Matthew Storrs

This works with electrics does it? Gas?

Oh I would be long gone by the time the street lights came on:laugh1: In all seriousness that is a good point though- but im no sure how you can use a genny with a non hollow pipe like a street light as you can't put the lead up through the pipe? TBH even if it could detect electrics and BT lines I would consider it money well spent.

Well we went through a gas line today whilst installing post and rail fencing- and the auger just missed an HV electrics by an inch or so:thumbdown:. I want to buy as good a CAT and Genny as I can for under £1500- a few pipe detections will soon pay for it. I got a bit of info about CATS of the utilitity boys who fixed the gas but in general I have little knowledge of these them and would like to know what to look for when buying, any particular makes... Thanks, Matt

sorry:laugh1: I love the exac1 site- get all sorts of ideas.

is this your grab Exac-One Ltd - Mini Grapple Seems like they have different grabs for bigger machines

Wouldn't you be worried about bending/breaking atachments on the 7 tonner? I was comparing my grab to one on a 7 toner the other day- they both opened up roughly the same amount but the 7 toner one was twice the metal....

Sounds good. I'm sure having a big machine will open up a lot of jobs for you. I'm really not sure why I haven't got a tilting grader as almost every landscaping job I wish I did:001_rolleyes:

in a similar emergency I once ground down a pair of old pliers to a fine point and these worked so well I never bothered buying a new set of circlips!

You'll need a big hiab to load the back of that trailer Harry! What will it be used for, timber?

Got a Tanaka and the biggest Kawasaki brushcutter they made- Kawasaki beats Tanaka hands down in almost every aspect. Tanaka- poor starting from new, weak material-very easy to strip threads etc, it also has a hedgetrimmer attachment and this doesn't leave as clean cut as my Kawasaki hedge trimmer. Kawasaki brushcutter- excellent starter and very reliable (5years and never had a tool to it apart from a grease gun) only slight downside is the vibes are a little higher than id like.

Well done Stephen!, proper job! Look forwards to seeing pictures of that- I assume it will be a large version of your current one with the demo grab etc? Is that new or used?

i think theres a difference here, being offered a cup of tea and accepting is fair game, its on the customers terms, but wearing a t- shirt asking for it/sending a pre text or whatever else people do to goad a cuppa tea is rude, you are being payed by them to do a job not have them wait on you. Anyway why not just bring a thermos- that way you can have it when you like it and how you like it- and theres no waiting around for ages whilst someone makes you a brew when really you just want to crack on and get back up the tree:lol:

Couldn't agree more. nothing more unprofessional than turning up and spending the 1st half hour drinking tea. Me- I rarely work in an urban environment so always take a thermos with me. stop at 11ish for a quick break and then 2ish for a bit longer. If I was working a day rate- I would hate to think the customer thought as me being lazy and sitting round drinking tea all day so I don't take the p*ss in that respect. I'd prefer they called upon my services another day because they thought we were hard workers.

The trouble I have had in the past when fencing for farmers is say I get a job of 3000 meters spread out in various different fields, a strain of 300 meters can work out quite good money but when the strains are down to 100 meters or less (much less in some cases) the price per meter is still the same and I simply can't get the meterage up with the short lengths to make it pay- the process for doing 300 meter strain is much the same as a 50 meter one ie you still have to put in the strainers/struts and go throught the same wire tensioning process. Now I tend to set the meterage rate based on how long the strains are- a 20 meter stretch isn't going to work out cheap- buit a 300 one will seem quite good value to the customer. When I started out I must have worked for nothing on soo many occasions- lack of decent equipment/knowledge and not taking ground conditions seriously enough at the quoting stage- you will learn as you do more. Also the more you do you get systems going which make you far more efficient.

I stick a bar through the reel then stick it in one of the holes where the canopy bars are meant to go on a landrover pickup- can unroll 200meters of barb in about a minute! Otherwise 2 of you one on each side of the bar makes it sooo much easier but I used to do it on my own a lot using your method and always felt like I had biceps like popeye by the time I got to the end- worst was when it was unreeling and the barbs snagged on your jumper- ripped many jumpers/skin in this fashion!

I would be very wary of this combination myself tb016 + 800mm flail. in order to use the flail efficiently you will want to be able to slew and flail at the same time plus small arm movements to. I used to have a Takeuchi tb016 and as an example if I was tracking along then arm movements at the same time would be very limited/low power. Not saying it can't be done- but take the stated specs with a pinch of salt, there are a lot of variables to consider.

IV got a RSL engineering 5 tine grab on my 3 tonner - well over engineered and really well built- I use it for shifting granite boulders/ timber the lot and its hardly worn at all over a years constant use. I had a Digbits grab before- well built but I thought it was far too small for the machine they said it was built for.

Id say with the Ifor (3500kg models) you will struggle to find better in terms of the chassis and drawbar design/strength, however I have found the dropsides to be pretty poor quality to be honest with rivets constantly coming lose and the hinges fairly easy to bend if you are a bit heavy handed. I do quite like the very basic bolt together arrangement though of their trailers and mine has stood up to fairly consistent heavy use over the last 6 years. Has any one any experience of Nugent or Bateson trailers? I think if/when I renew my trailer I will look at these manufacturers. Good payload is all well and good but it does mean a lighter built trailer which perhaps won't hold up over the long term. There are materials out there now which can be incredibly light AND strong but I guess it comes down to costs as ever.

Depends on the price I would say- it would have to be pretty cheap to be worth it to be honest, I can't speak for the newer JCB minis but the few sub 3 ton ones I have used have been pretty gutless. the Takeuchi tb016 I used to have had bags of power in comparison.

I'm the same as you Stephen, been working with my 3 tonner for 18 months now- I couldn't live without this size of machine given how many jobs it has been used where access is restricted, but now I think I could use a 5-8 tonner a fair bit too. I also think it could really expand my options for work too and hiring kit has problems written all over it. IMO after 3 ton you start to get a lot more metal for your money, transport is also an issue for me- I have a tractor but a decent low loader trailer is 7k or so and that'll pay for a lot of haulage where I wouldn't have the added hassle of keeping legal etc. either a Takeucho tb175 or tb145 would suit me nicely- I just can't see past Takeuchi's but they do hold their value like no-ones business.

I'm going to stick my neck out and say, I like a good quality instant as much as filter, carte noire does it for me, not too strong either, I,d prefer 2 cups of weaker coffee than 1 strong one. if ground coffe I have taylors Lazy Sunday. Give me a cup of tea any day- I drink that by the gallon.

Mine is 6550kg GTW, landrover itself can be 3050 and can also tow 3500kg. this is a 110300tdi hicap. I believe most 130 landrovers can be 7000gtw

I have had 4 tons of additional weight on my landrover today- in my experience its not necessarily how much weight you are towing but how hard you push it. I don't force anything with mine for example with long uphill drags I just select a nice comfortable low gear where I don't have to have my foot to the floor to keep it going and just chog my way up- yes it might only do 20mph up a hill with 3 tons on but my tractor wouldn't do it any faster either. I agree, maintenance is key and just being in tune with your motor.

300 tdi hicap of mine tows 2.8ton digger with 500kg of attachments in the pickup bed- and its not flat here on Dartmoor either! Brilliant truck!

I love the scene with the tax inspectors in his caravan and farts.