SteveA

Yeah I noticed that... but you can't rotate the bucket around without moving the whole machine. I'm just nit picking really! They look excellent for all kinds of other reasons.... cheers, Steve

That's a very impressive lift capacity. I imagine lifting those bags was a doddle if it's got a max 1550kg lift. Shame the boom can't be rotated 360 degrees for mini digging! cheers, steve

That's a great solution for airflow. That style would also be useful for livestock buildings. cheers, steve

Yeah there's tons of info on their website. Looks like they have built a lot of units.... and from what I've seen in the photos the build quality looks excellent; probably better than a lot of houses. cheers, steve

Estate agents that specialise in land usually have a few auctions per year, but don't expect a bargain as it often turns into a bidding frenzy. What are the current average land/ woodland prices in North Hampshire? About 4 years ago in Dorset land was going for £10k per acre; woodland was a bit less depending on the site. Some small plots tend to go for an absolute premium if there is any chance of getting planning permission on it (developer speculation and land investment via our Stock Exchange). Woodlands For Sale, etc tend to buy big parcels, split them up into small plots (an acre here and there) and make lots of money out of those that buy into it. If you can find other people interested in land it should work out a lot cheaper to buy it together and then split it up yourselves.... easy enough to do via Land Registry. cheers, steve

Nice couple of eggies there Murray. I guess supermarkets come up with consistent egg sizes by keeping their so called Free Range hens in huge flocks ~ thousands of birds that stay in their big sheds eating layers mash laced with God knows what chemicals. You can't beat the taste of proper free range. I guess they might be a healthier option as well? cheers, Steve

Shame Trakmet don't make a diesel/ or petrol powerhead. I tried looking up a reasonably priced 3 phase generator to suit the TTP-600 but they all seem very big and expensive. cheers, steve

Bid writer; a person that drinks lots of coffee or tea, claims travel miles to listen to & address boring clients, has the mental capability to navigate bureaucratic terminology and fill out forms containing lots of words with the aim to get funding on behalf of the applicant who is paying the bid writers consultancy rate/ fee. Do you need one? cheers, steve p.s.... a bid writer in the field of Arb isn't really any different to Mrs Miggins (the village gossip parish councillor lady) who is applying for a lottery grant towards a new roof on the village hall.

Maybe it was a BOGOF offer? cheers, steve The hen that laid that one is over two years old. She probably ate a mouse or something. They love eating mice, can't get enough of 'em. cheers, steve

Our egg buying friend cracked open our gurt hens egg and turns out it was indeed a double yolker. Here it is... cheers, Steve

We're in our third year.... year one was all input (setting up), year two we started marketing (with a bit of income) and now in the early part of year three with a reasonable financial income and less costs. In terms of farming.... income is a slow build compared with other types of business.... unless you sell your site out for Fracking, wind or solar farm, etc! cheers, steve That sounds very simple (and useful to know). Do the jacking legs remain in place as part of the foundation structure? Also, is the roof truss bolted together as well? cheers, Steve Yep. Very aware of One Planet aka the council 'Live your life as I say, not as I do' development policy. It's very Big Brother and verges on signing away your human rights for "the right to a private life" (I reckon). I have friends that have applied and failed the One Planet criteria; despite putting in a very detailed & worthy application. cheers, steve They can be completely assembled on site, piece by piece and I haven't seen any info on a maximum time-frame for the build either. There is no requirement to actually move the unit once built.... you just need to show that it has been designed/ and is capable of being moved off site in no more than two halves (hence the bolting together as others have shown above). cheers, steve

oh I have no doubt a can of worms will be opened!.... but we know our rights & our business potential. + life is short so best to dig in and get on with things. cheers, steve

hmmm.... denial? cheers, steve

I've not got that far yet. Here's a few thoughts on pricing: - We have all the oak we need and can hire in a mobile saw mill at about £350 per day. I reckon on two days of milling should produce enough timber. - I can do the groundworks myself using high density concrete blocks. - Insulation can be very expensive from the builders merchants or free via Freecycle, or cheap via used/ reclaimed sheets. - It won't be a zinc roof! Maybe a green roof, or steel sheets, or hand cleft shingles, or rubber tiles??? - I love recycling stuff so that will definitely happen. - Would like to have a good quality log burner and maybe a wood fired Rayburn? Thoughts on purchasing a ready made unit: I've looked at the twin statics as seen on a lot of caravan park sites but they are flimsy and not particularly well insulated.... easy enough to pick one up for below £10k Used timber twin units are less common and tend to go for more money. Buying a new high quality twin unit could range from £40k for a small one to £180k for a big one (20m length X 6.8m width). Cheers, steve

There is no longer a formal requirement in the planning framework to prove income (they dropped it). However, locally you may need to prove the necessity to be living on site.... which no doubt involves going into the financial aspects! Councils don't tend to link up to planning legislation very well and are (mostly) likely to refuse everything they think they can get away with. This scares a lot of people off who don't understand their own rights (via legislation)..... one example for us was to go to appeal to prove our Permitted Development rights to build a barn (in National Park).... and then for a polytunnel. Both permissions were granted at appeal. Diving straight into a full planning application for a relatively new business (like ours) is highly likely to be refused at a local planning level and very difficult to prove to the Planning Inspectorate (ie, at appeal). A seasonal workers accomodation gives breathing space to build business.... making it easier to prove a full planning requirement in the future ( in three or five years, or whatever). cheers, steve

Nice one Silky. It definitely makes some noise without the chain on.... you really should get that hearing checked out mate! cheers, steve

Not sure my brain has the capacity to cope with designing gables!.... too many weird angles does my nut in. Part of me can see the appeal in going for a flat roof design.... still using an internal oak frame. The bonus with that would be the extra space created for storage. cheers, Steve

Nice idea....thats a possibility too. cheers, steve Excellent! How wide is yours and how are the two halves held together?.... chunky bolts or something else? cheers, steve As a residence I think you'd be looking at Permitted Development rights.... but I think that might limit using it for a residence at 28 days per year. Apart from that I think you'd be looking at a full planning application (for residence). I believe you can have one as a storage/ garden shed/ office type room for the whole year for non-residential purposes (under Permitted development). You may need to apply for a Certificate of Lawfulness? I'm not totally clued up on all of that though so best to look at the legislation or chat with the planners. Cheers, steve

Ah, thanks. According to the current legislation the maximum internal floor to ceiling height is 305cm. That's an interesting way of doing it.... in a T shape. Bit confused!....How was it constructed into two halves? cheers, steve

Thanks dude. Love you too. cheers, Steve

Ref: Defined as a year and a day I've read a few legal examples but don't recall that being mentioned. As far as I am aware a season is defined (generally) as less than a year; in our case we do a mix of forestry, horticulture & will be expanding on animals (we only keep chickens at the moment).... so our seasons overlap, meaning our seasons are more than a year (in practical terms). Think I have read, somewhere (in policy), that a seasonal workers dwelling would need to be moved completely off site out of season. eg; further down the line we may want to apply for full planning.... but even at that point I'm pretty sure we'd still want to keep the seasonal workers dwelling for employing others (on the same basis as we'll be using it ourselves). I'll try to find that bit of info again and post a link here. cheers, steve I'd like to keep the side walls at door height.... that would be at around 2m minimum. I'd like to pop a few velux windows in, although I find them a trifle expensive for what they are. The living, kitchen and dining area are likely to be open planned and I'm thinking along the lines of putting in full length/or large roofing glass (fixed), possibly on both sides. cheers, Steve What width is yours and is it built in two halves? The floor to ceiling height on yours looks quite high too. Cheers, steve

Quite a bit of inspiration on this website.... Photos Mobile Home, Park Home, Static Caravan and Log Cabin Although none of them tick my oak truss box enough for my liking; am looking to do something a little more rustic feeling. cheers, steve

Bet that was a good old squeeze for your hen Cheers, steve

Good thread. It's always interesting to see what's in other people's lunch boxes. Oooo err! My lunch box is empty today. Eating at home. cheers, steve

Nice one Silky. And that's interesting. I wonder if the Husqvarana battery motor is silent as well? cheers, steve