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Matthew Storrs

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Everything posted by Matthew Storrs

  1. Matthew Storrs
    Yep- east of Exeter generally drier by far.
  2. Matthew Storrs
    I think if you asked a general cross section of the population where they think is drier- southwest or Northeast, most would instinctively say the southwest, they think of sunny beaches in summer etc. Unfortunately this is very skewed thinking. The southwest is a considerably wetter climate- just milder, take your pick which you’d prefer!!
  3. Matthew Storrs
    Hope you haven’t moved to Devon for the low rainfall!!!? Me on Dartmoor gets 3x the rainfall that my sister get in Northumberland- Edinburgh area looks similarly low.
  4. Matthew Storrs
    I’m not convinced insurance is worth it on smaller value items . Surely if you have many years no claims you can more or less afford to insure yourself. For example I have had ifor Williams trailers for 10 years- never bothered insuring them, last year one got nicked for the first time, PITA for sure, but actually still not sure if I had paid insurance for the last 10 years I’d have been better off against juat buying another trailer and spending a bit more making it more secure. another thing I phoned Trust after the trailer theft and asked them about what it’d require to be covered and they said it needs to be in a locked compound!! What a joke- glad I hadn’t wasted money paying them over the years.
  5. Matthew Storrs
    Yeah I know, I’m far too much of a pragmatist! Posh trucks just don’t float my boat because they don’t do anything that a 10 yr old one won’t- apart from maybe the privilege of a warm arse and some fancy satellite navigation.
  6. Matthew Storrs
    My Landy is worth the same or more than I paid for it ten years. I like my buisness assets to earn me money not the other way round.
  7. Matthew Storrs
    On that basis, it’s likely it’s only your time your wasting as mostly they won’t see the truck untill you turn up to quote. Dont get me wrong I’m all for tidy looking kit that represents a buisness well, but £38k is money down the drain on that truck which is madness if your having to borrow in the first place. You,ll lose £20k in the first year or three.probably £30k by year 6.
  8. Matthew Storrs
    IMO a truck like that is a luxury not a necessity, fair enough if you have the money but sounds stressful having to finance something that isn’t actually going to earn you any money....
  9. Matthew Storrs
    I voted no- as in no I wouldn’t buy my specific stove again (Stockton 5), but generally speaking pleased we went to the effort of having a stove. Although at times when I come in on a winters night and have to faff around getting the stove going- getting g kindling and logs sorted I think it would be cheaper and easier just to turn the gas on!
  10. Matthew Storrs
    Did anyone else have a real mental block about remembering to put chainsaw oil in. With a petrol saw it’s a given that you run out of fuel and you top up the oil too- but the battery ones just don’t make me think in the same logic. I think it’s just getting my mind muscle memory to click as it’s all new system.
  11. Matthew Storrs
    Yeah, mine has the two 18v 5ah that work in series. The saw itself is a bit weak and has a pretty low chain speed- I wouldn’t recommend it as an alternative to the Husky Stihl offerings if you intend on doing proper tree work with it. However I had the batteries so for £120 I am pleased with it- I put it in the truck or digger if I know I migh need to do a bit of cutting back, small tree to drop, shape up fencing struts, cutting up landscape timbers etc etc. Just handy to have to hand.
  12. Matthew Storrs
    Yes- our first stove was a cheapy- £200. Worked fine. But after 3 years the back steel plate (cast?) cracked in 2. My Dad welded it up and uses the stove as a backup upstairs when it gets really cold.
  13. Matthew Storrs
    Yeah- that dewalt is faster than the makit, more ££ though. My Dad has a Greenworks one which aside from the naff name is fantastic. Similar to that default and very good value.
  14. Matthew Storrs
    https://www.tractorsandplant.com/product/marooka-mk220-tracked-tractor/ Found this beasty the other day for sale.
  15. Matthew Storrs
    I’m not sure how they perform in a forestry environment vs conventional. But certainly in soft conditions they are going to have far more flotation than a standard tractor, I hire in a tracked dumper with similar undercarriage every now and again and that thing goes anywhere- floats over soft Peat bogland. It’s quite common for crawler tractors to be on steel with grousers fitted- doubt you’d ever stop one. Clay ground isn’t so great with rubber tracks.
  16. Matthew Storrs
    Something I just love about these crawler tractors,
  17. Matthew Storrs
    Old and cheap- then zetor would make good woods tractor- all steel and generally well screwed together but hydraulics and brakes are a joke in the old stuff.
  18. Matthew Storrs
    Certainly not my style but everyone’s different! Makes me think of action man for some reason. Personally I think that amount on that is a quick way to lose money, I bet you could spend £10k on something tidy that will do everything that truck will, you could spend the extra £20k on a machine which is what really earns the money and little depreciation to boot- not sure of your trade so can’t suggest what- but diggers/chippers/mini loaders and the like will see a better return on your investment for sure. That said if you have a desire to splash the cash then go for it!
  19. Matthew Storrs
    Where are you based Lee? Don’t Farols deal in Yanmar? Shame your not nearer Devon there’s a good yanmar dealer here and last time I spoke to them they had a sv26 in the yard. No what you mean actually about the hassle factor of buying a new machine but got to say that CBL for Takeuchi were fantastic, no effing about at all despite me being a fairly small fish to fry.
  20. Matthew Storrs
    Like this- it’s much the same on the 3 tonner too
  21. Matthew Storrs
    Is that the hitches fault though? I know some of the geometry on these hitches compromise breakout force, but in the photos above the Kubota seems to have a very short blade- my Takeuchi is another foot at least longer than that which helps the clear up.
  22. Matthew Storrs
    I have just bought a Makita battery saw as I had batteries anyway itbonly cost £120 for the bare saw. Its no where near as good as the top end husky stuff. Fine for small trees 8” below and the odd overhanging branches but would say it’s too under par for any proper tree work- better for landscape/fencing type work etc. the top end Husky saws with the 9ah batteries look very impressive- and they cost similar to a 550xp, I’d get one of these if I was buying again for tree work.
  23. Matthew Storrs
    Semi hitch should be quite easy to rebush the back pin to maintain tightness? A few quid in bushes in the powertilt every 1000hrs I think would be pretty cheap maintenance...
  24. Matthew Storrs
    I bought the hitch used (it was off same machine and had only done 250hrs) so got it for £1600. I did phone around for a new one and most were quoting around £3500 for the same hitch new which I probably wouldn’t have gone for and just got a tilting bucket instead. Powertilt has 180deg tilt and you can stand the bucket vertically- great for bankings and landscaping/tidy ditching etc. Yeah I can see your predicament. I guess you just need to figure out how much of your work will really benefit from a full tilt rotator setup. I think you’d be looking at £5k plus for a basis tilt rotator setup, possibly quite a bit more.?Not really sure. The powertilt is a superb hitch, if you had a hydraulic coupler on it- itd be very easy to reverse the bucket and use with the tilt, get a diverter on the aux to cover attachment use. Would cover a lot of basis I’d have thought.
  25. Matthew Storrs
    Here you go, tried to take a video but was too big to upload. iv just got this on a semi quick hitch, for now it’s just of the hammer lines which is fine for bucket use. I may get it diverted if I want to use the tilt function but the attachments I use currently such as auger and post knocked don’t really need the tilt function so I just disconnect the hoses and use as a standard hitch. Not terribly streamlined as yet, but this machine is only really going to be used for the little jobs so can’t really justify twin lines on the machine. I think If I had it on my 3 tonner I’d want the machine with twin lines, not sure I’d bother with a hydraulic hitch- with these small machines it takes literally seconds to just stick the back pin in if using a semi hitch.

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