Crazy Cutter

Its not wolf but original 87 4 cyl(disco now) with 3050 vin plate. Are the brakes on the salisbury axle the same as the HD 130 item? Chassis may get away without any mod do you think its spotless don't think this truck saw much service?

It's ex-mod so has the Hd salisbury, helper spring i can fit but does it need the beefy chassis? What do you require for the vin upgrade new truck is out of the question this ones an E only just run in!

Can anyone tell me how to upgrade a defender/110 3050kg to 3500kg heavy duty for the purposes of the VIN plate? I would guess heavy duty springs with co-xial helper springs but correct me if more is required and then what? Where do i take it to get the new plate? Anyway thanks in advance. Just feel the extra half tonne (nearly) will come in handy when VOSA send me to the weighbridge!

So just to be clear we will still all be on a reg licence as now but we should not breach the 50km/30mile from base rule? If that is the case how many tree surgeons are travelling more than 30 miles to a job currently? Anyway thanks for finding out.

I sell cord by the 4 cube trailer load in 4 foot lengths. I'm not worried about the end user we have a living to make so do it! The up-take hasn't been high though most would rather buy split.

I would guess the EU will be round to see you next for the child labour in your photo?

I've always said the climber is only as good as his groundsman? And the best groundsman learn't their trade felling for peanuts in forestry!

It just seems to get warmer and warmer here. Overcast grey all the time but mild and its warmer overnight so no log fires. They are forecasting 15 by the end of the week and no let up until December. This is usually my busiest time for logs but summer is currently better!

now thats a cracking price compared to softwood.

So we all carry on as before, be it towing a trailer with logs or chipper. What line do we take when pulled by VOSA and theres someone who doesn't understand the regs? The point i was making about the unladen weight is that you can then still use it to its max weight as long as its unladen weight is below 1050kg for the calculation.

No a 4x4 will still be exempt as dual purpose. Your chip isn't for hire or reward its part of your work, your chipper cannot carry goods so is fine. The 1050kg unladen weight is for the purpose of the rules they have to set a figure you will still be able to tow it full as long as below the train weight of 7.5 tonne then different rules start. The agricultural/forestry exemptions will still apply but wait and see. For hire and reward seems to be if you carry other peoples goods (which most of us don't) such as furniture, parcels, someone elses horse etc. They are only changing the standard OL licence which most of us were exempt from anyway. The disco 3 website has a letter from Vosa to Ifor Williams which explains a bit more i put a bit on here earlier.

Payment on delivery whether cash or cheque. It would seem log delivery's will still be covered by the forestry exemption. When i first started out over 15 years ago now i was told to get a credit history i had to use a credit card the bank then sold me one! I don't do credit cards they are the biggest scam out, what everyone needs to remember is when Italy goes down the tubes, your bank will be giving you a couple of months notice to clear your balance?

No. Only charge less over the summer when split logs are direct from the wood. Not charging less i see far worse advertised as seasoned.

I supply 2 cube seasoned 2 cube green or half seasoned depending on the customer. Why does the whole trailer need to be seasoned they won't burn it all tomorrow? I do tell them which is which mind.

Your credit rating must be better than mine!!

I think we have just got to somehow accept it? I gave someone 4 cube of the best bone dry stag headed oak last year burn't a treat on our fire, father told me yesterday he saw them have a load delivered by someone else on sat! No call this year to ask prices nothing so can only presume didn't like it now that does annoy me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two other threads going on this have posted reply today about possible exemptions.

You will need to check this for yourself. Those towing a trailer with their own goods will still be exempt if the un-laden weight of the trailer is 1020kg or below. Logs are still your goods until delivered. The people this will hit are removal firms. couriers etc who are moving other peoples goods using small trailers. The dual purpose exemption will still exist as well, which is 4x4s or vehicles with seats behind the driver(2040kg unladen?). So tree surgeons should be ok in a transit with a chipper as goods for yourself but check for yourself whether your employees are covered by drivers hours regs. It should also mean we don't have to worry about the 50km rule. Still haven't found out anything about trailer MOTs but maybe that will only apply to those who now need a OL?

What is the taxation class of your truck, PLG or commercial? There is a difference most 4x4 are PLG so are still dual purpose. As for the exemptions its really something agriculture would be fighting hard to retain so as they are so quiet i would guess the exemptions will remain for forestry and farming etc? Perhaps a farming arbtalk member could contact their NFU rep? (the union not insurance) to see if they know anything. Is there a difference between tree surgery, forestry, delivering wood or sawmills for the OL. We have sawmills delivering building timber here in Norfolk that are OL exempt and classed as forestry, is there a difference between that and log delivery's? You will also be surprised how restrictive 31 miles is going to be. On the subject of Credit Cards have you recently tried to obtain funding from a bank? We have been waiting now for 3 months for a simple low value re-mortgage to be approved and we also know someone who makes a half million profit every year without fail but was turned down for 100 grand mortgage!

This is what we were saying in the other thread 'coming to a county near you'. Somehow your wood supply needs to come from an independant source not from an estate which is part of the click. It really is all about who you know, their are no new people its just the same moving from job to job!

How do you take it? I'm hoping that the forestry exemption still applies and does that cover firewood deliveries by trailer? Do i need to log my hours? The trailer mot has been on the cards for a while, i have no problems with it but will we all need an mot on the 4th and where do we go, local garage or testing centre? Sensible answers please i think we all need to know the facts not guesswork.

Bugger that was me!!

What i like most now about log deliverys and being a small player is the fact that i have over 100 customers where i will stop, have a cup of tea and a chat! And struggle to get much more done that day! Thats where repeat custom comes from service? And we get a lot of cards at christmas.

Thanks for that a bit of fresh air. My only concern is that i don't cut or produce enough to keep the landowners happy because they think (whether right or wrong) that they could be making more. We all have limits unless you able to step up and go bigger. To tell you the truth i'm happy being a small producer (around 600 tonnes) but i'm forever being told to go bigger by those selling the timber. What does that say?

The bit that is worrying me the most is woodland will just be treated as a crop to make money which will in turn need large investment and large machinery forcing small fry like myself to call it a day. I can name four estates within ten miles of me that have obtained funding to develop a firewood business but i have access to nothing. I have spent thousands over the years obtaining the tickets and skills to hand fell but that accounts for nothing when a grant can be found and the average farm worker let loose in the woods just to fill time. There is no level playing field, the system has been developed over 30 years now, it is a very small community and relies on who you know and if you aren't part of the click you will be left out. I have considered moving to just buying in cord so i can avoid that side but the agii-estate has the buying power to spend more on cord than me. Those estates that set up a few years ago have already used up their own thinnings (the whole purpose of the grant) and now buy in cord. On the subject of the chinese, their economy is as fragile as ours and is already being hurt by our recession. They will only invest in something with good returns and wood is too volatile for that. The euro crisis could in theory damage the chinese more than us.