David Cropper

We had a bomb scare Christmas Eve in town, bomb squad have to come from La Rochelle which is almost two hours away. My neighbour told me that there is only two bases in France. How many teams operate from each base , no idea but I assume quite a few. There's still a lot of ordnance floating about France.

Tried so many times, followed previous advice on other threads buy still won't work.

I joined my regiment as an armoured car gunner, on Saladins, so it all came back to me. That seemed like 90 years ago! Our shells were 76mm not 75mm.

I didn't wait for the bomb team, they're two hours away. Apparently there is only two teams throughout the whole of France which I find a bit disconcerting in these troubled times.

I've put them onto my Facebook page, David Cropper Stump Grinding Services if you want a look.

Thanks, not as glad as I was!

Yes, but I can never post them on my tablet only on the pc which is knackered. They were in really good condition seeing as they were in the ground 70 odd years.

Customer asked me today after grinding out a big yew stump, if I could grind some lilac by a wall. Took it steady as this area of vineyards has lots of stone in the ground. Took the tops off just below the surface, went a bit deeper then hit was I thought was a metal pipe. Reversed the grinder to inspect, to find the "pipe" was a 75mm German tank shell from WW2. Saw the rifling bands and immediately clicked. The client asked what it was, then galloped off. Had another look at the ground and found another. They weren't fused but probably still had the explosive in the casing. Found out that when the Germans withdrew they destroyed the nearby ammo depot. Contacted the Gendarmerie who then got onto the bomb disposal team. The client's son had a metal detector which we run over the top of the disturbed earth, indicating something else down there. Took the first two to the bottom of the garden to wait the disposal team. The grinder teeth really battered the first one's casing which gave me pause for thought!

You sir, are a gent. Your number is on speed dial, just in case the one I've ordered from Vermeer doesn't come up to standard.

I hope so, I've just ordered one, should arrive next week.

Have to second that. I rang the service department last week. Talked me through what I thought was a problem with my SC30TX grinder. Nothing but praise for Vermeer UK. I now get all my spares from them rather from than here.

In about 1979, the old hospital in Bovington Camp, Dorset, was knocked down, it had been built during WW1 and it was constructed mainly of wood. It was where Lawrence of Arabia was taken after his motorbike crash. The resident rats moved into the Garrison Hall, another wooden building, just the other side of a small wood. The front bit was for functions and the back part had been given to the Garrison gamekeeper for a storage area and where he had his large incubators. I had an Army quarter just facing the hall and one evening he invited me in to see his set up. He told me to switch on my torch when we entered and see what happened. It was the stuff of nightmares, thousands of eyes reflecting off the beam. Rats everywhere . We then started getting them in the houses. Luckily I had a jack Russell who was mustard on rats, every day was his birthday in that hall. One squaddie 's wife woke up one night with one on her pillow. The rats either died after a mass poisoning or moved on. Horrible buggers.

Today I paid for x16 yellow jacket teeth here in France, €285.45 inclusive of vat and €30 for the carriage from Vermeer France. They work out at €12.99 per tooth plus vat. They have gone up by about €50 since last year. I contacted Vermeer UK today, what a difference! £7.21 plus vat, £10 carriage to a UK address, if I bought 2 sets of teeth I got 20% discount totalling £233.87 for x32 teeth, half the price of the French ones. I contacted a company who bring British goods over and they quoted £7 to bring it to a pick up point 5kms from my house. Very helpful staff , the teeth will be in the post tomorrow. When I think how much I've paid for teeth in the last 20 months since buying the grinder, I could weep.

My tongue is firmly in my cheek. You are the first person who ever believed anything I've said.

I think here in France that you get fined for NOT smoking in a wagon. You need full breathing apparatus if you ride alongside a French workman, like being in a London peasouper in the old days .

Did have one , thought it was excellent until my wife wrote it off avoiding a dog. Only had it 2 months but really liked it. Well built with an automatic box, very quick off the mark and good to drive. Just a pity the wife walloped it into a wall.

I've had the same problem twice with two stump grinders with the 25hp Kohler. First was a Predator 450 then my Vermeer sc30tx. I changed the throttle cable which solved it.

Maximum refs on my Vermerr sc30tx is 3700, that's the Koehler 27hp. I spoke to the engineer at Vermeer UK and he says to run the engine between 3200 and 3600 without load. I stick to about 3400, anything over drinks fuel like a sailor on shore leave.

No, I used the skin of a freshly killed donkey. Very comfortable, thank you for asking.

Hi Stuart. I asked my local garage to order me a sheet or rubber after showing him a sample of skirt. I think I paid about €20 for a sheet about a metre by 50 centimetres. Thicker and less flexible than the original but very durable.

Is it just their policy in UK? None of the dealers over here bother asking for confirmation of competence. I've quite a few customers who have walked into Stilh dealers and come out after buying whatever they want to. I always ask them if they know how to use the saw etc safely, but put in a nice way. Quite frightening sometimes.

I ain't falling for that, the old :"Send me photos " gag. Last time you groomed me I ended up being sold to a Saudi sheikh. No more. The wife keeps asking me awkward questions, mainly why am I walking around in a dishdash and a thong.

After your experiences, Stuart, with your grinder I definitely thought that I would be coughing up plenty of cash. Big relief when I didn't have to. I like this little grinder now I've got used to it, only thing is I've piled on the beef after throwing that Predator around.

I've not been too impressed with Vermeer France before compared to Vermeer UK . That's now changed. I bought a sc30tx tracked grinder last May with only 15 hours use. Recently I've had a problem with the right side steering in that it sounded like not enough hydraulic fluid was getting to it. After getting it looked at by the mechanic where I bought it from and coming to the conclusion that it was the right hand steering pump, I asked him to order me a new one from Vermeer. I thought that because I had the grinder for over 12 months that the shop guarantee was finished. He contacted Vermeer France who decided to pick up the cost of supplying and fitting the new part as the hours that the machine had done, just 300 in the year, warranted them sorting out the problem. I assumed that I would have to pay but according to the Vermeer technician who came down from Paris, twice, once to have a look then again to fix it, that Vermeer valued the good will generated by actions such as this. Very impressed as some of the horror stories that have appeared on this forum make you wary about repairs and whose liable. There technician did say that this was the first time he had come across a pump failure like this on a fairly new machine.