Sleeches

Just for balance -

I bought a rideon mower from Chipperfield earlier this year as they were £400 cheaper than most.  Courier messed up the delivery so they sent their own van down to us to deliver the machine, a 170 mile round trip down to the Ashdown Forest.  Mower had been fully set up an PDI'd with a full tank of petrol ready to mow.  They responded well during the process and generally tried to do the right thing when the courier went astray.

Incidentally the rideon was a 42" Al-ko which has been fantastic.

Update - replaced the fuse holder but now when I turn the key I just get clicking from the solenoid and not engine turnover. Plenty of life in the battery but after a few seconds of this clicking I noticed the lead to the starter was warm so it looks like that's also knackered.

Replacing the starter is beyond my technical skills so off to the pros tomorrow for a look over.

Thanks - am replacing the fuse holder so will see if that fixes the problem.

Bit of a strange one - the main fuse in my Countax C600H has melted but not blown. The plastic has made its way into the holder so I've got a replacement which I'll fit this weekend but has anyone either seen this before or can shed any light on the cause?

When I try the key i can hear the starter clicking but not engaging the starter so suspect the solenoid is also fried but one thing at a time....

Cheers

I've got an unused 24" Alaskan which I was going to stick on ebay when I get round to taking some pictures. Drop me a PM if you're interested, I'm based in Tn22, Sussex and can break it down and post it.

What Hammond's actually done is a 2 year smash and grab on the self-employed to raise a quick £8bn. In the 2019 budget it will all be given back and more to shore up support in advance of the 2020 election as a way of presenting the government as the "party of the working man/woman".

Sort of like the "Squash and a Squeeze" book for those with kids - make things worse then when they are put back to their original state it seems like step forward.

Amenity.co.uk are doing them at £85+VAT for 1.2m high 50m rolls. Just bought a couple of rolls to do some woodland planting.

Tell them to change insurer. Any insurer who is spending this much time on a small domestic policy like this is going to be very poor at paying out claims. Their expense overhead loading will be huge so they will have to claw is back on the loss ratio which generally means not paying valid claims.

The only policies who should be going into this kind of detail before coverage are high value unusual ones, like very old places with little/no foundations or non-standard constructions like prefabs.

Stupid question - how to you chuck up the bowls once they have been roughed out? Does the bowl saver leave a spigot to chuck onto?

Yeah, it's still going great & has tackled a mountain of gnarly bramble (using an Oregon mulching blade for that).

The harness is pants, rubbish, so that's worth an upgrade.

Apart from that I just make sure the head is regularly greased.

 

cheers, steve

Another vote for the oregon mulching blade which I spent last weekend smashing through brambles that hadn't been touched for years. Easy to use and reduces everything to tiny pieces. Only small problem is it gets a bit angry when you ground it, plus I think it's a bit hard on the strimmer as the gears in the head now feel a bit loose and there is grease coming through to the spindle so I may have shot the bearings. Good job it's got that long warranty....

What I find crazy is how the powers that be allow it to get to this stage. I appreciate there are a lot of complexities to it but surely when it gets to a point that someone might owe you a billion euro then you start to seriously look at it. When they owe you 3 billion euro you maybe you put a team on.

 

I don't blame Apple in this scenario. They do what businesses do, maximise profit. Ethical, moral, decent - all a matter of perspective. Who I blame is the tax authorities for not doing their jobs properly. Closing down loop holes quicker updating rules and regulations and monitoring large companies. They are sh*t hot on issuing us small business and self employed with £100 fines if you are a day late filing your returns but will allow billions to to be lost from big players.

No loopholes here - Ireland runs very low corporate tax rates to attract companies to set up their operations there. Apple employs about 6000 people in Cork as a result, in addition to many other multinational companies.

This is the EU insisting that all countries have the same tax rates to create a level playing field, and they are instructing Ireland to collect the €13bn, which they will not do as every other foreign company will pack up and leave the country.

This is fundamental to Ireland's economic model so no surprise there are some grumblings over there around "Irexit" as a nuclear option.

Looks good - what's the insert in the bottom which presumably has your details on. Do you get those made up separately and drop them in?

Cheers

If you do get one, ask the seller about these common faults which will all cost you a fortune -

- cam belts as mentioned earlier

- front hub bearings which lasted only 80k on my first D3. You can feel the grumble from the front end just before they let go

- the air suspension hoses can work loose and rub, which leads to the pump running all the time and burning out.

- the HSE sunroof may was well be open all the time for the amount of water it lets in

- the suspension bushes are useless and only last 75k - reasonably big job for about £40 worth of parts. Some of the arms are cheaper to cut in two than try and remove.

- make sure its had the proper 3D wheel alignment. Few places can do this, and if not done properly (for example after replacing the suspension bushes) then you can wave goodbye to all 4 tyres in about as many weeks.

- electric park brake usually needs overhauling regularly - if not done then it will need it shortly

Other than that it's a great car to drive and tow with. Just be prepared to live with the running costs.

Well we seem to have been accidental accessories to ebay fraud.

We recently got a letter registered delivery which contained nothing but a blank piece of paper. No return address or other indication of the sender or its purpose.

The postie had seen a few of these about and dropped in at the weekend to confirm it was part of an ebay fraud where the seller sends out one of these blank letters to a different address in the same postcode instead of the sold item.

The tracking shows that the parcel has been "delivered".

Buyer claims item never arrived (which is correct) and gets a refund from ebay. Seller claims cost of item from Royal Mail.

After the recent shooting in America I think Trump will become the next President...

 

You look at conventional politicians and they come out with the "religion of peace" and "nothing to do with Islam". Trump says many migrants hate America and shouldn't be let in to America. I personally prefer Trump's stance.

Trumps reaction to this shooting is to propose a ban on immigration. The shooter in this case (and many of the other recent atrocities in the US) was born in the US, not an immigrant.

But it plays well with his target audience. Look at how the Brexit odds shortened hugely once we saw a dinghy with Albanians on the Kent coast a couple of weeks ago.

Our Florabest is still running and cutting great.

I've ordered an Oregon two tooth brushcutter blade for it today, for mulching a big wodge of bramble.... looking forwards to seeing how it copes with that.

 

Also thinking of getting a fixed line head for grass strimming duties but I'm not sure what to get.... can anyone help me decide? At the moment we've got a standard two line bump feed fitted.

cheers, steve

 

I have an oregon jet cut head on mine. Works fine with 2.4mm desert vortex line, struggles with the bigger flexiblade line. Gets a bit bogged down with the thicker stuff. I think the best option is to use the bump head with the vortex line - feeds fine, wears well and gives a good cut. Will be using it on brambles, nettles and balsam this weekend.

Thanks guys - i'll have a crack at jamming the disc and getting the blade off, otherwise its down to the repair show where they have an impact gun.

Thanks for the comments on the transmission itself - again I'll try and pull it apart at the weekend and see if I can isolate the problem. Shame it's such a cack design, and that the transmission is such a git to work on, but its put in a good shift so far (albeit only civilian use not pro).

I may have to get out the old Toro 20655 which despite being a pain to change heights and no stripes has been bulletproof.

Cheers

Afternoon

I have a Hayter 56 which is giving me some problems.

Firstly, when trying to remove the blade by jamming it with a block of wood, the nut turns but so does the clutch plate (and therefore the engine). Is there any way of pinning the crankshaft so I can get the blade off?

Secondly, the drive belts were replaced at the back end of last year and the drive is now very weak - there is some drive but it doesn't pull itself along at all as the roller stalls easily. Having looked at the drive unit, the rear belt (idler pulley to transmission) is completely slack, and is only tightened up with the ground speed controller. Strangely it is slack on the "hare" setting and tight on the "tortoise" setting. When I engage the clutch I can feel the transmission engaging but there as the belt is slack I'm assuming that's the reason for the lack of drive.

It may well be that I'm a complete numpty and just need to take it to the local repair shop for a going over, but was just wondering if there were any obvious fixes anyone with experience can suggest.

Many thanks

I'm surprised Wilderness Wood doesn't have any suitable kit or know someone who does. They do mostly chestnut products themselves but they probably know another local with mobile kit.

I've bought some shelving on there to pick up, messaged the guy to see when they're about and he wants PayPal before I turn up. You'd think cash is king to save paying the fees

If you take PayPal up front when selling it eliminates the "now I've seen it in the flesh I'll offer you less cash" scam which I have had before.

had the same problem, solved by replacing the chain oil cap which was not seating properly

Think the real clincher is the 3 yrs warranty! What major maker will give you that?

Warranty only covers us civilians, not the pros - "Please note that our devices have not been designed for use in commercial, trade or industrial applications. Consequently, the guarantee is invalidated if the equipment is used in commercial, trade or industrial applications or for other equivalent activities."

Not sure I've used a fixed line head before?.... do you have a link to the thread for that?

 

We've used it a few times now and it's doing a grand job so far.

 

But I do prefer using an Austrian scythe on bigger patches.... because it's MUCH quieter, without fumes and vibrations and cuts faster.

 

Strimmers are however much better on narrow paths.

cheers, steve

Here you go - http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/landscaping/91616-brushcutter-line.html

....rips!

 

Picked one out of the Lidl avenue of dreams today for £90.... just £90! £90! with a 3 year warranty.

 

It starts well, first pull and absolutely rips on full revs! It surprised me.

 

If it only lasts one season, or two seasons....then I can take it back for repair or replacement

And at only £90 whats not to like about that?!

Thanks for the tip - I braved the Lidl in Kemptown and picked one of these up. First impressions are that it's worth it for the £90. Just going to change the head for a fixed line one (as recommended elsewhere on here). Will report back if it proves to be a lemon.

Go to whichever email provider you use and they should have a section on settings to use when setting up mail on a Mac.

They will be something like this for hotmail/outlook -

Account type: POP3

Incoming mail server: pop3.live.com

Outgoing mail server (SMTP): smtp.live.com