Matthew Storrs

Looking at the 8441 on tractor data it says it’s only 30kph, I know some models had a 40kph option- but 30 is slow- painfully slow!

I’m sure the proxima will serve those needs fine. However if you are an AGT owner I can almost guarantee that if you can find a Same Dorado you will fall in love with it- I always think if you could breed a alpine with a conventional tractor you’d end up with a Dorado- Italian engineering with mountainous/alpine terrain very much at the heart of the design. heres mine at work

I’m under the impression that alnico Blues are British made, but the new AC30s come with the Greens which are far eastern. Iv not compared the two- but tone is die for with the Blues.

Yes definitely- I use to deliver logs In Warwickshire using a 16ft ifor- great because we’d load it up with 6 dumpy bags and 2 of us could tip a bag over the side to unload it, we’d spend the morning filling the bags and go out in the afternoon delivering all of the one trailer- no way I’d attempt the same in these devon lanes and awkward to get to properties- think you’ve got it sussed with your method Beau.

Yes, certainly my model of Same dorado 86 has true 4 wheel braking and grips like a mountain goat on a hillside- they are quite quick on the roads too, however they wouldn’t make a good forest tractor- they are quite low to the ground which is great for hillsides but perhaps not so great for stumps but also the have a plastic diesel tank underneath which would need guarding. The Same that is. I had a zetor 7045 and a 9540 which was the precursor to the proxima range, supposedly the wet brakes were met to be much better but unfortunately they were forever coming out of balance and not great to begin with- but of an eye opener when I moved to the Same. like I said I wouldn’t discard the idea of a zetor again because they certainly had some good points to them, but just check very carefully the condition of the braking system and if you are planning on running hydraulic attachments make sure it has the pressure- the 7045 was pretty much non existent is this area but in fairness it was 1980 and not many tractors of this era had good hydraulics.

I assume you mean the Zetor Proxima? no experience of this model, but I have owned 2 zetors in the past and my dad has had several.My experience of them is mixed and I guess it will depend on what you are using it for. Mine had absolutely bulletproof basic engines which never gave me any trouble- zetors are heavily built tractors and have yet to use a tractor that grips like a zetor- I think with the older models the steel was perhaps of poorer quality and they used more of it- every thing was pretty ‘soviet’ on it. Parts are pretty cheap, as are the tractors as they don’t have the following that major brands do- this could stem for their reputation for being unreliable and really rather backwards, but the Polish love them. What really let mine down were the dreadfull dry brakes which the proxima will have moved on from, aux hydraulics were piss poor- again a blight that most older tractors used to have, but perhaps worst of all for me was the use of poor quality seals- this was what really let the tractors down for me and the crap brakes were too dangerous for roadwork. i would definitely look at zetors again if I was buying but only modern models as I believe they have had to come along way to keep up with the competition. I run a fairly modern 85hp Same tractor and i have found it to be ultra reliable compared to the Zetors I had and many farms and contractors round here are swapping to Same over New Holland’s, ( the two main dealers in this particular area). they (the SDF) tractors are just as good if not better IMO and many others who have made the swap(possibly slightly basic but only in a good way) without the over inflated price tag the main marques demand.

Other trouble is people think that because the gritter has been out they can still drive like maniacs. If people knew how to drive in icy conditions and took more caution there’d be far less accidents. Instead they drive at normal or excessive speeds and then rely entirely on their brakes to try and stop! which as we all know is a lethal combination if there’s ice on’t road. I was following behind a lady driving a new discovery a few weeks back- who just had absolutely not a clue how to approach a descent in the Icy conditions- she kept partially sliding off the road with her foot pretty much glued to the brake pedal- I came down the same hill without any problems despite having a 3 ton digger pushing me down too.

I think they are selling 80 pieces. If your paying £400 no doubt you’d expect them to be cut dead level, not have any sharp stubs or the like sticking out etc, not saying that it is worth £400 but at the same time I doubt anyone would do the above for a tenner either. Somewhere in between the too maybe.....

Take one step at a time- use subby labour to begin with, you will still need EL and PL insurance. approach farmers for a bit of chip/log pile ground. Allow for a decent bit of advertising untill you get a big enough client base etc.

Try Trust insurance, always found them to be helpful and they deal with arb firms

That post makes me think of Prince Phillips quote; A few years ago, everybody was saying we must have more leisure, everyone’s working too much. Now everybody’s got more leisure time they’re complaining they’re unemployed. People don’t seem to make up their minds what they want.”

It’d make a great chip truck that Commer!

The Indians have got the right idea, take all the stuff that westerners deem old and unfit for purpose and then use it FOREVER... .....even if it is being towed by an Ass.

That old Hilux I believe was pre my golden era- now if it had been a 2008 model you could have had the best of both worlds!

Depends what you want out of life. I don’t trust a tractor squeezing 120hp out of a little 3 cylinder engine. Unfortunately when it’s comes to 4x4s they seem to be catered for the throwaway lifestylers, with working folk who depend on them for a living somewhat becoming an afterthought.

I doubt it! But in any case you’d have to come back to me in 10-20 years time when we know the longevity of all this modern junk being pumped out! We bought a fancy expensive dyson cordless v8 pet hair sucking vacuum cleaner. It’s a complete load of plasticy rubbish that couldn’t suck the skin of a rice pudding and if it did it would only jam up. It hangs on the wall now as a reminder to myself never to get tricked into buying such nonsense ever again whilst I use our 10 year old Henry. just to show it’s not just the Arb world that suffers from this!

Is it just me. But there seems to be a sort of golden era where kit- be it chainsaws, trucks, tractors, etc sort of peaked at a sweet spot, where it was modern and efficient enough, nice to use but lacked the cost cutting, the troublesome ‘green’ engine/low emmisons era and the way in which new kit now just seems to be so overly complicated with a constant flow of stories of stuff having to go back to dealers time and time again. i think I’d set the golden era at 2000-2010, after which In general stuff seems to be steadily going downhill in the name of economising. moral of the story- if you have equipment in my self set golden era, do yourself and your wallet a favour and hang on to it- keep it going and save yourself a load of grief. cue stories of how folks latest toys are so much better than the old ones!!

Yes, it’s a shame when the dealer lets the side down, it’s always worth mentioning your experience of dealers direct to manufacturer, doesn’t mean your a snitch but surely they have a right to know how their dealers are representing their products. I think I’m right in saying Hitachi excavators don’t have dealers as such anymore- sell more or less direct- could be wrong...

That’s just so bizarre. I get that they get tyre kickers and dreamers, but to get to the point where your about to give them the money and they’re still not bothered! i wonder if they all try to be too competetive for their own good- and the mark up/commision is so low it’s barely worth the hassle, I really can’t think of any other reason?

Iv never experienced this from dealers myself- almost the other toss of the coin. Beau did you try plant and engineering services Exeter, they are ausa dealers and I found them very responsive when looking at their volvos last year...

I disagree, the trade with Japan/Korea may continue as normal but why would you not want to support jcb/British if they are offering a quality product- not just diggers the same goes for anything.

I think the oil will be as clean as a whistle- not really much chance for dirt ingress as. Quite looking forwards to doing this now!

Ok- I assume with these it doesn’t matter what level the receptacle sits at? Unlike traditional syphoning where it has to sit lower than the tank your draining...

Superb- that looks like it would do nicely. Cheers eggs.

I guess it’s a way for a novice climber to get there foot in the door- an also for an employer to get someone (even if they are fresh faced) who they can train from the get go how they like things done- once they become more proficient then increase salary accordingly- I guess this would be advertised as a trainee role though not fully fledged.