richy_B

I've only had it 6 months (from new) but it's been straight forward and no issues so far. They are pretty simple and you can get at all the gubbins should you need to. I guess it down to personal circumstance but probably best to get the maximum HP you can. I get on well with my one but often wonder if I should have gone for the 860 and it's extra 33hp. If you are doing a lot of mowing/flailing the bigger the extra would enable you to run a much wider flail amd probably run it a higher gear too.

That's odd because it the V5 clearly states on the front it is not evidence of ownership. Surely it's all about the name and VAT number on the invoice. I suppose all companies are different and they might have a policy on it...

AGT for me. Simple mechanics, not a lot of electrics. I have a 835 forestry spec. Wanted the extra guarding.

It'll make a big difference to your insurance cost. I found in a limited company name it was twice my own. The V5 is also just the 'registered keeper' so makes no difference on who actually owns it.

Looks good but £14.5k for a 22 year old defender is crazy.

I like the idea of them but I wonder how the road legal tyres fair in the woods? Wouldn't it bog down pretty easily when loaded.

I'm no expert but from my understanding in order to get an agricultural/forestry dwelling you are going to need to prove a very strong case for why you need to live on site. Again just my understanding but I would have thought you'd need a genuine need to be there for more than 50% of your whole week (over 85 hours a week). That there is no genuine alternative (ie local housing you could live at). That there is an genuine occupational need to be there and it is not just lifestyle. Finally I would expect it needs to be financially viable according to a planners perspective (ie the business enterprise makes enough income to provide you and your family an average income). I would expect this would need to genuinely be £20k plus and you could argue that you live sustainably and can survive on £6k a year like some of the hippy esque people who attempt this. From what I have seen, if you have 12 acres or more and genuinely need to be there you can easily get permission to site a static caravan. This will generally have a 2-3 year time limit. In that time you need to prove all the points above to the planners. It's definitely not easy as not many people achieve it. I suppose though if you could live in a static for three years you could do some serious saving and if it didn't work out have a decent deposit for somewhere else.

Could have done with a 360 with a grab for my day. Still 'little red' held his own. I am amazed how much you can get done with an alpine.

Wet day in the woods today.

I don't think these 'private tickets' are enforceable. They can't give you a penalty charge as per a council as they have no authority to do so. They treat it as a contract but as you have not expressly entered into one I doubt it would stand up in court. Presumably they rely on people just paying up. I'd not reply, even 'contesting' helps them as they then know who was likely driving at the time. Say nothing, let them waste their time.

I saw a large firewood producer in Germany and it was very impressive. Huge log stack being fed onto a hydraulic log deck by a guy on a timber crane. Huge processor operated by another guy (didnt recognise the make model but looked like posch colours) with saw dust extraction fans. Going into a posch packfix unit. The forklifted away into a building, presumably into a kiln. 3 guys running it but in five minutes of watching it seemed like they did a couple of cubes. Firewood production on an industrial scale.

Gnerally but certain additions add weight on. Expanding tracks for example adds about 160kg which can make the 8018 quite a bit heavier.

I have the thor 13t magic splitter (petrol engine) and it has been pretty good. I got the 4 way splitter but found it struggles on 1metre lengths and was quicker just to use the single blade. Got it from mlarge who were, and have subsequently been, excellent.

Just insured my tractor with arborisk. Good prices.

I've had quite a few 8018's from Hewden and they are ok machines. I think the 8018 has a higher hydraulic rate than the 8014 which makes some attachments easier to use (breaker/auger). The two speed tracking is useful. I often have to park up and load a few hundred metres from where I am working so it is handy. May only save you a few minutes but at the end of the day when you want to get home it all counts. Not that it was your question but if you had the option of a takeuchi tb016, cat 301.4 or komatsu I'd go for them. Build quality seems higher.

Looks good but I bet it's considerably more expensive than the saw benches.

So you could have a iveco 50c/65c for transporting your own exavator (for your own use) and you wouldn't need a tacho or O license?

I guess you are still in O license territory when you go over 3.5t gvw.

Oil prices are dropping like crazy. I'll be ordering another 500l in January

Sorry, I started that off! Some policy that would be! I'm with arborisk and I think it's a £500 excess ( going to be 250 minimum) and 2.5% NCB per year. I'm a very honest person but think if you have insurance you should use it. A 201t and 362 is going to cost you about £800 odd with bars and chains. £500 excess so it's a £300 decision on whether loose your NCB.

What's your excess and what is you NCB percentage? What level of cover? (Old for new).

Either way this wasn't my prior understanding. I thought once you got into vehicles of over 3.5t gvw (excluding agri tractors) it was tachograph required.

A 50c iveco has a gvw of 5.2t so it's probably around 2800kg kerb weight. Put up to a 2.4t excavator on the back and you are tachograph exempt according to the above item.

From the above item - 5th exemption.

Would a 5.2t iveco daily beavertail carrying a mini digger for example be tacho exempt? Seemingly yes.