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Matthew Storrs

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Everything posted by Matthew Storrs

  1. I agree, I don’t like being told what to do so I’m not going to pay any tax anymore- not a penny it’s my money I can do what I like with it!
  2. Yeah- I guess everyone’s situation is different. And if you have a tractor to do a variety of other works then clearly it’s going to be the most cost effective option. But running a tractor and low loader mainly to move diggers around- I’m not so sure. If your doing it yourself you get more lorry for your money then tractor, no trailer to buy and faff around with, they’re more economical on fuel too- but then if your running on red in a tractor then not much in it. i had a tractor and trailer for moving mini diggers around and dump trailer use- it was convenient being able to do myself, but economically for me it makes more sense to use 3rd party grab lorries to move aggregate and a beaver tail to move my digger around. At £ 45-55 per hr it’s far less hassle then running a tractor and trailer- potentially expensive repair bills/insurance plus my fuel and time and saves the risk of being pulled..
  3. I find the whole tractor thing a bit odd- is it really cheaper than going through proper channels? For example I have had to move 1000s of tons of aggregate to jobs from a local supply for resurfacing footpaths- I used to use tractor and dump trailer (my own). But then I started using lorry and grab- can self load- move twice the amount at twice the speed and no repair bills for my self let alone the cost of buying tractor and trailer. I made more money off jobs and far less time and hassle using the lorry then trying to do it all myself.
  4. Should have been felled on to his house to prove a point!
  5. Nice- seems like it’s the time of year to treat ourselves! Hope it works out well for you.
  6. Yes got grapple but will be fitting a hydraulic thumb to it as well (if I can fit all the brackets on!) thumbs are perfect for building stone face banks as it’s a constant need for both grab and bucket. Will use a lorry for the most part for further jobs, it does just fit into my Herbst dump loader trailer though.
  7. It’s a 2001. 2 owner ops/drivers from new. I bought it a month ago but It had more play then I’d like in the slew bearing so I had a new one put in. The rest of it is pretty tight and engine is a peach. It has done 4400 hrs, undercarriage is in excellent condition which really sold it for me with those tracks on it. It’s nice that at this age it’s not going to lose much money so reckon if I keep it a few years and then can trade in for something newer if I find it works out to be the best size for me. It cost £12500+vat with the new bearing fitted, fully serviced and includes 4 buckets and the grab.
  8. Christmas pressie arrived for me today. Old but mighty tidy.
  9. Exactly, how many forestry pickups are actually used in the woods for commercial forestry work- none I’d have thought. You just need something economical to get you and tools to track side- the machines do the rest.
  10. i wasn’t really planning on selling it as reckon I loose too much money on it as it’s still newish- was going to wait for a few years and try and get some more use out of it, they don’t depreciate too much as they get older.
  11. I don’t want to put you off the 1.8t it’s a good size for many like Doobin say Particularly if doing a fair bit of residential. But buying my new 1.8t last year was a big mistake for me, it’s sat in the barn doing a paltry 280hrs in a year. The 3 tonner I put 700hrs on last year. I say this as I think you might be in similar terrain/country to me. About 8” of topsoil and then some monster boulders just below the surface. Then the added reach and dump height- I just find them vastly more capable machines, I also find I’m less tired after a days work on the 3 tonner- the little one rocks about and I’m more tensed up in it to counter it. This is a typical encounter on most jobs, it’s 7ft long and about a ton. The 1.8t would be on its knees trying to dig it out and wrestle it around.
  12. He’s a Scot. Living on a diet of porridge and Haggis- of course he can chuck the buckets around, unlike us wee southerners!
  13. It’s a good way of doing it. By having multiple vehicles you can always have the right vehicle for the right job. Rough- have you looked at the Jeep Grand Cherokee, 3l merc engine- bags of power, 3.5t towing and can be found tidy for around £3k. Or does it have to be a pickup?
  14. Yes yes yes, this is what I’m always saying (although havnt actually implemented myself yet!) but it’s the downtime for repairs that’s the killer. Finance you know is happening and can plan for but the broken down truck just results in letting other people down as well as your self and generally happens at 6pm on the way home from work leaving little time to sort anything out fit the next day. It’s not so bad if your running multiple vehicles though and always have something to at least tide you over. i use a company called ignition finance in Truro. Good to deal with and they will fund smaller (Under £5k for eg ) purchases themselves. Don’t forget no MOT for first 3 years (?) on new stuff so another fairly considerable saving
  15. Plant hire co near me has there whole fleet yanmar- well over 50 machines, they said they wouldn’t look elsewhere now, the 5000hr machines have worn well and that’s all hire work so says a lot about them.
  16. Why the 1.8t out of interest? I have both 2.8 and 1.8 but there’s not many jobs where I wouldn’t prefer to have the bigger one, a bit more of a lump to tow around but more than makes up for it when on site. With the 1.8t I get in it and instantly wish I’d bought the other machine- unless it’s just a scratch around job!
  17. Yeah, I’m sure something along those lines could be done. Granted there may be a few genuine hardship cases- but in many cases it’s not being too poor thats the issue but prioritising cigarettes, drugs, booze, gambling, crap single use toys (for the kids) instead. Sweeping generalisation I know, but plenty claim “poverty” but still somehow find the money for the above...
  18. I honestly can’t see why they couldn’t charge a small fee for say a visit to A&E and GP. I’m sure if people were having to pay £10-15 for each visit it’d cut out the time wasters, raise a little extra capital and frankly if you can’t justify spending that for the sake of your health then perhaps it’s natural selection at work!
  19. It’s alright in a living room- but can’t stand a hot bedroom. The Swedes love a hot house and when I’m over there i don’t get a wink of decent sleep.
  20. Urgh too warm for me! I get in a right sweat if the mercury goes north of 16c!
  21. That’s some going J! I put ours (only 5kw) on sometime around beginning of October. I reckon 2x loose cube would do us 3 months with it on every evening. Generally a ‘bag for life’ full from the shed does us an evenings burn
  22. And thank god for that!!?
  23. I think polyesterene dissolved into petrol is more or less what Napalm is....
  24. And a coffee machine! Got to laugh!
  25. I have Makita chainsaw and strimmer- they’re both pretty good especially if you have batteries already. The strimmer is particularly good- I just wanted one for my garden so got the LXT 18v with the single battery and it will cut overgrown grass for 40 mins or so on one matters- I imagine the 36v twin battery version will be twice as good!

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