Shane

'fraid not - even the ultimate answer is index-linked. Anyway - I recon there's enough material to cover Idi Amin so I'll maybe set up a question thingy (can't spell questionnaire).

Sorry, no time - we were in a rush to get it back on its wheels (and the squashed pensioners in the back of the tipper) before anyone important noticed.

Did you own it before me then?

It seems that any innocent question on here invariably leads to the same old rows about the same old things. YES thats what a forum is all about and it's great fun BUT why not get all us bigotted, hairy, 'I've always done it like this' bods to settle it once and for all. A monster ballot! Just need to ask the right questions and resolve issues such as.. Are landrovers more/less popular than rattlesnakes? Stihl or Husqvarna (if they didn't exist what else would do)? Greenmech, TW, Jensen, Bandit, Big pencil sharpener etc? Hydrailic or pedestrian stumpies - which makes? Best trousers? Best boots? How should we murder intruders after our kit? How much should I charge for tree work? How much should my boss pay me? Best climbing technique? Biggest tree? What am I allowed to tow? Can I be exempt from an OL, waste carriers license, Insurance? Why do the authorities pick on me? Are lay-bys for picnics, toilets, living in, tipping in? Is health and safety just for wimps? Any further suggestions for questions - then maybe I could create a questionnaire to prove the meaning of life (43) once and for all.

Totally agree. I have a 110 and we use it's winch for winching, the roof-rack as a hedge trimming platform, the tractor tyres to access places my other vehicles will not get to, the bed/cooker/sink conversion as an overnight sleeper at shows. Yes it's great for all that but when I go out quoting I prefer to drive my tinny little peugeot van or the transit. It's a vehicle to be used -not driven! It's crap to drive but it's soooooo useful.

Two things I didn't want to do today- 1. Roll the chipper 2. Start yet another ###kin debate about which chipper is best, just a warning of how easy it is to do (maybe TWs dont roll as easily anyway - and how many would we have needed to right a Bandit?)

Pretty crap start to the day. Pulled up outside house on the corner of two roads. Decided it would be better to set up the other way round so easiect to nip round the corner, turn round then come back in facing the 'best' way. Eased round the corner (forgetting I had pulled up tight to the kerb) and pulled away at a quick walking pace (its an older tranny so that has to be true). Next thing theres an almighty crash behind and ther in the mirror is the chipper on its side! We leapt out and stood it up with the help of a passer-by (so no photos to oggle at) as quick as possible. It's a greenmech 15-23 so the folded up infeed chute and off side wheel arch took the brunt of it. The rest looked OK. Moved it to where we were going to work and just had a time out to think through what we could do. It was still towable, the oil level in the engine was spot on, flywheel etc all seemed OK. After a few minutes we turned the engine over slowly and there was no hydraulic resistance so we fired it up. It ran fine, the rollers and everything were working (even the stop bar). After 5 minutes leaning on the infeed chute we managed to get it into the working position. We then got on and did the job. More permanent fixes due at the workshop later but it held out. Greenmech were very supportive when I phined them to see if anything else needed checking prior to running it. Feeling relieved and embarrassed (getting jip from the guys). Went back to check on what happened. There was a tyre mark on the side of the kerb, rising onto the path as it went round. The tightness of the curve, combined with a bit of velocity and my stupidity resulted in a potential nasty. Just grateful nothing was coming the other way:001_huh: Be careful out there

The cars that ate Paris (Texas) Unbelievably funny.

You can look on ebay at ended listings to see what they finally go for.

Great thread, nice to see such ingenuity applied to our trade. I see what you mean about a lighter flywheel being easier to spin up but will its lower mass mean it will slow down more easily when it meets the resistance of the stump? Swings and dodgems I guess. Looking good!

Three stages of punshment for theft... First offence - spend a week caged up in the high street nearest where the theft occurred. Passers by allowed to make whatever comments they like, minimum food/water. Second offence - Five years (very) hard labour. Third offence - public execution. I wonder if that would discourage the little sh!ts ? Oh, and to hell with civil liberties, they don't give a monkeys for ours. Maybe then security wouldn't need to be so bloody costly.

Good idea Gromit, Mat found an old one for me in his 'spares' barn so I did exactly that. All sorted now. Cheers for the input, Stubby - keep up the good work!

I assume the plane was on the ground when it broke down?? Luck one there

The smaller saws with expansion boxes are far more impressive than those dragsters with the car removed (needing two americans to lift them). At least you 'could' work with the saw from the original clip. Only problem is that clip showed it using a tank of fuel! Still great to see people having fun. Maybe some clips of really fast hand saws - anyone up for the Silky challenge?

As per the title... Does anyone have a husky 362 (or 365/372) usable clutch cover side plate please? Mine is the version WITHOUT the bar adjuster built into it. If I can't find one then I could use the more common one and remove the adjuster mechanism from the cover plate. Given most of you live some way from Worthing I'd be happy to pay fair price and P+P. Thanks

You antipodeans have a brilliant attitude to things - I love it!:thumbup:

I thought these things are not allowed now in the UK??? Something to do with reducing injuries to pedestrians when they jump in front of a ton of steel travelling at however mph? I could be wrong but thats my understanding

I'll second that, Stubby. It's lashing down in Worthing, strange wet stuff falling from the sky.

So that's where all my saws went!

Prevention is better than cure - the TILE looks promising. All this Charles Bronson crap (maiming, shooting, trapping etc.) is bo11ocks. What do you think would happen if a nomad/low life drug abuser/common thief/organised criminal got tangled up in a load of hooks? Would they just run off and never return? NO - a bunch of them will return and you will have a lot more to worry about. They know where you live but you don't know where they live. This sort of scum work like this. I have no intention of blabbing on in public about my security measures or saying what sort of terminator I have at my yard. This is NOT Hollywood, we are not 'never gets hurt' heroes and the villains do not always get their come-uppance. And even if they did the mamby pamby legal system will side with them because you used undue force. Deterrents not revenge. AND be careful what you say on an open forum - anyone could be reading.

I don't remember mine being too heavy - it went into a transit easily with a short run up at the ramp. The hiace should handle it fine.

We've all got chippers ....................... at the moment . Shouldn't we use our right to remain silent and give nothing away. Suggestions should be PMd

I went to look at a chpper once in Salisbury. The guy had it in his garden chained to what looked like a segment of QE2 anchor chain concretet into the ground. You can but 19mm thick chain which is cropper proof (but not oxyacetalyne proof). Whatever you do - if theres some way to lock it up, theres a way to get round it. One tactic could be to have more than one storage place and randomly store your stuff at different ones. It's easy to fall intothe hollywood mindset but this is reality and the sweet revenge of Bruce Willis don't often happen. A good start is NOT to post your own arrangements on here. As has been said it is just possible that some less than honest people may scan these fori and act on info put up here. On that basis the best way to break into an outbuilding is to cover yourself in petrol and then hold a lighted match against yourself. No... not really I was only joking - that would actually be a bit dangerous, really, dont do it, honestly.

They are brilliant. They are getting quite old now so age will be showing. I had mine for years and it was very reliable (even the bearings). When TW took over Entec they upped the treebusta price by a grand, then replaced it with those big orange rubbish chute things.

I've never had any problems with my guys. I'm 56 and they are all in their 20s so the music/humour etc is a bit different (one of them being my son makes it a bit different too but he knows he has to more than earn his money or he will be accused of an easy life) My approach is Price the job, do the job, pay the guys for the job. If they work hard they go home when they finish - no 'filling the time' or not coming back to the yard in case they get sent out on another job. If ever it's a 'short' day I tell them in advance so they can make other arrangements, but if the earnings are within 75% of a full days earnings I pay them the full amount anyway - occasionally we earn a bit over the full day amount so it's swings and doodahs I wouldn't want to replace any of them and theyve been with me between 4 and 8 years. Every xmas they get a bonus, an evening racing go karts followed by an evening meal and a few pints. I know I can trust them and they dont seem to hate me too much so it works fine. I buy them food/drink some lunch times and the odd ice-cream along the sea front. On rainy days I let them play with the scalextric while we decide what to do job-wise. There's good and bad everywhere, I'm lucky to have good guys and they are lucky to have me!