richy_B

I think you are right about that. If you say you can't get out for a few weeks I imagine 9/10 people will keep ringing around until they find someone else. People view the service industry in similar way to products, more than a week and they think you are some sort of out of touch/dinosaur of a operator. I can't complain, last week I needed an electrician. First guy couldn't get out a week so kept searching till I found someone for the next day. Convenience & speed often trump quality regrettably. As a small operator you are stuck - Have lots of staff and run the risk of having people sitting about twiddling their thumbs or lose out on work.

Hello all, this winter I am going to be doing quite a lot of woodland work. I have been doing it on a small scale for a few winters and have hired in various bits of kit but it is time to invest in my own. I may end up buying new but I thought it is worth enquiring to see if anyone has/or knows anyone who might be selling roughly what I am looking for. What I am looking at: All terrain style tractor, 40hp+ range. Front loader is a plus point, Bi-directional would be a massive plus point, cab preferably, decent condition. I work on quite compact sites and generally not flat so a full size machine is too large. I am going to use it to run a winch for skidding, flail for brambles/thick grasses, small post ram & auger and box grader. Really like the AGT850, Antonio Carraro supertigre 5800 & larger BCS's. Also really like the old Holder A50/60, but I don't see them come up much. Anyone know of anything for sale or coming up? London based but willing to travel for the right kit. Thanks, Rich B.

Simple answer is what is your price? Every business/operator is different. Add up your direct/indirect costs, divide it down to get a day rate then add on your margin. As a contractor and as a landowner I'd be wary of a price per acre as not one single acre will ever be the same. Price per ton to an agree roadside location is the common way of doing it, price might be different for the different compartments due to haul distance.

Good tips, thanks. I fear this maybe a long battle yet...

Still not worked this out. Checked the socket - Good. Checked the continuity of all the wires in the charger - Good, nothing 'seems' out of place. Checked all the fuses - Good. Checked the forklift batteries which are reading 38.9V. As a 40V system obviously they are low but this makes sense as I was trying to put it on charge due to the forklift becoming sluggish. Would the charger not work if the battery voltage is too low?

I am sure they are good but could you not just get a couple of large traffic cones, knock the 'feet' off then put them together. The opening might not be that bit but you could always slice the cones and open the up a bit then rivet. The skidding cones just seem like quite a lot for what they are.

I built my own basic drying kiln for firewood after initially looking into the whole RHI thing. I found the big cost was you need a biomass boiler from an approved list to be eligible. The cheapest I could get a system was £10K plus VAT. Hardly throw-away money. It depends on your location but I reckon spending £4-5k on some well positioned agri poly tunnels would be a more economical way of drying wood. Open ends, open sides, high enough for a forklift etc. Ideal.

I am pretty sure the charger isn't the original as its a 'Legg'. It states it is for charging 18 batteries at an initial 80amps so the fact I have 20 pretty much confirms it is not the exact match. It seems to have worked OK the last 10 charges though.

Much appreciated. The main problem is its all very old. Not sure exactly how old but its says 'Made in USSR' ! Leading on from that the info inside on various panels etc is written in what appears to be Russian. Yes, I did think that checking the socket was number one. The MCB breaker didn't go at the fuse box so hopefully that is ok. I haven't got anything else that runs on a 32a blue plug of that size unfortunately which would be an easy test. On the inside of the charger I cannot see anything that looks like a conventional fuse. There is what seems to be a liquid (mercury looking) fuse on the timer. Everything is crudded up inside, 25+ years of dust etc. Nothing looks took suspect though (melted/corroded). It might be easier to get a new charger. Will have to work out what I need though. It has 20 single cell batteries running in series so I guess it is a 40V system.

Hello, I've got a pretty ancient electric forklift (Invicta) and charger (Legg). I've had it a year and in honesty only use it for an hour or so a week to shift a few pallets about. I usually charge it once a month when it becomes sluggish. Today I've plug it in as per usual and nothing. Electrics is not my strong point but I am wondering if anyone has any ideas. I've topped up the batteries with deionised water. They all seem to be at the right level. I've unplugged the charger from the mains, unplug forklift, reset the timer, etc. Tried it all again a few times and nothing. I've tried normal charge and equalising charge. The circuit breaker hasn't gone or anything. When the battery is attached to the forklift its shows 40V so I assume the batteries are all linked ok. I assume the socket is ok but I do not have anything else with a 32A blue plug to test it. I popped the back cover from the charger to look for the 'smoking gun' but there isn't anything loose/melted/suspicious. Any ideas?

Every dry cleaners offers a repair/alteration service. New zips, patches, elastic etc. Usually only a few quid.

Nice work. Straight forward fix to a common problem.

I use a ms660 with a 20" for ringing up big stuff and its a monster. I'd recommend it.

I am pretty sure you can't mix and match sizes on the same axle so you'll need to find road and all terrain in the same size which is not necessarily easy for transit sizes. Not sure it will actually achieve what you want either. Do you find yourself getting stuck a lot? I know it would be good to have a tool that does it all but it is rarely reality. You maybe better keeping a stock transit and getting a cheap 4x4 for offroad works/hiring a 4x4.

You are probably right. It is just 250 X 0.22CuM holes by hand is a lot of digging! We'll be a team of navvies by the end of the job.

Yeah, its makes sense but scares the crap out of me signing up to big loans!

How long are you planning on keeping it? You might be better off putting £5k down and financing the rest on a new one. As you can see from hunting about they have a good resale value. My experience is tracked chippers have had a harder life than road towed so buying cheap might be a gamble.

Fenland. Yes, LA contracting. That gas pipe is exactly my fear. That would really ruin your day. I've ran into virgin cable tv wires that were literally just under the pavement before (just dug into the sub base).

The auger looks ideal. The old services problem though!

I did consider 'drive by planting' but not regrettably I won't often be able to get my trailer right next to the hole. It is urban (London) and I am hoping for a one man operation. I am most concerned about the services during this work. At around 600mm depth there is a good chance I could meet quite a few. My understanding is they are 'supposed' to be: Water pipes at least 900m, gas at least 750mm, electric 600mm. I could also knock out cable tv which I've found is barely below the surface sometimes.

I have a task coming up and wanted to see what other peoples views were. I am planting 250 trees+ and need to dig 600mm*600mm*600mm holes. Not all in one location (spread out across miles) and I have to trailer everything to site(s). Have to be mindful of cables/services (have a lo-k8 and metal detector that I use). Please do not recommend a spade and some hard graft! I'll never stand upright again if I did it by hand. Not keen on petrol handheld augers either. Obviously choice is a excavator. I was considering hiring something small like an 8008 or other sub 1000kg machine. Small, easy enough to load/unload, uses sod all diesel, won't do a lot of ground damage. My experience is using a small machine and taking it slow means I spot something before I rip it out which is handy from a cable perspective. Another idea was perhaps something like a kanga loader with an auger. If I got a 600mm or similar size auger it would be pretty easy going. It there is a cable/pipe that I've not picked up it is going to hit it though. Anyone got any other ideas?

I was looking for something with that spec not long ago and I'd snapped that up for £6k.

Hello, anyone got a small dumper and interested in doings a days works next week? I a digging a shallow pond and need to shift about 30-40cuM of material a few hundred metres. Ideally someone who can turn up with it on a trailer, get cracking then away again. Location is NW9, Brent, West London. Can pay on the day, amount negotiable.

Get a 5.5-7.5t tipper and be done with it. More room for kit, more room/payload for chip, one tip off a day. People are scared off by the extra cost initially (licenses, tacho, etc) but if you consider time/cost everyday doing extra trips to the dump and the risk of fines from VOSA/overloading it soon balances out. My experience is every arb worker I meet is overloading on a regular basis - just get the right tool for the job. 3.5tonners are not cut out for arb work.

Thanks guys, good info as always. From a practical perspective it seems straightforward, from a legal perspective it is a minefield as per bloody usual! A workaround mind be changing the vehicle class to agricultural. I wouldn't be using it in a 'road' capacity and not doing any digging/loading on a public highway so it is hardly a rouse. The justification would have to be you use it in agricultural/forestry capacity in the same way you'd use a telehandler or tractor with front loader.