Matthew Storrs

Very very surprised to see the Stovax Stockton 5 in there! We have one, fitted 3 years ago. Parts of it are a complete joke and wish I had gone for the Aga little Wenlock or the squirrel instead. Main problem I have with the Stovax is the total inability to shut it down at all, I have had to take an angle grinder to the smokeless kit and it’s improved but still overburns. On top of this I have had to modify the door to get it to shut even remotely tightly- before I could have inserted a beer mat in to the stove with the door shut and still would have left seen daylight either side- no wonder it over burns. Really not impressed at all.

Bob, have you considered the powertilt hitch, Iv got one on my new Takeuchi and it’s fantastic for paths, grading and landscaping I know you do a lot of tracks etc so thought it might be worth a look. I actually think it will save on machine wear and tear over the years as less machine movements and less wear on undercarriage parts

Chris Willet assessed me for most of my tickets- top bloke, always remember his dog stealing a sausage from the Duchy College canteen when we were climbing nearby and the chef running out trying to find him!

Haha, who do you think alerted me to it!

Nice one Bob, I hope your rear crossmember lasts better than mine which was replaced exactly 6 years ago and is needing doing again as completely corroded- cheap rubbish springs to mind as it was Britpart, I see you can now buy galvanised rear crossmember- I think il do this next, galv will obviously get ruined where it’s welded on but otherwise should last a lot longer.

Sorry miss read your first post- yes DF with a few coatings of Creosote would be very durable- particularly good if you can apply the creosote whilst the timber is dried out in the heat- gets into the cracks better- I’d say it be best peeling the posts too prior

Oak and Sweet Chestnut are both good- but sap wood rots quickly, a few years. Thought about telegraph poles Beau?

Years (10) ago I got a thorn in my knuckle and to this day there’s still a little nodule where the thorn was that’s painfull if I press it.

Thank Tom. interesting- so you’ve used the horn 12v to operate the divertor solenoid? I’m not hugely familiar with how it all works so I’d probably get someone to set it up for me, il show them you diagram for reference, thanks.

If it’s a factory order you’ve gone for- wouldn’t they just have an extra service off the main valve block with control being perhaps one set off a foot pedal an the other of the joystick buttons. I know my Takeuchi Iv just received had to be a speacial order from the factory in Japan to get 2 dedicated aux services. Otherwise you have to go down the divertor route which is the problem I have.

Depends what you use your machine for largely. I have a manual grapple at the moment for my 3 tonner which I use for rock handling/walling and I find it ace- ok for moderate timber handling and general brash all sorts really- you can be very precise moving stuff and they are durable. that said recently Iv been spending a bit of time on a few machines that have had RSL thumbs fitted- if you just want something that’s handy and always there available then these make a great option- they don’t get in the way of digging really- although it’s more bulk on your dipper. They’re great though if your mainly digging and just need something that’s there to move rocks/timber/concrete or whatever as you come accross it. rotator based grab I would say are better for those who have more dedicated use for their grabs- they take a little longer to take on and off, are more expensive but if your just into timber handling then you probably wouldn’t bother with anything else.

Centerwire gate kits are good, but you can usually buy the ironmongery kits online and fit them to standard pedestrian gates. Iv done that a few times when I couldn’t wait for centerwire.

Yeah sure.

Not really- you can camp legally on Dartmoor, but it has to be at least 100metrs away from the road in a tent, no fires. Basically for backpackers and the like. Trouble is every Tom, Dick and Harry turn up with camper vans, large tents etc and camp at beauty spots along the road, with little subtlety about the operation. Does my head in actually because it will ruin it for everyone else who does abide by common sense and law. i don’t really have a problem with the odd camper van who just kips in a lay-by overnight with little fuss but full sized family tents set up with tables and stuff along the side of the road is a bit gross. This bloke decided to camp on Princetown village green, funny thing is there is open moorland no moor than 100 meters away he could have legally camped on with that tent.

If England don’t win il be routing for Sweden. Never won a World Cup and wife is Swedish.

I’m insured with Trust. A year ago I had a new ifor trailer nicked- it wasn’t insured, and the reason I didn’t insure it was because Trust said it would only be covered if it was in a ‘locked compound”. They couldn’t really specify what would comply with this. So be careful and ask plenty of questions under what circumstances the processor would be covered.

This is too much excitement for me! Penalties now.

Looking good! How is it going to be fed? And will it have an overflow. recent drainage attempts at a Peat bed sitting on a hotbed of springs- decided with customer that drainage was going to be either futile or V expensive. I suggested digging out a pond to captures all the springs and pipe oveflow to a stream. it was 30 meters by 25meters and it filled in a few hours- no way that was going to be drained. I’l take some photos on Saturday when I finish grading the edges

I have an ifor LM 106 which i find very easy to manoeuvre- it is wider than the Landy but I don’t ever find it a problem- quite like seeing where the trailer is if anything. Ifor LM106 has one of the highest payloads too- being 3500kg but lighter than the longer offerings- with caged sides on you’ll get plenty in- make no mistake though shovelling it loaded with chip isn’t fun!!

That’s a good price regardless of the spec. Trying to find a owner operator machine that has done 1000 hrs is a pretty tough call. And if it’s only a few years old the n the money it will command will still make buying new worthwhile in the long run. Whenever Iv done the sums based on resale values Iv always found that the cost per hour/depreciation works out similar whether it’s new or used- only with new you get a machine that you can look afte from scratch/ dealer backup and looks tidy for the buisness. i was lucky last year and found a 2007 Takeuchi tb125 in immaculate condition with only 1000hrs, 12 miles down the road, I snapped it up but overwise id have bought new.

Nothing really put me off it, basically I needed a 1.8t size machine for all the fiddly little jobs I get and I just wanted something that was easy and light to tow around around with a few attachments. The majority of my work will still be undertaken my 3 tonner so in a way I wasn’t that fussed that the 1.8t should be all singing and dancing. The Yanmar was more money than the Tak but not a lot, TBH the yanmar is a nicer machine, it has proportional roller controls on the joystick for the aux, track pedals, better method of expanding the blade width etc. Tak dealer is near to me and good so that helped. In the 2.8t category the Yanmar sv26 would be the winner hands down if I was buying because it ticks every box I’d want from this size category- It is comfortably towable, still conventional tail, 10cm wider than the Tak too mega stable. good ground clearance, also the blade lowers more than the competition, I use this a lot for levelling the machine on slopes so the more travel the better. Volvo ec27D looks a good option too, I’m not sure on the price mind yoo.

I find the hydraulic thumbs grip better than a grapple though. been walling with a 6 tonner this week with a thumb grab- I couldn’t believe the stuff I could pick up with it that I’m sure would require more configuring with a grapple to make sure it picked it up with out the rock slipping out it’s grip.

Yeah- I’d definitely think of a standard braced grapple for it. I get on really well with them myself and like the versatility and durability of them- nothing to really go wrong with them. I been trying to think of a way of making one that can handle rocks but still grab a load of soil/infill stone etc too. Love the idea with the UJs. Annoyingly the Taks new dipper is entirely cast- I think this may through up problems getting the brace welded to the cast dipper- might be a speacialist welding job I think.

Good idea diverting off the offset. I assume it can all be done with a 12v feed to a solenoid to do the diverting? As it stands the powertilt hitch will run off the breaker lines. It has a semi quick hitch so no hydraulics needed for bucket changeovers. I will have a wedgelock hitch coming with thenmachine so maybe it will be easy to use that with attachments and keep the tilting hitch for bucket work. Don’t really thing the tilt function would be so useful with attachment s anyway... my dealer said that Takeuchi would only put on a second set of lines if it was factory order on this size machine, the Tak 216 is actually a bit basic compared to the competition, aux control is a foot pedal affair, no track either, I kinda of regretting not getting the Yanmar but it didn’t tick all the boxes either.