william127

I'm considering putting a PTO pump on my 20 ton hydraulic splitter so I can run it on the tractor I already have. These pumps from flowfit look good value and there's lots of choice! From the spec sheets below what model would people recommended? I would like the splitter to run at a decent speed but still be able to split reasonably difficult timber and not rev the nuts off the tractor! If there's more information needed please ask me and hopefully one of you hydraulic gurus can help me out! Thanks!

I find it can be very hard getting going when I'm working in my yard or close by. I like a reasonable drive to work in the morning, 20minutes or so minimum. Its hard when you work on your own too, especially doing things like firewood or maintenance in the yard as you don't have to meet a client or colleague at a certain time so you get sidetracked or dawdle! Writing lists and ticking stuff off helps or doing things for set amounts of time- do an hour on the chainsaw or 30 minitues sweeping type thing- is a good way of getting into a rhythm and achieving things. Listening to some kind of music, podcasts, plays, comedys, on head phones is really important to me. Being completley shattered after work is also a nice feeling! And at the end of the day money is a great motivator!

Maybe! They are in the post as we speak so we will see on Friday!

Has anyone tried these bucket teeth for moving wood with a thumb? I'm wondering if they would give a better grip on wood at more angles than the ripper tooth, which is quite smooth? I might order a set as I have a small bucket they would be pretty good on and its not going to break the bank a £20 or so!

A good start to the morning, taking out a good sized apple tree stump. Less than an hours digging?

That looks brilliant! Proper lights, nice guard, bum protection and a neat attachment! Hope its working well for you. And its a great colour!??

I put this light bar on the front and a pair of the square lights on the back. They are completly independent on their own switches, the original lights are all still there but as these are much more powerful and I had them all lying around it didn't seem worth fiddling to try and make the originals work. And it only cost about £35 for all 3!

I have a muck truck. Very handy, simple piece of kit. I've done 2 jobs with it where it moved about 15 tons a day. The skip is big enough for soil and I have high sides for logs and chippings. I'd rather have a skip loading tracked dumper but the muck truck was only £750 used, rather than £3000!

Very, lots of uses, good and strong. Really can destroy roots to get stumps out. The only problem is it comes with a welded on stud and nut to hold the pins in, which is a rubbish idea for a soil engaging tool! I've replaced them with a more normal pin and r clip arrangement, would be worth specifying when ordering. But its a great tool. I have often used it to tear up ground before digging it up with a bulk bucket, rather than having to use the 2ft toothed bucket. I've also dug planting trenches with virtually no soil disturbance. I've pilot holed gate posts with it, ripped out sheets of concrete, handled tons of timber. I wouldn't be without it.

A Kubota kx36-3 like mine and an RSL thumb or a fixed grab can definitely be had for less than 7k, probably 5.5-6k if you don't mind a bit of a scruff. A 1.5 ton will lift 200kgs easily, all day long and push god knows how much brush in one go. At this size you can get into loads of places, especially as the canopy only has a handful of bolts and 2 people can do it comfortably in minutes. You can also carry other stuff on the trailer with it legally- mini dumper, stump grinder, small chipper, logs I could even put my 3/4 ton digger on as well if I needed to.

I have had exactly the same thoughts about my Hyundai, which also looks exactly the same. So that spout in the link could be very useful, thanks! For me not being able to swivel the spout is a real pain, there's nothing worse than having to manhandle the branches around the whole machine in a tight space.

I have always been self employed in landscaping and we generally started on site between 7:30 and 8, so between 6:45 and 7:55 at the yard depending on the job and site! For the last 9 years I have been subbying odd days here and there to an acoustic/generator engineer who works all over the country and often has to work outside office hours(due to noise or the need to shut down live systems). A standard start used to be meet at his workshop or a handy service station (both about 30 miles from me)between 6 and 6:30. As the traffic has got worse and worse we will meet between 4:30 and 5 if we are going into London. We often meet 150 or more miles away and if its a 7am meeting then I set my alarm accordingly! Its been really good for me to work like this as its shown me that there are 24 hours in the day and you can use whichever slice of it you want!

Finished fitting proper lights front and back Friday, needed them last night. The front light bars angle was the only one I could get it in at and looks all wrong but from the drivers seat the light angle is absolutely perfect!

I've got or have had a lot of the saws mentioned and my choice would also be the stihl 461. I don't know about the 462 but people seem to be very keen on them and if they are an improved 461 then they should be brilliant. A stihl 391 is definitely not whats needed, too small, too thirsty, far too slow. A husqvarna 365 would also be a good choice, plenty of power and if someone who knows how takes a dremel to it you have a 372 but for less money. I have all 3 of those saws so that is my personal experience. I wouldn't even consider a stihl 441- same weight and less than £100 cheaper than a 461 but less powerful so why bother! A stihl 661 would cut better than any of those but is noticeably heavier. I considered it when I got my 461 but the weight difference felt far more than it is on paper?? I also have the husqvarna 435 and it is a great little saw, probably used more than all my more exciting saws! Happy shopping!

Absolutely right, I should of course had said turn over! Still, even at worst case I reckon that was £600 profit day, absolutely worst case, probably more like £950. 1 of them a week would take the pressure off!

A few years ago, only going to the house up the road so I did £1000 worth in 1 tipper and 1 trailer load. This was also my best earning day ever, £1200 of logs to just 2 customers, in July!

I would disagree with you completely about it being pointless without self loading ability- yes shoveling a big pile of stuff is tedious, but not as tedious as shoveling it AND wheelbarrowing it!! Good to hear the self loader part works well though as I've never had the chance to use one and thought the might be a bit of a gimmick.

I can push my hyundai mini chipper about, strip it down and carry it through houses and even lift it onto my flatbed trailer on my own when I need to, so its perfectly manouverable. But I'm still seriously thinking about mounting it on a quick release on a tracked barrow....

Spot on, I sold mine last year to buy a hilux I really wanted. I regret it every week, not that I regret buying the hilux! I have done about 10 ton of conifer chip and logs this week and have never missed a bit of kit so much. I had the high sides and could happily fit my 1.5 ton digger and mini chipper in it at the same time, it followed the truck perfectly, didn'tmindo being overloaded or sitting above the motorway speed limit. I also have a 14x 6 flat bed and if I could only have 1 it would be that as I like the space and being able to move vehicles. But for tree work the 10x5 tipper is THE trailer to have! Sod it, eBay here I come..

I have a comparatively small 18v brushless makita, one of the best tools I have. Makes so many jobs so much easier!

I wish I hadn't sold my 076! Made me grin every time I used, but I didn't think I was going to get a mill and I needed some cash great saws

Good idea, I already have a van vault with hooks like that, and a steel frame platform so why not this as well!

Lovely little digger also at the small end, I have come up with a tidy way to store my buckets- an IBC, cut down. Easily stores my rake, tooth, muck bucket and 4 buckets, with room for more. The digger should easily be able to pick the whole lot up, and it cost absolutely nothing

I have 3 twin axles and they suit me better than 3 axles. I carry a real variety of loads and often need as much weight capacity as possible. They also seem(to my mind anyway) easier to manover which is important as I work in loads of different domestic places. If I carried one item of fixed weight up and down the motorway all the time I'd probably go for tri axle, but the twin axle is perfectly happy provided you get the loading right..

Discovery 2s are lovely trucks. Very versatile, good at most things, easily tuneable, mechanicaly straight forward, I really should get one! Have you ever tried a defender with a small steering wheel, chopped out bulkhead and extended seat rails? I'm only a couple of inches shorter than you and probably a lot bulkier and I can happily drive my defender in great big boots. I have driven it 300 miles without stopping before, 500 miles most weeks and regularly more. It's also a brilliant tow vehicle. Just a thought.