tommytopsoil

Rich, local shops rarely 'charge too much' - they just don't have the economies of scale and buying power that a multi-million pound chain has but also generally sell a fresher, more desirable and therefore more expensive product. Therefore this cost does have to be reflected in the retail price. I noticed a local supermarket had people queuing about 8 deep at every checkout over the festive period - desperate to give their money away. I wish I had a shop like that... I would tend to agree with your comment regarding council work. True story. On a side note, I bite my tongue when I see other contractors in our area and remember that we are regularly all over the country with two of our customers having almost 600 miles between them...

We are registered on the same online portal as this contract no doubt went out on and gives us the opportunity to tender for work elsewhere also. Works both ways... Although I do understand very much where you are coming from - notice any local plant on Kendals new doctors surgery or hospital extension or the project to turn that old Renault garage into apartments? Neither did I.

At risk of dragging this vaguely back towards topic, not sure bout the ex-army ones but a friend has a Leyland Roadrunner 4x4 winch truck and it is a very very capable little wagon. On ag-type tread mog tyres there are few places she won't go. Puts rings around the moggy.

Having done a good amount of time in some fairly empty parts of Aus and NZ, one phrase will never leave me...: "If you want to go to the bush, take a Land Rover. If you want to come home, take a Toyota." For the record, my money has been in both, but the Jap stuff brings home the bread up here.

Hi Tom, sorry for the delay. We no longer supply this type of chain oil - it is blended by a supplier of ours on behalf of Plantoil and I believe only available through Plantoil themselves now. We are now able to supply Pennine Bio-degradable Chainsaw Oil - I quote - "Manufactured from premium quality, vegetable derived base oils combined with state of the art additive technology. The products within the range are greater than 90 % biodegradable within 28 days ensuring they meet ASTM D 5864 Pw1 standard." This works out at £74.75 ex VAT and delivery but I am sure we could sort some discount for Arbtalkers. I am aware that this may not be the cheapest and I can't find the price for a 205 but it would work out cheaper/l and we could then do free delivery also.

Well done to you both and good on Vermeer and Jasper!

We've supplied a fair bit of this in the past. Some love it, others not so fussed. Never had any reliability issues, just a few initial complaints of "It's a bit thin" but once the oiler is set right, all seems good.

What DrewB said. The sticky pads on the mounts are exceptionally sticky! You won't ever have to worry about it coming off. Make sure surface is clean and dry first then it'll be on for life. Enjoy!

James, great job, great pics, great vid and great thread, well done! I am sure you have a very bright future. As regards craning, far better to give a slight tilt as Reg says. The most important aspect of this is allowing the weight to be gently transferred to the crane in a controlled manner by it's operator. The problems with this not happening are that the weight will be transferred rapidly onto the crane with the potential to cause momentary overload. Something that few people fully understand or take account for is deflection - a huge characteristic of the modern crane boom - and forgetting about it can cause a further host of problems. Obviously, any sudden movements will also dramatically increase the potential for the load to swing outside it's rated radius, again causing overload and the consequences of that... I could probably post one incident per week of a crane going over somewhere in the world whilst involved in tree work - and that is no exaggeration. It is inherently dangerous due to the generally unknown quantities being dealt with and I have a great deal of respect for those who take the time to minimise the high level of risk involved. Another thing to consider is that however you want to do it, if the driver or AP isn't happy then it's not getting lifted. Their life and £££££££ crane will always come first. Sorry if this sounds a little opinionated! Good luck for the future James, I look forward to seeing your next job

As regards the offset, I would go down the lines of a plough headstock with adjustable front furrow width. If you can find one in a breakers with a hydraulic front furrow then even better. Ellis Machinery might be a good place to start. The Kverneland 200 series headstock would suit this quite well and you could fairly easily extend it to get the travel required. Not the best pic, but you might get the idea? As far as strength goes, I would be tempted to go with a plough type frame too (Dowdeswell DP8 set up would be a good example) with a brace coming out from the headstock and finishing up quite a way back. This would help you get a more linear pull from nearer the centre line of the tractor and help prevent you from tearing it apart with a couple of hundred ponies. Far better the tractor pulls round a bit than you snap the planter in two... Good luck.

Great thread, nice pics and description - thanks!

Smart tractor, good loader too. 51's are pretty much bullet proof, use quality oil and stick to maintenance schedule rigidly and it'll look after you. HyTran is indeed the stuff, use only genuine Case IH (Ackela) HyTran, not an equivalent from another blender. HyTran has a very particular blend of minerals and additives that the others do not and there are some absolute horror stories from people trying to save a few pence on oil in the short term... In time she will probably do a head gasket (external leak from front end) and if you're rough you might do a diff, but other than that they're pretty much good for 20,000hrs. Good luck with her!

Oh Eddie has the full cutlery set for sure He is also one of the best examples you will find of a man who not only takes pride in his work, but also takes a genuine interest in each project he is involved in. Always great photo's and a great story, keep it up.

I have nothing to add to this thread and certainly do not see myself as having a broad enough understanding of the law in this context to make a valid contribution. What I would like to say however, is that I have a lot of respect for what Andy has said here and I think there are a lot of people on a lot of forums that could take a lot from this. Fair play. Tom

Bob Coar Near Gisburn will be a very good bet for this size of tractor if Mr Wraight has none.

Oh, it's not cheap either...

I have previously used windscreen bond (the black stuff that pant glass is stuck in with). It remains semi-flexible (prevents vibration being transmitted to glass) and is impossible to remove. Make sure everything is clean and dry first and the bonding agent must be applied hot (or you won't even get it out of the tube). Keep pressure on for a good few hours and it will be there forever. I have only ever used this on the 'wagon sheets' of old though.

Clean and well laid out, I like it - well done! Keep adding those case studies in there, however small the job.

LGP Eddie on here is absolutely without doubt your man. He is well equipped, conscientious and a very pleasant person. His work is absolutely top class. If he doesn't see this then I can happily forward you his contact details.

It's back... Ford Forestry tractor, with Atlas grab | eBay Would anyone actually give £4700 over the internet for what is probably 12-14k's worth of gear and not suspect something may be ever so slightly amiss?!

Great tractor, fantastic tool carrier but yes, on the rare occasion a Fendt transmission fails it does tend to turn into serious bucks. Generally speaking a very reliable machine though.

Heartbreaking news, you must be devastated. I can't understand why anyone would destroy another mans work and property. Hope you get things sorted.

Great to read about your little adventure Will! I spent a good few years chasing the sun between there and here, living the endless summer dream. They were good times, NZ is a beautiful place full of fantastic, welcoming people. Make sure you spend a good amount of time in S.I. - they're even more relaxed down there... Central is stunning, well worth a look. Take it easy.

Try Pall-Ex or one of the other pallet networks or a local haulage company that may be part of one. Also, I think Stan Robinsons are big into pallets and have a few smaller vehicles too, could try them. Failing that, go to Enterprise or someone and hire a transit pickup and do it yourself - probably be similar money to a courier for the weight and might be your only option if they are large rears like 650's or something. Good luck.

Sounds about right, it costs a lot of money to train up someone correctly to carry out LOLER type testing and there also a lot of responsibility comes with signing that sheet should something go wrong later... Few people (testers included) realise the implications with the law and how seriously accidents with lifting/access equipment are viewed by the HSE. As I am sure you are aware, 'negligence' is a big word these days. I think £150ish is the going rate for general plant? Whether it takes three minutes or three hours is up to the individual tester, in the eyes of the law.