WoodMouse

Not quite, but i do think it would be much easier. Obviously id like to be lead climber in my setup, and not a groundy. But if i had a tool like this, perhaps i'd hire the climber and do the ground work as i could trust myself to operate the skid conscientiously. I've been a Deck Hand for the past two years, i'm no stranger to hard graft. I'd just like to work smarter than harder.

for sure, it's something i immediately identified as a bottleneck. This has definitely given me food for thought, and i now see that if i had an avant it would probably spend most of it's time on the truck or in the yard. So after reading this... turf maintenance- turf damage One of these is giving me considerable horn... MT52 Mini Track Loader - Bobcat Company 35 inches wide, can lift 1/4 ton and only exerts 1-2 psi on the ground, and wont tear turf through zero turn.

No worries Stephen. I understand this is a delicate situation, if anything you have given me the opportunity to make the distinction. Perhaps i should have been clearer about this. No harm done.

Basically it' allot of rubbish clearing in local parks, rec's and wastelands. Stuff which we already PAY to be managed by the councils that manage them.

guess so. CSV Make a Difference Day - the UK's biggest day of volunteering | CSV UK

Under promise, over deliver is how i understand managing SLA's. Understood.

I wouldn't usually snap Stephen, but i was forced to defend my Guvnor there. Not that it's even relevant to my line of questioning, but this job we did was a newly bought house. They didn't even have the curtains up. The flower beds had become overgrown with overhanging shrubs that had destroyed the shape of the boarders. And in the 'moving' process the grounds had become completely neglected. As you say, this was the final Blitz on the stuff the gardeners couldn't clear, and they wanted a blank slate to start from. We delivered this within the SLA. And to be honest, i'm totally uncomfortable discussing any aspect of how the job 'was' done. I don't wish to discuss someone else's business, i'm here to discuss my business. In this instance i would have thought that any team not employing the use of a skid or lifter as 'the pack', and i'm hoping to research the validity and indeed possible advantages of using such a piece of equipment. I couldn't comment on how methods were adapted, or if this was his regular 'modus operandi', but i'd imagine it to be typical practice for any three man, chipper and truck team. I'd rather have a two man, chipper, truck and lifter/skid set up as i hate donkey work. I'm looking for a way to make this into a marketable plan, something i can sell as a benefit to the client.

What the hell do we pay council tax for, how many people that frequent this board have lost work due to 'well meaning' idiots who cant appreciate they're supplementing their local council budgets by volunteering for 'donkey day'. And people wonder why the parks and recreational grounds look like crap! grrrrrrr

no doubt on a well manicured lawn.

Where was i critical of the contractor? The lawn in in question wasn't even cut, had no edges and was in need of re-turfing. The Client was very happy with our work. Doesn't mean that i don't have ideas about providing services that take other aspects into account. Roll your neck in buddy, you've just made some incredibly insulting remarks. This is a forum for open discussion, and i've made it clear over and over that i'm learning. So far you're the only person who's made any derogatory comments regarding my Contractor. Assumptions and nothing more, you take that back!

for sure, appreciated. It's more the high traffic areas such as gates that I'm concerned about. A worn muddy bald patch by a gate would re-grow, but it's areas such as this that have my concern as opposed the the lawn as a whole. Perhaps I'm creating my own issues here.

Dave, be as blunt as you like mate. I'm here to learn, and yea more experience is needed, i've only had one day with a team so far.

That was the other option i was considering. It's the lawn lovers, that i hope to woo with my 2-3 psi lawn compression figure. A adult standing would exert about 5 psi. I'd like to be the kinda guy that could remove every tree from the Chealsea Flower show without leaving a trace.

I've noticed the throughput for the smaller 3 inch Timber-wolves to be very slow. The 'TW 13/75G' for example 0.75 ton an hour. So yea, for an average job i don't think that would keep up. Plus this model doesn't seem to be able to get it into the truck. The 'TW 18/100G' however, seems perfect to me. Guess being the best selling model many people agree. 1.5 tons an hour that one, so pretty much double the output. the smallest Hydraulic chipper is only just 2 tons an hour, but 3k more, and bulky. The TW 18/100G seems to offer the best value for money in terms of size, output. I just hope running a smaller machine would cost less in maintenance. Without my own yard it seems the 'Stobart' Bio-Fuel depo's are the place to dump. I was told whatever you dump there, it's all the same. Arb waste obviously. Firewood/charcoal i could see myself selling, and to make money from the Bio-Fuel boys it looks like i'd need some serious plant equip to feed Artic's at a reasonable rate. With all the chippers that get stolen, im trying to find a way to mount it to the truck. I can drive up to 7.5 ton with Grandad rights, so i figure if i have the space, bolt the kit down where i can. And everything else i can Hiab onto a little platform before the tipper section.

Ahh, were on the same page mate. Brash, yes, especially conifers would be straight in the chipper. But surely a 3 inch chipper would handle most if not all springy/twiggy brash. The branch that holds the brash i would strip and split or just cut. Bag up the brash where its cut, and run it to the chipper/truck with a loader. Saves dragging crap and debris across the lawn. Seems like a 5-6 inch chipper would be the thing to have, but im thinking more lik 2-3 inch and handling it like i suggest. Id rather stuff large bags with brash pieces to chip so it can be lifted, than drag huge branches all over peoples property. Do you think this would be something clients would value?

I'm pretty sure a log and a bag of chip made from the same log side by side, the bag would be bigger. Woods pretty dense. Moot point i guess. I sure know if i grate a block of cheese, the grated pile i always bigger than the block it came from. Wood chip is a product yes, biofuel etc. But at the depo i was at in croydon, all the waste went to the same yard. Different piles, but they had to pay to get rid of it regardless of what it was. It was further processed in the yard, but you still had to pay to dump chip.

pedestrian, i think you'd have strong competition racing a milk-float.

Just wanted to thank Ash for giving me a day on Thursday. Learned allot, asked lots of questions, had allot of fun. Hope we can do it again!

Thanks Dr. Green. I had the pleasure of working as part of a three man team on Thursday. It was certainly the sort of pace that i'd like jobs to operate at. But just seeing how things were done certainly gave me ideas how i could separate myself from the 'pack'. For one, personally, i love gardens. I see them as creative works, some obviously tended more closely than others. Now, if it were MY garden. And you wanted to bring three guys round to drag trees through it, id be more likely to pay two guys and a lifter to do it more conscientiously. Besides the damage and debris caused by the trees being dragged over the turf, the major thing seems to be boots. A pair of boots dragging a large branch are going to absolutely tear up any high traffic area. I.e. gates, passageways etc. I think i'd go the Tarpaulin route too. Lots of those large aggregate bags. 1/4 ton lifter, 1.5 ton HAIB. Lots of bags. 3 tons of stuff, six trips with a lifter. Provided it was driven carefully, i think would make far less mess/damage than 3 pairs of boots marching back and forth for eight hours. Also starting to wonder why all the guys have expensive, heavy and bulky chippers, when the trunks, branches, leaves and chip all go to the same place? Why run expensive machinery to produce something to dump along with everything else in the same place?

Thanks for the pics and suggestions guys. Right now having spent a day on the job, a Bobcat Toolbox is what im thinking would be a good starting machine.

Tanks too Alex, merry meet!

yea, i was trying to think how i could get away with one vehicle. had an idea about mounting a small 4" sized chipper on the truck, as anything thicker could be bundled up by the lifter, used for charcoal. Starting to understand the size of teams for the work that level of equipment would require, and two trucks in that case is the only way. starting to think that would be another thing i'd have to get. Been applying for groundy/driver jobs i think i'd be suitable for. Get some experience.

cool, they have a driver/groundy position i might be able to do. Not asked for any qualifications so i think i fit. got the pre 97 license. Stockwell too! thanks.

Thanks Moosie