Stumpgo

Thanks for that info Difflock; as a very content user of LPG Transits, for 12 years now, I find it encouraging that they will remain a Government favoured option. I doubt all the advantages, particularly the very handy 4250Kg uprating, will be applied to existing vehicles. After all a/the major push to alternative fuels is about supporting new sales for the motor industry.

I have a Husky version of the same machine. Enquired a few years back re a spare cutter wheel; they were still available then at around £200 + vat. However got one off ebay for hugely less money. Sharpening them with a 6 inch resin based diamond wheel, on a standard Machine Mart 8 inch bench grinder is straightforward. And they do need to be sharp to be any good. Overall, quite a handy bit of kit for occasional use on otherwise hard to access small stuff. Especially as it doubles as a disc cutter. We don't bother with the trolley.

Thanks Chris and Sawchip. Think I will buy a loop of each before buying reels.

I'm soon in the market for 2 reels of chain - 3/8, mainly for a Stihl 064 (24 & 36 inch bars. And 325, mainly for Stihl 026/024 (!4 and 18 inch bars) Been happily using Stihl Super Rapid (Chisel) for many years but find Windsor is 30-40% cheaper. Going way back I remembered that Windsor semi chisel 404 was my chain of choice for a long barred Homelite 2100S (42 inch) and wondered how it is rated now. Suspect it is made/owned by Oregon? Cheers.

Flap from a packet of cigarette papers has always worked fine for me. Probably a bit thinner than a business card.

I've had the Husky 272S version for around 10 years and have used it as a stump grinder about as many times. If there is a way to use it effectively with the trolley I never found it! However, with its weight on the ground and operated from a kneeling position its reasonably effective for small stumps or bits of stumps tight to walls etc. where no other machine would go. Really need several spare grinding wheels. New from the shops these are around £200 + vat a piece. Ebay can be a good source of machines and grinding wheels. With slight modification to the guarding and the right combination of spacers it will take an 8 inch cutting disc that is fine for cutting away stray steel work around stumps. Mine gets used mainly for that purpose. As a dual purpose tool it justifies its space in the van.

I can confirm Breezeblock's analysis. Last summer I tipped mine on its side. At the time it was running at tick over and it switched off fine. And was back on its tracks within an hour. I let it stand for a while then turned it over by hand, no problem. Then tried it on the starter motor with the secondary fuel cut off held off. All fine for a couple of seconds; then it started!! It picked up revs and ran like banshee belching out unburnt oil and a massive grey/black cloud of smoke. Finally, it slowed down and stopped, not sounding very good. Probably it ran for only a few seconds, but felt like forever! Back at the workshop the obvious was confirmed. (It had tipped on the airfilter side (oil bath type)). Sump oil had drained into it. On the bright side, the only damage was one push rod that had jumped its rocker socket and bent. Its been running since with no issues

You get an eye for it pretty quickly; they are 1 inch ahead of the next row. Further, as time goes on, there will be more polish and wear around the lead cutters. Otherwise just look for the ones with the shattered carbide! - I found the system cut well but the cutters were not tough enough for the hard pebble in the soils around here.

Machine Mart sell the Stihl one for a similar price, only in green and branded as Kamasa. Seems to work fine.

Stereo, I think you will find that low third is a higher gear than high second!

With a tipper it can be done cheap and easy. All that is needed is to plumb in a T piece between the pump and ram and fit a push button valve and pressure gauge to it. With a level load on level ground, to get a weight just tip the body a tiny bit, around an inch, press the valve button, read the pressure and cross reference to your calibration chart. For calibrating I built up a balanced load in stages using feed sacks of known weight. I would not claim 20kg accuracy but still a pretty fair guide.

Try Global Recycling Solutions Ltd. - 01636 594 360 Cheaper than Liston's and without drama.

I have a 98 transit LWB Van on lpg and it runs pretty well. 2.0 dohc 16v. Its at full weight (3.5t) virtually all the time. On gas its 16/17 mpg; on petrol around 21 mpg. Thats mainly short journey and urban driving. With the price difference I'd need around 35 mpg on petrol to match the gas cost. (And what mpg should I expect if I swapped the van for a modern Diesel?)

Have a look here - TIJ Aluminium Ramps & Bridges - based in Doncaster. I bought a pair 6 years ago to put a 1 ton tracked grinder into the back of a transit van. Fully happy with that purchase; durable, strong and light. After using many thousands of times they remain effectively as as good as new. Did I say cheap? - No! But a 'fag packet calculation' gives a cost of 6-7 pence per use.

I've used 1100's on a 28 hp machine for several years now, with no problems at all.

"Where would we look at getting a v-belt conversion set up from?" Check first. If the machine is new or near new it should already be fitted with a V belt drive. I got the following spec. from a most helpful technician (not sales!) at Megadyne (a major manufacturer of drive belts of all types):- - 2 taper lock triple v belt pulleys. (140SPA3-neutral) - 2 taper lock bushes to fit pulleys to the 50mm drive shafts. (2517-50mm-neutral) - 3 XPA drive belts. (XPA2282-Megadyne) These I purchased from my preferred Bearing and Belt supplier, in July '07, for £55 + vat. Fitting is a simple direct replacement. Fully happy with the result. The belts need to be run pretty tight & will require several adjustments early on as they bed in. I suspect this change has played a useful role in the long clutch life I'm experiencing. BTW. This technician seemed genuinely shocked that polybelts had been chosen in the first place, saying they were never designed for the inevitable shock loads involved in stump grinding. Good luck with your new machine. You will find turning on grass etc. is a subtle art of the gentle curve, which gets easier as the tracks lose a bit of their aggressive edge. Secondary screening is wise on most sites. I'd also endorse M & H Arb services for all things Predator. Mark worked with Arborplant for many years before setting up his own business - M & H Arb Services

I've had a predator for nearly 6 years (2500+ hours). Its not perfect, but imo there is nothing on the market that gets close to matching it for tight access and general mountain goat abilities. It will cruise through a standard house door and is very rarely beaten by side passages. If the cutting arm is unpinned from its ram and pulled up to nearly vertical it can manage a 90 degree turn in back alleys just 1 metre wide. Issues:- - As Nick states - get rid of the polydrive belt. A conversion to V belts is cheaper than 1 new polydrive belt! - Had problems keeping the cutting head from coming loose - solved be recoiling the threads and putting lock nuts on the inside. - Clutches have been moaned about by some users - that said I'm still on the original. - Parts not a problem; the vast majority of wearing bits are generic. - I never got on with the multi-tip system. Found the carbide tips just not tough enough for harsh conditions, particularly West Midlands hard pebble. After a bit of experimentation (drilling pocket holes in the multi-tip wheel) I settled on 1100 green teeth, just 8 cutters on the wheel, of which the lead 4 do virtually all the work being 19mm ahead of the other 4. The wheel is not a wheel, but an off-square square (if that makes sense) which I had made for 150 quid. (60 for a slab of hardox type steel and 90 to get it laser cut). Using 'Chinese' copies at £4 a tooth (with resharpening), cutter costs, performance and reliability have ceased to be an issue). - BUT, my first engine lasted just 2000 hours before the crank bearing at the drive pulley end wore out. Probably a combination of running the belt tighter than needed and the fact that there is no extra bearing support for the pulley. The engine suppliers said there should be as the lombardini engine is not designed for taking full power through v belts without extra support. All in all, if I had to replace this machine; it would be with another one just the same.

I use a Predator 28 tracked machine and would not regard 480mm as much of a problem. It will go to around 400mm on the level. (Much the same as most other tracked machine, I expect). The extra depth is easily achieved by creating a mini mound just behind the machine's balance point. (Fencing post, grindings, etc.). For large stumps I tend to do them in three stages. 1. Chase in a main lateral, widening out to the full stump as approaching it. This creates a clear area for the surplus spoil. 2. Tidy up the spoil to create the start of a slope into the stump. Then grind out the bulk of the wooden bit. 3. Remove grindings from the stump hole, improving the slope into the stump. Then grind to spec. Its worth knowing what the objective of the spec. is. (After all the 480mm was probably arrived at by an architect casually ticking the "very deep grind" box). - If you achieve the objective, then no-one is going to be going around with a measuring tape.

Global Recycling of Newark (01636 594 364) sell 1100 copies @ £4.00 + vat. Fairly sure they also sell genuine Green components.

Whoops - apologies for dud info in my earlier post. It seems Komatsu parts have hit yet another all time low, and Stubbins Bros can source nothing at present. However here is a firm, I know not from Adam, who claim that they have some stock and can obtain ALL parts for ALL products that are or have been in the Komatsu Zenoah range. (which would be as it should be - Husqvarna have owned Komatsu Zenoah for many years now). Contact Information I'll test them out in due course. My current background project is resurrecting a Stihl 024 from my boxes of spares. I've been a fan of the Komatsu top handle saws (G300TS) for more than 20 years. Robust enough, ultra superb engines, well balanced, very light, best with a 16" bar (unless you want to win races on the bigger stuff) and highly suitable for anyone whose climbing advantage is length rather than strength. And dare I say it in this modern age? Yes - The perfect tool to have ticking over within arms reach of the mouth of a chipper Want to buy one? They are very cheap in Italy, where some are made. Agrieuro.com - Interesting that Agrieuro is marketing Komatsu top handle carving saws. In the UK it seems we would have to risk a £2000 fine or hang from a harness to use one! For all brands that are not Komatsu I've stumbled across a mainly internet / Ebay firm, that just happens to be comfortably in my working area. Yesterday, it sold me a piston and ring kit for an 024, off the shelf, for £15.58 + vat. Very happy with that. Garden machinery spare parts - Garden & Hire Spares

Try Stubbings Bros - Isle of Wight. Stubbings Bros | Contacts I have consistently found their parts service excellent for Komatsu saw bits