Shane

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Was it new at the start of last week? How much are you after for it?

How much are you asking for it?

they have to tweet cos they cant bark.

Reminds me of the Hitch-hikers guide where they talk about inter-stellar rich kids buying a craft the buzzing some isolated area on a 'backwards' planet to bemuse the locals! They never appear where loads of people can see them? HAving siad that none of us can say for sure. Steven Hawking recently suggested that we stop sending out communications and just sit tight. If there are other races out there with the technology to travel the mind-blowing distances around the universe - do we want them here? Throughout history the technically advanced visitors have clonised/plundered/destroyed the lands they have found. they might be after our water, air, unattended chainsaws.. Beware visitors wearing tinfoil - and inetr-stellar caravan dwellers.

I recon its all down to what you can fit in it without too much snedding, and how grunty the motor is (or how quick it pulls through what you can fit in it). Do you want to know what people use or what they believe is best? Most chipper threads lead to the same answers... where people buy what they like or can afford and everyone ends up saying buy a bandit or schleising if you can. rant over I recon what you can feed through it without it jamming is a good measure.

That's soooooo good - a video of that on your website and You'd get loads of potential customers just for the curiosity value. I wonder how many of my cats I'd need to be able to do that??????????

The last I heard it is £20,000 max per tree (but rarely anything like that). There was an article in one of the arb mags a couple of years ago. IIRC a building firm in the midlands deliberately removed 17 TPO trees to fit in more houses. They were fined a TOTAL of £17,000 Seems like you were unfairly shredded, Nick.

No, it's the old Rivili site opposite Bunce's near the station. There was an old MOT place on the site at the back - apparentlt been a garage since 1900 - when they used to just tip oil, battery acid etc into the ground. Unbelievable it got through all the planning/testing/env agency etc. but there we are. Some good advice coming here - thamks everyone.

I was phoned today for advice and to arrange a quote visit. The guy said he had a couple of sycamores which are causing a nuisance. No TPO, not in a conservation area BUT!!!!! The residents are currently taking legal action against the builders as the site (a former commercial garage for over 90 years) was not de-contaminated properly before the build. His garden has lead and arsenic levels (allegedly) dozens of times over the recommended maximum. he also said that ALL people who work on the site have to wear full overalls and breathing apparatus. Sounds like the safety issues here are a nightmare. How likely are the trees to have absorbed any of this crap? I've not looked at the trees yet but assume some sort of report would be required - maybe from environmental health or the environment agency before work could be carried out. And what about chipping and disposal? We get rid of our waste at a recycling centre who I guess would be unimpressed at receiving arisings from a lead/arsenic loaded site. Too many issues for my brain to get around - where would you guys begin? For reference the builings are about 5 years old, the guy recons the canopies appear healthy. The readings were in the first 6 inches of soil in his garden. Long bargepoles spring to mind.

As niftysteve says. Then a quick wash with washing (laundry) liquid and a rinse with soapy water to get all the detergents out. Very quick and effective. Can be a bu@@er if you get the white spirit in cuts though. If you do , just scream loudly till the pain subsides.

Looks really nice James. Good decision there. Make sure youve got a good wheel clamp and decent chain/lock to keep it connected to YOUR truck. Happy chipping

If you can find an old entec treebusta they are brilliant. Like a wheelbarrow with a large hopper and a 13hp engine. I'm sure I saw one recently. The 13/75 was the one Timberwolf replaced it with when they took over Entec and got greedy jacking up the prices something rotten. I had mine for a couple of years and it was superb.

Alarm mines

HAs anyone any experience of the cheap stump grinders on ebay?? A company in Lanarkshire (with good feedback) are selling brand new 13hp pedestrian machines for £1800 inc post, VAT etc - Don't look like a honda engine and grinding teeth configuration look strange but blimey! thats less than a lot of the 2nd hand machines.

You could go onto one of the lanrover forums where you will get tons of advice from peeps who have done just about everything.

Loads of good advice. I know our job is to do what's good for the tree, and what the customer wants... but they are not always the same (many stories on here about that). Unfortunately it's the customer and not the tree who pays the dosh - so no matter how carefully you work the customer must understand whats happening and be happy with it. Once youre in position for the first cut, get the customer to confirm the height. Then do a bit more and call them out regularly to make sure they are happy with the way its shape is developing. Some customers will say 'I'll leave it to you, you're the experts' and then at 4:00 they come out and say 'oooo it needed to be about 3ft lower than that' Regular checks save aggro and most customers are happy to be involved. I generally don't do a reduction unless the customer is there (commercial jobs can obviously differ but you can agree a specification or have an edited photo etc.)

I did it to my defender last year. Works fine. Gearing is higher so initial take-off (as far as it goes in 2.5 diesel defender) is a touch more delicate as I guess it could stall. Ecomomy better, but you have to plan your gear selection on long hills if you are towing a heavy load. I never had any regrets - if the gearing is too high for off-road driving I just use low ratios. If the disco T box is too high in 1st - stop driving up cliffs! Go for it!

Don't worry about it. You know what a fair rate is for a good days work. We sometimes get the East enders 'How much?' response. I politely explain thats my going rate, I get 70% of jobs I quote for so I know it's right. If they can get someone to do it for less then go ahead with my blessing, in the mean time I've got loads of work to do at the rates I charge so I will not work for less. Last week a bloke said he thought my quote was twice what it should be, so I asked him on what he based that statement. His reply... 'The surveyor who said the trees have to go said it should be £450.' I smiled, thanked him and left. If they are like that when you are discussing price what will they be like at invoice time? Moral of the tale - concentrate on customers who will make you fair money and don't take the timewasters personally.

Hmmmmm, Tracked or tow-along chipper? Whatever winch you use you'll need to think about anchoring the chipper - just have this image of a tree going the wrong way and catapulting your machine through the woods! - Youll also need a very strong bracket to attach the winch to the chipper, and a very strong bit of chipper to attach the bracket to.... you can see where this is going Anyway - it might make sense to utilise the hydraulics of the chipper - subject to flow, tank capacity and the like. A diverting valve and a couple of directional levers and away you go! One issue is access - will you get the chipper in to where its needed. No doubt theres a few diesel-heads who can give detailed advice. I suspect theres a goood reason few chipper manufacturers offer winch attachments, apart from the monsters in the states where they are used for loading the material - I assume the material to go through a 150 would NOT need winching in.

I bought a GM 15-23 (35hp) a couple of years ago. It's under 750 kg, it hammers its way through just about anything that will fit in it. In all that time it has NEVER blocked. For the price I recon its 10 times better than the equivalent TW machine in terms of speed, no need for snedding and never blocking. The disc bladed do actually last 90 hours before needing sharpening (The TW ones used to last me 8 hours) - though 4 discs instead of 2 blades. Everyone on my crew think the GM is miles better. Must be honest and say I've never used any of the more expensive machines, I guess they would be even better - but at GM prices I'm well chuffed with the quality. thats the end of the adverts , now back to the film.

The best advice is to talk to a pensions expert and get him/her to write it out, draw diagrams or whatever. Everyone here will have opinions based on their own experience/knowlege. Our understanding of it all may or may not be correct. Me included. There are all sorts of pitfalls, benefits, quirks with each type. I would assume the company's scheme is a money purchase (very few of the old final salary ones now running). If you leave the company your 'pot of money' will be put to one side until you retire. Then the money is used to 'buy' a pension from an organisation at that time. The question is... in the time between you leaving and finally drawing the pension - how (if at all) do they increase the pot to compensate for inflation? The same is true, if I recall correctly, for final salary schemes. As many have said above - there is a lack of funds going into pension schemes - not enough to meet current (let alone future) commitments. I have also been told that once you start to draw your pension the 'Robert Maxwells' who run it cannot make changes to it. But they CAN up to the day before you retire. Guess how many scemes are changed to improve the payments. Those of us who are older may have half decent pensions to look forwards to but I really pity the younger folk. Property is expensive at the moment but investment wise may well be a safer long-term bet. After all do these pension companies run the schemes for us or to make money for themselves. Older and more cynical than ever... Shane

This is just my humble opinion... I used to hire grinders, and found so many customers had narrow side gates that I couldn't get the machines through. In the end I bought a 13HP rayco. Yes, Billy, its hard work compared to the sort of grinders they used on Thunderbirds BUT it does get through narrow gates and earns me loads of dosh which I wouldn't be able to earn if I couldn't get at the stumps. As a matter of fact I recon I can remove a 15 inch oak stump to 12 inches below ground level in well under half an hour. If you're gonna grind out huge/accessible stumps get a monster, if most of your work is smaller, domestic then go fro a narrow/smaller pedestrian one. I recon I do £300-£500 worth of stumps every monthe where other local guys couldn't get to the stumps. You should be able to get one for around £1500 second hand, any cheaper likely to be knackered imo.

As a matter of fact here in the UK we DO have the right to bare arms, I bet most of you wear T shirts in the summer!

When you get on your career ladder make sure its tied on at the top or well footed!