Matthew Storrs

In the words of Sting, It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile! Actually a stern word has far deeper effect than violence, even if it is met with mocking at the time, the words always linger in their mind. Tampering with my flask or lunchbox though is punishable with death:sneaky2:

OP- why did you have to post this, that's pretty much my ultimate truck and not a million miles away either

I used to be a zetor fan (still am in a way) but I had two older models and the reacurring problems I had were, crankshaft seeks (and indeed most seels on the tractor) just couldn't seem to keep the oil in despite having them changed by a good agri engineer. Then there was the brakes- or rather lack off- spent my life trying to keep them vaguely effective, or at least one side! Hydraulic are very weak and the last straw for me was when the hydraulic system only worked when pointing uphill despite full oil and new filter, they both got sold to Poland and yes the parts are cheap but the constant downtime isn't. Got newer Same tractor now and it's not let me down in nearly 3 years. I still think Zetors are good basic tractors but I'd only have another one if it was never going on the roads and I had plenty of time on my hands! Iv heard the new zetors are pretty good now though.....

Iv had 6 Stanley flasks of all different sizes, and out of the 6,4 have failed within 2 years- they just loose all ability to retain the heat (how can they go wrong???). Someone mentioned the Tesco one, 1 litre, costs a fiver and has a proper screw cap, not a gimmicky push pour which is hard to clean and leaks, they are brilliant flasks IMO and keep it hot well past the day is over.

I did my trailer test in a new l200, powerful isn't a word I'd use to describe it when towing, but nice enough ride though, however the clutch used to stink just backing the trailer up a small incline (and no I don't ride the clutch!). This alone would be enough to put me off particularly for Beau shuttling around Devon lanes.

Look at what landies are fetching on EBay- mine is worth the same money as when I got it 8 years ago. Its cost me little more than tyres and servicing so pretty cheap motoring in my book.

Im going to get mine done when it needs it, id sooner spend the 4K on a known vehicle, then take my chances with another used vehicle, and buying new isn't an option for me cos the alternatives aren't fit for work trucks and they all depreciate too quickly

So it will cost say 4K to do, in its current state, you will lose more money selling it and paying for a newer landy with a decent chassis IMO. I guess it depends long term what you want to do and if you think any 'cheaper vehicle could do its job if you were to sell it- but if long term it is worth spending the 4K. Plus 100k miles is nothing, should easily do twice that and you'd still get good money for it if it was galvanised.

Now we are talking!!

Fairly sure the thwaites 4000 is actually a 2 tonner (quite a misleading name!) in which case to get a forklift, postknocker and the dumperbase unit all towed behind a pickup would be a very convenient setup- but still maintain it would be dreadful in soft ground- the other day I had a 3 ton dumper on hire- I thought the ground was ok as my digger sailed over it with barely a track mark- but Upton loading the dumper it pretty much sank to the front axle and required a wee tug to get it out of its hole again:blushing:

Whilst in practise that does all sound good- it requires a fair bit of modification and obviously the base unit dumper and forklift, but once finished I can't really see the advantage or even cost savings of it over a simple tractor and loader(with pallet forks) and knocker on the back, at least it could get itself to jobs- whereas I wouldn't fancy going far in a dumper!!

A tow ball would be a must, not for road use, just pulling trailers across muddy fields and the like. I see what you mean about junctions but as you say a sideshift model would stick out less than the bucket would.

All good ideas from everyone- perhaps I should explain, I currently mount the post knocker on the back of the tractor- great setup but I don't fence full time and the tractor is tied up in only one task pretty much (fencing), however I do a lot of stone walling with big lumps of granite and heavy landscaping work which puts my 3 tonner on the limit all the time, so i think a lot of the work could be achieved with a backhoe running alongside 3 tonner, but in order to get a decent backhoe I'd sell my tractor, leaving me with only the 2 machines from which I still need to be able to utilise for fencing jobs, I have knocker on 3 tonner anyway but could do with more adjustment and hammer weight which I'd like to try and achieve with backhoe, hence fully hydraulic adjustment loader mount idea. I like that dumper mounted knocker, but my experience of wheeled dumpers in soft ground is that they are generally pretty apt to sinking! Also that particular one would require low loader to move. Actually I seem to spend my days trying to work out how to cover maximum work variation with minimum amount of machinery- yet like to have decent machine for the job, always a juggle....

- industry standard hitch? Are you referring to the brackets on the post knocker. I would hope I could get a quick hitch on the digger so changing between knocker and bucket isn't too dramatic! I'm sure protech could make me a knocker with the right brackets for it. Eddie- good call on the 4cx, they look far more convincing for my application but not so many of them on the market, this one I found on mascus JCB 4CX Backhoe loaders, Price: £21,997, Year of manufacture: 2001 - Mascus UK. Which looks tidy but otherwise they are far and few between? I guess it's a case of keeping an eye on the market and being ready to travel when they arise. I notice that the terex backhoes and also Volvo have wider front tyres than most jcbs, the local water board uses a Terex to clean out all the leats running across the peat moors up here, seems to work for them without issues.

Yes I imagine that whether it is a post knocker or a 4 in 1 bucket they'd be about the same in the wet. Actually I don't think they are too bad if it's just mud but essentially hard underneath the problem I think would be boggey ground like peat etc. I have a smaller tracked digger which I would use for these kinds of jobs. When I think of most of my fencing jobs there is nearly always digging or grading to be done so thought the 3cx would be a good option I think the protech P22 mounted on the front would be best as it's nice and close in and reletively lightweight (800kg).

Yes, I like the idea but in practise I don't think I could get on with that setup, I work mainly on my own so could be hard getting the post in straight, I'm not sure the vibrating ones have the same kind of power and traditional falling weight types. If I mounted one on the front it would have all the controls on The knocker itself so I can get every post nice and straight with adjustments etc.

Yes I remember seeing pictures of it. Do you pull it behind the tractor on a trailer? This is the main concern at the moment is travelling with it on the front on the road not so much because of the weight but more the visibility and it would stick out the front som way- that said I'd be happy to trade the knocker in for a side mounted variety if I thought the setup would work.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this, what I'd like to do is remove the 4in1 bucket (which I think weighs little less than the postknocker I plan to mount) and in its place put my wrag swing round model on instead. Problems I think I may encounter is unstabilty and when travelling on the road the mast may block a field of vision to an extent. But on the face of it id have thought it could be a good setup as the back actor can still be used whilst on site and I can position as a counterweight if on steeper ground. Downside I guess is not sure if it'd be much good if it the ground got soft..... Thoughts would be appreciated

How many people now have that scene from Wayne's world in their head!

But if my arm must be twisted- il have a Jaffa cake please

But mincpies. Sorry to say but iv yet to have a homemade one which I prefer over shopbrought

YEs, that one certainly looks more controlled. I think it depends what sort of work you are doing, your link would definitely be better at scrub clearance and thinning etc but the one I linked to would have the edge for more arborial/sectioning trees etc with the 360 rotation and a more nimble machine in amongst canopies etc.... Iv yet to get a price

Watch this. I'm well impressed what a small machine is capable of- on the right job and a good operator id say they are well worth having. Im looking at one for my 3 tonner for all the scrub/blackthorn clearance jobs

I saw 2 Takeuchi tb125s on Mascus the other day both with excess of 8500 hours and apparently still in good working order. My own Takeuchi tb125 has 4500 hours, it smokes a little more on start up than a new one and there is a bit of play in the kingpost but It honestly dosen't feel much rougher to operate than a brand spanking new one and it has barely (needed a new thermostat at 3200 hrs) had a spanner to it in those hours, hoses and new tracks aside. It is worth noting that a national plant hire firm had it for the 1st 3000 hours so its not had an easy life with them or me. The key is regular servicing of ALL fluids and filters and a heavy hand with the grease gun. Just judge each individual machine when you look at it rather than concentrating too much on hours. check track motors are both tracking straight, wear/roughness in the slew bearing, pins/bushes, these are the components that can be abused easily whereas the engines on minis generally purr along powering a pump and isn't worked overly hard. IMO- based on operating cost per hour- it is probably cheaper to buy new. They hold there value so well that if you keep it for 3-4000 hours and sell it on it is likely that it wont cost you much if any in repairs/downtime and you will get a healthy return to sell it on at this stage and let someone else have the problems that may start to appear.