mowandgo

I having been using private aprox 3 acre field to burn Hedge/Tree cuttings on a small controlled fire and have been using it as a yard for many years. I have recently had an anonymous neighbour complain about smoke in the form of letter from the council. There are only two properties in close proximity closets 100+ yards The leter was in fact very polite however did mention a possible abundance notice and fine if it continues! I have done reading on the web. Not sure what to do if I should stop and find alternative ways removing Tree & Hedge Cuttings or should countinue with more forethought for neighbours.

How about a twin tank system one for white for road & public highway work. The other red for work on private land. A mog or agricultal vehicles will drive on and off public highways all the time. Why should you have to pay full duty to work on private land fuel duty is sposed to be there as funding for highways maintenance. You can switch from one tank to another depending on mood and location of goverment employees. If theres White in the tank you have paid duty. How many miles you have done private or public is a guess!

A tree guy i worked for before had a bandit 70hp chipper and it would proces branches like hell fire amazing. I have never been sure about the smaller chippers. I have spent alot of money this year on machinery . I will get a CS100 just a mater of time natrul progession of the business. Theres not much love for the Timberwolf. Every one loves the CS100. Thanks Guys

I am constantly mincing up material with saw. Iam doing alot of small tree/hedge work loading the van with 10+ builders bags of micned up cuttings. I have more of the same and thinking it might be time for a chipper. I do not want a tow one as I have a van and no where to chip into. The Timberwolf 75/13 grabs me by the balls but are they worth the money and do as fast as the youtube videos all day long. I used to have an eliet major. I found it to block up and shake metal parts lose cause of high vibes. So I have been anti small chipper but mayber timber wolf is beter. Any of you boys delt with one?

Grass Cutting should be done on M3 ( cubed ) as some sites it grows thick and fast. I have priced jobs at this time of year nothing on it and by May I was emptying a 70 litre grass bag every 3 paces builders bags full of grass every where. Then the customer is like ' We used to have saddle back pigs on that lawn'. Then you have to explain grass has 3 dimensions all variable to my pricing. My point is the growth rate and thickness can only be measured into the season and this can catch you out with time and cuttings disposal.

I run allsorts blower, strimmers, saws, hedge cutters and pole saw mainly. The only auto tune I have is the FS460 and that gave the most trouble (carb & coil) I found a well engineerd carb does the job beter than any auto tune and its not more economical s 460 uses just as much fuel as a manual tune!

Hi there is 4 main 2 stroke oil I have used oregon semi synthetic, Stihl HP mineral, Super & Ultra. I have nothing to report exept the price and they all smell abit different. Had engine fauiler before but never from cokeing up or going bang from poor lubracation!

Its now very clear petrol engines hate ethonal. However I have heard that diesels love it in the form of biodiesel obviosly water content is very bad. But good quality biodiesel is a great fuel. Much cleaner burnning and healthy for your engine. All though poor quality bio or cooking oil with water content is very bad for engine. Not sure with petrol but with bio or fosil diesel water settles at the bottom of tank!

I try to get things done as they come in. As in a machine breaks down so you put it at back of shed to fix later senario. You never fix it. Basicly dont put things off for a rainy day keep on top of all tasks. Logistics of everthing from how you plan you jobs in the week to how you organise your van so tools are always to hand and never get buried lost never to be seen again. Paper work is the most boring job but deffently the most important. It puts you in the driving seat the main control room the bridge of your business i book a day off once a month to do it start in the morning when fresh. I hate doing it at end of day when iam tired I cant concentrate and do a poor rushed job of it! It needs to be in very good order & acruate. Be quick with pricing and booking work it can be hard when demands high but customers love a trouble free quick service its not just pushing a mower for customers you have to provide a reliable regular service with good polite cheerful comunication. Lost time in looking for tools, broken tools, as silly as it sounds runing out of petrol for mower on job or fixings on a fencing job thesse little things cost alot of time a and make you look bad infront of customer. Sounds silly its easy to do its all about having an organised patern to work to which comes with practice. All the little things what waste time. A mate of mine has a pick up and walks from and to his shed loading in the morning this would drive me mad think its crazy. I have a van with most tools on a light bit of loading in the morning but nothing like loading a empty pick up. I have gone before him. I guess its what works for you. Just keep tweaking the little things.

I mow a few lawns were people like GT have treated. The only good thing they do is supress weeds other than that the grass is awful Its wirey weak flufy horrible yellowy crap. When I mow if its any lower than 2.5" it tears out clumps. The guy from GT told my customer I need to sharpen my blades and service my mower. You can imagine my face when I heard this as I sharpen my blade with a quick touch on the grinder once a week as this makes quality of cut & mowing effcientcy so much better and what differnce would a service make? Any way I explaned this to the customer and sugest to mow once a week insteed of two to avoid over stressing when cutting but they we not intressted in the extra cost! Another bad experience for good old GT.

I have had one snap on BR600 leaf blower. On Stihl pole saw its a sod to locate it turns with out tightening. All the husqy tools I have are great filler caps why re invent the wheel? Get this you turn it anti clockwise to undo & clockwise to do up a classic thread desing it works every time it could not be better. Why change it & make it so it does not work as well. I guess it makes Stihl more unique than other brands.

Ha Ha I have been knowen to wear a Flogging Molly T-Shirt with Salty Dog ring tone. I guess what made me concernd about what I wear is the fact i used to drive a rusty old van and wear rags more than happy doing so. I have started to work for wealthy people and noticed my soroundings change. I bought a smarter van with large sign writing. Natrul progresion I want a more profesonal image . The new van has worked wonders and I have seen some very smart tradesman about thesse days. Being smart says alot about your company!

I like to look smart & approachable while at work around customers & the public. Also more importantly wear durable clothing fit for a hard days action. I currently wear dickies blue winter trousers riggers and dickies fleece. And oregon chainsaw trousers & boots. In summer I wear dickies black shorts & botle green sign writen rugby shirt & light weight boots. Iam allways coverd with hedge,wood,grass cuttings which i thinks more than exeptable. However I do look rough at times and would like to get me & my labourer smartend up! How do uou boys do it?

I have a 07 peugeot boxer 2.2hdi same as transit engine. Thers 187000 miles on it. She drives like new. I do belive its what work they done. It was owned by a pool maintenance company from new lots of motorway miles. My theroy is this an hour down a country lane covers around 30 miles steering, brakes, gears, acleration all being used. A motorway an hour you have done 70 miles in one gear and no hard braking and aclerating done and a better mpg too. out of intrest if your vehicles in the garage how long do you have to wait until you get it back? My vans having crankshaft oil seal, oil & filter change & gear linkage grease & fix up. Tomorrow will be its 5th working day. I have work booked in that i have canceld all over the show and i am being run about by my dad mrs & mates. Not having a vehicle makes life very difficult i am so dependent on it! What length of time are your vehicles normaly in the shop?

you cant do it on every hedge but collecting with mower is very good as long as you dont try realy big piles at once. It drives next to hedge reduce size and puts it in a bag or mulches. Also blades easy to sharpen. Works on drives & lawns fine. Of course you cant mow timber over 1.5 inch thats a chippers job But for mulching green waste, leavs & brush its fine. Works for me.

I run an oregon pro lite 15" .325 .058 on a Husqvarna 350. Its an old ropey saw but i love it. The bar chain combo suits my size I only have to grab the Makita DCS 520 with the 18 inch bar ocasonaly. My mate runs a 038 with 20 inch bar for sneding, felling, mincing and logging. I find to heavy do not get on with it but he loves it. Differnt combos suit different people. He does not like my Husqy set up he is a big lad. Also i find with alot of tools i like revs the Husqy cuts with a fast pick up & hi revs I get on very well with cutting this way. The 038 & DCS 520 seem to cut with lower revs & torque which I cant work with as well but others can!

When you say 2 stoke R/C helicopter do you mean them awful nitro engines what use glow plugs?

Well the other thing is I love belts they take all the stress ( torque limiter ) out the drive and you dont get a horrible clunk or ON/OFF drive with as with shaft. A belt you can feather slow or fast a greater amount of control and when its worn out its £20 to replace. Also weight is a big factor for me the only tool what I found to work better heavy is a rotavator al the over tools chainsaws, polesaws, strimmers, hedge cutters all work better for me light. Every one is different and different machines work better for different people. Where its at for me is light manoeuvrable, simple and forgiving. I do like a bit of power too.

A Mculloch from B&Q in 2002 cant remember model bought it too cut fence posts. It was ok at that pleased to say it went in on the scrap run in about 2007. It did work ok for me however you do see why a pro saw is sooo much better. Gotta start some where though!

I think the 4 wheel mower gearboxes are much better than the roller types. I had a hrh 536 i found it ate gearboxes the roller was to small and it was to heavy. The old hayter 56 was miles better it was the cracks in the deck what let it down. I run a Honda HRX 476 for my roller mowing 90% fantastic 10% junk. The height adjust handle snaped off in my hand and a shear pin broke twice in the gearbox. All fixed under waranty as it was only new in June 2014. Its a smooth belt drive, light 45kg, grass box gets ramed full every time, good in wet, as fast as most 21 inch mowers, good quality cut, easy controlls & manoverbility and plastic deck easy to clean very forgiving too. Just in some places build quality p*** poor which is naughty on the most expensive 19 inch roller mower on the uk market! I think with the hydro drive and 4 wheels the HRX 537 might be allright.

The Viking does stack up very well I like it. I think the Honda seems more attractive because of the hydrostatic drive. I have never owned a Viking or seen one in action. I have used a Honda 537 and liked it very much. I would like to race them lol.

Yes what realy puts me off of them is there weight 65kg vs 45kg on the Honda 537 same power but 20kg less. I guess the Sarp & Lawnflite are more robust but 65kg is alot of extra weight for motor & drive.

Maybe a bit early as growing grass is month or two away. I am in the market for a new mower 21 inch walk behind with 4 wheels and colletor box. The one that I like the look of best is the Honda 537 HRX. It has hydro drive, large wheels, large collector, 4 inch max height, also a mluching lever for collect or mulch. I only realy need to mulch very dry lawns or leavs I have never got on to well with mulching green healthly lawns or grass. I think at £1000 its not to badly priced. My only concern is plastic deck would it be man enough for rough mowing brambles, saplings, light bits of masonary you somtimes find I worrie it will crack the deck like on the weaker alloy ones do. I have looked at other mowers but 537 ticks all the boxes. Does any one use these mowers or have a better alternetiv?

Does this mean you can plug a laptop in if you get the right software and plug? My mate can do it on his Skoda Octavia. I think with machines less is best over complex auto tune will not stand the test of time. I doubt they will be saws running auto tune in 30 years time that was built today. The Made In West Germany 024 & 038 ect are still working today because there simple a d built & engineerd extremly well!

I have a FS460 does this mean I can find out how many hours its done by reading the module?