doobin

Well if your not in work ATM and the jobcentre will pay for tickets, then youve nothing to use but be prepared to work your arse off or start up on your own and work every hour God sends. If your in a job ATM, I sure as hell wouldn't do it.

I've said it before, but nobody seemed to take any notice. If you gum a pump up with veg oil, solvents won't work. The secret is to run near boiling water through it. Think about it- the oil has emulsified. Same as boiling chip fat having been poured down a drain then setting and clogging it up. I know, I'm a genius.

If he's putting 3.5 tons behind a quad bike, he's an idiot in my book. That just aint gonna stop in a hurry, if at all. Plus accelerating and braking it is putting a lot of stress on a machine only rated to tow 680KG. The Sportsman 850 weighs 350kg, plus driver. You really want to chance your arm on that being enough weight to knock the overun brakes on with 3.5 tons behind you? Your nuts. Compact diesel tractor would be a far better bet, with LGP tyres if neccesary. I tried my 500cc quad in the woods, and it was no use for pulling even half a ton of timber trailer- you just can't get the traction to the ground. It's not rocket science- they're designed to be low ground pressure personal transport. Why people think they're ideal for pulling 1/2/3 tons is beyond me Catweazel, the 680 tow capacity is for the biggest quad on the UK market, the Sportsman 850 and I don't think you'll find a 3.5 ton trailer that weighs that empty. Steve- no, you were right. Wouldn't have a snowballs chance in hell, and would also be a very expensive, juicy and nickable way of trying to shunt trailers. Much better to get an old tractor.

Your mate is a suicidal retard if he's pulling a 3.5 ton trailer, and if its on the road then I sincerely hope he gets booked. You wouldn't put anything like 3.5t behind a Corsa, and that weighs more than the quad. Back to the OP, how did you get on Sam? We had the volunteers working on one of the reserves recently and their 400cc 4WD Yammaha with a tiny trailer just couldn't find the traction to get up the hill. Did you experience similar or was it OK?

Yeah, I remember that. I've got about ten times the amount in that picture at the yard. Great firewood but a bitch to split, so it tends to get left until there's absolutely nothing else left to log. Even then it will make more than selling to 'craftsmen'

Here here What about Robinia? With it's fast growth, prolific reproduction, very desirable timber qualities, not to mention the nitrogen fixing abilities, why are we not seeing this as a hedgerow / coppice tree?

Could I ask what you charge per day?

What he said. Just look at the price difference between the two- it's for good reason.

Is it just to bring timber out? If so then you'd be far better off with a tracked dumper. You're just going to get stuck dragging trailers with that. Put the weight on the tracks.

Sticking black on earth would be suck it and see in this situation. Would have taken me five minutes to take the lense covers off and check what went where, assuming it was to terminate in a standard 7 pin male plug.

Good for firewood but very short shelf life. Doesn't last five minute on the fire, but for Mr Average that just means more loads sold!

I didn't realise horse chestnut would do the same, albeit due to different process. You learn something new every day

Horse chestnut has a much lower tannin conten than sweet chestnut. Tannins are what react with ferrous metal and water to give that blue tinge. They are also what makes a wood durable for outdoor use- sweet chestnut is one of the best whilst horse chestnut will rot in a couple of years. Oak also has a high tannin content, which is why a fresh sawn oak gate will have the bandsaw marks showing in black/blue.

Only if it's sweet chestnut will the tannins show readily in contact with water and ferrous metal. The picture shows horse chestnut, which is unrelated to horse chestnut.

They want you to cut for them PAYE but provide your own saw? I'm sure that must be technically illegal? EIther way I'd tell them to do one And I say that as an employer.

All the postcrete does is form a solid bond between the post and the surrounding ground. It's quick and convenient for small jobs, but drymix is cheaper for longer runs. The important bit is how well you tamp it in. I've used 30mm chalk for a few big runs of post and rail, it does the same job.

That's because it's made with so much recycled wire- each strand has a different tensile limit. I agree, it's utter rubbish. Speaking of tensile limits, and with reference to your comment about how tight high tensile wire should be- the reason it's tensile limit (how much it can stretch) is higher than normal wire is NOT so that you can pull it assholes tight. You can pull it a bit tighter, but the reason for it's use is that a sudden shock loading (stock barging into it or a tree falling on it) will not cause it to stretch and remain saggy, or even break (as happens with normal wire). Instead, it will simply spring back into shape. If you tighten it up too tight, it will simply snap when shock loaded, as your tensioning will have put it at or on it's tensile limit, thus defeating the object. The Kiwis and Saffers know their stuff re high tensile fencing (do we have any on here?) They use tension meters to ensure that the tension is optimum. Over here, the wire suppliers can't even tell you the wire's tensile limit

Definately horse chestnut. Did you actually mean 100 cubic metres or was that a typo? Any evidence of rot/disease anywhere? There's a lot coming down around here due to the bleeding stem canker. I'm mixing a ten or so logs in with my loads and it looks exactly like that. The bark pattern is wrong for willow- the ridges aren't deep or long enough. Willow doesn't have flat scales as in the picture. If you want to make absoloutely sure it's not willow, then peel the bark off (it should have fallen off willow by now if it was seasoned) and check the wood for short sharp spines. These are present on willow and are very painful when handling seasoned willow with the bark missing with bare hands!

Even more overpriced for the spec than a tipping Jap pickup.

Chainsaw gloves introduce more risk due to not being able to hold things properly. They only have protection on the back of the left hand in case the chain breaks and comes back at you. However, if that happens (which is exceptionally rare, especially on low powered saw) then the chain catcher on the saw will stop it, and the chain brake handle stops it hitting your hand In short, don't bother with gloves. I don't know of any professional who does. Any reason you want electric power? Stihl MS 181 is an ideal beginner saw, and can be had for as little as £200. Just add oil and fuel mix and away you go. Very economical saw, and no mucking about charging batteries .

Well then of course you would need insurance. Unless you deal exclusively with removing trees infected with honey fungus from the gardens of OAPs

See attached pic of chain on it's second day of use. I will admit that this was originally a bumper tie strap chain, but as the supplier had already buggered up the order by sending 1.3mm, I couldn't be arsed to send them back again, so ground off the bumper tie strap top bit. However, the setup left behind is simply a normal chain, with normal depth guages, so the only explanation I can see is poor quality. This is the second chain this has happened to. The cutters bend, then eventually snap off, and the chain just runs rougher and rougher untill you have to give up with it. Stihl chains in 1.1 run faultlessley without a problem, cut like a knife and generally give no hasle at all, even on an MS230. Won't be buying Oregon chains for the small saws again

Overpriced for the spec though

Working on the South Downs near Chichester at the moment mate. Like I say, the little dumpers are cheap enough to hire as a try before you buy, that's what I'd do. But if your passing for any reason your more than welcome to come and have a play with my kit!

Only point I would make is that the 3 cylinder German Manheilm (sp?) engine fitted to lots of them (mine included) whilst a brilliant performer, can only be reground by a couple of thou, and only once. Therefore clean engine oil is an abosolute must. I do oil and filter every 200 hours, costs only a few beers.