doobin

I've got a massive winch on the Bobcat if you do ?

Yup, dealers usually leave a lot to be desired, however for me I always find a new machine to be more reliable than an old one. although the issue with dealers is not that they drag a warranty repair out- they are usually on a fixed price for a certain repair. Usually it’s that I know more than the mechanic.

That's where a five year warranty comes in, and the residulas are high enough to mean the next brand new machine is peanuts. I just sold my first new machine five years later for 9k- cost me 14k to buy. New machine is 16k. So it's cost me 7k over five years when taking into account higher new machine prices (which most people don't do). Add in some servicing to make it 10k. So that's £2k a year for a brand new machine to the spec I want, or £166 per month to have it sitting there, ready for all my complex attachments (can't do that with a hire machine) Anything goes wrong, the dealer sorts it. Hmm, do I want to pay a days labour a month to have a machine sat there almost risk free 24/7 that can do the work of ten men? Let me just think about that ? That said, I wouldn't be suggesting this if Conor hadn't said he worked the machine hard. Even with new components at horrendous cost, there's still a lot more potential for downtime in a machine of that age (in my hard won experience)

Didn’t know they did one but I’m sure a Chinese stump grinder would be less than just the attachment and work as well if not better. everything bcs is wildly overpriced and suffers design compromises to make it modular. You could accept that if there was a saving over buying a whole different machine but usually there isn’t!

I’m a total convert to liquid ptfe.

I buy 100 litres of petrol and mix it cause I don’t like queuing either but I’m not spending four times as much on aspen!

For grass I agree but not for a shredder knife.

Yup. The oil trap is to keep the line clean for running a paint gun or plasma cutter.. So that's another reason to run an inline oiler attached directly to the tool (or at least a hose used only with that tool)

Yup, tons round here. Hopefully the coming winter will thin them out a bit- nothing like widespread job losses to sharpen the appreciation of what you have.

Not to piss on anyones chips but I beg to differ. Skills to do what Connor is doing (if done well) are £40-50 an hour. Equipment is expensive, parts are horrendous. So how much could he make doing the same or even normal arb work? You like to think it will increase the value of the machine, but the reality is it doesn't. Not be any appreciable amount and certainly not by even 25% of the cost to do it all in my experience. Been there go the T shirt. Brand new 2.7t machines that will be reliable backed by warranty are available on 0% finance currently. Especially as Connor admits he uses the machine hard (beyond it's intended scope ?), I'd be going down that route myself. Decent deposit from the TB125, maybe £200 a month over five years. Howver I've been in his shoes, the experience was enjoyable (at the time- a bit like shagging a rotter), and I learnt a lot (again, like shagging a rotter- don't do it again) Plus skills for life (again, like shagging a dirty bird!) I trust most of you can appreciate the anology....

Golf courses are hardly agricultural work thoughare they? Or estate work really, crown lifting the trees around the manor house.

Wasn't it you I machined a new pin for a loader for?

The more mature trees seem to be able to resist it for the longest, however many we left at the top of the Downs whilst taking out the younger stuff that had died have now a year later succumbed themselves. There's also been a real mix in how brittle the tops are, from still springy to shattering into a million pieces when they hit the deck. However, there do appear to be a few resistant trees out there. I'd say the main consideration as regards taking action now or letting it take a chance is whether you can stunt fell it?

Air tools need lubricating. You can just put a couple (and only a couple) of drops of air tool oil down the inlet coupler every day you use it. The in-line oilers are good for constant use or if you forget.

Beer mate. You’ve seen my yard- too busy to fart currently!

Count me in mate

That’s an oil trap, not an oiler! ?

I think if an employee goes through the chipper then the lack of Tier 5 conformity is the least of your worries ? Would be very interested indeed to hear how changing the engine on a towed chipper could invalidate your vehicle insurance.

Yes, the plastic linkage wears. Not much you can do. They are cheap saws. Built to a price and not designed to last for generations unfortunately. the husky 135 is cheaper, more power, handles better (for me) and has a proper kill switch if you end up changing.

General consensus is that late on the season it’s to get at the sap. Apparently lilac shrubs are

Emergency explosive bolt in the handbrake assembly ? Serisouly though, it's one area in which I think the Americans actually do it better than us (the other areas being warmongering and the first ammendmant) Electric trailer brakes that you can activate from the cab in an emergency would be perfect. Alko do a system that monitors the traielr for sway and applies the brakes also, but I'm not sure if this could be easily fitted to anything other than an Alko axle. If I spent my days towing up and down the motorway I'd certainly install a homebrew emergency brake activator, as a snake is very scary.

Very interesting. I've always leant towards the MS241 rather than the MS261 primarily because you can run 3/8 picco on it- it makes a big difference vs .325. This could be a game changer, however as it's currently only available from Stihl sticking to 3/8 picco will be much more cost effective for me.

If it's really bad then I use a steam cleaner set hot but low pressure and am mindful of not sticking it up the air intake. Only thing to watch is to run things like strimmers up after this, otherwise if you don't use them for months you can end up with a clean strimmer but a rusted solid clutch?‍♂️

Jesus, its 2020 lads! ?

If you're running a shredding knife and mulching top down (as you should with a shredder knife), you'll want the shredder guard for sure.