rustcutter

If it is a single track and really quiet road then it is alright to obstruct for a short while; I am figure we used to quote as the rule; when I was on B.T. poling with a poling truck was 10 minutes. If anybody was really kicking off then we'd usually move but as we were on piece work we'd usually complete the operation before moving. We were all officially dressed and with roadworks cards and signs, etc all in place. I remember one day we had blocked the road as described; the road didn't go anywhere so we weren't expecting any hassle. Very soon after blocking the road and disconnecting the wires we were altering the pole route for, a water board van came screaming up like "Dukes of Hazzard" style and guy went absolutely mad shouting and bawling about the obstructed road; however when we calmed the chap and enquired what was the urgent mission he was on bearing in mind the road was going nowhere. It turned out the ultimate destination on this road was a reservoir and all the alarms in the works there were going as if the place had blown up all the phone links had failed; we explained that it was likely that all was o.k. and our disconnecting all the phones was probably the cause of the problem. He calmed a bit and we had got to a point we could let him by. However our actions were all officially approved and if blocking the road was unavoidable then it was o.k.; I can't remember ever having a proper road closure for these works which might have been 10 minutes duration. We were always with two or three large vehicles and mob handed with men never had more than a little disgruntled motorist type grief.

It always says on a telegraph pole exactly how long it is and there is writing about chest level and a line; so it might say 10M which means 10 metres medium weight or upto 15H, 15 meter heavy for a big one. The line if I remember right is at the 3 meter mark. Ask any telephone engineer when you see them on the road to confirm this.

Don't worry about the Ford engine; they are good starters and easy/cheap to fix and they just go on working even when badly worn out. Perkins wont do that. Even the Ford crisscross block will give porous type problems if you don't keep the antifreeze/inhibitor in order; they can usually be sleeved which isn't too dear but even so blocks/short motors aren't too expensive. As I have said elsewhere the Sanderson 625/725 telescopics were designed with Ford motor and the Perkins just doesn't fit very well and all but minor engine work will require removal which isn't easy.

Had to remove a dozen small leylandii root balls a couple of years ago; I thought they were just stove size. Hid them under some good logs..... just come to light; bone dry nobody would buy them but they burn perfect, got to put them in when the fire is well burnt down as they fill the stove completely and last for hours.

Lots of clever ideas; all seem quite complex. I find junk mail works fine delivered to your door for free most mornings! If you need anything else your just doing it wrong.

Not sure about engine options after 17 or more years. Nothing wrong with the Ford but I think 525's were Perkins; will have to have a look at my mates example when I'm there again. Artic. loader is good for forks type work or "craneage" as steering acts like carriage sideshift. Might not be so handy in tight yards as 4 wheel steer. I wouldn't say any telescopic of the types discussed would last in woods environment for long.

Don't see many of them about weren't popular. Never much trouble really. Fuel gauge always a problem. My mate has one and he is no fool; he used to work same place as me. The similar Matbro machine of similar era is also well thought of. I have never considered what happens now as far as parts back up is now these machine are good age.

725 is a bigger machine than a 622 and 625. Servicing the Perkins engine can be difficult as I remember there was one Sanderson model so fitted where it wasn't possible to get the rocker cover off at all; the machine chassis was designed with a Ford motor. Perkins tend not to wear valve stems like Fords do, they just never got checked obviously. Solo Controls nice to use; joystick not repairable though. A disposable item which costs a grand?. I saw a machine which some one did a tidy conversion to an external traditional hydraulic lever block when the whole "hydraulic" lot went wrong. The later models tl6/7 were much same except with plastic and fibreglass panels which smash up real easy too. That's progress for you. I quite liked the articulated 525 model; I know of a couple of them still going strong.

Thought that could be problem. Similarly I used to go to a market garden/nursery when they moved to a more modern tractor with starter interlocks; I more than once had to go to a tractor which wouldn't start with no reason to find that the rear of the cab behind the seat was stacked with coats and bags the result being the P.T.O. lever getting knocked into drive unnoticed and then when it came for the workgang to move on the tractor wouldn't start because starter was locked out. It was a most orderly place; the nominated tractor drivers had to have a whole day training course at the college and they had to fill in a most comprehensive daily vehicle checklist (tick all the boxes). However on the Sanderson; the small rams at the rear of the mast compensate the forecarriage ; so the "bucket" or whatever attachment stays level (or tilted to about the same angle) as the mast goes up and down. The most likely reason for them to be disconnected is that they leak internally so the "bucket" continuously tends to droop on the crowd ram needing constant correction; which can be incredibly irritating (and very dangerous!). To reseal the rams isn't that hard but the pistons are solid (don't split) to get the new seals on; we had I presume supplied by Sanderson some machined nylon-like rings (tapered one side to slip the seals up, with a thin skirt the other side to clear the piston diameter and guide the new seal over the piston ring grooves into their place; seals heated in kettleful of boiling water to soften) which were for fitting the seals, without which I think would make the job difficult without damaging the seals. Happy days; of course then you may have found that they also leak on the piston rod seals so then you have to get the piston off the rod to change them as well usually fixed to not come off; so they wont but occasionally have unscrewed themselves partly and only hanging on. However not all hydraulic rams can be serviced without special equipment in the "field" at all; which we often did including the big "main mast" lifting ram.

Sorry I hardly ever attended a masted Sanderson; however with a Ford Industrial skid unit I cant think of any problems that aren't well known like porous block (guess would have shown by now - keep the anti freeze/inhibitor up to date, change annually) and 4wd axle if its got it will be a pain; in the centre pivot area especially.

I was taught if your getting rid of a fruit tree ring bark in the spring; it will have one bumper season then it is dead. I was taught that was the practice when old trees were being "culled" out of an orchard just get one last year out of them.

I used to work on Sandersons in the 90's. The 622's were an early model of true telescopic handler with 4wd, equal wheels and 4 wheel steer; not based on a skid unit. The shuttle box isn't likely to be the problem if it is driving to one wheel. This shuttle box was common to a wide variety of machines including Case 580 diggers and also popular in canal barges. I rebuilt several of the shuttle boxes and kept a selection of the parts necessary in hand and only recently gave this lot away as I haven't done one foo so long. The transfer/dropbox rarely gave a problem but I am not sure if they had a 2 and 4 wheel drive SELECTOR which may be DISCONNECTED OR STUCK. The 2/4wd selector on this model would be rods and levers not solenoid control; if it had it. The axles tended to be problematic (especially if not maintained well/ repaired when ailing/ heavily worked in tight spaces)are much modified Ford tractor rear transmissions with steering knuckles. A particular pair I worked on were a heavily used in a very tight yard; the steering knuckle bearings needed careful maintenance and were changed regularly as this was preferable to having the bearing pocket welded and remachined. The double universal joint in the half shafts used to suffer and a "service exchange" set of half shafts was kept in stock ready to fit. It is possible that some problem in one of the epicyclic reduction units has meant some one has left the sun gear out of one rendering one axle driveless. Jack/block the whole machine up and turn the wheels to analyse what is happening, what turns and what doesn't without dismantling anything. I liked these 6-22's quite easy to work on. One other thing we use to do was; the remote cables which control the loader functions have a weak link which is one end has a component which is zinc die cast stuff and its breakage rendered the whole cable useless. I used to machine up copies of this component in steel on the lathe and mill (although the milling operations weren't anything that couldn't be done with a file and hacksaw) thus saving the cost of a new cable and replacing the whole thing was a pain too. Like is said the pair which took so much punishment (and gave much trouble) were far too heavily worked in this very tight yard but the work they did was valuable and bigger machines couldn't work in that tight yard; the whole place is a nice housing estate now and the company have a bigger yard to play with proper machines in.

I don't think it would be a problem it they went old school and only used axes and cross cut saws; certs. are for the chainsaw use are they not.

Common problem on old tractors on light duties; glazed bores. Give it some hard work; difficult if you just haven't got any hard work to do. You can get a local dealership to put in on dynamometer for a hour or two; wont cause no damage hard work is what they were designed to do; if it doesn't come right then suspect worn rings, valve seals or just worn out. Whatever you may do to cure glazed bores it will go the same soon enough if put back on same duties; you used to be able to get deglazing powder which was mildly abrasive to pour down the inlet manifold of a working engine and some old friends have told me that they/others used to use washing powder. I haven't ever done it myself.

I am still burning the chopped up old furniture and such that my landlord puts on his bonfire pile over the summer and the really rotten rubbish that I cant sell. Hardly ever burn any saleable logs in my stove.

You could try one of the Hannis family near Birdlip. They have got a big splitter; I don't know how easy it is to move around though.

"Drilling holes in forestry machinery" means you are going to be using hand held electric drills this is pretty unforgiving on bits. The most heavy duty builders drills usually have only one speed get a good maybe lighter drill with at least two speeds and variable trigger; speed is critical to drilling metals you wouldn't drive your pick up to a job using just one gear. Fast speed for small holes slow for big holes. Learn to sharpen your bits then you will better appreciate how they should be used and you can adjust the cutting edges to suit the job and the material and you are never stuck on a site with no drill bits when you have broken them all; I have used an angle grinder to sharpen bits on a site before now. Use cutting fluid, cutting grease or spray not ordinary oil but sometimes not possible; if you're blueing or burning out bits then then pay attention to sharpness of the bits, speed of rotation and feed pressure heat build up will be minimised if they are all right for the job. Don't forget some steel alloys are just a pain to machine anyway in which case it is easier to blow holes out carefully with the gas which can be done (after patient practice on scrap I would suggest). Cheap drill bits are rubbish but sometimes they are all you have got or been provided with; it is better to learn to cope with them than spend on expensive bits. Quite a lot of trick drill bits are: really hard stuff which is brittle or only coated with the hard stuff and once sharpened just as useless as cheap ones

It helps to know roughly where it is.

I remember some years ago. There was a complaint against myself and my mother that we were running separate and unrelated businesses from my mothers cottage which was not far from the village but completely rural and not overlooked. I had a few machines about the place and used to do some mechanical work, tree work and stump removal when I was "under-employed" between contracts which took me all over the place for varying amounts of time. My mothers business; dog clipping was the small type of thing which very importantly requires no special modification to the building like a office or workshop and she generally operated mobile anyway. She phoned me one day to tell me that a council official had been and announced that more than one local resident had complained about our operations which in all honesty couldn't have offended anybody; but some of the closer but not near neighbours were ***** of that type although we were not outsiders and quite well though of in the wider locality mainly farmers who I'd worked for in some capacity as mechanic or just bale humper over the years. However she was not upset and quite pleased because as she had explained all the machinery was mothballed and only a hobby really as I couldn't possibly be running a business from the property as I was working quite legitimately repairing combine harvesters 250 miles away and would only be back for one weekend every six whole weeks. The official had agreed and said that a few machines in the yard in such a location was in no way a problem even if they were in use and apparently the quite generous log pile wasn't so big as to be an issue; although I would have got about 10 tractor tipping trailer loads "processed" and stacked in the spring slack. She was also quite pleased that when she had explained her dog clipping operation; the official had been most helpful in that such small businesses are very highly thought of in this day and age and she actually would qualify for a grant to improve her facilities, which she did and I'm sure got some great satisfaction about telling everybody in the locality about it too. I don't see that the O.P. has too much to sweat about if their business has been going that long; it won't hurt to take some advice as has been suggested though. I hope it goes well.

One place I worked had a sledgehammer exactly like that and was told it was specially intended for putting the curves in spring leaves or probably resetting them before re tempering. There was also a specially adapted anvil for the same purpose. The guy who knew about springmaking left soon after I arrived and never really got this first hand. This kit was quite good for putting curves in bars but the unbalanced head on the hammer meant it wasn't very good for use as a normal sledge.

I have done some mileage on the road on County tractors. They were all in good order and had excellent road manners; one reason I purchased one was to draw an unbraked lowloader carrying a crawler (wouldn't do it these days). Towing this trailer with the equivalent two wheel drive was a nightmare stopping being a particular problem along with losing grip on slippery gradients. The extra weight/stability/four wheels braked made big difference. If your doing road work find some standard width wheels get rid of the flotation tyres; my mates 1164 used to get a bit of a bounce on but a good load used to keep it down. If your County is a pain on the road get a bigger trailer. Something like an 1164 would handle a much bigger trailer than an 885xl could live with and reduce the number of trips required. County tractors weren't made for speed but the actual speed limit for agricultural tractors hasn't changed since I was a kid and that is 20 m.p.h. for something like a County or 885. Remember that an 885xl in a hanging state would be awful on the road too!

These look flimsy to me. For that kind of pull I would use a 5 ton ratchet strap; surprisingly useful for persuading stumps and even moving stuck vehicles if you're desperate. Slow I know but also useful for strapping loads.

Using a horse to power shaft driven equipment isn't a new idea; google "horse powered gin". On an endless treadmill isn't either; further information;Cycloped | Edge Hill Station

I have noticed there is a kindling processor on ebay. The seller mainly sells nursing uniform but has a few items of machinery like the kindling processor, a modernish tractor and a Fordson E27N p6. The Fordson is on offer; by contacting them immediately and off ebay for £2k which is funny because they bought it for over £5k through ebay only a week or so ago. The other machinery is much the same deal. Would assume seller been hacked.

You could dig in a sleeper or length of round wood; deep trench perpendicular to line of pull for the anchor log then a narrow slit in line of pull to let the rope down to the line of pull. An alternative is using fence posts drive several in to the ground at 45 degrees sloping away in a line along the line of pull; lash the top of the first post to the bottom of the second, top of the second to the bottom of the third and so on. Use as many as necessary to achieve the required anchor. You can buy ex army ground anchors and pins of which a set comprises a plate with eight holes in and 9 pins with rings near the top the ninth pin is the one to use to extract the others. Several of these can be ganged together to increase the anchorage. The large version of these army anchors aren't cheap to purchase but sometimes turn up reasonably at farm sales or autojumble type events.