William Clifford

Hi, My father's looking at making a driveway gate and I've been potentially offered some Redwood. Not sure yet if it is Giant, Coast or Dawn. How do they fair outdoors over a longer period of time (treated)? Posts will be galvanised metal so no wood in the ground, minimal joints to avoid potential water collecting / areas to rot. Are any of the above 3 Redwoods particularly good or bad as timber for outside use? He's preferred Cedar in the past but I seem to have a recollection that Redwood is also good? Thanks.

Cheers Doobin. I read one of the earlier threads from 2020 on this and back then you suggested only the larger engine had Ad Blue and a DPF. Now both seem to have the DPD and Ad Blue but the smaller one has the Lean NOx trap as well. I know what you mean about making them to meet requirements not necessarily for power and simplicity. I only work locally so no motorway runs etc and probably only pulling a loaded trailer once every couple of weeks, otherwise it would be a 750kg chipper. Thanks for the input!

Ok, thanks both for the replies. Not sure which way I'll go if no-one else chimes in. With ally arb back, toolpod, people and kit the payload with the smaller engine will be around 500kg we're estimating. Put the larger engine in and it knocks another 260kg off of that. Unless it's a small fettling job we'll be having another chip van anyway 🤔

Thanks all for the comments. I'm still waiting on the final relatively small amount to be settled before anything else happens but good advice all through the replies 👍

Am in the market for a new truck. Read a thread from a year ago but wondering if there's any more experiences with the above vehicles? The dealer assures me that the N35.125 is a cracking engine and well up to the job of a loaded vehicle and trailer. That the larger engine is unnecessary cost and weight. I was also told that if just towing a 750kg chipper and very occasionally a loaded 3.5T trailer than an auto would be ok, but if often towing a 3.5T trailer then we would be better with the manual gearbox. Thanks for any info.

Good advice there I think Steven. I would have said conflict of interests for sure, but thought well, the neighbour who is asking has paid for the removal of the tree in their garden through their insurance company. In brief, the tree owners insurance would only pay for removal from their own garden. Now that doesn't (shouldn't!) matter to me so much as the contract was with the tree owner for the whole tree over 3 gardens. The 2 neighbours gave me permission to remove the tree from their garden. I sent a quote with a requested cost divide between each of the 3 properties as the insurance companies wanted to know, but that my contract will be only with the one person (tree owner). Job is completed, I'm asked to invoice 3 gardens separately. Not the agreement, but I just sent copies of quote with the suggested cost divide and the final total invoice as it seemed the neighbour would struggle to get the payout without it. The neighbour has paid me direct (all the neighbours have been very good), so yes, I guess I am blurring the lines of who my customer is in my mind!

An update and a question - Completed the work, invoiced, was still asked to invoice separately despite the agreement being with the tree-owner, but invoicing hopefully working out as the 2 main parties have paid. Question is... the neighbour who has suffered the loss of their office garden has asked me my opinion of why the tree came down. Their insurance company is looking into it, I would have thought to try and reclaim costs from the tree owners insurance company. Again, I want to be helpful but at the same time don't really want to be drawn into being in the middle between insurance companies. What might be the repercussions me of emailing my opinion to the neighbour (they have paid part of the invoice direct to me even though my contract was with the tree owner). At the end of the day, I have done what I was asked to do but would like to help if it doesn't open a can of worms for myself and all involved? A bit vague with information for the question, but I'd better not put my opinion of why the tree came down on a public forum. Thanks.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Helpful comments there. Will be going back to the insurance company and explaining to them why I wouldn't tackle only the owners garden and will wait to see if I get the go-ahead for the whole lot. Either from the insurance company or from the owner if he has to put it all together between the parties involved. We shall see what happens... I'm glad you included this Jules. When I was studying our lecturer drummed it into us that we should refer to 'them' as clients, not customers. I've had an inkling of the difference but never stopped to think about it. I may also have been told the difference when he was drumming it into us but there was a lot to take in in those days. Interesting and could be in a position where that makes a big difference. Thanks!

I don't think I've come across this before. As far as I've been aware, it has always been tree owner paid for it all and claimed off insurance, or insurance paid me direct. The quote included the caveat along the lines of "whilst care will be taken to avoid further damage, it will be safety first and avoiding further damage will be second to that". With that in mind and out of curiosity, what do you think the legal position would be of further damage to homeowners and neighbours property? Dragging branches past white walls is my responsibility still, but further damage to property under or nearly under the tree?

Hi, I've quoted for a large tree which has come down in the winds. It is in the owners garden, the neighbours garden and a small amount in the neighbouring garden to the rear. I put the quote in and have heard back from the owner and the insurance company that the owners insurance company will only pay for the removal of the part of the tree in the owners garden. I've been asked to divide the quote, and that the neighbours are to claim on their own insurance for the removal. Is this common? There is a new garden office under the tree in the neighbours garden, amongst other things. My concern is that taking just the trunk and a few of the branches out of the owners garden will put more weight on the office (it is likely a write-off anyway), but that it leaves the remainder of the tree in an even more precarious position. It may roll and cause more damage, or if I make it 'safer', it will likely involve me putting more limbs into the neighbours garden and on the office than are there already. I don't want come back from the neighbour or their insurance company saying we'd made it worse. I'm inclined to say we do it all or none to avoid issues, which would rely on all neighbours and insurance companies agreeing for me to be the contractor, which may or may not happen?! And even then I would prefer a contract with just one insurance company / the owner. Thoughts?

So not knowing much about different grease types and their properties, would a high temperature red complex lithium grease have different properties to a high temperature lithium grease? Or would it make enough of a difference to mean buying one over the other?

Would either of these be suitable for hedge trimmer gear grease? Looking to use a grease gun instead of the expensive Still tubes. Have grease nipple adaptor for the Stihl but understand high temperature Lithium is better for it than normal lithium grease. I think the Castrol in the second link ticks the box, but not knowing my grease's, is the cheaper HT Red complex Lithium grease still ok? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B074KD1MD2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=AZQ7X7EYQIGNU&psc=1 or https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00GUBKH1K/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3CKQVK90UAMQF&psc=1 Also, a similar suggestion that is suitable for brush cutter heads? Thanks.

Ok, thanks for that. So it needs to be training and assessment from whichever body 👍

Ok, so I have always thought that to carry out a task, let's say such as crosscutting, the person should (must?) be competent and qualified to meet HSE and insurance requirements? Or are we saying that a recognised training course (Lantra) ticks the box enough to be able to go ahead? An in-house training course isn't acceptable for this chap to use a chainsaw when working for my business, yet I believe that with a hedge trimmer, if the operator has read the manual and shows that they can use it competently, then that is good enough? I was always sure that Lantra or City and Guilds were equally acceptable, and that if something went wrong, HSE and insurance would see that a reasonable amount of training / competency / qualifications were there? So as long as the courses are interchangeable, it wouldn't matter which he went on?

Thanks. I ask because we were advised by a training centre that if we did training under one body, we wouldn't be able to use it as a pre-requisite for a training course with the other body. I thought that was outdated. Or does it depend on centres? The chap looking at the course has used a chainsaw a lot but needs training / ticket - maintenance and cross cutting, to use it with me on my jobs to be covered by insurance (hopefully) etc. I would have thought Lantra would be fine (£100 less and 2 days as opposed to C&G 3 days). I would expect the level of training to be the same as I haven't heard that one is a lesser qualification? But he wouldn't want to start on a training / assessment route which might have limitations to further courses?

I've had a read through previous threads and got the impression that Lantra and City and Guilds courses are interchangeable - Ie you could do a Lantra crosscutting and maintenance then follow it up with a City and Guilds refresher. Where there are pre-requisites for courses such as small fell before large fell, climbing and aerial rescue before aerial cutting of trees etc, does it matter if one is Lantra the other City and Guilds? After reading other threads I spoke with the insurance company to check their was no requirement for one or the other. They said "for insurance purposes we're not professionals in the industry in the qualifications so whichever you think are most suitable we don't specify what's required for this insurance". Personally, I think that wouldn't be relevant in the event of a claim?! Thanks.

Ok, wait and see then. Thanks for the reply 👍

Hi, The government has been in consultation about the possibility of allowing those with a normal car licence (B) to be able to drive 7.5T C1 vehicles. The call for evidence deadline is today. Does anyone know how long these things take to know the outcome / see the results etc? Basically, when will we know if those with a normal car licence will be able to get behind the wheel of a C1? @Justme might be able to give some insight? Your posts have been very helpful before. Thank you.

I've got 2 camping tickets for Friday night if anyone is still looking?

It has the serial number etched on the black plus a silver sticker on the top of the recoil cover that says Feb 2020 on it amongst a few other things, but no serial number on the sticker. So that would be the later model? I still need to try checking the tuning but thanks for that info.

Thanks for that, he's tried both types and reckons it's the later one but says it is a surprisingly loose fit. Can't imagine that is normal? Have ordered some Seal all for him to try.

No question of what was done to it or the charges. Air filter is clean, saw has had closer to weeks worth of use than months since new so with previous comments in this thread thought it might be to do with the earlier carb. A stuck open check valve then? It get's hot then runs crap, is hard to start If it can be started at all after use. If the saw is almost new I'd hope it's not the piston skirt. Been meaning to order a tacho so will do that also and check the rpm's are still where they should be.

My mate has replaced the breather on a 346xp but it seems to not be sealing around the tank. What would be the best thing to use to do this? Thanks.

I've just started looking at my 2511 again after reading this thread. I'd put it away as air filter kept getting blow back of fuel into it. It was ported (@spudulike ) Any ideas? Tbh it ran good for a little while after getting it back but it soon started happening. I'm understanding that the earlier carbs might be a bit duff? So a case of swapping carb or alchemy? Thanks!

I'll give the client the info and let them make the decision! There's pro's and con's to either way we go really. If spraying was 100% effective for example, it'd probably be best to go that route and prune to give any surviving shoots a chance. If it isn't (and I imagine it isn't), then probably best to re-pollard. I've not sounded the stem but I did have a good look and couldn't see anything else going on. It's young-ish relatively speaking, not full of cavities or anything. When I say 'on the stem' I meant the odd shoots growing straight out of the stem becoming infected and because of how the previous one had died back into the thicker wood and the staining went through it, I had put the 2 together. Possibly incorrectly and something else was also happening? The one we took down previously was stained all the way down to a couple of feet from the floor and seemed to start from the tips. There could have been something else going on in that instance, though I don't know what. I've known the tree for years, also re 'pollarded' it some years ago and it has always been a vigorous tree - until the summer when I got a call because it wasn't looking well and declined extremely quickly. Thank you for the help 👍