kevinjohnsonmbe

That'll play merry hell with the log sales....

Bang out of order! Can't be un-read and is likely to cause sleep loss.....

Once I've fab'ed up an off-set bracket so that the brush is outside the wheel base it'll be very handy!

I haven't gone big yet, but the size of tree would be limited by the width of the jaws opening or the lift capacity of the base machine. Not dissimilar for either option I would have thought? It's not like placing a face cut or pushing over with wedges in the desired direction, the fell is with the direction of lean. I guess you could give it a tweak as it went over but it would be tricky and variable in effect. The logic was that if in a tight spot or accuracy was essential, it would probably mean this was the wrong tool for the job anyway. A grab would be better but it still presents the stability concern which would mean only a relatively small diameter tree could be tackled. If it were lots of small trees in a tight spot then, in that circumstance, I'd agree, the grab would be better... As with so many things.... Compromise on one aspect to gain on another according to your best guess of current and future need.

Service providers don't 'own' customers, the only situation where a service provider has a degree of control over a customer (notwithstanding contracts) is the option to to behave in such a way as to lose them....

It was a similar yes/no option, of course - but the question could not have been more different. What you appear to be suggesting, is that because it's a binary option, as before, the question is the same? Like shall I fly or shall I walk yes/no so they must have the same implications.... Bizarre!

The obvious flaw in the great (theoretical) philosophy you seem to be presenting, is that for it to succeed, it would require ALL parties / nations / races to subscribe to it in order that all of humankind might proceed in a common beneficial direction - together. It is doomed to fail, resulting in the dominance of one over the other, if only 1 or some parties subscribe to the philosophy where others don't. It's an extinction event for those that are tolerant and a dominant end game for those aren't. I wonder if there is any 1 single example of a cultural entity that might immediately spring to mind.... Shouldn't be too difficult, it is plainly written in their guiding doctrine....

That's not entirely accurate, and you aren't going to convince many here that you don't already know that Mr E! Are you suggesting that the 1975 referendum was in any way similar to the 2016 one in it's question or consequence? If so, you really are grasping at straws.....

The choice was a very considered one. Cut and grab has the potential to transfer high lever loads to a relatively small machine with narrow wheel base giving rise to the very real potential for toppling it over - not good, plus it's heavier. Fine on a big swing shovel but not on the smaller MO (just my view.). Plus, it restricts you to cutting out trees that stand vertical only. The restrictions of having a fixed plane cutting head are far greater than the advantages of the rotator. Cut and release provides the advantage, through the rotator, of a degree of directional felling capability but most importantly, allows for cuts from the vertical right through to the horizontal plane - an obvious benefit if doing hedge reductions or the first cuts of lower crown pruning etc. It is perfectly possible to cut and let fall, then pick up and transport using the shear, or fell, cut to length and stack so as to come back with forks or grab and lift a load for transport. I guess it depends upon the scope of the majority of the work the unit is required for - for me, cut and hold was the poor relation on all counts.

I haven't used the cone splitter a great deal Beau, useful for splitting billets and really gnarly stuff when sitting in the cab with the heater on and a coffee is more appealing that slugging away with the splitter. The significant benefit is that the 'bolt on' options are pennies really so it's the head unit that is useful and you don't loose your shirt if the bolt on attachment doesn't live up to expectation. For me, that which kind of sums up the appeal of the MO (and attachments like the BS rotator head) is that they are 'pretty good' at a lot of things rather than brilliant at 1. Not AS GOOD as any single purpose machine designed specifically for 1 job, but good enough at many jobs to be worthy of consideration. The wire brush is a good example, a purpose designed brush attachment has hydraulic swing out to the side, raise / lower etc - but it comes with an obvious financial cost, it needs storage space and you have to consider your transport options - plus it does 1 job really well. If I fab up a side load bracket I can achieve most of what a purpose designed attachment would do at a fraction of the cost.

Yes, absolutely they are! I started to think that just after I'd posted I remember thinking EXACTLY that last time I transmitted from LGA to Manhattan! It's truly desperate in the Burb's and it appeared to slowly get slightly better (like peeling an onion) with each 0.5 km closer to NYC.

Would never have happened under apartheid...... Just saying..... No need (for those that might feel the need to) to get all sensitive, it wouldn't have happened that's all I'm saying... Hey-Ho, can't stand in the way of progress.....

Type 'Black Splitter' into Youtube! Here's a good general PR vid: and here's the stump planer: and the wire brush (1 lesson learnt from using this; it's useful, but would be better if it was slung out to the side rather than on the centre line so I have to make up an off-set bracket so that I can get to the edge of paths without running the wheels of the machine up the verge (hope that makes sense)): and off on a tangent, a selection of attachments brought into use on a single job (the vid is a bit cheesy because it was made for the customer / parish mag) but it shows how a simple tree job can be upscaled into something much more comprehensive:

Prep'ping up a leg'o'lamb for roast tomorrow. Made me think back to this thread and saw some of Mendip's posts. Heart warming stuff just like the roast will be tomorrow!

It's not just the obvious candidate countries either.... A large proportion of the countries that Brit's holiday in are desperate places to live, hence only the beech and hotel resort or an organised tour are generally seen by the visitor. Downtown and up country are strictly undesirable, unsafe and unpleasant places (or to put it another way, poop piles!) Everyone knows it, it's an undeniable fact - should Trump have said it? I can see both sides - politician tells truth shocker v what he says has greater implications than what us minions say...

Same here, great to see the attachments and applications others are using the machines for! The auger question.. To complement the versatility of the machine, I went for the black splitter https://www.blacksplitter.de/englisch/. available in UK from http://www.exac-one.co.uk/Products/Timber_Splitter/Black_Splitter/index.html (and they are familiar with adaptions for MO) The rotator head allows for interchangable attachments - riddling drum, wire brush, cone splitter, auger heads of varying sizes, stump planer.... I've got the first 3 on the list and pretty impressed by the performance (I'm a bit less enthusiastic about the riddling drum which needs dry soil other wise it clogs terrible) Hoping to get sorted with the stump planer and some auger heads when time / need arises. It may be a bit more expensive than a stand alone auger initially, but the interchangeability of the heads makes it really adaptable and a saving can be made over the combined cost of individual units.....

Now THAT looks like a good movie!!

The chimp gives it back! Tribal squabbling leads to mass genocide, displaced millions, famine, disease, squalor? But even more terrifying..... Bob Geldof resurrection!

Maybe it runs at a different pace in different locations.....?

Tree contractor being liable? Liable for breach of contract (if not responding in within pre-determined timescale) but you’re not suggesting liable for the land owners hazard causing damage / harm are you Khriss?

Justine Greening out - well overdue! Muppet.... (I made a mockery of her when she did QT in Plymouth as head of DFiD! It was a pity it was the 'warm up' question before the cameras rolled otherwise she'd have been shown as a bumbling FW on national TV.) JRM not in......? What, are they scared of him or is he being sidelined in favour of lesser talent because he's the wrong gender / colour? https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jan/08/cabinet-reshuffle-whos-in-whos-out

Awwwwwkward....... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5245887/Critics-call-boycott-H-M-racist-advert.html

Said an Amey spokesperson....

It is said with a generous dollop of humour and irony Mull, perhaps encouraged, as Matelot intimates, by the seemingly endless tirade of similar (opposite) name calling by the more ‘delicate and sensitive’ types.... I’m sorry, I should know better, but it’s late, it’s Saturday night and it’s a bit of a giggle. Until there’s another indyref, it makes for good sport ?

Starting at the end and working backwards: Iraq now after 2 wars - better and improving. Not my words, not the words of a reporter with political biase. Those are (a heavily abridged) version of the words of the deputy mayor of Basra from a direct 1 on 1 online chat I had with him less than 2 weeks ago - we’re Facebook friends after forging the sort of deep personal respect and admiration that only comes from facing adversity together. Part of that conversation was a personal invitation to visit which I very much hope to be able to accept this year. Lest we forget, the population of the South of Iraq were historically deprived and habitually tortured by the Ba’ath party. And, similar to yourself perhaps, albeit possibly in a different scenario, I was ‘up threat’ for 1 and then spend an unforgettable period post 2, on the ground in Umm Qasr and Baghdad for the post conflict reconstruction. I think we could have a very interesting conversation if the opportunity ever arose - there may not be so much between our opinions as might be supposed. Trump - I was keen at the election stage (given the alternative.). Has he delivered? That very much depends who you choose to listen to. Is he coming across as an unhinged, nutjob? Unquestionably! Will we look back and compare achievements of Obama and Trump objectively? Some might, I think more will however, be blinded by prejudice. No denying, this IS funny (unless you take life too seriously):