Matthew Storrs

@Woodworks

Would it be worth just getting a contractor in with a tractor and rammer- he could knock the stakes in leaving you to do the rest? Probably a days work to knock in 100 posts for p&r.

Handy setup being able to tow that around- what height post can you fit under the hammer. If you put an 8ft strainer under how much height is left for the hammer to fall?

Are you doing full operators license or restricted?

If your doing a license is it not worth just jumping straight to Cat C so your not limited again in the future- imagine it’s not much difference in cost compare to C1?

That’s the one- got mine off amazon which was a bit cheaper. If you planning felling 8” plus with it all the time then forget it but as a ‘handy I have in the cab’ saw it’s brilliant and I use mine for all sorts of crap.

Not sure about the Oregon, but I have the Makita and with 2 5ah batteries and charger it can be had for under £300. Very pleased with it for what it is and I think a few others on here who have it agree

I hope so! Stephens doing a cracking job of proving their worth

You must be wondering how you coped with out it.

Yes I agree- there is plenty wrong with a defender- but what they do have right is the robustness of the Diffs/drivetrain/chassis etc, the bits that really count if your doing heavy towing- but fairly certain I won’t be able to convince Big J to buy a defender!

J- would a Discovery 3/4 Commercial not fit the bill? I think you can put commercials through for tax.. good for towing- headroom etc?

Are they? From what I can tell the Musso is only 2.2L where’s for £32k you can have the 3.2L engine? Personally I think buying new trucks is a good way to lose money- but can see appeal with warranty and not buying someone else’s previous problems. 3.2L in the ranger that is.

Although keeping thread on track- for £25k+ it’s not vastly cheaper than Toyota/Nissan etc which will hold their value better, more secure dealer network(?)

In fairness Big J does have a point- from a purely practical point the roads are largely dreadful and unfit for modern traffic. But I’d still argue my point in the other thread that this is the price we pay for living in a relatively unspoilt area, however in my view the areas where they ‘improved’ the road systems it has changed the whole area, brought more houses with it, or maybe the houses brought the roads, isolated and fragmented communities- personally happy to put up with the bad roads if that is the bottleneck in development.

I found parish magazines provided a good return- cheap and gives the impression your local/part of the parish/not some fly by nighter. never done Facebook, but did have a website, and truck signage which obviously goes everywhere with you. Word of mouth mainly for me now but as Mick says that comes once you have got your name out there.

Could this not happen any way? What if you maim someone in a car accident an insurance doesn’t pay out?

Interesting point regarding Scandinavia; My wife is Swedish, her father lives in an area 4hrs from Stockholm- not much going on in fairness- it’s beautiful landscape for sure and perfect roads, so good balance? Well you’d think so, but the local economy is diabolical, no jobs, the local town is sad and depressing and full of alcoholics and really the only people who can afford the nice little country houses are rich retired Germans and Norwegians- it’s not a healthy thriving economy at all. You could also argue that much of Sweden I have seen despite having a stunning natural landscape, you can drive for hours and really only see one type o scenery, it’s largely devoid of any of the sort of charm, variety and rural history that makes up Devon and Cornwall and in any case they never had the hedgebanks to rip out so comparison is pointless. Living down here often is a lifestyle choice/way of life , you either accept and embrace it, some people don’t get on with it at all and rightly so move to another area which better serves their needs.

I wouldn’t say I’m protective of farmland as such (unless it’s going to be developed for housing) if someone wants to plant a load of trees on it then crack on, or a lake or any other change of use within reason. I agree that there is something wrong that farmers are reliant on grants too, but that’s another thread.ripping out hedgebanks and widening roads would change the entire landscape- it would have a knock on effect too as everything else would require upgrading to keep up with it, Incidentally you mention that Scotland’s roads are far better but would you really say their economy is booming as a direct result? Not that it really concerns me, but how would better road infrastructure improve Devon and Cornwall’s economy? What brings the most money into D&C is tourism and people want to come to an area that hasn’t been ruined by sprawling urbanisation (which bigger roads would undoubtedly lead to?)

It’s not just the hedgebanks, there’s old clapper bridges- cottages built right up to the road. No point widening a road unless all bottlenecks are removed. the ecological impact- I rebuild hedgebanks all the time- im astounded by the amount of wildlife the banks hold- toads/lizards/insects where in some places of higher intensity agriculture the lowly hedgebank is about the only place they can thrive, id reckon to re-establish the hedgebanks to the same level of bio-diversity would take 50 years minimum- by which time the roads will be too small again! Love them or loathe them they and the tight lanes are what make the west county what it is, personally I don’t want big roads/get to work a few mins quicker/ loads of people down here as a result. They’ve widened a few roads down Newton Abbot area and it really changes the area- No charm whatsoever.

I just use a stumpy tow ball fitted to Clevis bar. It says 2000kg but there’s more steel involved then the Dixon Bates which is 3500kg on my landy so I’m not worried. The only problem you might find is that the drawbar on the tractor is higher than truck plus the fact that there is no suspension on a tractor so harsher on the ifor hitch and more weight transferred to rear axle of trailer.

I only work on my own so don’t bother with uniform- just work gear. However for a team I agree that a uniform looks more professional- to an extent at least- too much slickness puts me off a company

Until you replace it one day and then go why didn’t I do this when I first got it!?

Spend a few Grand on tidying up that 1056 and you’ll have a tractor that I doubt will loose a penny...

Same tractor as my Same dorado 86 I think- pocket rockets- power to weight nothing will touch them!

I had a go in a 956xl recently, it had done fairly high hours (9k I think) and the gear box was the sweetest, smoothest thing i have ever encountered in a tractor. Other things which I liked were amazing turning circle particular given the long 6 cylinder wheelbase, and the engine was a beaut too. However hydraulics are poor in them. Think 956 and 1056 are both getting good money if they are in tidy condition.