotes for those kind of stumps so now considering getting a bigger / self propelled machine. Nothing massive, would like to keep the weight down to around 700kg. Was looking at bandit sg-40 but hear mixed feelings about their engines. Any models out there that stand out above the rest??

Well...i guess i'm going to be putting on a few extra pounds then...

First proper job for the Sherpa since buying it. Shifting a load of sycamore pollarding to roadside for the grabtruck. We just smashed out the climbing yesterday so it wasnt really sorted for moving. Had a groundy stacking and cutting as i picked up and shoved about stuff. Grass tires slipped a little when driving on branches near the pile but left very little marking on the grass compared to the tractor wheels. Machine lifted and pushed everything well enough. We finished the clear up in an easy half a day with a decent breakfast and lot of chatting to the client. We'd have been all day without the Sherpa, and knackered and grumpy by the end of it ..i'm well chuffed with the machine.

Time to head over to the 'Stress' thread....😬😜

yeah - its kind of self evident- just get better at being organised, discipline = freedom (from annoyed clients calling me in the evening when i'm having a nap on the sofa instead of looking at their tree)

Slowly making the transition from working predominantly as a subby climber to doing my own jobs hiring in folk etc. Moved to a new area in 2019 and things really kicked off last year in terms of getting my own jobs in. Did my first paid advertisement that went out at the end of February and quite a lot of work has come in as result. This week has been the first where I feel I have really cocked up in terms of keeping organised. Forgotten client meeting, missed messages etc, You said you'd come yesterday kind of thing. I know its a simple as just keeping a good planner with legible notes but being a bit of spaz I ve always found keeping organised a bit tricky. Was wondering if there is any good info / apps / tips and tricks out there about keeping on top of stuff? Having now just written this I guess just getting better disciplined about keeping notes - maybe getting an online calendar that sends notifications / reminders would be a good way to go?

im just a bit of spazz and get properly mixed up language wise these days from speaking mostly Swedish. Sweden has some good sayings . favourite translates as.."No cow on the ice" = no stress / panic.

Its the last machine the guy has in stock from his autumn shipment last year and its the ex demo so the price difference i got between that and the new from the factory small covered more than the cost of the timber grab. Its seems a fair few folk have the agri for domestic tree work. The honda engine easy enough to turn over but extra wheel power would be good. but as i dont do ground works i don't feel i need the extra power to shove into piles of sand ect...saying that it managed fine messing about in my back yard shoveling topsoil and gravel about and its the only sherpa ive driven so i dont know any better 😃Hadnt thought about extra waiting time on wheels...ive tried haggling in 3 sets but its started getting a bit much right now. He has sorted out some decent 10' ramps which i get a decent discount as ill pick them up from the manufacturer on my way to pick up the machine and have agreed to pick up some extra ramps he has ordered himself.

yep that would be the one...well...I managed to forget what the English word was for a clearing saw this morning....12.5 years an expat...can scoff down pickled herring whilst drinking schnapps like a true native.

Pulled not the plug but the trigger as they say (edit).... today and told the seller I'll buy the Sherpa Agri -getting it with the timber grab and 76cm volume bucket and an extra set of medium grass wheels - its the idea the minute to keep the machines size under 90cm most gates and side entrances are about that around here. I think there is a risk that the medium grass wheels will be useless on wet slopes and mud but the aim is to buy the wider trac profile tires along with some other attachments later in the year if the machine proves to be showing its worth investing more in. Hopefully will have the machine picked up in a couple of weeks... Was out quoting this afternoon and already the brain is seeing ways in which I can use the machine maybe not to save necessarily time but certainly effort / man power. 14m twin stem lime to fell with 80m drag up a slope (not too steep but steep and far enough for it to be a reet pita doing it with the arb trolley) - perfect! Small trees to take down in a really tight inner garden with narrow access - mini chipper and the volume bucket - 15 lapsed leggy maple pollards to re-pollard - client wants everything over 10cm cutting into 30cm firewood - bundle it up with the timber grab and saw away - the rest chipped and spread around the borders. No problem - chip by the trees straight into the bucket spread it about. I reckon anyone who asks for a quote of me over the next few weeks and there is even a remote possibility that I can find a use for the loader on it is likely to get a very good price ...

Just done the maths and I reckon its going to need at least 3m ramps to load up onto my trailer with out it scraping its arse

What length are those ramps you are using to clear the stairs? 2.5 - 3m? Now in the process of putting together all the other things I want and a decent set of ramps is one of them - My trailer has a floor of just over 70cm...sadly not enough cash or garage space to buy a nice little machine trailer just for the sherpa...yet.

Is there any disadvantage to just getting the high volume 76cm bucket instead of the standard 76cm bucket? Cant see the point in having both unless there is something obvious I'm missing.

Its super efficient - at 6"ft 3 with size 13 feet I find most loaders a pain in the arse to clamber in and out of - this is great - need to cut or move something, restack the pile etc - just hop off and back on again.

all avant and bigger loaders I have used have just had big muck forks on them. I wouldn't feed a normal chipper with an avant... a digger / tractor with a fully articulated arm and a timber grab and a big ass Vermeer or Bandit or a big ass drum chipper is a joy to have on big sites But yeah can't let numptys play with such toys.

For me? if I had to choose only one....I haven't used the grapple bucket but that seems the most diverse..but would have to use one to commit to just that. But based just on what I have used and for and the situations I have used it in- for tree work - moving brash and logs about the timber grab gets my vote. Id say timber grab and a bucket you have most things covered. The only issue with the timber grab I found is when its small stuff its more faff to load the grab than a grapple bucket or manure forks...but can just chuck everything in a bag and lift it out I guess.

Yeah I can see how the high capacity bucket is the way to go for moving any serious amounts of dirt / or especially when chipping into it - I can load more in my wheelbarrow than the standard 76cm bucket but I shifted a few tonnes of soil in no time with it but it was just a lot of trips, so wore a bit of a path on my lawn. just checked with the dealer and he has a high volume bucket in - so its just a question which I would find more useful - the grab bucket of the high volume bucket. Doing mostly just tree work possibly the grab bucket seems the way to go - choices choices.

Just write a mail asking about swapping out the normal 76cm bucket for the grab bucket. Figure both the grab bucket and timber grab will have me covered for everything I do as I can use the grab bucket as a normal bucket if I put the sides on.

Whats the width of the machine with those tires on? over 1m by the looks of it.

are those the wide or medium grass wheels you have on there? I have a wee chipper myself and that looks like a handy set up.

30 degrees is more than I expected for such a short machine. Thats what it says in the manual can't say I've driven it up such a steep slope - had it on maybe 20 degeress on ramps - the dealer only had one long ramp and one short - the machine tipped on 3 wheels - he didn't seem fussed and kept driving it up..biggest issue with a steeper angle on ramps was that the footplate hits the ground...

Not masses of experience with the machine but it will go up a 30degree incline but like all loaders you only want to be driving straight up and down not turning etc. Its a skid steer so unless its super dry compacted or is frozen you can damage lawns if you aren't careful.... with the medium tractor profile tiers i ripped my lawn up a fair bit - two weeks later its only really the low wet part that i had to drive back and forth over maybe 15-20 times that looks pretty bad. As soon as it warms up and the grass gets going you won't notice most of it.