Shane

I used to have a McCulloch - and for my second birthday.... Now I'm big I have a 50/50 split between Stihl and Husky saws, they are all ideal for professionals - like eveyone says - try them both as you build up your array of saws, the only clear leader for me is the Stihl top handles over the huskies.

Thanks for that - I'll check up on the licensing process. Shane (stone the crows... oh no better not)

Update - Just been to look at it this morning - its huge, its complete and mum is sat in there. Have explained need for deferral to customer and they are fine with it. Nice job for the warmer weather. Thanks for your input gents.

I've been asked to remove a large black poplar, starting on Monday. My customer has just informed me that a crow has started building a nest in it since I went round to quote. She is happy for us to continue but my understanding of the legislation is that although they come into a similar catgory to pigeons it is still an offence to disturb, destroy, attempt to destroy their nest. The wording is somewhat confusing - there are RSPB numbers you can call - that will be my last resort tomorrow morning unless someone on this forum can offer some advice. Shane:

I sympathise strongly with your plight but you may need to change your garage/mechanic. I recently had the dual mass flywheel go on my transit (common fault) and it cost me £220 for the flywheel and 3 piece clutch kit (to convert it back to the old style and less crap single piece flywheel) and £115 to have the work done by my local van specialists. That was £335 + VAT A bit late I know but always worth shopping around. PS a pair of discs and set of pads from Camberley Auto Factors cost £71.25 - I fitted them myself but an easy job. Find a tame mechanic and avoid Ford dealerships you'll save a forttune. Shane

The Arb Association do a H&S pack (at least they did) for about £50.00. It includes samples of all required docs AND soft copies in a CD so you can edit them for your own company. The samples are worded according to best practice so you can't go far wrong. You even get a big official folder which you can keep handy in the cab if anybody asks. Well worth a look.

When you are looking for a service - where do you look? Find the Yellow pages, find the section (only to find it says 'see another section') then thumb through - or google search using your town/subject - hey presto! I get loads of leads through the net - If you have a website you can update it when you want, not anually when it suits yellow pages. On-line is the way to go. Maybe settle for a smaller YP ad for those without computers (I live in Worthing where a lot of the population is over 80 and could not use a computer so you just need to know your audience). Try telling the YP rep that you don't get much response and their answer is A Bigger Ad!!! - surprise surprise. When you go to quote - alwats ask how they heard about you. One final soapbox bleet.. YP enquirers tend to phone loads of people and usually just go for the cheapest quote. Shane

I've bought about 15 pairs of 4 inch knives from Saturn over the years and never had any problems. I have found the torx bolts to be poorly finished (generally buy my own from local bolt specialist) and the coppaslip tube is tiny - but I've got my own tube so no worries. Overall the knives are great value. I do recall there was some legal goings on between Saturn and Timberwolf until a couple of years ago. Saturn were only able to advertise the blades as 4 inch standard for popular chippers. I guess that all got resolved and they now advertise them as timberwolf compatible. They also recently contacted established customers with a deal of 4 pairs for the price of 3. That was about £150.00 for 4 pairs. It does seem like a good deal - just good enough to be true.

At a recent Arb show (Saltex, I think) I was talking to the Health and Safety bods, looking through their list of major accidents. There was one where a London Borough employee was doing the same sort of thing as the bloke in Paul's post. Only one difference - he made his cuts in-board of the ladder! . Unfortunately he was using a chainsaw and died from the resulting plummet/chainsaw altercation. I kniow we all get complacent sometimes but I certainly find that we can only benefit from reading about these things and remeber to continue to work in a manner where such events are nigh on impossible. Safe working, and keep on enjoying the work. Shane

Hi folks - I currently have a 1998 Entec 6 inch chipper. It was a chippit 25 but after a blown up engine I fitted a brand new 26hp lombardini diesel some 200 hours ago (air cooled) and it runs fine. Regular servicing of all bits - the odd hydraulic pipe replacement etc. I have bypassed the stress control (it fried itself) so I listen to the engine revs and have no probs. I've done all the HSE upgrades so all is fine. BUT - I've had to replace (have you guessed yet?) the flywheel bearings. I've had to replace them three times (about every 18 months) and I can stand it no more. I phoned Timberwolf and was told that all the flywheel bearings should be replaced as a routine maintenance task every 200 hours on the 6 inch machines. That fits in with my experience. Never seen that in their literature about best selling chippers! I don't really fancy having to 'take it off the road' at such a regular interval so I'm looking for a 750kg 6 inch machine which is more robust. I've read numerous threads on here and looked at lots of machines. To date I think the Kwik chip euroline 120 seems to fit the bill. It seems very well built and at 800kg it would be possible to lose the necessary weight. Can anyone tell me anything more about the kwik chips - and does anyone have one? I'll assume nobody would want to do a trade with my timberwolf? Many thanks - and don't be too hard on me - I'm new to the forum

Last year I bough a load (60) of teeth for about £1.00 each - cant remember exact amount but they were very cheap. Guess what.. they were rubbish. Apart from very poor brazing dribbled all around the tips they had to be lightly ground to fit into the half inch pockets. Someone warned me about cheap teeth beforehand, now I know. Also several of the teeth bent, some snapped and on some the carbide tips actually broke! The supplier told me I must have been doing something wrong with the grinder! Never happened with any other teeth in six years. If you are still interested I got them from Global Recycling 0870 7708540. I did get a full refund in the end but they were reluctant - Cheap is often more expensive (in the long run)

I've had to change the small bearings on my timberwolf (6inch 25 hp) four times in four years - thats every 150 hours! The tecchie guy at Timberwolf HQ told me, this week, that they recommend changing the full set of flywheel bearings (including the big one on the engine side) every 200 hours! I'm sure others get more life out of theirs but if you look at the size of flywheel bearings on other machines they are massive! timberwolf use sealed bearings with a 25mm internal diameter. It's a wonder they last as long as they do. I'm looking to get a different machine and must say the choice in the robust and sub 750kg bracket is very limited. If you go for a small timberwolf then be aware of the bearings, the new TP160 looks good, Carlton have recently released a 660 which looks well built but I've not seen one in operation. only thing to do... keep looking, checking opinions - scan the 'net. Good luck