Matthew Storrs

Agreed- when it suits I think is the case here. It's easy to talk about being green and pretend to care about the environment as long it doesn't cause inconvenience to them what so ever:thumbdown:

Ikea and HandM too I guess.

Old Order of course.

Yes- happens alot to use/ despite having a pretty small cowl. Yet to roast one but I hear they make good eating so we'll see

Nice one- look forwards to the pics. You,lol have no problems with stability- the TB125 I have has the same track base and spends it's life with a heavy post knocker on Dartmoor and handling big granite rocks- it amazes me where it manages to stay upright. Interestingly the new tb125 I have just got came with a 900mm digging bucket- yet to use it but seems pretty big for the machine.

If the kubota has longer reach, longer tracks and no believe a bigger 4 cylinder engine you wonder where the extra weight in the Tak is to make the same- il bet it has a good counterweight and the king posts are always massive

That's interesting. Operator weight includes 75kg for the driver , so with you and the buckets you should be ok. Bateson also make a high payload trailer where you can take the ramps of easily and stick them in the pickup. Kubota kx71-3 is quite an old model now- I'm not sure what they have done along the way to keep up with the likes of the tb230 coming out. Out of interest what are you planning to use the digger for mainly?

Well done Foster- you've obviously put a lot of thought into that and nice to have auger/spike and rammer all in one place. Do you find you have problems trying to get posts in that are up against banks/wallls etc with the auger sticking out? I'm a big fan of digger mounted postknockers as you know for many of the reasons you have outlined. Quite often I use a plumb line with a small weight hanging of the post as I ram it in- you can get your posts just as straight as a spirit level and easy to adjust as your knocking it in

I always find Kubotas lifting capacity chart a little 'optimistic'. Even if it can lift what they say you are limited by it trying to tilt on anything but flat ground (on why these charts are based) I do believe if you run a defender you can tow the Kx71-3. It's 2.8t operating weight and buckets can go in the rear tub of the truck. The TB230 however is pushing it on the weight- I think it's over 2.9 machine weight if I recall. Wider and longer tracks are always a good thing- but I think you will find the TB230 very stable and it has a good hefty tail swing. Poor paint on Takeuchi, in 5 years time it will probably look 10years old (they may have improved newer models) but then again easy enough to touch up if your bothered about that kind of thing. I reckon it probably comes down to which dealer makes the best coffee. Honestly think you'd be chuffed with either machine

Yes- can definitely see the considerable advantages of a proper fixed rotating grab likes Stephen Blair has on his Cat, I may look at this on my new digger but For many on here running sub 3 ton machines I'd say the fixed grapple has a lot of advantages over the floppy rotating timber grabs for general arb work, loading trailers and clearing brash etc

I know kubota have a big following on here but whenever I drive another make of machine I just wish I was back in my Takeuchi. In my opinion Takeuchi are beefed up in all the right areas- the blade on my TB125 is more substantial than the 4ton kubota kx121 I looked at which had already been bent. The Takeuchi tb175 has twin rams on both the boom and dozer blade whereas most 8toners only have 1. Generally massive kiingposts etc. Taks have nice flat plate glass- easy to replace, all metal bodywork- which takes abuse well Everyone has their preferences of course!

I wouldn't be concerned about buying an older machine- I'd base it more on the machines wear and general condition than age. I recently went to look at a 2013 4 ton kubota kx121. Lovely condition but the bushes in the bucket tipping links were totally shot- it had done 4000hrs- and it was commanding strong money as it was still relatively young. By comparison I have just bought a used Takeuchi 3 tonner 2007- I can honestly say you would never find a tidier machine short of new- it was like showroom condition and had been barn stored all its life only clocking up 1000hrs. However it was a good price because essentially it was a 10 yr old digger.

My humble opinion is the standard fixed braced 3/2 tone grapples have a lot going for them in general arb and scrub type work. Firstly minimal outlay. But once you get fluid at using one in conjunction with offset boom you can stack timber pretty efficiently. They are mega tough you can rip out small stumps, knock round and roll big timber and perhaps most importantly you have far more loading height compared to a dangling rotating grab. Plus they are far more multi purpose if you undertake other works- landscaping rock handling and fence line clearance- Also with sub 3 ton machines you are slight limited what you can swing in a rotating grab with straggly brash etc because of cab contact, a fixed time grab you tend to knock brash piles in the right direction before you pick them up. Just my thoughts

Damned if he does damned if he doesn't is the impression I'm getting from most on here. Look at the reaction May got when she didn't visit the victims o Grenfell. Most MPs, and royals for that matter just go through the motions in general with visits, nodding and expressing concern, what else can they do?

Thanks for all your help everyone. Breezeblock- this is the valve I had in mind https://www.flowfitonline.com/hydraulic-valves/monoblock-valves/bucher-hydraulic-38-40-lmin-one-bank-single-acting-spool I'd have a thick hose as the return hose- not sure what size but I guess it's also limited by the 3/8 adapter connection too to get the oil to get back to the tank quick enough so the weight has maximum drop velocity?

It's true- I think turn it around and we all know what we would have wanted to do had anyone got hold of the Manchester/London terrorists- my blood was boiling just looking at the pictures of them.

I left school at 16 with a place in the Navy- I wasn't acedemic really and thought it could be a good progressive job, see the world etc. Joined the Navy, was medically discharged a week later (best thing that's ever happened as it happens!) So caught short I moved from my home On a farm I'd grown up on on Dartmoor and went to do a forestry course up at Barony college- eventually progresssd into tree work and worked for a good tree surgeon in the midlands for 4-5yeats before I thought I'd move back to Dartmoor and start on my own. That was nearly ten years ago and unlike most on here I have actually moved away from tree climbing and tree work in general, my business evolved into agri fencing digger work and Dry stone walling which I had always enjoyed messing around with when I was growing up and it's just gone from there really, can't think of anything I would sooner do now- including tree work! I think I prefer looking, walking amongst trees now than I do working on them:001_rolleyes:

Maybe- but I expect it comes down to size of company. I would prefer to earn 30k doing my own thing than 36k being someone else's slave. I think the bigger you become- naturally the incentive to earn more comes with it.

I agree with this- running any business large or small requires a considerable amount of stress and behind the scenes legwork. However, we all probably run our own show for different reasons- some may do if for mainly financial gain with the 'cap' only set by them. Personally I do it because I prefer the lifestyle- I can do jobs my way, when I like and the pride in doing a good job is alll mine, I earn a reasonable living from it- but money isn't everything- if it was I wouldn't be in this job.

for some reason the scene from About a boy comes to mind when Hugh grant has been made to listen to Marcus sing 'killing me softly' alongside the piano.

I'm setting up a postknocker to run off a digger- but I want to be able to control the hammer from controls on the postknocker rather than the digger. So I have a double/single acting circuit on the digger. But the ram on the postknocker is a single acting ram (same As on a tipper truck) so the weight gravity forces the ram back down. I'm looking at lever control spools but do I go for a single or double acting one? I don't want the hammer to drop when I let go of the lever- I want to press the lever the other way to make it drop so not sure which one I need. Cheers, Matt

don't worry about this they never go wrong:001_smile: Seriously though- any parts can either be sent or if they are fixing under warranty that's their problem? By the way my Takeuchi tn125 is for sale of you want it...

Post and rail for horses- I don't like concreting wood in the ground because it rots quicker- instead I buy 8ft posts and bury them deep- it's no effort to drill out a bit deeper with with my auger and the extra wood Is cheaper and less hassle then concrete. That's the theory anyway! Of course if I had concreted them in at 2ft I'd never have hit the pipes:laugh1:

Yeah, I hate delays that aren't my fault. I was doing a fencing job recently, customer insisted there were no underground services- they were building a house so knew where services were- well I went through 2 seperate water pipes with an auger 4ft down. Took half a day per fix including getting the fittings etc. So I wasted at least a day faffing around fixing pipes- I didn't charge them extra but felt I should have done really.

The new kobelcos are now made by YAnmar, only in sickly blue! OP- do you actually need a micro? They are generally only 20cm or so narrower than a 1.6t mini, but a 1.6t is much better suited machine for timber handling and you can get more height for loading truck etc.