aspenarb

Rye oils in sussex are good, we pay about £240 for 205ltr barrel of chain oil and about £260 for 205ltrs of 2 stroke. http://ryeoil.co.uk/lubricants Bob

With road tyres you are right but fit them with all terrains and they are un stoppable. Good enough to carry three ton of crap all over the world for the yankee army.There are also many with over a million miles on them on the original drive train. The chevy truck is only three inches wider than an amazon. I seem to remember the one I had being the same width as a single wheel transit. Does sound to me like some of these guys would be better off with a tracked wheelbarrow though it would make more sense than spending 45k on a pick up that has a payload of 1 ton inc passengers. In reality by the time you fit the tipping gear, chuck the tools in it + your fat mate the tracked barrow is the winner. Definitely not an arb truck. Bob

One of these would slaughter a L/C as work truck. Tipper body and its good to go. Chevrolet Pickup 3500HD 6.5 Turbo Diesel 4X4 Auto | eBay Bob

I can think of better places to invest £45k. They are not the most practical sized pick up for what we do , they are not as bomb proof as people think they are ( I can site engine failures,diff problems ,suspension issues just among the lads that I know that have had them). Please note that is "had them" , they now own other 4x4`s so why would that be? It could be the savage kick in the nuts they have had to repair and keep them on the road. As far as towing goes they wont tow anything as well as a cheap old 7.5 ton lorry. I am not knocking the L/C but you are all getting a bit heady here. If I turned up on jobs in a 45K pickup I Know I would be losing customers because they would wonder who was paying for it. Bob

MAXIMUM OVERHANG 1 Item 2 Class of vehicle 3 Maximum overhang 1 Motor tractor 1.83m 2 Heavy motor car and motor car 60% of the distance between the centre of the foremost axle and the foremost point from which the overhang is to be measured. (see note below).Or A heavy motor car may comply with Community Directive 97/27. a. A refuse vehicle b. A motor vehicle which is an ambulance c. a vehicle designed to dispose of a load to the rear, if the overhang does not exceed 1.15m d. a vehicle first used before 2 January 1933 e. a vehicle first used before 1 January 1966 if – the distance between the centre of the rearmost and foremost axles does not exceed 2.29m, and the distance specified in column 3 is not exceeded by more than 76mm

If you measure the distance from the back of the trailer to the centerline of the axle you are allowed 60% of this dimension as overhang. I think its more important to observe the correct marker boards etc so you are on the right side of plod when and if some knob launches a car into the back of you. Bob http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=137457&stc=1&d=1381695035

The groundie must be a kin well trained octopus:0 Bob

Going back to the original post about the second guy leaving the climber in the tree. For at least five years we have this no lone working policy imposed on us by all of the contractors we work for, at the end of the day its what they have requested and should be priced in accordingly. Another problem is that the largely generic r.a.m.s are sometimes scrutinized on the job. It is virtually impossible to detail in writing how a job will be undertaken so the r.a.m.s need the addition on the bottom of the page that on the day operatives will take a view on a "real time risk assessment" and method statement. That should cover any deviations necessary on the day. Going back to the climbers safety, I know of two very accomplished climbers that have had very near misses, one of them slipped and stuck a topper into his neck and the other had a similar situation and nearly cut his hand off at the wrist .The second one fell unconscious and had to be removed from the tree by the fire brigade. There are old climbers and bold climbers but there are no old bold climbers. Be safe its only a job. Bob

We anchored our chip box off the four balls on the original frame and made it a threeway tipper. Since then its only ever been used on side tip, better than unhooking trailers or dropping off pto gear. Bob

A 406 is a cracking tool. A lot less grief and a lot cheaper to maintain than the later offerings from Merc. I rate them. Bob

http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=137274&stc=1&d=1381512223

Because I am late in its a Gravy Biscuit with bits sticking out of it. Bob

Someone has just been in the yard with one of these VW`s. I had a quick look at it and you are not getting much for £20k +. leaf sprung tinny thing with far to much plastic for our job. They are supplying these things as a trendy truck now with little regard for the guy that just needs it as a work horse. One of these would get smashed to bits inside six months with our guys. Bob

These are the boys and there is a depot just down the road from you in Romsey. Bob

Any thing with a land rover badge will come no where near a land cruiser for power or reliability. How many range rovers you see with 250000 miles on clock... Very very few... Look at price of an 02 plate range rover to same yr land cruiser.. We have a 99 and a 2007 amazon.. They will be going when same year land or range rover in scrap yard.. Quote I am not knocking the Amazon because I think they are a good truck but merely pointing out that they have issues the same as any vehicle. There are thousands of pre 50,60,70,80,90 and 2000 models of L/R vehicles still running in fact 70% of what was made is still on the road which is more than you can say about any 4X4 out there. I have got a few and dont particularly like them but they do bash on and are very cheap to keep on the road. I dont see how anyone can say that they are expensive to maintain because they are not. As for mileage 200.000 is quite normal for a landrover. One in the yard here right now that has only had one clutch fitted in all the time we have had it with over 200.000 miles on it, its no where near finished with yet. 002.jpg (32.9 KB)

Unless you are stacking timber on a trailer its not often you can get the load positioned correctly, an example of this is picking up a three ton dumper on an plant trailer. All the weight ends up on the drawbar or if you spin it round it tries to pick up the back of the truck. Either are dangerous but you just do the best you can. For this reason alone we now use our ten ton beavertail to tow the heavier trailers, its far less critical on how its loaded. Exactly as above. My old Blazer 4x4 with its v8 6.2 diesel was a gem for towing and as work motor. No worse on squirt than any of the other 4X4`s we have but with a hell of a lot more grunt. Brake parts ,filters and general service items are all here in the uk and are lot cheaper than transit parts. On the odd occasion I have needed a part from the states a phone call and order 3pm our time which is 9am over there will have the parts on your doorstep at 8am the following day. I cant get stuff mainland uk that quickly. Bob

I can see that being popular on large estates,golf courses and with game keepers. Not everyone wants or needs a massive high hp tractor. Bob

Steady on there chap. good yes the best not really. A friend of mine who works for Toyota could confirm they had dozens of issues with engines, diffs gearboxes etc on the amazon. They were very close to having to recall them to fix many of the problems but most were dealt with unbeknown to customer when they came in for service. Toyota have lost a fortune repairing the amazon under warranty which is very noble of them. On the fuel consumption side of things a fencing contractor I know bought a new amazon to replace a v8 RR, it was sold within six months because it used more diesel than the range rover did in petrol. When towing he reckoned to get between 15/18 mpg out of the Toyota vs 18/20 from the petrol Rangie. Bob The Toyota Landcruiser 200 "Oh What a Lemon..."

I think the true answer to this question is when you have had enough of running overloaded under the weight trucks. I reckon some of the transits I see on a daily basis if put on a weighbridge would need a class 2 license. Bob

TP are a well made machine, the only problem with the one we have is its chute is pointing to the off side of the mog so you have to have the vehicle facing the traffic if you are doing roadside work, that is a bit of a ballache on the motorway work. Bob

I am economical with lots of things:) Carrying the wood then wont be an issue as its going to be put through the chipper isn`t it , the chip is to go back through as well. I would not have a problem with vosa at the side of the road or before a judge on this as its not in my eyes clear enough. Also if you are to contact vosa on these issues the response is as vague with the usual get out at the bottom stating that this is their view and you need to get your own legal clarification on the subject. You would have a lot more on your plate if you had a mog/ chipper and you were using it for Arb not forestry work. At least the truck would be taxed ,tested and road legal for its intended use. Its all just food for thought. bob

I am not so sure. Its open to interpretation and does not mention hire or reward, merely that the goods carried are in connection with the machine, chip or wood as far as I am concerned are exactly that. Bob 15. A vehicle fitted with a machin e, appliance, apparatus or other contrivance which is a permanent or essentially permanent fixture, provided that the only goods carried on the vehicle are— (a) required for use in connect ion with the machine, appliance, apparatus or contrivance or the running of the vehicle;

A restricted O license is all you need unless you are delivering goods for hire or reward.Its also a lot easier to get providing you are running out of a yard. The 6 weekly checks can be done in house if you have a concrete pad to work off, the time intervals can be stretched if you dont do loads of miles. The paperwork is not to be scared of and it wont take up half an hour of your time a week. There are some interesting exemptions to the "need" of an O license. I reckon a 7.5 ton truck with a pto driven chipper fitted on the back and a threeway tipping body would qualify under section 15 of the exemptions as it cant be used for anything else. A decent fitter could probably fit this lot up in a couple of days, food for thought. http://www.genquip.co.uk/downloads/Vehicles_Exempt_From_Operator_Licensing_Requirements.pdf Bob

Another stupid thing with this trailer malarky is that even if you sit your class 2 hgv which a young lad I know has just done you still cant tow a heavy trailer. He can drive a 20ton truck but needs to sit another test to put a decent trailer behind his car. He said that he might as well sit his class1 hgv rather than spend money on the car trailer test. Bob

Proper job Bob