Pat Ferrett

Hi I bought double skin ali t ang g boarding extended the corners rivited on a lip to butt the sides to and bobs your uncle, It cost about £700 and took a day to do. A mate of mine didnt want to spend that much so spent weeks welding and bolting and made a steel frame lined with ply that flaps about like you wouldnt belive, He s always right in his eyes but he admitted that he should have done the same as me as he wasnt happy with the finished result and it had cost him nearly a grand.

Your Bang on the money there Yaffle! I used to have a free tip for good cord and clean chip then they got fussy after buying a processer and wanted to charge for larger lumps and then started to charge for the chip, so I dugg my heels in and got extra space in the yard for cord and chip. Its nice this time of year if it goes quiet or Im rained off to do a load of logs or a load of chip, worst way I cover the cost of wages and rent, and no waste to pay for, different if your buying in, I say if your only doing it small scale just try for a year and use your own waste then work out your profit if you had bought it in.

Its 5 and the smaller engine, but its got plenty of grunt and sits at 80 allday long

A up one and all! I was stump grinding for a fellow tree surgeon last week when the bearing carrier broke on the cutter wheel of my 252, I had to go back to the yard and pick up my little Blue bird Sg 13 that I ve had now for 8 years to finish the job off which was no big problem. After stripping the machine down I found that the bearing had been spinning on the shaft, I rang the dealer and they wanted £240 for the bearings and about another £250 for the shaft plus vat and postage. Well work is nt busy and I didnt have to rush to get the machine back together so I dropped into a bearing supplier in Portsmouth and the chap behind the counter asked what it was for and when I told him he said he could do a like for like bearing for about a tenner or one made in Japan for around £25 that would be 10 times better so I ordered them at a total of £58 all in, that just left me with the worn shaft I showed it to a friend who has done bits for me in the past and he said no probs ill build it up with weld and then turn it down on the lathe to fit the bearing, I left it with him and he dropped it back in his lunch hour the next day all done for £35. Its all back together now at a cost of £90 which included a tube of bearing locker. Just wondered if im a tight wad or whether you all do the same ?

Hi Billy I recon I get 30 + to the gallon, I did have trouble with the fuel tank on the double cab bottoming out and pushing the sender out of the top of the tank. I had to get an older tank that bolts on higher up the chassis,

I found a tennis ball in the top of a conifer I was working on the other day and put it in my pocket for my dog when I take him down the beach. About 10minutes later the customer came out to check progress and offer me a cuppa, as we chatted she kept looking at my groin and then at me, then my groan, until eventually she asked "whats that" pointing at the bulge in my pocket "tennis ball I replyed " OUCH I bet that hurts she said "I had tennis elbow once "

I ve run an Iveco double cab on an 03 plate for 5 years, The only problem with it is that its very heavy, I dont know what it weighs and I dont want to know but their heavy They will carry the weight, I got given some paving slabs from a mate and he kept finding them in his garden and handing them to me, I asked how many more and he kept saying about 10 or so Id put 15 on and ask how many more about 7 or 8 it kept on until he d found all of them and because I was parked down the side of his house , on a slant I couldnt gauge the weight. I came back down the A3 with my head lights in the trees with no suspension travel in the springs thinking shoot if I get pulled over Im for the high jump,When I got back to the yard I weighed 1 and it went 68 lbs when I counted there was 120 of them

Check that the drive sprocket has not worn out as I have noticed that when they are worn out more stress is put on the chain links .

Hi Hodge ! Every day that I ve walked out the door for the last couple of weeks to do a tree job has been like that, you end up going throu the motions and emotions and it becomes funny as its just impossible to guess what it will be next

Cheers for the welcomeMark!, I look forward to keeping an eye on the topics and maybe giving my 10 pence worth

Hi all !! Im new to the site but not so new to tree work, its a breath of fresh air to be able to listen to you all chatting about stolen tools broken chippers and the highs and lows of spending 5 days a week play ninja monkey, pitting your wits against mother nature. I started the business about 10 years ago and i ve always done the climbing, it was only after Dad passed away that I started up, he never wanted me to climb as he d seen to many accidents back in the days of free climbing. I would happily climb for the next 10 years the bit that rubs me up the wrong way is running a small business and being the climber quoting maintaining the tools doing the book work and trying to be a dad in the 20 minutes that are left in the week. stress is the thing that takes the edge off me and makes me want to give up not hard graft or my age (33)