mattplace

Here's my iveco. I built it last December and has lasted well for the last year. It has a few little scrapes and a couple of dents (from me being stupid and putting a 500kg log splitter in the back and not tying it down. Went around a few corners and it bounced from side to side and I now have matching bulges either side!) It's made from 50x50x1.6mm Steel box frame, with 3mm aluminium sides and doors. It's lined with 12mm ply on the headboard and 2ft up on the sides. For the size of the box, it was cheaper and lighter to do it this way instead of ally planking. I hope there's some food for thought in these pics.

SNAP! Here's my gorgeous Willow, born in June.

I split these in June, and they were below 25% by the end of August! They had the sun most of the day, and the wind rips through there. Personally I think billets are the way forward. I use crates for my Arb waste but they're a pain once empty and trying to store them. Saving for a saw bench and conveyor for next season. Anyone used a circular saw processor with the splitting wedge removed to cut billets? Cycle the ram to push a load onto the conveyor?

Mines been back to husky for a piston and cylinder! Apparantly its the first time its happened, but they're bound to say that! My mate went to the dealer i took mine to and asked if they've had any probs with the 550..... And they said they've had no problems with them at all! Lying b*#%@rds!!! Needless to say they're not having another penny off me! I truly hope yours is a good un! Enjoy!

Good luck with it... Mine has spent more time broken than working! If i were you, i'd buy a spare brake band, a HD airfilter, and be prepared to buy a new bar because the standard ones are made of marshmallow! The starters are weak too, but mine hasnt gone yet. (Bet it does tomorrow now!) That said... It is an awesome saw when its running right!

My 18t Posch... Highly recommend it!

My 550 did a piston and barrel and went to husqvarna under warranty. They added a heavy duty filter because fine dust was found inside the intake. Maybe worth speaking to your dealer and seeing if husky are adding a h/d filter for your 560 as a modification.

Give John a call on 07870593901. He has a big hiab lorry and is based in Magor. He gave me a very good price to move it when I was planning on having the caravan but a change in plans meant I couldn't have it :-( We went up and greased the wheel bearings so should be ready to go!

Who parked that honda accord in the way?! Some lovely bits of big kit you have there!

Mind did a piston with less than 10hrs use! My husky dealer was a waste of time! Husky did the work under warranty eventually and upgraded the airfilter to a heavy duty model due to fine dust being found in the intake. Doesn't feel as strong as it first did out the box, and had a mad 10 mins yesterday when it wouldnt idle.

I bought a husky 550xp as I had become fed up with stihl quality. I thought it was an amazing saw and was totally converted to husky just from a couple of hours using the 550. Then the little niggles started... The chain tensioner is a PITA, the plastic handle grip slides down the handle, and with less than 10hrs use... It SCORED THE PISTON! Took it to the dealer I purchased it from and it took a month to get sorted. Initially they claimed it must have been my oil mix in the fuel but theres nothing wrong with my other saws (and a 201t bought at the sane time as the 550). Husky replaced the piston and cylinder and fitted a new heavy duty air filter due to dust residue found in the carb inlet. Their report also suggested the chain sharpness could have contributed! FFS... Granted the chain wasn't brand new, but it was still very sharp and cut like butter! The saw is back and running like new, but I just don't trust it! Going to the "dark-side" was definitely a dark experience!

Top man! Most appreciated!

Top man! Most appreciated!

Top man! Most appreciated!

Thanks for the reply. They don't look like they stick out at all from your picture so i might go for it! I'll keep the original wheels and stick them on for MOT time When you get a minute, could you let me know your tyre size. I've searched all over for info on bigger tyres but can't anything and dont want to buy a set incase they rub I'm ordering all the materials tomorrow for my tipper conversion... i'll get a pic up once its complete!

Thanks for the reply. They don't look like they stick out at all from your picture so i might go for it! I'll keep the original wheels and stick them on for MOT time When you get a minute, could you let me know your tyre size. I've searched all over for info on bigger tyres but can't anything and dont want to buy a set incase they rub I'm ordering all the materials tomorrow for my tipper conversion... i'll get a pic up once its complete!

Looks amazing! I've just bought a single cab to convert into a tipper. What size are your wheels/tyres? I spoke to a guy at formula4x4 last week about modular wheels (7x16") for mine and he said they would stick out too far because the single & club cabs don't have the plastic arch extensions. Do yours stick out past the arch or are they ok? Bit cheeky, but how much was the wrap? I was thinking of getting mine re-painted (because its red but was too cheap to leave!) but a wrap could solve the problem :-)

'buffalo board' is what Ifor Williams use according to my local trailer shop.

Distel gecko carbons with Velcro. Really light and super comfy!

Love my posch hydro-combi 18t. Nothing's stopped it yet! Excellent build quality and great dealer backup. I just use a log to split into when I split rings, but a friend is knocking up a table for it.

You're right huck! I was very disappointed with my 201 so I set about modding it. There's good info on some American sites BUT.... Their saws are different to ours!! Their muffler is a different design, and the flywheel in the US had a woodruff key whereas ours is cast into the flywheel! In the end, all i did was port the muffler and removed the limiter from the carb so it could be tuned to match. And the result..... Hell of a difference! It is noisier and drinks more fuel, but it has so much torque and good pickup. It pee's all over my old 200t! :-) If anyone's interested, I'll get some pics and a video up soon.

Thanks ELG.... 'Willow' is 8 weeks old and she has already got me wrapped around her little finger!!

Thanks for all the replies! I guess there's not one program that can do everything! I think Ricks system of icalendar and pages along with the other suggestions of a spreadsheet will be the way forward. I've looked into invoicing software but it never seems to be able to do the exact operation I want it to. I used to use 'profit train' for the mac which worked to a degree but it couldn't do some simple tasks, so I binned it! Funny enough, my mrs is off on maternity at the moment and she wants to help with the running of the business. Hence the need for interaction between apple devices. I could be out on a job and she can be answering the phone booking in quotes and booking jobs and we each will know availability etc.

I have become so busy lately that i need to get some kind of organisation witht the day to day running of the business. I am getting so many jobs to quote, organise, invoice, trace payments for etc. that i scared i'm going to forget something! What do you guys do/use from the initial call/email to quote, right through to invoicing and payment? At the moment, i have alot of pieces of paper with enquiries on, then when i go to quote i fill out a job spec sheet, then process that into a quote on the laptop. If the jobs accepted, the work is done, and i then send an invoice via email. There are too many processes to fail on as alot of it is in my head! Ideally i want a system which interacts from my ipad, through to my macbook, and iphone calendars. It would be nice to get the initial job interest, raise a work order number, take the ipad to do the job spec, quote on the macbook, and book it in with icalendar so everything is organised. Is there a software program which ticks every box? Or, maybe just a spreadsheet with a field for every step of the process to make sure nothing is forgotten or missed? Any help or ideas much appreciated!

Have you looked into mortgages yet? (assuming you need one) You'll have a nightmare trying to find a company to take it on if there are any agricultural ties... You won't get the best rates, and the only option my financial guy could find, was a commercial mortgage at around 7% if i remember rightly! Best of luck with it!