richy_B

I've seen a container that had its roof 'peeled' back to hiab a machine out. These scumbags are well equipped so there is little stopping them outside 24 hour security. A gas cutting torch is so portable and nothing steel is going to stand a chance.

You get 30kg baggage allowance on Virgin....

F*ckers. That's a lot of gear. Sorry to hear. I'm South and West London so will keep an ear out. Hardly ever see boxers.

Have you considered just trading in your old defender for a 14/15 plate defender? Might be hard to find a 130 but there seem to be quite a few 110 single cab pickups about.

I am not an expert but on my trailers (ifor 3017, Gh94 and lm126) If you put the handbrake on and try and shove it backwards (I use a forklift with towbar on the forks) the wheels will not turn at all. This is with a 5t of forklift pushing. With the handbrake off you push it for a 25cm or so and then the wheels free up.

The aforementioned trailer held by a chain. Quite dramatic as you can imagine but afterwards I felt glad the chain was there as it meant the trailer stayed with us and didn't injury anyone.

I hae no idea about the legal aspect, was just thinking safe.

The trailer handbrake should be effective both forward and backwards. The handbrake is attached to a spring that pulls the brake cables so provided the whole unit is in good order you should have no issues. The brake away cable activates the handbrake so again, if it's in good order it is a fail safe. The issue of brakes not being effective on trailers in reverse relates to over run brakes. It is the same braking system but controlled by a different mechanism -brakes cables are pulled when the tow head compresses, active by the tow vehicle slowing and the trailer pushing towards the tow bar. In reverse there is no tow coupling compression so no brake activation. I have previously been in a crash (i wasn't the driver) where a heavy duty chain has been used on a trailer. This did indeed keep the trailer attached (despite the tow bar being ripped off) and prevented it going into another lane, hitting any other vehicles. Once the tow bar came off though the trailer brakes would no longer have been active so making the situation worse. If you are going to use a chain make sure it is long than the break away cable so that if the trailer disconnects the handbrake is firmly applied. Perhaps a heavy steel braided cable might work. Perhaps could result in shock loading and damage to the tow vehicle though.

Tragic to hear of a kiddie dying like that. I have always been cautious but decided a year ago (after an incident) that I needed to take our trailer use very seriously. Traded in my old trailers for new ones, Include them in our weekly vehicle checks and have an annual check up with our local trailer dealer. Maybe excessive but I know of a lot of people using 3.5t trailers that are unknown age, unknown history, unknown brake or hub conditions. Its risky in my opinion. I know nothing of the case in question but as a commercial user I would expect there to be serious, if not manslaughter charges for someone not using a brake away cable or using a trailer with defective brakes that ended up like this. I expect in the coming years an MOT like test will be introduced for trailers over 750kg. An expense but worthwhile in my opinion.

A nice, versatile set up you have there.

Might be hard work butt what about a 'Mr funnel'? I bought one after a recommendation on here. You could run the hose from the IBC into the funnel and the funnel back into the tank. Then run the pump for a while. Going to take a while but you'll filter the gunk and water out. I have a 600 litre tank, which usually lasts me a few months but as a precaution I always filter it when filling machines. Admittedly they are small machines, maximum 30 litres.

I'd say your right. My l200 ('05 k74) is great as a daily tow vehicle with a 1.5t trailer and cargo combo. Pulling 2.7t (ish) and you can feel how much harder it is working and stressing. As you have mentioned, once your trailer is heavier than your tow weight things get exciting. Ive had a heavy trailer (boat) pull me in a ranger back down a slippery track. Only 15 metres or so but enough to scare the sh*t out of me. I've also lost a ranger and ifor flatbed when it flipped after a snaking incident caused by a heavy trailer (and a colleague driving too quickly consider the trailer weight). After that recap I am wondering if rangers and I aren't best suited to each other....

Got you. An old L200 is out of it then. The single cab ranger or hilux is probably best bets. From what I've seen the single cab ranger is very basic and you can't spec it up as standard. The hilux looks a lot better in that respect - parking sensors, cruise control, etc. I like basic but found once I had a vehicle with cruise control I never wanted to go back. Both are going to be £18-19k depending on your haggling skills I guess. That said I am not sure how any of them would cope with daily 3.5t towing. Not sure if anything (other than a US import or the LC79) is going to compare to the defender in this area.

Is 3.5t towing and new essential? From what you are saying - just for work, dont do many miles - could you get away with spending £6k on a five year L200 single cab? Should give you 5 years decent service and use the extra cash towards a mog for example. Just a random example - http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201610289216956?atmobcid=soc3

What is the rules for DPF removal? It is a fine for not having one when you should or are you likely to have a lot of grief. I presume it is not an MOT issue unless it fails emissions.

In my experience you can make decent pocket money on a small scale (chainsaw, splitter and arb waste) or make money on larger scale (£100k worth of kit, yard, 1000+ ton a year). Much harder to make it profitable in between. The handling, storage, logistics, etc just make it difficult to make it hard to compete without it being back breaking.

Are they any new single cab pickups that are DPF free? I've seen the horror thread on the Dmax. I do two 30 mile runs a day but quite a few stop start journeys in between. DPF worries me.

Morocco as well, which seems like one of the safer parts of North Africa to visit/deal with at the moment.

You can buy them in Gibraltar and import it yourself. Should save a fair few pound on the UK dealer price. Might be able to get a 3 year, 40k one.

There are a few importers but from what I saw it was £40k plus for a new one....

Any 4x4 or just pick ups? 3500kg is ranger (2.2 single cab is rated to 3500kg), dmax or hilux. Dont think l200 or amarok can. If it was work only I'd go with a dmax single cab 4x4.

Hitching and unhitching a full payload 3.5t trailer to get the chipper on and off wouldn't be much fun. Ok on hard surface but could be a pig on gravel drive etc. Could work though.

That little Schliesing 200Z looks great but at that weight most 35hp compacts are going to struggle.

What I wouldn't like is - Tipper trailers are quite high. Putting a compact tractor and chipper on it is going to have a high CoG (not taking into consideration the front loader up and over the ladder rack). Plus you haven't got the room with tractor chipper combo centred lengthwise. All in you are going to have an accident waiting to happen if you spend much time over 50mph. I have a 1.7t mini digger and ifor 3017. It isnt great fun to tow. Just too high and I think in an emergency situation/swerve/big snake it would roll. I can barely get my AGT in the 3017 if I have a flail or winch on. I'd be miles off with a pto chipper. Sounds like you aren't taking the arisings away so why not a king/club cab. You could put a smaller tracked loader in there and have a plant/tilt bed trailer with a tracked chipper on it.

In my humble opinion if the the seller won't provide basic information so you can check if it's legit then I'd know all I needed - run a mile. Without a serial number from the chassis, original invoice from the dealer or lots of service history from a recognised dealer who will vouch for the machine - I'd not hand over a penny.