Matthew Storrs

Nice one Stephen! What made you go for a wheeled digger out of interest? I.e what kind of work do you have in mind for it? must admit I’ve been dithering for years over this- as in a wheeled digger provides a nice solution of getting a lot of digging power on site without the hassle of low loaders associated with track machines.

Kind of- although that one you linked seems far too cheap- can’t see how they can put anything together worth having for that money- perhaps Chinese job with poor quality metal- with bend easier than lead!? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/excavator-grapple-log-waste-scrap-grab-suit-360-diggers-and-backhoe-new-pins-inc-/181046126928?nav=SEARCH I’ve had the 3 ton version of this for 5 years- absolutely abused to death grappling with granite boulders far too big for it! Honestly it’s hardly worn at all- well worth the money..

Would you not be better with a grab. Nothing fancy just a fixed braced grab like this one I have on my 3 tonner. I’ve nevet used a thumb on something as small as 1.2t but I’d imagine becasue the dipper arm is so small it might be hard to get a thumb on without it easily folding back and/or fouling on the main lift ram? Grapple are great for scrub and brash- grubbing roots all sorts...

That looks superb Marcus. i did a little pond for someone last year- frankly it was just an easy solution to a area of otherwise utterly hopeless ground- springs everywhere. I dug our the peat until I got to rock with a 6 tonner. Because of lack of reach I dug it out sitting in the pond and it was filling quicker from the springs than I could dig it out- by evening it was filled! photo 2 was a few months later.

Just the job- having the grab also makes it easy to give the roots a good shake to get all the soil off if it’s dry prior to dropping them on the fire

Yeah that sounds good. I did think about filling with gravel too- but wanted the water to fill the chamber with the least amount of resistance in case it tried to find another route- but probably would have been fine anyway. water testing? Absolutely no idea. My parents live on a farm where the drinking water is pure spring water-no filtration no testing- been that way ever since the farm was built 300 years ago- we all grew up on it and no ones died as a result as far as I’m aware but living at the top of a hill on Dartmoor there is little chance of contamination from human/agricultural activities.

Ok first go at trying to draw a diagram on an iPhone! should give you an idea of how I did it- very easy way of doing it without concrete etc , the outlet pipe would flow to a holding tank/trough or whatever you wanted.

put a plastic manhole cover over the top of the twin wall chamber ‘well’ to stop little animals and anything else falling in.

I did one for a customer of mine. Hasn’t stopped working in 2 years since I’ve done it but springs are fickle things. Make sure you have traced it to the actual spring as often they can travel for a while before breaking surface which means once you start messing around they can change course if you’re not at the source. anyway I did it quite simply by using a 4ft section of 2ft dia twin wall pipe. I dug this in to the ground vertically (so the pipe was standing vertically flush with the level of the ground, once in place of filled rapidly with water and I made a hole the diameter of the outlet pipe (4” land drain pipe in this case) about a foot from the top into the side of the twin wall which I put the the outlet pipe into and then once the twin wall chamber filled it just flowed down the land drain all the way to the paddock, by having the outlet pipe high in the chamber it kept any crap from going down the pipe and the chamber was easy to clean out with a pair of shoveholers if it started to silt up.

I learnt to swim in an old flooded Tin mine pit- until we learned it had high levels of Arsnic present in the water!

Won’t most quarries and mines have a tailing damn in one for or another? I know they have similar thing here on Dartmoor where they have one of the worlds largest tungsten mines which closed down operation a few months ago- what will become of the waste pits/lagoons is anyone’s guess- they’re pretty vast and I doubt habitable by any form of wildlife- hopefully better managed then other parts of the world perhaps....

Really sorry to hear that Mark. I was in bits when I lost my dog last year so feel your pain and the emptiness they leave. Looks like you had many great times though and I’m sure she had a life many other dogs could only dream of.

That’s a good size- feels like you can be quite productive with that sort of area.

I’m toying with the idea of poly tunnel at the mo- thinking 8x15ft. Do you water manually or have an automatic system- I’m told they can get very hot if not careful, particularly if out working until evening and don’t get a chance to water during the day...

It’s probably just so that the oil warms up/thins and reaches where it’s required- particularly if it’s very cold. one of my diggers can work more or less normally straight away- the other takes a good 3-5 mins warm up to be able to function properly- you can here the pump straining/engine dive bombing if it’s not warmed up properly.

Poor nesting birds and other little animals. Makes me mad that so often it’s people’s stupidity and recklessness that causes this- should be given a good hiding on account of environmental damages.

Even the babiest of diggers have a fair lift capacity- this is my little 1.7t lifting a 450kg granite block- wasn’t really struggling with it too much.

Which thumb is that Conor? Who makes it, Looks quite good with a bit of a curve better for holding timber.

Depends on site- I operated my own digger for 8 years without a ticket. One day got turned down on a site due to lack of it so got the NPORS ticket under 10 ton. Since then still never been asked for a ticket working for councils, water authorities etc and other organisations. I think If you do work for the big house builders/street works and utilities they may be more fussy...

what a shame to see history and architecture of that scale going up like that.

I like simple! I think all operators should start out on a bog basic machine (not even tilties,thumbs) for a few years- learn about what can be gained from working with the terrain, machine placement etc working a site strategically and efficiently. Wonders can be performed with just a bucket and a bladed machine in the right hands.

Sad, the factory is very local to me and they’ve been trading under various names since 60s I think. Mayflower then Fairey and then bought out by superwinch. Quite proud to have an H14 on my Landy that has made in Tavistock stamped into it.

What size trailer? I have some knocking around for a 10x6

Agree- your long term reputation is far more important than losing out on a few hrs. Recent job took me 8 days over 5 I’d initially though- had to pay a lorry for 3 additional loads of stone to be transported- wasn’t really my fault, it was weather related but hey ho, put it down to experience.

Bearings that the sprocket runs on? If bearings are going I’d guess it would have this effect