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Matthew Storrs

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Everything posted by Matthew Storrs

  1. Matthew Storrs
    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.
  2. Matthew Storrs
    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!
  3. Matthew Storrs
    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.
  4. Matthew Storrs
    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!
  5. Matthew Storrs
    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!!
  6. Matthew Storrs
    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...
  7. Matthew Storrs
    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?
  8. Matthew Storrs
    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...
  9. Matthew Storrs
    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.
  10. Matthew Storrs
    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!
  11. Matthew Storrs
    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...
  12. Matthew Storrs
    Superb- that looks like it would do nicely. Cheers eggs.
  13. Matthew Storrs
    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.
  14. Matthew Storrs
    I don’t know- didn’t know they existed- google here I come. Seen cheap £10 or so manual syphoners- not sure what they amount to- but would like something relatively efficient.
  15. Matthew Storrs
    It might work- but personally I would find the model utterly frustrating and stressful employing in this manner. You would end up with the sort of baffoons who you either have to watch like a hawk or accept that they will probably end up breaking more in kit and ‘accidents’ then the savings you’d make by not paying for decent employees- and then just when you’d think you were getting somewhere with them- they’d bugger of on to pastures new! Hopeless.
  16. Matthew Storrs
    So last time I changed the 75 litres of hydraulic oil in my digger it went something like this (despite better intentions) - Reach up underneath the bowels of the machine in to some void I could barely get my hand into, faff around for an hour trying to get the 8 retaining bolts undone, place bucket to catch oil- release oil and completely miss bucket but instead shower myself and the workshop floor in 75 liters of oil, then spend more time than I’d like trying to get the bolts and seals back into place without seeing what on earth I was doing. Result- id sooner shift the digger on than do another oil change! Anyone reccommend a decent syphoning pump instead- or any other ideas for that matter! thanks
  17. Matthew Storrs
    Yeah was listening to that with interest- let’s hope ash doesn’t follow in the footsteps of elm and larch.
  18. Matthew Storrs
    Are JCB diggers actually made in uk still- I get that it’s a British company but it be nice to think they were still brutish built too?
  19. Matthew Storrs
    I used to have a 400 and my dad had has the PTO version. i wouldn’t say they were a machine for the professional firewood merchant, the build quality is probably not up to regular heavy use. They are however a pretty good economical alternative and my dad has split plenty with his without issue over the last 8 years. If your tractor has the hydraulic omph look at the split fire splitters- different ballgame interms of engineering quality but also quick as you you alternate as can split each side of the splitting head- less waiting around for ram to retract.
  20. Matthew Storrs
    Definitely- jcb mini diggers seem to be up there with the best of them now- nice to hear.
  21. Matthew Storrs
    I think the point is if your managing to pay yourself £90k in your first year of trading then your probably wasted on tree work!
  22. Matthew Storrs
    Not as rough as your accounting is starting to sound but if your saying that’s turnover then I assumed you employ a groundie at a rate you’d be happy to earn yourself, taken in to account the £30k you’ve shelled out on kit and associated depreciation, payed for all that advertising. Yard, Fuel, Maintenance, PL & EL etc. Who knows everyone’s situation is different. But I bet there isn’t a soul on this forum (aside from youself) paying themselves £90k with the above outlay @ £550 a day.
  23. Matthew Storrs
    Fair play- but a rough calculation says you if you go out with a 2 man team, truck chipper and usual standard tree gear- you’d be needing to clear £700 a day, after paying your groundie a decent wage and covering buisness costs you could probably pay yourself £90k if you did £700 220 days a year, Who can honestly say they do that on a one man band operation?
  24. Matthew Storrs
    Is that really a reality though- how many employed climbers are on £30k plus and more to the point how many tree businesses on here (or any where) are able to pay themselves £90k- very few I’d guess.
  25. Matthew Storrs
    Tilt bucket or even better tilting hitch has ability to tilt both ways. I think the VDS system is a clever idea but I’d like to use it in the flesh- for example if your working in deeper mud- can soil or rocks get trapped in the undercarriage when the cab sits back down- id be like to see the design of the ram and associated hoses- can they get damaged easily etc.

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