DN22 Gardening

All stihl here apart from one big husky, and a small makita. Always had and used stihl when working for other people, since being on my own i've tried to stick to stihl. There are 3 dealers within 20 mins of us, so if one of the saws goes belly up, one of the dealers is bound to have the required part We have a big husky 36" bar that was part of a consignment from British waterways that i haven't got round to selling yet, used it on a 26" dia Euch the other day and it went through it quite well. ( not quite as good as the 88 but alot lighter ) We've also just picked up a little old Makita (think its a 425 ??????). its a very smooth saw, one of the lads I'm training up has adopted it, just needs a 15" bar and chain to replace the 18" thats on it and it'll be a good saw

looks like it. ive sent the seller a question stating that i'm only 30 mins from aberdeen and can collect with the cash.... No reply yet

Organisation is our biggest problem Getting to a job and the vital piece of kit forgotten, or the bit of kit left on site that needs to be picked up !!!! Also, when the weather is like its been, keeping customers happy. We've lost two jobs so far this year to people who just won't wait for the land to dry out a bit, but i bet they'd be the ones who moaned the most when the machinery ripped the grass up !!

I'm the same. Was quoted £3000 + materials to fit a new log boiler to my system, when i asked the guy how long it'd take him..... 5 days. Time for me to go back to college

when we used to sub to Network Fail we used to use it. One of its failings however was when we'd run out of Glyphos on a site we'd just mix the blue with water ....Allegedly

We rent our yard so i'm very reluctant to spend £1000's on conny and a shelter, but looking at your yard Joy makes me wonder. The guy we rent it off has said we can do as we please with regards to improvements, but then he would As you've said, a bit of a shed to put the splitter under, and also the netted logs would be ace.........

Best raffle you'll ever enter. As Worcs Wuss said above, there's more prizes than caravans at a horse fair !!!

one of my lads started volunteering at a local nature reserve. After a while they put him through his 30/31 as well as loads of other stuff. He's a qualified horse logger !! If i had the time i'd go myself, sounds like they have loads of laughs

got a 22" mac desktop a month ago. Brill machine, i only wish i knew how to use it

got a 22" mac desktop a month ago. Brill machine, i only wish i knew how to use it

Thanks Andy, Unfortunately there's no one local to us to buy one off !!! the nearest shop is in Sheffield 30 odd miles away always try and shop local when i can cheapest so far is about £45 inc p+p from Amazon

Thanks for the replys guys, Guess the upshot is that there's no reliable way of checking stuff. Ok, trailers, chippers, stumpies etc will be registered with the dealer when new, how many of us out there have sold kit on, and actually been bothered to inform the supplier that we've passed it on ??? All our big kit is registered with the appropriate dealer ( just took our new/used plant trailer to our local Ifor dealer to get it in our name), but even so, i'd be very surprised if, in the event of theft, we'd ever get it back

Hi all, Couple of things. Firstly, big thanks to Steve J (don't know your user name on here) for the milling lesson on Saturday, learnt loads, and had a great morning to boot During the morning he fired his Kelly kettle up......Bloody Brilliant... So...... Wheres the cheapest place to get one ?? And what the difference between the Aluminium ones and the Stainless ones (apart from the metal used ) Thanks, Dave

DON'T DO IT !!!!! We've got a 2011 441, its the worst saw i've ever bought If it had been my first Stihl saw i'd be a Husky buyer now !!! Its been back to the dealers three times now, and its still not right Very, very disappointed

Been buying and selling a fair bit of Stihl equipment this last year. Mostly bought in job lot from various auctions etc, so i know where its all come from, history, etc. However these are drying up a bit so i've started looking on the auction sites, in the local rags etc. Does anyone know where to contact to check serial numbers etc to ensure what i'm buying isn't nicked ? I'd be gutted if i put money into the thieving gits hands, never mind the fact that i'd gotten hold of someone else's tools. Just bought a little Makita and although i know the saws history (one owner from new), i rang the police as a tester to see if they could check it out...... No joy there Thanks, Dave

I'd also stipulate on the quote prices for stoppages (i.e. not being able to get on site to do the work) Late payment penalties, and anything else you can think of

once had a customer put the hosepipe on a 2 cube load so they'd "burn slower" Last Feb, when we'd run out of seasoned stuff, had a new customer ring up moaning his previous supplier had delivered him a load of wet logs and did we have any dry ones. When i explained that we'd run out of logs that i'd be happy to sell as seasoned, he asked what we'd got in, he ended up taking the willow we were felling that day !!!!!! We're also selling alot of unseasoned, unsplit conifer at the moment (advertised as such) We've had a couple of customers saying that they'll be ok to burn in a week or two despite me telling them that we season softwood for a MINIMUM of two years. :lol:

Hi all, We've been asked by one of our larger clients if we can create a database of the various trees on their sites in our area. Part of the contract is to individually number the trees. Anyone know where we can get hold of personalised tree tags. We'd need about 250 of them Thanks, Dave P.s. i can find the normal ally round ones with just the numbers on. what i want is ones which can have the co. name on them

we're building a timber framed garage for home so am going to (eventually) cut it into 9 x 3 sections for the frame for the roof to sit on

used some 'L' brackets from the builers merchant, and secured with 3" screws put in at an angle

Hi Ian, we've just recieved a 30" mill from Rob. Its brilliant for our arb arisings, only thing is, its not big enough. Measured it today and the 30" mill gives only 21.5" of cut on our MS880 Can't put the end of the mill too near the end of the bar as it may pinch the nose. Same on the inner side with the dogs. If you're getting a new saw anyway, i'd go for at least 36" maybe even in the 40's. Also, get the mini mill, its brilliant too. You'll be hard pushed to find a better supplier than Rob off here. Explains everything in common english, and is more than willing to answer any questions you may have

Going to the smaller end of the scale. How is it possible for me to compete with the travelling brigade when, on top of all my other costs, i'll have to spend a couple of grand every 5 years to put me and my lads through a refresher. I've just had one of my lads leave to set up on his own, after adding up the training he's had over the last 4 years comes to just shy of £5000. How's a small business supposed to 'factor into costs' this ??? I might be tempted if a provider were to say to me "i'll come on such and such date, it'll take a day, i can assess so many people and it'll be so much. I don't know the costs involved in running a training agency, but on the last course i was on (CSCS SSSTC ) there were 22 people paying approx. £750 each for two days in a hotel conference room, and ok, lunch was provided, but by my reckoning thats still £15K for two days work, providing a powerpoint presentation, and a little booklet on toolbox talks !!!! there's got to be some profit in that As an employer, its MY duty to ensure my staff are competent, which they are. ALL my staff who are employed on sites where saws are likely to be used have full chainsaw PPE (including boots ) even the brash draggers who don't touch the saws. I've worked with some people who you wouldn't trust with a silky, never mind a chain saw. Especially on the rail, which, 7 or 8 years ago was flooded by people in it for the quick cash. On the subject of Ariel rescue, i think a 5 year assessment might be a good thing. One days assessment, showing new techniques, kit, etc, followed by further training IF required. Been climbing far toooo long now and never (thankfully) had to use it, but would like to think my training would kick in in the event

Thanks Rob, i was just having a play with the Aspen As all the seasoned millers will be able to tell, i've never done it before, and i don't doubt for one minute its a skill that takes years to learn. What to cut where, how to cut to get the best timber from the log, etc, etc Being from an arborist background (and most of that on price work) logs were always dealt with by someone else, so since i've been on my own its been a steep learning curve whats to keep, what to log etc. About the biggest mistake i've made so far was chopping a beautiful piece of Yew into firewood I also need to learn what the carvers like, but as i've said, its all a learning curve

Yeah, i could.........given enough brownie points from my better half. Sorry J, but on this firm, a tool has to prove itself before we expand it. Bought a stump grinder earlier this year, its paid for itself 4 or 5 times over, i've just been given the go-ahead to THINK about saving for a larger, self driven one. I think i'll have to sell a bit of timber ( or make her something spectacular) before she'll let me invest in a 50" bar (maybe £250/£300) chain (£100) supplementary oiler (????) etc. Never mind the fact that the 88, plus 30" bar n chain, plus Alaskan weighs a blinking ton, dread to think what the bigger one you use weighs ????

the lump of Aspen currently waiting on my wifes pleasure The last pic is the first 3" thick plank removed