spikeymikey

The main reason people don't like it is because of the way it looks, I think it looks ok and doesn't stand out from a distance. X fence isn't the cheapest but its an excellent very rigid net, so much easier to pull up than hinge joint and goes much tighter. A good clipex fence, correctly installed is like a big elastic band and very tough. The one we are doing at the moment with the beefy posts is like a wall. Its a lot quicker to erect and no stapling. Another factor is how compact the materials are, you can get 4 x the amount of posts in the same space as timber which is good where access is bad. The only thing I don't use a lot of is the strainers as they are very expensive so use creosote ones as they have more hold for turning and are a lot cheaper.

Whatever posts you use don't skimp on the straining posts. I try and advise all my customers as they are the most important part of the fence and as long as they last the posts in the middle can be patched up as and when. I buy telegraph poles by the artic load and cut them to suit depending on the job and they work out good value. Failing that buy the best pressure treated creosote strainers you can buy, it will more than pay off in the future. Make sure your struts are creosoted too and if not use box strainers. And then I would use clipex inters, standard ones @ circa £4 every 4 metres is cheaper than wood every two and that will last for a long time! I am currently doing 10km of 9' 6-7" creosote strainers with clipex beefy posts every 2.5 metres which is overkill but one hell of a fence!

Its all very well knocking all the posts in by hand and leaving the machine at home but wait until your 50 and your joints are knackered and your bodys worn out. A decent tracked knocker can be bought for less than a years wages will knock in 10ft strainers all day in most conditions, carrys all your tools and materials and requires one man to operate. in my opinion its a no brainer. Let the machine do the hard work and leave the mel at home

make one with a gas tight double skin and pump it full of hydrogen, failing that leave your plastic petrol cans near the locking pins or hinges, full of course

A Magnum will be your best value for money, a hell of a tractor for relatively not a lot. Claas aren't Renaults any more and besides the Renaults weren't a bad machine the ones with the mwm engines were good tractors.

You will be fine with a gripple and gripple tool, you can tension 200m easy like this, just cut wire in the middle, put a gripple in, tie both ends and tension with the tool. I would then leave enough wire sticking out so you can re tension in future if needed. If you are doing long stretches then you could use a jumbo gripple over a plus. Monkey strainers are a must if your are fencing all the time but in this situation I would and do use gripples as described

Where abouts is it? I could do that possibly if its not too far away

Yes it was! I have kept the wrag though to go on the tractor, only reason for swapping to protech was because they did the proper kit for my dumper with the right pumps, fittings, handbrake kit etc. Still rate the wrag though, much better finished than the protech. I recently sold a wrag digger knocker and if I was buying one again for a digger I would go for one. They have a proper mast and if you get one with side tilt its a really smart machine. Also if you get it rockspike ready you can take rockspike off your other machine and put it on which is handy!

I agree with Matthew there, side shift is a must and much cheaper in the long run. I bought a second hand auger that goes on my front loader and have hardly used it, I would much rather knock them in. I have just upgraded the wrag on my tracked dumper to the p22 protech with rockspike and 300kg weight and that knocks 8"x8" squares no problem. I would also prioritise a rockspike over a bigger weight too, if a posts not going in due to an obstacle then a bigger weight wont help but a rock spike will.

I would be charging £3/metre for the stock fencing, never use gate posts as strainers!!my pet hate! £120/gate, remember its not just the hanging of the gate and fitting the furniture its the break in the fence and all the strutting and extra pulls for the wire that costs you time. Make yourself a big twister and knock the square posts in, I cut a tiny bit off the weathered top, point the other end, send down the rockspike and drive them in. A bit more work than using rounds but still wants to be £100 using round posts. Im not fussed about working for nothing these days, I do a good job and charge accordingly, if they want to use someone cheaper, no skin off my nose.

Quinn farm services would be my bet

If you want a secure shed/door, you need a good steel frame building with concrete panels 4 high and a sliding door consisting of concrete panels on rollers in a steel frame that can only be opened by means of a winch or hydraulic rams that need electricity to work them. Isolate electric when your not there and they would be doing well to get in. Personnel doors are usually a weak point, if you do make one it needs to be very narrow so you can just squeeze in then only small items can be taken but as long as your door is as above with good locks or hydraulic locks they wont open it. Failing that put a caravan there and offer free rent for someone in return for a bit of security.

Remember when I was younger, carting grain with 80-90hp ford 66-7600 2wd's and 10 ton trailers with the trailer brakes on the spool valve! and that was fine, you just drove accordingly, then 10 t trailers again behind 2850's with 40k and even today I still pull a 12 grain trailer with the old massey 6150 when we get short and it makes it grunt but tows it ok! I think that as we are so used to 160hp plus tractors on trailers these days we forget that you don't need that hp and size if you don't go mad! Also best to buy a bit bigger trailer so if you upgrade tractor one day you can keep the trailer.

You can pick up your scrap over the gate with that so no bother if the owner is in or not!

I am amazed how ignorant some of you are about subsidies! If you want farmers to stop receiving subsidies then start paying true market value for your food and I can tell you, you wont like that much! next thing everyone will be complaining that they cant afford to live! Without subsidies farming in the market we live in is not viable and would only be if the true cost of production was accounted for on the shelves! The supermarkets are one of the worst culprits for wrecking the job as there is to much competition and yet the general public see no problem in buying cheap s##t from abroad and not supporting their own. The reason why british food is more expensive is because firstly we have the highest welfare/assurance standards in the world and secondly because of claim culture and the nanny state we live in. We cant just get on and work anymore, instead we need a ticket to get out of bed and that costs!! the world has gone mad! and we are to blame!

hilux oil leak? never heard of such a thing!

You can still get all the bits from shelbourne parmiter in Suffolk. As already said you will be better to convert to rope if possible although if you buy the conversion kit from shelbournes it wont be cheap!

If a few of these thieves started getting involved in some nasty accidents whilst they were out stealing, then maybe the others might think twice.

All you need is an arm with a copy of a quickfencer sleeve on that spins. Doesn't have to be fancy. Could have a 4ft length of scaffold pole welded on a base with a big disc at the bottom that spins with the wire. Should be dead easy, I made one for my tracked dumper out of scrap in an hour and has unrolled 100's of rolls and no signs of wearing out!

Ive got an aluminium crossover box from nj aluminium. It goes across the top of the sides behind the back window with doors either side and leaves the underside so you still have the full length of the bed for long spades etc and a semi dry place for fuel cans and some tools underneath. You can get loads in there and I wouldn't be without it now.

I run an old mk4 hilux and you can find a good single cab for circa 3k, expect to pay more for low mileage. I have had 5 hilux's now of various ages but found the mk4 to be the best, it is the most reliable thing in my life. I have never lost money on any of the ones I have owned and if you look after them they wont cost you much, bits are cheap and it will always be worth good money for export so they are a no brainer for me. Yes they wont hold or tow as much as others but will outlive a landrover any day. my last mk4 went with 260,000 on the clock and never had an engine /gearbox problem at all with no rot and drove the same as my current one that had 77,000 when I got it. If you want a good reliable 4x4 with no fancy gismos and that's a good investment then give one a go.

That would be a good idea, a lot of post knockers have the option of a pilot auger that pulls out and slides up and down the mast but haven't seen many with one. I have to auger chalk sometimes to get a gate post or big strainer in, sometimes you can rockspike all the strainer holes the day before and fill them up with water then drive the posts the next day and this can work well if a bit time consuming. How big is the weight on your digger knocker?

You are right there matthew, and there are plenty of posts that cant be driven in! and its easier than digging! having it on the tractor is ok but no where near as good as it is on a digger but it gets you out of trouble. The other problem is that its so bloody heavy it can be a job in itself just getting it out of the shed!

Ive got one for the front loader of my case. Its a big planetary geared one, the same as they use on the telegraph pole lorries. Ive got a 16" flight which powers through most things, I do use it a bit but if there is the slightest chance I can drive it in with the knocker I will!

Is that a tb016? the best mini digger going by far in my opinion...