spuddog0507

Nice one that J a bit rough tho, i bet its one of yours 😂😂, We all do it and say it was some on else,s, One below was done by one of the lads on a farm i shoot, 3 saws later and still had to push it over with the loadall, One thing i have lern,t over the years is that any tree on a farm, cut it at 4.5 - 5ft above ground level as it will contain many years of fencing wire,

Hi i have a hired a pedestrian tracked dumper in now and then over the years sometimes for a week at a time, Never had any problems with them, but thats just like any thing else, its how its maintained, if just hired out and not given the once over it will go wrong at some point, we have had them on hire when we have been clearing windblown and just ringed the timber up ready for splitting, loaded dumper skip and away, run them some days for 9-10 hrs and moved some serious amounts of wood in the day with it and all been fine, saved our arse a time or 2 in the past with one of these when its either been to narrow or to wet for either quad or compact tractor to get in,, I think JCB have most things on either 0% or very low finance at the moment as there is 2 new diggers, a double drum roller and a Fast track appeared in the yard next to mine,

I Take it this is the big Oak log you have been on about ? Thought it was in the middle of a field ??

The Manx frame was originally a single front down tube that was called a garden gate frame due to it flexing in corners, Rex mcandlles was asked to design a more rigid frame that the Manx engine would fit in to, he came up with the Manx Featherbed frame and how that got its name was from Harrold Danniels a works Norton rider at the time, he went out testing it and when he returned to the pits he was asked what it was like, he just looked at pit crew and said its like riding on a featherbed,, and that name has stuck with it, Norton raced the new chassis at the TT in 52 with i think 4 Nortons in the top 6, so not bad really, they then went on to dominate the world championships, with the likes of Geff Duke, Bob Mc who was the fist man to do a 100mph lap of the TT course in the 50s some 70 years ago, If you zoom in on the photo you will see that the rear subframe is bolted to the main frame hence why they got called a bolt up back end frame, Norton had great success with the chassis and decided to trial it in some of there faster road bikes, so they made some in the same Jigs as the Manx frames was built in and they sold well, the bolt up back end frame was made for the road bikes from Oct 53 - Feb 55 so not a long run really, from Feb 55 they had a welded back end to speed production up and the design was changed slightly as it was many times later, The Tube used was all Reynolds tubing but the Manx race bikes got a higher grade steel than the road going versions, and as you say is correct, Norton would only sell the full bikes and not the engines, and yes they were fitted in to race cars and there was a lot of Manx frames that ended up with a Triumph engines in them, when i went to buy the one i have i noticed the bolt up back end and stood there hoping the frame number started with a M but unfortunatly it was a J , after buying it i did a bit of reserch on the frame (very ltd internet info back then) so i had to ask the old boys i knew about it, some i visited and was asked many times is that a Manx frame, one old guy i knew worked for the Norton works race team from the mid 40s till the end and he was the man who made all the alloy tanks for all the works race bikes, i have a brand new 5 gallon hand made Alloy tank for this bike made by the said bloke, its upstairs in the wardrobe in a box wrapped in bubble wrap, its a true work of art, I hope this is clear for you to read and makes sence but unfortunatly many Manx and featherbed frames have been written of over the years and to find a good original frame is now getting hard to find, i bought several back in the 90s as they wernt that sought after then, i had about 8 once over but sold all but one now but, when i paid from £70- 150 for each frame and sold them for £500 it wasent a bad investment really, If i can find a photo of a mates Triton i will post it, Its 56 with a 820cc Puma Westlake motor fitted and its a genuine 140mph + bike,

The Triton has a lot of history with it, the bloke i bought it off was in Melton Mobury, he bought the bike new in 54 as a Dommi 500 in Brighton, he got married sold the bike to a mate and moved north, he then bought the bike back some 40 yrs later minus its original engine, at this time the bloke had become involved with the CRMC classic racing motorcycle club, he aquired the T100 motor and fitted then continued to build as is in the photo, The bike has done track days parade laps etc, i have some timed lap printouts some where with his best lap at Donnington being around 80mph and there is a certificate for a lap of the IOM at the manx GP with a time of 89.7 mph,, I have a fully rebuilt 740cc motor with all brand new internals to slip in it one day, a lot of the younger lads i know with bikes think its just a piece of slow old junk ? until they look round and see that your still there with em,

Might be of interest to a few of you, its something i bought back in the 90s as more of a investment than to ride, but it does put a grin on your face when out on it, 1954 Triton, the frame is one of the very first Norton featherbed frames and according to frame number it is about 7-8mths in to production, this frame would of been made in the very same jigs as the first Manx featherbed frames where made in but mine will be heavier tubing, Engine is a 1952 Triumph Tiger 100 500cc lightened and balanced crank, big valve head and race spec cams this is coupled to a Triumph Slick shift 4 speed gearbox and geared for 110mph as it is, Norton long Roadholder forks, Manx swinging arm, Borranie alloy rims, Norton twin leading shoe front brake, 5 gallon tank, clip ons, rear sets, Coned open megaphone exhausts, Bike goes very well stops reasonably well and corners like its on rails, its a absolute dream to ride, Day light ride only as no electrics at all only the mag for ignition,

I take it you have bought one of the new Stihl MS170 injection turbo models then 😂😂

I was watching a old episode of Till death us do part, with Alf Garnett the other night and there was a quote in that which i pissed my self laughing at, he was on about voting and he came out with , they have to vote Labour because they cant spell Conservative, that did make me laugh, but we need to remember what the country was like when that program was made back in the 70s,

Thats me now, i look at every thing and where it,s produced, i would sooner pay a bit more for something that is made in the UK, even beer i have given up with the big commercial brewers and now just support the local smaller brewers, and there is some top class real ales about now,a days,

simple, just avoid it as i here its not good in small engines, i know of one or two who have had problems with saws this last wk or 2, just buy the V power or Ultimate and you wont have any problems,

Can hire you a fast road tow log splitter 😂😂😂😂

Yes there was a lot handball unloading, The said load on the Wagon was for the water board, fencing posts for a pumping station some where on the outskirts of Carlisle, the concreate Co my dad worked for did a lot of water board stuff, and he tells me most of the sites where small and remote and they might of had a dumper and a mixer on site and that was it so all posts unloaded by hand, Back then every one just got on with it and did,nt moan about much not like today,

I think they did offer him something like that but he had had enough driving by then and they wanted someone else in the garage maintaining a growing fleet so he took that job instead,

That confirms then what i so the other day on the A59, 8 or 9 arctics pulled up for a brew or a butty and all where 50+, Photo added below is back when a lot of young men wanted to drive a truck, photo was taken circa 1962/63 of my Dads wagon a 1958 Dodge 350 loaded with concreate posts for a water board job near Carlisle the morning after, back then it was nearly a days job doing that run as we have to remember there was no M6 back then so it was from just north of Preston, pick the A6 up and through Lancaster, Carnforth and Kendal and then the long hard climb up over Shap fell on the old A6 not as it is today, down in to Penrith and then on to Carlisle, That run today would take about half the time as compared to back then and its not the trucks its he road net work we have now, He drove till the early 80s but the company he drove for was changing every thing to arctics and he only had class 2 but he got a chance to go on to maintaince,,,

Dont worry about it, there will all ways be another, i have been looking from one end of the country for a old twin axel feed wagon chassis on the smaller supper singles for last 9 mth with no joy and then i find one round the back of some buildings at a farm we shoot on about a mile from my yard,, but thats what happens, that grab on your trailer i had a look at it on Tues what does it open up to that one is it the 1300mm one ?

Your a bit late here, 2 trailers rolled up in the yard next to me a few month back, 2 grain trailer with hydraulic metal covers on them and hydraulic tail gates, one will be 18ft and the other is 16ft both on decent floatation tyres and very tidy, Lad bought them to transport sawdust in and they came out of Skipton auction about 4/5 months ago,

Some varied weights coming up here, i think some of these are dried weight ? but from the blue book by the FC, from the sizes provided 10ft 3.1mtr x 3ft ,92mtr your log comes out at 2.06 cube and Cedar being 1.12 cube per tonne when fresh felled so i make that 1839kg give or take 25kg either way so your digger is a tonne short on lifting power, most timbers are around the just over a cube per tonne except Oak @ .94, Beech @ .97, Elm @.97 and Scotts Pine @.98,,,

Yes Carl round the corner with recovery/car transport tucks offering £15.50 an hr £50 call out and paid time n half on call outs, 25 days paid holiday and 20 paid sick days, the lad who jacked on him Carl said he was paying him on average £700-900 a week, his add for drivers has been live for 4 mth and not one enquiry ?

Yes all good lads to work with and no harm intended and yes every one looked out for each other, there was a plumber who was and every one thought he was a arsehole and so full of him self had a do at the old Irish lad with the barrow brush n shovel as mentioned above, a lad called paul a cockney chippy went to sort this plumber out and while he was talking to him inside some other lads emptied his van and buried his kit hence we didnt see him again but the old Irish lad was salt of the earth and would not do any one any harm to any one,

Yes but we are not polatician,s so that dont count, if it looked right on paper on the day and it ticked a few boxes it was right !!! no foresight what so ever !! One thing i do stress to the younger lads who work with us is, Dont just think about today and tomorrow be thinking where you are going to be i say 5,10,15 years from now and be planning forward, but look at things from all angles,,,

Please correct me if i am wrong here, but i would say the move on the driving liecences is mainly down to the drastic lack of HGV drivers that have not come through in the last 20 yrs, things where made that difficult and expensive for some people to go and do it and no one wanted to go down that rout ? We now have a massive shortage of HGV drivers all across the board and this has been the knock on affect from the change in 1997, ? Sat a snack bar on the A59 near Gisburn north yorks on Tues and there is a lot of HGV drivers use that spot but all who pulled up when i was there about 8 or 9 of them they were all 50+ !! so where are the younger HGV drivers ? they arent there and this is why we as a nation are having some supply problems to retail outlets, Builders supplies near me have wagons sat in the yard and last wk i met the MD driving a wagon n drag loaded with concreate blocks, they have been looking for drivers for last 9 month and a guy round corner from me cant get any one to drive recovery car transport trucks either,,,,

FFS its just been confirmed then that the world has gone MAD Who and how much do these people get paid to think this shit up ??? its becoming a very crazy world we live in, Donkey & Carts are on the horizon for some of us,

Nor me only the one i mentioned and he was only on a brush, shovel and a barrow tidying up, and yes lads from all over the country,

I dont know about a site full of pissed up Paddys ? at least they wernt of there tits on weed ? i can only remember Paddy with a drink problem and he got nowt right till 10olock when until he had had his 4 cans of Export after that he was fine, as Skyhuck says they where mostly self employed lads on Piece rate and it had to be right or it didnt get signed off which equalled no pay till it was done right. what we have to remember is these lads on the tools where taught there trade either as a apprentice or by hands on, Then the foreman on these sites was generally 50+ but he had probably spent 30-35yrs on the tools his self before getting the foremans job and you could not hide anything from em, not like todays foreman/site suppviser who is fresh out of collage with a certificate to say he can do it ? and back then there was no Facbook , whatsapp or mobile phones to piss about on all you did was work and if you needed to make a phone call you went to the site office, it is much much different today ,sorry,

Well that just about sums up most of the younger Uk work force for today, i feel sorry for you,, no sence No drive No hope !!!! only happy doing F - - k all !!!