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Quite a few greedy bastards in the world that treat self employed subcontractors like they are on a zero hour contact without the benefits, think they own you and seem to think it's their right to get £100 out your pocket for a days work anything else is outrageous. Better way of pricing is for everyone to have a rate and that's what you get, just the "employer" has their bigger rate to cover kit/tools and fancy shiny truck. Trouble with everyone knowing rates is that some of the slow, lazy, or just new and inexperienced ones find out then they want it despite actually doing half as much or sometimes less work.

Looking to fill in some summer work. Approximately 10 years experience now, basic NPTC CS 30, 31, trees over 380, severing windblown, all currently in date within 5 years, Emergency First Aid +F. Experience covers but not exclusive to first thin, coppice restoration, thinning hardwood and softwood for traditional tractor extraction, halo thinning veteran Oak trees, cutting oversize impossible to reach edge trees for Harvester both softwood and hardwood sawlog a fair portion of which has been Ash trees, most recently cutting for Horse loggers. Based around the Mendips in Somerset. Got my own kit enough to cover most scenarios. Caravan for working away I've covered Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire, Oxford, Hereford and through South Wales will go a bit further if I need to provided I can park it up. Done grounding work on and off throughout, clean full driving licence B+E experienced towing, I know my way around a rake and how to sharpen a saw. Never had a chipper ticket, no Aeiral Rescue but looking at it again. I'm not really into hedge cutting. M

Happy that the legality question is answered, if I do go ahead I need to get a flatbed, plant, or some sort of dolly trailer (like the boats) to move one on, when going anywhere further than around the corner at 20mph.

This is where I got too thinking myself its not just a case of cut and shut some old caravans and a forwarder, the testing guys/gals are going to want a paper trail for most of the parts and simply working out the exact bits you need and where especially with a unconventional design (for a road trailer) is going to be a real headache. However if I had 10k to blow on a trailer I would seriously consider going down the IVA route getting a crane separate then working from the ground up with whats approved. I like the concept of the riko trailer but it looks pretty low and axle wise not as beefy as forwarders, not seen one in the flesh though. Did think airbags would be a nice solution (one per wheel) as you could be sprung on the road and articulate with them off, but finding something in the right size weight zone may be very difficult and expensive. Completely off topic always thought it odd that trailer are sprung but not dampened? really the only damping is in the tyres, rubber indespension has some built in, but leaves none, seems that the damping in the tow vehicle must have to contribute a lot.

I very much understand the skepticism around the 4x4 if it was simple everyone would be doing it right? This is thinking outside the "box" not trying to compete on harvester viable sites, but all the extra that large mechanized units cannot work for site reasons or simply don't because the units are too small to economic at their rates. This uncommon setup would possibly work alongside a uncommon extraction system, but all theory for now. Yep probably would only load to around (2.5t) 3t but sticking to rides only 1 load an hour=(20t) 24t load every 30min is=(40) 48, 8 hour day not counting breaks, so could fill a waggon or more in a day. Not having an "old man" licence add's two tests and all the restricted O licence difficulty on top. For a starting up thats not easy, but when established a pretty sensible thing to do. Until you try it you wont know if you like it.

Was looking to the slightly larger trailers 4-5 t to get a crane with higher capacity so 400-700kg trailer ~400kg crane is still not a heavy trailer. Plus most capable 4x4 have a lot more tow capacity than a quad. Understand the 10-20 mile trip in the tractor but thinking more about the >50 mile zone so outside tractor range and looking at vs low loader. The idea here was not pure forwarding more forwarding already winched material around a ride network to roadside/site yard etc, but considering most rides where the big boys are not at play a forwarding trailer would be far superior to bogo road trailer with or without a crane. The 4x4 would be the forwarding vehicle (dont want to get into the do's and dont's of that) which is why it would be nice to have as basic and mobile a setup as possible. Having something that could do this and carry some load around on the road would be lovely. Dual purpose does sound a good setup but does add one more piece of kit to the list.

So just to go over what has been said already in a different way. Bare trailer no crane under 750kg should be ok provided it has road tyres not off road only quad ones up to 20mph (maybe 25) possibly with a beacon depending on the road. Trailer inclusive of crane so over 750kg but within plate weight of the tow vehicle, need road tyres, overrun brakes and the nose weight within the hitch rating, also 20mph. Really going to jobs would need a second road trailer to move the off road trailer to site if you going more than about 2 miles, so possible but pointless. Other scenario is to get creative modify a trailer so it has both a walking beam and sprung suspension, but that requires a IVA test however if you passed you would just carry on happily like every other trailer out there. Whole different discussion on interesting solutions to that one (i can think of a few). Real shame as a lot of these trailers around the 2-4 t mark seem to be about 1t or less empty inc crane and grab which is about the same as a big ifor tipper and walking beam is sooo much better when it gets a bit lumpy.

Thanks for the info on the C&U and the springs. I forgot to mention the nose weight issue earlier as the quad units seem pretty balanced but most tractor ones are designed to put a large % weight on the drawbar, so a tractor size trailer may need the axle moving to balance it out then if going to that trouble you could then consider at the same time adding some heavy leaf springs between that and the chassis (then IVA test). Simplest solution for over 20mph is to just put it on another trailer flat bed, car transporter, but would be nice to move just the one thing once if going between sites. I can see the exemptions possibly working but in different ways. c) you might be able to get singed off for over 25mph (anyone use one at ~50 behind a unimog) but I expect as an appliance no load could be carried. This is more what I was getting at with the idea. d) If they did let you do haulage you should be running a tacho restricted O licence. I have seen a Landcruiser moving combine bits before but that may have had coupled brakes of some sort or they may have just been taking the mick.

Theoretical question, has anyone any experience with this. e.g. small forwarding trailer for compact tractor/quad 3-5 ton (many of the quad ones seem a bit too weedy) capacity behind a tow vehicle at road speeds going to site using crane driving around field moving wood around woodlands etc etc. Obvious requirements are road/speed rated tyres, lights, and brakes if over 750kg which if inclusive of a useful crane is very likely, but what brakes overrun or coupled air and is there an issue with having a walking beam as the only suspension does it require a sprung axle as per the "riko" or could you just spring one side of the walking beam/bogey axle with a coil i.e. borrow from a landrover. Most proper way would be IVA but has anyone been doing long before the IVA stuff. Already aware of the Riko and TCF, main thrust of this is whether a walking beam old forwarding trailer can be used on the road. Nothing obvious in the IVA stuff to say no guessing it would be a "special trailer" but can you then carry a load or would it be like special vehicle cranes when they can only move themselves.

Thank you Stuart thats the kind of useful advise I was looking for. Don't want to be rude but I have been lectured many many times already on what I should or shouldn't have done and what worked for other people, thier brother/mate etc etc blah blah and did not want to go down that road again.

So did anyone find any useful traning or education resources in the down time, among other things I have been youtubing knots and welding exotic metals plus hammering forestry journals all of that is useful but none or it offical training type stuff. Or do other stuff for money?

Thats where I am highly recomended ostio who just highly reccomened a physio for a seccond opinion. Ostio says I should see a shoulder ortho current "person" says theres nothing wrong getting the GP to send me anywhere is a mission. Any free training courses out there? Spending a lot of time learning and not gone near Jeremy Kyle yet.

Dont want to get too into as I tend to go off on one partly as I think I worked it out on my own but dont get listened too. Got some help at the minute from an osteopath and physio outside the NHS expecting them to get to the root of it soon. Currently cant lift a glass of water comfortably, reach my back pocket, t-shirts are trouble etc not driving partly because of reaching the steering wheel gears and I keep getting proper vertigo (might be something going on in my neck). Ive had an injection some blank faces, doing cicles in the NHS had referrals go missing one for 6weeks the most recent nearly two months now before I get to book the apointment which is an average of 1/2months after that. Tried private and was very unimpresssed with about 15min at >£200. Went off on one. Looking at data entry online stuff generally geared around students or stay at home mums I think if anyone has experience of it I'm interested.

Any sensible suggestions, particularly from those with first hand experience ie what you did. Normally self employed etc, chainsaw for hire cutter/groundsman plus many other things had my own little buisness starting, hoarding kit, tickets lined up, buisness plan etc. Shoulder injury... now been off 8 months massively compounded by overstressed NHS. DWP throwing there weight around now those health assessment things are a joke. Anyone ever been a bit like this and manged to make doo without the government, really really want too but seriously scuppered.

Now also in training and education so people can do the old discussion thing.