Shane

They are going to have to re-make the Texas Chainsaw Masacre now. At least it won't have given any loony terrorists some bright ideas.

I waited till I had a call from either party. The 'neighbour' is still away till next weekend - and still hasn't contacted me. I've had a couple of textx sayin 'Ill contact you tonight' but he's off the radar. The owners got back from hols on Friday and spent the weekend pondering the mess. The mother is a legal professional, the brother is a magistrate and another family member is a solicitor. They have concluded that he DID have a right to arrange to mitigate the trespass of the roots, but, as mentioned above, he has a duty of care to do so without causing any long term damage and/or destabilisation. A 'reasonable' person would have consulted with the owners first (they were around on the day it was done). Another option might have been to have called in a professional tree specialist to discuss the options with the owner. The owner has contacted her insurer who has said they are 'happy' to pay for the clear up and re-planting, but they want the details of the neighbour so they can recover costs off of him. OOOOH. She has also asked me for a letter descibing what has happened. I think a straight facts only statement with photos will be just the ticket there. She also said that she will pay me for the clear-up herself, since I've heard nothing from the neighbour the owner is kind of taking over as my customer. She also wants me to grind out the stumps and re-plant once this is all sorted. As long as she is happy to take over thats fine with me. I just wish the neighbour would get in touch as I don't want it to seem as though I'm changing sides. As long as I stick to the actual facts all the way through there shouldn' be a problem. The Insurance legal bods can have a good old bunfight while I get on with tree work. I'm going up there tomorrow to look at the deodar which is close to the fence, it's had a few tiny roots cut BUT it is TPOd. I feel a bit of a reduction may be sensible as it has a large bough over the roof. I just wish the neighbour would come back and talk to the owner, they are (sort of) friends and I dont want to stir up any animosity, though I suppost it was the enthusiastic biggus dickus with his chainsaw who really started it all. I'll keep you updated.

Maybe - I've had clear instructions from the neighbour (which has been discussed and agreed with the owners) so not too worried. If it ultimately comes to a payment problem I will refer to the numerous Bruce Willis tactics suggested on many a thread before.

No. The roots were so thoroughly cut there was nothing below the fence to pull it up - the edge of the root plate just lifted in an arc alongside and the away from, the fence. The line of cuts was along the booundary, it just twisted a bit as it fell. You can see the end of the new panels just to the left of my diary.

Well, we went round there today to have a look. The tree officer turned up and confirmed the two knacked trees were not TPOd . The neighbour the other side told me the root damage was done about three weeks ago but he was also aware that the owners had discussed and agreed with the 'culpable' neighbour that the mess can be cleared up and they would discuss the percentages of payments when they return from holiday. That tied in with what the guy told me on the phone. I have his agreement to my ts and cs including full payment (some of which he may/may not recover from the owners) on a text. We started the clear-up (but not touching the stumps/roots). Soon after the owner's mum turned up and she was aware we might be there - so all good. She asked to see the root damage and she also took some piccies. She thanked us for doing a good and careful job working around the shagged 5 bar gate and brick pillar. She wished us well and went on her way. There seems no issue with the owners and us being on their land. The Mum insisted that we leave the roots (as agreed with everyone) as a basis for 'discussions' over the apportionment of costs. It also turns out that the children of the owners are great friends with the children of the neighbour so they may be grown up enough to remain friends. Having said that - due to the actions of the neighbour's contractors the owners have lost two 35ft trees, a very wide 5 bar gate, a brick pier and a decorative concrete ball which used to adorn the brick pier. Also numerous shrubs have been flattened along with a small hlly which looks a tad insecure and the possible damage to a TPOd deodar just a few feet away. If they were friends before, this will be a big test of that friendship. Anyway, site now fairly tidy, logs spoken for and chips delivered to local stables. I will update you at the weekend. PS the owner's mum said she saw the contractors tearing at the roots with a JCB a few weeks ago. When she challenged them they said it would be OK they... Knew what they were doing! Ha ha ha

I had a phone call last night from the neighbour asking/pleading me to get rid of the stumps before the owners come back from holiday on Friday. I told him I can't do that. The owners are entitled to see what has happened. I've taken loads of piccies anyway. We're going to spend our evenings clearing the debris so they can drive into the driveway OK. The stumps are out of the way (and could be evidence if it all turns sour).

I can't honestly say. I deduced that one was not holding any charge, and as they were both 10 years old there seemed no point in risking possible/likely failures by only replacing one. I'll keep them both in the garage and do some experimenting with them - Haaaaaa the storm is at it's height... etc.

Will do - Just waiting for a text from the neighbour to confirm he agrees to my Ts and Cs (he says He will be the customer/payer-uperer for the job). Didn't want to go ahead on the basis of a phone call from someone I've never met, just to find out the owner has a 'favourite' tree surgeon who would have done it all for £100 tops.

Just been out to look at two fallen connies, about 35-40ft. Blown over??? not quite in the direction of the wind. Neighbour's contractors had dug down 2 ft below ground level, less than a metre from the trunks, a couple of days ago. In fairness it was the neighbour who called me (the owners are away). Should be interesting, I will find out in the morning if they are TPOd. Heres some piccies..

In fairness they've been on the van all its life (9 years) so that's nowt to complain about.

Thunderbolt of lightning - very VERY frightening.

I know how you feel, I have to start the MS880 for my wife before she can use it:sneaky2:

No doubt most of you are aware of this one. Last week while tipping off the chips I turned off the engine before tipping. I usually keep the engine running. Anyway.. when I came to re-start the van it was DEAD. It's an 07 Transit with twin batteries. The guys at the yard got the jump leads out and off we went. Ran it for 40 minutes plus then when we got back to base it wouldn't re-start. Could not even get the glow plug light on. Batteries showed 12.8v and 12.4v but gutless. The guy at the recycling plant recons he gives a jump start at least once a week after people tip with the engine off. Both my batteries were dated 2006 so I've replaced both and all is now fine. So just remember to keep yer vans running while you tip - I wonder what the Toyota Prius tippers would do ????

Loose the shite attachments and maybe people will be more inclined to communicate - I mentioned it before - I'm off.

What's with the crappy get rich quick ads which appear under the photos??? Possibly contorted willow.

I, for one get really annoyed at people like tree surgeons and road workers. I work very hard in my office, and because I have a degree I can afford a loan on my expensive audi. This all makes me very important. The amount I earn every hour is far beyond what you uneducated scumbags can (or should) earn in a day. As a result I get infuriated when your trivial little groundies or whatever you call then have the audacity to try to make me wait while I could be earning BIG money, or playing golf! You use pathetic excuses like Health and Safety to hide your desire to seem important. 'Look at me - I can stop the traffic'. Then you moan when a REAL person has the balls to stand up to you and walk or drive past anyway! I'm not stupid, I can see if it's dangerous. Well, I'm still alive so it's NOT' AND if you dared to let your stupid insignificant bits of tree touch me or my car then my expensive solicitor would be all over you like a rash.

There was an old saying about leccy stuff - If you have to ask what it is, you shouldn't even think about doing it. The main differences as voltages change would be a) the speed of death b) what is left for the coroner

Got given an 'Almost Arb Trolley' today. My customer got it for £30 off ebay, expecting something much smaller. she says she can't use it so she gave it to me! Very nice. I wondered if maybe some of you guys got one already? It's like a huge sack barrow with extendable handles to about 8ft. You can buy all sorts of gizmos for it and it can be used to lift out small stumps or fence posts. I've seen a video of it being used to lift a car at one end. It's German (I think) called a Transportgerate by MW technics Michael Wolf. I think a few hours fabrication with the welder and the world will be our limpet.

Thanks Harry. I think I'll hold out for a 13hp option, there is no urgency really so I'll look around. My local supplier has also suggested Loncin as a possibility - recons the carbs are the only problem, and you can get a new one cheap or even use the one off the Honda engine.. Time to get thinking.

If sperm tasted of chocolate, how different the world would be..... EVERYONE would be happy. There would be no lesbians. Our species would die out in a generation, but die happy.

Sounds interesting - what are trhe spares like for availability and cost? If it comes with leccy start do I need to find my own battery or does it come with some ither magic elctricity storage system of which I know nowt? Secondly, do they do a bigger engine with the same shaft output and a similar 'footprint' for easy mounting? As you can see I don't want much. My wee grinder is fitted with greenteeth so I'd love to give it a bit more oomph while I'm at it - but I don't want to over complicate things.

There's some people on ebay selling 'genuine' ones for around £600. But who knows, I'd rather buy from an arbtalker if poss. I could even offer my old foot-spa in part exchange.

Weld a couple of 19mm ring spanners to the side of the con rod to strengthen it. Drill some holes in the cutting wheel, remove the engine restrictor, duct tape the leaf-blower to the air intake and jobs a goodun. If it wasnt for the great advice on here this web-site would be nothing:lol:

I have faith in MR Ulike, he got my MS200s sorted for me. As the entire engine is 12 years old I suspect a lot of it is beyond cost-effective repair. There are a few items on thiefbay which may be worth considering. Just gotta spot something close enough to go and look at... OR see if any other arbtalkers find one. Something is bound to turn up, Gromit....

No wories, Dean. Thanks for looking. Shane