njc110381

I think my action plan for now at least will be to soak them for a couple of days. If that doesn't work then I may as well drill the heads off. I've got a drill press that the whole cassette will fit on. If that fails, I guess I can weld nuts onto the studs. I'm just waiting for the studs to snap and need drilling and retapping. That'll really make me jolly! I don't understand why the blades are put on with such silly little bolts? The machine was designed from scratch - put something with a bit of meat on it so you can give it some welly.... My old TW never gave me these issues. It had big allen bolts on it that you'd struggle to snap even with a breaker bar.

Well what a day that's been! Who'd have thought such a basic job would be so bloody hard?! And it's still not done! Yep, today I tried to change the blades on my CS100. Got my shiny new set ready, spanners in hand and set to taking it apart. I've never done one before but it was easy enough, until I got to the blade bolts. Do they put these things in with superglue or something? I can't shift a single one of them! First off I just went for the standard socket set spanner with the T40 bit. Nope, not budging. Ok I thought, I'll give them all a good smack with te hammer and get the breaker bar out. That usually works... Nope, not happening. So out comes the plusgas for an hour's soak. Guess what... Nope, not budging. By this point I'm beginning to get a little irritated, so having a little idea how to play this game, I got a length of copper bar and hammered it into the bolt head. Copper is soft, so it form fits perfectly. It also conducts heat really well. "I'll f***ing show you you f***ers"... I thought to myself as I soaked the blades in oil and proceeded to torch the bar. For those who don't know, this is a great way to apply really intense heat to a screw or bolt without really applying much heat to the surroundings. Fill the bolt hole with oil and cook the bar/bolt until the oil boils. Boiling oil penetrates much faster than cold oil. Meanwhile the blade stays cool enough to touch. All good. So 15 minutes later all bolts have been oiled, heated and attacked with the impact driver. Two pretty good quality T40 bits in the bin and I'm knackered. I hate to say it but the b****** has beaten me! I've left it to soak over night and I'm off out for a curry and beer to drown my sorrows. By the time tomorrow comes, hopefully a couple of you lovely lot will have shown me the way and all will be well.... PLEASE!!!!

Thanks Pete. I'll go and have a look. Shouldn't be too hard to kill the mog if needed. Just like the dreaded big red button on my CS100! Chuck and duck - that's pretty much it. Although I've watched some videos on them and the feed is stupidly quick. They're death traps! I just want a bigger version of my CS100 - a bit slower!

Hi guys. Could anyone explain to me what the regulations are for gravity fed wood chippers please? What I would really like is a pto drum chipper to fit on the back of my Unimog. It won't be used much and only by myself, so I don't want to spend a load of money on a fancy roller fed thing. I've seen quite an old machine made by Exenco that looks to fit the bill. Very simple and easy to maintain, and with a fairly decent capacity I expect. I just need to know if/how it could be brought up to current spec? Any help would be much appreciated.

It cost me about £750 with postage. As you can imagine, getting it here from Germany was expensive as it doesn't fit on a standard 1200 pallet. Only about 200 euro less than the machine itself! It's a big old unit though as you can see. The cone is 18" long and getting on 10" wide at the back! I don't know what they cost new but it wouldn't have been cheap.

I had a job cancel on me today so spent the day making a log table for the new splitter. Here's a couple of pictures of it on the mog. The lift arms on the linkage don't usually pick much up so are a bit bodged. I need to get the proper fork setup on it but for now that will do for light kit. Thought I'd mention it before someone sees it and has kittens thinking I'm going to drop a chipper on someone's bonnet or something! I've got a top link somewhere too!

It's finally here. What an amazing machine - honestly my old Hycrack was good but compared to this it was a toy. The safety bar is fantastic, and the cone on it is absolutely huge! I shoved an 18" round by 3' long log onto it earlier and it just popped it straight in half. It would take a good hydraulic splitter to take on the things this can split. It also seems to need less power than the Hycrack. Fair enough the mog was set on 540rpm rather than 1000 so I could get a feel for it more slowly, but it was right down on tickover and didn't grumble in the slightest on any of the logs I fed it. I spoke to Posch about a manual for it. They emailed Wilson's who have been in contact with me to find out serial numbers etc so they can source me the right one and I'm just about to get back to them with it. Can't fault their customer service considering it's a used splitter and I didn't even buy it from them! Now to build the table. I'll get some pictures up next time I use it. I was a bit excited today and forgot!

I've seen older Jensen/Wessex machines sell for around that sort of money. They're good solid pieces of kit. I don't know a great deal about them but talking to a couple of lads that have had the Chinese machines, there's not a lot of positive stuff being said about them. I'm in a similar position to you - looking for a not huge chipper to use now and again. I was warned away from them.

Well I found a picture of the table attachment. I've got to be honest I reckon I can do better than that!

I'll be using the machine for both billets and logs. There's an optional extra table that attaches to the cut outs that you can see in the face around where the cone sticks out. That essentially turns it into a super heavy duty Hycrack that can handle short lengths without them spinning on you. That will be the next challenge. There is no table with it and I've never seen a picture of one, but I have been give a fairly detailed description by a German user who used to have one so I will fabricate a table to his spec. Photos would be very handy at this point but I can't find any articles showing one in use. I don't even know if it was an original Posch part or something that another company offered as an add on? Once I have the machine here I can take more photos and have a closer look to see what's what and go from there. I think the design works so that even with the splitter lowered to it's lowest point, as long as the billet touches the ground vertically it will be too long to pass the side bar when it starts to spin.

Well it took a bit of searching, chasing German dealers and eventually giving up and getting my German forester mate to buy one for me because nobody would post one, but I finally have one of these things on the way. I can't wait to try it out! Now for the question of CE marking. Is that a British thing or European? Luckily it's only for home use so it doesn't much matter to me, but I'm wondering why we don't see them here? If anything, with the cone stop feature it's safer than the screw splitters that are generally available here. I wonder why we never imported them?

What's the starter like on it fella? I've had a couple of Husky machines and both had plastic starter pawls that started to slip and needed changing semi regularly! It put me off a bit because the weren't domestic grade tools and it seemed a little silly! On the other hand my first saw was a 254xp - enough said there. So my feelings are mixed on Husky.

Hey guys. I'm well behind on the latest kit at the moment and it's about time I got myself a new strimmer. I'm currently running a very old and tired FS450. Loads of grunt, a bit heavy but has been no trouble in the many years I have had it. But it's getting on and I want to change it before it does finally give up! I'm looking for something a little lighter. Maybe their FS240? Most of what I use it for is mowing banks and paddocks that you can't get a bigger machine into, but I do also do the occasional shredder knife job. From what I can see the FS450 isn't rated to use that blade but it can and does, and it hasn't had any problems doing so. What should I move on to? I like the way the 4mix engines run but from what I've read about them I don't think I want to risk it?! There's so much negative press from people who use them. I can't be doing with poor kit that needs looking after almost daily to function properly!

I've got the 250a R-Tech mig unit. I'm only a hobby user but my neighbour is a welder/fabricator by trade and has had a go with it. He really likes the way it performs. Apparently their backup is pretty good too which is nice to know. I'd certainly recommend them based on my experience.

Here's a short Youtube video. The top bar has some kind of clutch arrangement fitted to it which disengages the cone in an emergency. Much better than the "pull the string that you've tied to the hand throttle" system on the Hycrack type machines. It always worried me a little with mine. By the time the flywheel on the mog had come to a stop it had done a good few more turns! Besides that, this looks far more industrial! I reckon it would take some breaking?! [ame] [/ame]

I ordered a replacement shaft and bearings but sadly they don't fit my old splitter. I gave the serial number and the parts were sent out based on that. I get the feeling it has been repaired and adjusted in the past as it's very old, and genuine parts no longer fit.... Have you seen the Posch? It's a whole different ballgame to the Hycrack. Three times the size, clutch on a safety bar that stops the cone if the guard is pushed (much like the roller stop on a chipper). It looks very appealing and being banned for commercial work in Germany now, available fairly cheaply

Hi guys. After snapping the shaft on my Hycrack I've been looking around for a new cone splitter. I know some folk don't like them but for me, an occasional user, they offer much less bother when it comes to storage and also maintenance of hoses etc! Well I've spotted a few of these in use on the continent and they look great. The latest ones also come with a cone stop. I assume some sort of clutch that can be disengaged with a stop bar, a lot like a chipper. That's a big safety improvement vs the string around the stop lever that I used to use with my Hycrack! So, has anyone used one here in the UK? Or do we have any non UK members who have one? I'm thinking of getting one imported, but as you can imagine as a non German speaking Englishman it's not going to be that simple! Also I'm a private user so business rules/approval need not apply....

I can only sit here and think that there must be more to this? I've got a fair bit of respect for both sides of this argument, but know the guy who was supposedly doing the ripping off personally and I'm struggling to see how it could be that straight forward. I've only ever received anything from the man in question. My mog seat was shot so he gave me a replacement, no money changed hands. I've had endless advice to help me with something I know very little about and there's never been any financial motive. He's also got enough faith in me to hand over the keys to his high spec 1450 and let me jump in it and drive it half way across the country on my own. Before that moment, although we've spoken a lot, I'd met him once. He also needed an anti roll bar for his U900 and I quite seriously offered mine as I don't suppose it matters whether mine has one or not. He was having none of it. Nobody's perfect and we all have our disagreements, but I'm struggling to match this judgement of character to the man it is aimed at. In my experience there have been a number of occasions where money could have changed hands in his favour but it has never happened. I'd trust him with everything I own.

Yeah the chap I sub for a lot has one too. I can have a right laugh with that info!

I had a fairly long chat with Stan when I was looking at getting one a couple of months ago. Sadly I couldn't really find one that offered the compromises I wanted, but his communication was fantastic. Based on the experience I've had I'm more than happy to send folk his way.

vehicles for sale - Overlander

I'm going to have to do it to mine too. It's about the only hole I could pick in my old one, so knowing there's a mod for it is brilliant. They will need some respect I would have thought - this mod will put a lot of strain on the drivetrain if only one wheel has grip. But then the rear diff should allow slip in that situation and cover it as long as you don't do anything daft.

That looks like a nice truck. I was considering one with an alloy body myself but for lifting mowers and barrows of rubbish into it they just seemed too high in the end. I can't wait to get my new tyres on. The dealer did say a couple of them had issues and knocked some money off for me to replace them. Turns out one of the fronts has a slow puncture and needs pumping up about twice a week!

I had a bit of a shock with it earlier.... On the motorway on the way to the shoot (I go beating now and again) and not paying much attention. Plodding along as I would have in the old one, bit of road and engine noise etc. Then I twigged that I was in the new Ranger not the old one and it shouldn't be that loud. Looked down and was doing well over a ton! I must watch that! I thought they gave up at 98mph? Not this one!

Here it is....