njc110381

I'm at a bit of a loss. Was hoping to just buy a yoke for the shaft I have but I'm not sure whether that will be an option? I've not pulled the whole thing apart yet. That info is good to know for when the bearings slacken up. It's ok for now. The bit I'm after is the end of the pto shaft that slides over the bearing shaft, where you'd usually find the 6 spline male bit. It's a simple removal from the back end - just one pin to knock out. I'm beating for a bunch of farmers tomorrow. I'll ask them too!

Ooh... A Unimog SEE. Don't see them often. Apparently they handle like a complete pig when the front loader is full and the rear arm has enough power to drag the whole unit around in tough ground, but it looks smart!

Those two posts cover everything you need to consider. The load sensor can be adjusted, but it's the lack of progression in the Vos springs that cause the issue. You can get a lot of weight on there before you get any change in the braking, and that's far from ideal

That's exactly what I was thinking. If mounting a digger to the front is such an issue due to the tool being mounted not being a part of the tractor, then build a link box that is part of it and put your digger in that. It would be as easy to drop the box and drive out of it as it would to drop the digger when on site, plus you have the added bonus of extra load space for jobs where the digger isn't needed or is being left on site. It amazes me how much farmers can do when nobody else can. I can tow 18t with my mog but if I'm in my Ranger I can only tow 750kg because I haven't done a trailer test. That's a little bit silly no matter how you look at it.

Exactly J!

Hi guys. Before I give up and phone the makers, does anyone know what sort of fitting I need to get when I replace the shaft on my Hycrack splitter? I only know splined fittings but this one is round and held on with a shear pin. Would that mean it's a pin fitting? I can't find any pictures for it but it's referred to in the Sparex catalogue.

The view from my tarp on the last weekend away...

I disagree. I'd get bored sitting around in the sun all day. If I had serious money I'd buy a decent sized estate somewhere with a shed load of woodland and meadows. I can't think of anything I'd rather do than walked up shooting for deer and game, growing a bit of veg, maybe some sheep/pigs to eat and playing in the woods to provide enough fuel to keep the house warm. Call me strange, but I don't even take holidays in the sun. I can't think of anything worse! I'd rather sit under a tarp, sheltering from the rain in a misty wood somewhere watching the world go by.

So a stroke per sharpen. Not sure I could trust myself to remember every three. I don't saw from one week to the next sometimes so it's better to keep in a routine.

I gave each of mine three strokes of the file. I can't believe the difference it makes. I'm waiting for it to grab and knock me flying like I've always been led to believe it would if the rakers were filed off more than they should be, but so far it feels fine. It cuts better but still smoothly and with just as much control even when cutting on the push. Is this just a case of saw makers being health and safety mad? Did chains used to bite harder years ago or has it always been this way? I just don't understand it. I suppose you can file more off but not put it on, and if you're cutting seasoned oak it probably wouldn't go so well having them filed down like this?!

After those replies I took down the rakers a little on my MS200. It cuts miles better! I am a little lazy with sharpening so my first sharpen may well take off double what a bloke who is on the ball would. I do most of my logging up with an MS660 with an 18" bar... I'd have to file them down to a silly level to bog it. I'm thinking once I've done that one it'll cut pretty fast! Thanks for your advice. I'll talk more with my mate to find out what he does too.

Skyhuck's mog and trailer would look good on my drive. I could never justify or even afford it, but it's very nice!

Hey guys. This may seem like a stupid question but I'm not sure about it and it wasn't covered in any detail when I did my training, so I figured it's better to ask than wade in uneducated. Every time I sharpen my saws I use the Stihl depth gauge tool and take the rakers down too. But it seems that once I touch the chain it doesn't cut like it did when it was new. I can get a good edge on the chain and all the teeth are the same length, but it just seems like I'm not taking enough off of the gauges? Anyway, I used a saw sharpened by someone else the other day and it cut so much better. He was saying that he takes the gauges down a bit past where the guide tool allows. Is this a good plan? I understand the more the chain digs in the more likely it is to bite and kick back but I didn't have any negative feeling with my mates saw. There was an obvious difference in the feedback I was getting from it but it wasn't violent, it just cut better! I'd like to do the same to mine but thought I'd ask opinions first. Does anyone else here do it? I know some makers have different specs for hard and soft wood, so there must be some room for adjustment. I just don't know how much!

Maximum recommended front lift on a round cab like that is 1200kg, and an 8" chipper is about the biggest suggested for the gearbox. It's no U2100 but it's still a very capable tool. On the positive side the steering lock on mine puts any pickup I've ever driven to shame. You can get them into really tight spaces and they'll carry a couple of tons of chip plus chipper if you're sensible on the machine you fit to it. Edit... With the larger pto shaft fitted they're rated to 70hp at the pto, so plenty of grunt for a a medium sized chipper.

I'd never buy a brand new truck. Good used with a decent history is the way to go. If you go out and spend £20k on a new one it'll be worth £10k in a couple of years. If you buy something used that costs five grand per year to keep on the road, you're very unlucky indeed! I've had my Ranger for four years now. It cost me £5k and I've spent another £1000 in servicing/repairs until recently. After that time it's just handed me a £500 bill for a bit of work that needed doing, but that's no big deal.

Yeah that'll be it! It's keeping me nice and warm but I daren't shut it down too low because I reckon it'd block the chimney in a couple of weeks! So it's less wood in at once but open up the vents more. Should at least help it to clear itself.

There's always one!

Skip to 6.00 to see the steering switch over. It's so simple...

Mike - Do you have a PTO chipper for the mog or always use the towed one? I'm having trouble deciding whether to go PTO or towed. PTO will have more power, but will mean I'll have to take the mog. Tow behind can run on red, be towed with the pickup on smaller jobs and will probably use less fuel compared to the mog. I only chip up to 4". I'm wondering if I'd be wasting fuel doing that with a 5.7l engine?!

I've always liked to have a pickup. You can pile brash on them easier and fit a hard top if you ever need it more van like. So it's the best of both worlds. This topic has actually come at a very good time. I'm a big vehicle changer. I just worked out before I read this that I've spent nearly £60k in 12 years on various trucks and still have little to show for it. I also have a lot of kit which was worth spending on, but the vehicles weren't. The chap I sub for on the other hand has been running for a similar time to me. He's spent around £3k in the same period. A £1k Mazda pickup and then a £2k 2wd Ford Ranger extra cab (which I would suggest you look at). He hasn't earned any less than I have, although I have used him as a trailer on several jobs where my 4x4's have saved his bacon! Have they been £57k better though? That I doubt! Give it some real thought and spend wisely. Changing things is a costly process so buy the best you can comfortably afford without finance and look after it.

Hey guys. I'm wondering if anyone can help me to ID this wood? I got about 8t of it after it had been felled at a customer's house. Never got to see it standing so had no structure to recognise. The chip had big needles in, and when it burns you can see the soot floating around inside the burner. It's like burning tyres! It burns hot and lasts well. It's been seasoned for two years and moisture is about 18% but I can't help thinking I'll have to sweep the chimney a lot?! Edit.. I should also add that it was an absolute pig to split. Hitting it with the axe - well I may as well have attacked it with a toothpick and using my Hycrack on it stalled my little tractor. I had to put it on the mog to get them apart. I've half filled my wood shed too! It'll do most of this winter I reckon.

The last couple of sharpens I've had done on mine have been at the local hire place and I just noticed they flat grind. I changed the blades on it for a job last week to some freshly sharpened ones from the local TW dealer and it makes a huge difference when they're hollow ground. I've been struggling to keep up with it now it's all fresh and if anything, it's quicker than a roller feed machine on small stuff! To be honest though I think I'd still buy the Greenmech if you can get the extra money together. It's got the same output roughly and looks easier to use, with the added bonus of being able to get it into gardens. It wouldn't be hard to get a trailer for it to use it as a tow behind. The old Entec can be picked up for peanuts though. As long as it runs ok and the bearings and fan fins are all present and correct, you can't really go wrong. You'll get your money back in no time and it will get you started. You can always upgrade later if you need to and in my case Trukloders are selling for more now than I paid for mine eight years ago!

Get yourself on tractordata.com for more info on all the models. Is the one you're looking at 4x4? Not all are so check that out. PTO rotation has already been mentioned, so you know that. I've got a B4200. Selectable 4x4, diff lock, linkage, clockwise pto and also under belly pto for a mowing deck. That's worth having... Saves a lot of space in tight places if the cutting deck is under the machine. Mine's done 2500ish hours and still starts on the button even after a long period of sitting around. I guess it's been well looked after though. I'd be cautious of a battered old thing at that age! The wife is trying to make me sell mine now I've bought the mog, but I'm not convinced. It's a great little tool. It could be worth looking at the smaller models if you're only doing light work. Mine's a 2cyl engine and it'll run a log saw easily and uses barely any fuel. The Hycrack stalls it on knotty wood but that even makes the mog grunt with some of the stuff I put on it!

It's worth considering that you could put more through at a time with a larger machine, so it's not running for as long. That in turn uses less fuel. Get the biggest chipper the tractor can manage.

That doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Taxing a tax does take the p*** a little, but then they basically are legalised thieves. What rubs me up the wrong way is that in order to pay my tax, I have to pay an accountant to work out what it is for them and then pay it. Surely if they want it they should work out what I owe and charge me accordingly?! Not that I'd trust them to do that either mind...