richy_B

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.

Anyone got any experience of putting a tow hitch on a 3cx? Been working with a highways person who uses a 3cx and was thinking that being able to pull an ok sized trailer (2.7/3.5 flatbed/dropside ideally) would be really handy. Was digging today and needed to put up barricade fencing, road pins, cones out, etc and obviously if you could avoid the need for the second person and vehicle it'd be quite a cost saver. I did a bit of googling and a search on here but not found much (a few youtube videos with little info). Any thoughts? Must be fairly straightforward to fabricate some sort of bracket and I assume you could (or get a auto-sparky) to fit a 7pin.

I hired a tracked S426TDHB from KSS Hire (based in essex). Had it for three days to deal with some knarly brash mixed with fence posts that had been ripped out and piled up a few months back by a gm contractor. It was mess full of nails and bits of fencing wire so I opted for a shredder. First impressions was they are bigger and heavier than the chipper alternative. It coped pretty well on most stuff but as clearview said, they do clog with some green waste a bit. I put some willow through it and it jamming the infeed. The more flexible the material the worse the shredder performed. I would imagine if you put anything palm like or long grasses you'd feck it big time. On wood waste (fence posts, rails, etc) it just ate it up. Big chunks of hinge, bolts, remnants of concrete foot didn't phase it.

Yes. I am with Barclaycard and attempted to fill in the forms but found it ridiculous complicated. I can usually figure these things out but it was incredibly complicated jargon and I am wary of just clicking 'agree/confirm' without knowing what it was all about. In honesty I do not really know what it is and the difference between what I am doing now and will be doing as per their instructions. I get charged £2.40 per month for being non-compliant.

I had a recent VAT audit and I was told the VAT rate for delivery follows the VAT rate for the product. 5% Fuel, 5% on the delivery. 20% Fuel, 20% Delivery.

My experience is that is often a nightmare to get paid. Many a year ago I was waiting 120 days on a £4k job once. Foolishly I believed people that they were looking into it, a cheque was in the post...etc, etc. I put it through to small claims court then they paid up before the hearing. If your paperwork is in order and the job was done to spec then 99% sure you'll win (after all you are in the right!). Hopefully they won't go 'bankrupt' and open with a new Ltd name a week late before you get paid - an all too common tactic it seems.

Happens in parts of the EU but I've not heard of it happening here.

I tried the whack with a hammer fairly comprehensively! My impact gun is pretty good with a good supply. These feckers are just really hanging on. Don't now anyone with a oxy torch unfortunately.

Recently bought a LM126. Been giving it a bit of a service and all 5 of the bolts on one wheel are absolutely stuck. Fairly rusted looking but still intact/good head. I've tried my 1/2" air impact gun. No luck. I tried some penetrative oil, left for a few hours then impact gun. No luck. I've tried a 600mm breaker bar 1/2" breaker bar. No luck. I put a scaffolding bar on the breaker bar. Snapped the socket! I've run out of DIY options but have two other options. 1) A neighbouring unit has a 3/4" heavy weight impact gun but no 19mm socket. I could buy a socket but I am a bit concerned that with a bigger impact gun the likelihood of snapping the bolt head off. 2) Buy a little blow lamp and try to heat and rapidly cool the bolts. Hopefully 'crack' the rust or get it moving. Any suggestions?

Last week I had a S426TFTR on hire. My first experience of a shredder (compared to years of chippers) and I had generally a positive experience. I went with a shredder because I had some already chopped and piled up, knarly twisted branch material with decade old ivy wrapped around. My logic was you could shove more in with less prep/snedding compared to the chipper. As mention it was a good experience and did a really good job of it (obviously quite a powerful machine though). I would imagine it would work well for conifer/hedge material although a chipper might be as good. The realy benefit is the tolerance of small metal. If there is a risk of fencing wire, nails in posts, etc then a shredder comes into its own. My only negative was that I had a few odd bits of green willow lengths to go through and found these jammed. I presume it was the fiborous nature of willow that mean it feather out rather than were smashed off. On a side note the S426TFTR is a beast of a machine. Feels significantly bigger and heavier than the TW 9" tracked chipper.

I've used an older Agria one and a newer Grillo one (GF4 I believe) for doing meadow cuts. I found them to be hard work on anything other than nice flat meadow with not too dense swathes. Depending again on the terrain but I found myself wrestling with it more than it 'self propelling' - like a shopping trolley with a dodgy wheel. An exhausting experience after 5 hours. I also found because you are cutting material and leaving it long can lead to material fouling the axle and I'd need to cut bits out every hour or so (was a bit of bramble in there sometimes). I've not tried the heavier weight ones but my feelings are a compact tractor with a flail is a far better proposition.

Hello, I have a dropside kit for an LM146 trailer. Accident damage so several panels/connectors are bent but it is all there (front, back, 4 sides and mid and rear columns). Need a few hours and a decent hammer to get it all to fit. Will not got straight on currently. I'm only using the trailer as a flatbed so have no use for them. Anyone interested? Make me a offer. I'm going to stick them on ebay and arbtrader. RichyB.

On your firewood page - "Pickup load of moisture tested firewood approx. 2m3 which equates to 4 ton bags" . I would change that to 'builders bags' or similar. Could be misleading/confusing as is.