doobin

Exactly....

So he provided a man, 13 tonner and diesel for £30 an hour? How many on here would provide a man and chipper for that??

I take it you provided the diesel?

It's a 12v pump. That is all. For a small 3-cylinder engine the one treequip posted is perfect. Fit it in five minutes and forget. Or pay £200, your call.

^ Beat me too it. Those are bombproof, mine has over 1000 hours of operating time on it since being installed, never had a problem with it. I can top the price you were quoted too. £800+ VAT for my digger

I can't believe you tried all the above for an overheating problem before flushing the system! FWIW you can flush the system with a hosepipe (assuming good water pressure) without removing the rad. Flush it bottom to top with a hose in through the drain bung. Also find the plug on the engine for the coolant ways, stick the hose in there and turn the hose on full whack with the engine idling. Blowing a rad out with an airline should be part of every service.

I'd say nearer the 10k mark. Well worth it though as they hold their value. If you get a 3 tonner get a set of pallet forks for it, about £300. If you have heavy stuff to lift, then consider a linkage mounted forklift for the alpine- that's a cheap way of shifting stuff.

That's how, SFP!

I'd sooner have a 360 with tracks, blade and the ability to steady yourself with the boom than an alpine and backhoe on a hill. Can't be much in it with centre of gravity either. Tractor backhoes are clumsy and expensive compared to a second hand digger. A 3 ton mini will outperform any backhoe you would fit to an alpine. Poor value for money, in essence. Having to jump on and off to move must be a right PITA also. The one I posted would be a good value way to try it. If I had only the tractor and no mini digger I'd be tempted at that money. But buying a new backhoe? Not a chance, second machine every time.

The bloke at £30/hour for a 13 tonner is a muppet.

How does this differ from any other timber? Genuinely curious as there is no money for a firewood merchant in it whatsoever at £85/ton. I thought RHI was for equipment?

^ Plenty of people get away with it. They get themselves a good lawyer, say they'll have to let workers go etc.

That depends entirely upon the operator...

Skidsteer Bobcat backhoe attachment with buckets, Gehl CAT, Over £7,500 when new | eBay Fit linkage mounts, sorted. If you're looking at a new backhoe then forget it and get a second hand mini digger.

Callum, does that quad (and associated specialized quad mounted machinery) really hold it's own in terms of cost per hour & output per hour against a 4WD compact tractor? I'm not knocking, but I can't see it myself. I used to have a 500cc 4WD quad and even my 20HP Chinese compact tractor pissed all over it in terms of output and running costs. It just couldn't put the power to the ground, and cost a lot more to keep running.

This looks like it'll be an even better buy than the FS-70, same sort of price but solid shaft. FS 94 RC-E - Comfortable 0.9kW brushcutter with loop handle, ErgoStart and ECOSPEED If you are constantly swapping between a telescopic and a regular shaft the FS70 would be quicker to swap due to the integrated handle.

I've run a Stihl hedgecutter head for 8 years with only one repair needed due to abuse. The polesaw head is 7 years and never had a spanner on it save for sprockets. Never broken a strimmer head. I would buy a new FS-70 or even better an FS-94 (solid shaft, might not be launched yet though) for about £260 and then buy the hedgecutter, polesaw, tiller etc second hand off eBay as they are pretty bombproof. Whatever you do don't buy a 4-mix combi system- nothing but hassle. Here ya go: http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/general-chat/62516-heads-up-good-replacement-engine-stihl-polesaws-pole-hedgcutters-combi-units.html

Compact tractor all the way. Much more bang for your buck in a woodland work environment.

Nothing wrong with a .177

Did you not think to get out and check the wheel nuts yourself?

We had the same thing locally two months ago with a big old oak and a gas main.

Doesn't matter if it's only topsoil, you still get a lot or resistance from a 6' width of it! Plus the strut is of course angled so it's directing some of the force down the ground too. I dig a trench about a spit's depth. Knocking it in works fine, but there is more chance of the strut rotting and slipping around it (particularly if it's been vee'd). If the strainer twists then yes, you have a problem. But that's down to bad fencing (not wrapping around the strainer) and you'd still have a problem with a morticed one, you can't rely upon a 2" mortice to hold indefinately if it's the only thing stopping a strainer from twisting. Re the strainer mortice- think about it. You cut yours say around 30mm wide? Water will run down the post and collect in the mortice. The first place to start rotting will be where the cross grain is severed- your tenon at the top of the strut. So not only will this rot faster than the whole flush face of the strut nailed to a slight notch in the strainer would, but once it has started to rot your aforementioned bullock will snap it off no problem anyway. As soon as the strut starts to rot the fence will start to sag. If a bullock can knock it off when it's been nailed, the fencer was a cowboy who didn't use long enough nails. Some folk use nail guns, but for this sort of thing a 90mm from a nailgun is only a holding tack, you need to follow up with 6 or 8 inch nails whacked in with a clubhammer.

Agree. Miserable sod that I am.

I think nesting the angles like this - << - is a lot harsher on the wire than using scaffold pole and an angle like this - <o I'd say that would might make the wire liable to snap. I've never had an angle and scaffold setup slip.

Top tip- match your chisel to a wood bit (idealy Forstner bit) of the same size. For example, if I am asked to do morticed struts then I drill a row of 3 holes 30mm in diameter then use a SHARP 30mm chisel to take away the tiny bit that's left between them and at the edges. Match this to a jig (I found a metal rule was 30mm wide and therefore ideal) and you can mark the ends of struts quickly for cutting also.