David Cropper

I thought about the 252 but they all had a few hours on the ones I saw for sale and I was a bit windy of buying an unknown machine. My Predator 450 was brand new and took a hammering in the 2 and a half years I had it, I think you take a chance if you don't know the history of the machine. The Vermeer I bought was at a local salesroom bought to use as a hire machine, but as I have said before, the local French won't pay to grind out stumps, so it sat there for 12 months not being used. I knew what I was buying in this case. It looks a nice bit of kit but will lit do the business is all I care about. I have had another 7 jobs come in since I got it so it has to do a good job.

I have a diamond disc which I used on the multi tip teeth, bit of a job to do but I found that if the teeth weren't too bad then I got a decent edge to them. I have never used the yellow jacket teeth before so can't really compare them.

Thirsty yes, sweaty no.

To make matters worse yesterday, no brew or drinks were offered and it was 28 degrees. My mate was there on his digger and I asked him if he had had one, never been asked in 4 days of being there. I saw the tree surgeon today who dropped the willow and when I asked him about brews, he said the same thing, a dry site. Pillock never thought to tell me beforehand.

Thanks for that Gray Git, I have done pops before and didn't have a problem, found them very easy. I found yesterday that boredom was setting in after a couple of hours only using one hand on the joystick instead of wrestling the 450 about. At least the 450 kept me fit, now I suspect I'm going to have one callused hand, no dirty comments please, and a bigger belly than before. I could almost have read a book yesterday to keep me interested, a very strange experience. Got a badly sunburned neck as I didn't really move about enough.

I finally got my new grinder yesterday, a Vermeer SC30TX, the tracked one. I'm undecided if I like it. After trading in my Predator 450 thinking it would be more efficient and obviously easier on my joints, I felt that I was taking twice as long to do a stump. Fair enough I only did one large willow which I had started with the 450 before the head gasket blew, but it seemed an entirely different experience. The good old 450 would eat most stumps when the multi tip teeth were in good nick but as this was my first willow in 5 years of pretty regular grinding, maybe up to 4 days a week, I found that both machines were finding it hard going. Is willow a difficult grind? I seem to remember someone on here remarking that the hydraulic grinders seemed underpowered compared to belt driven. I found that I had to take thin slivers at each pass rather than the hefty slices with the 450, it seemed to want to jump about as though I was trying to cut too deep or the teeth were too worn. The Vermeer is 1 year old with only 15.5 hours on the clock, the yellow jacket teeth have only been used on one edge, don't look too bad, maybe I'm too used to the multi tip system to compare. I will turn the teeth tomorrow on the next job to see if it makes a big difference. Anyone have anything to similar experiences?

Stu, I always take a photo album with me to show, plus I go in the van with whatever machine I am using at the moment. The adverts I pay for on AngloInfo plus the three free magazines all have my website on so I get lots of emails via that. The bloke who did my website has added a page in French but it seems to have slowed everything down when it loads. he knows he's messed up and hasn't asked me for the payment, I think he's embarrassed with it! Can't change the photos to show more kit or different jobs I've done. Very frustrating. Chris, I will let you know what I think of the yellow jackets when I try them, thanks for your input. Se what they compare to multi tip.

I'm going to see how I get on with yellow jackets before I make any decisions to change. The new machine is an ex hire with only 15 hours on the clock from my local dealer and it's fitted with yellow jackets so I have to give them a good try. Get it Tuesday, out working on Wednesday so will see how we get on. Should save my knees a bit of pain after 3 years with the Predator 450! Brilliant bit of kit but hard work at my age, find it difficult on slopes ad sometimes actually getting to the stumps on rough ground leaves you knackered before you start. Be sorry to see it go.

Already done Stu. Still getting a few misers who baulk at ANY price you offer. My workmates, Darren Shepherd of Vienne Trees Services and Nick de Sylva of Abracadabra have been telling me for ages to charge more. Spoke to another pal, a French tree surgeon yesterday and he agreed that I don't ask enough. I've got to the stage were I am giving a fair, but to my mind a wee bit too inflated price and it seems to work. got approached by a foreman from the local council, who knocked on my door, to quote for a job in town, just before Xmas. Put the paperwork in to the office, waited 3 months knowing that the new budgets were starting ,to be told by the gaffer that HE decided who gets the work, not his foreman. Problem here is that every bugger is related, almost as bad as when I lived in Dorset!

Hi Chris. I pick up a Vermeer SC30TX next week with yellow jacket teeth, how do you rate them? I have only used Multi tip and finger teeth before. I'm very impressed with the multi tip on my Predator 450, which by the way I convinced the French dealer to take in part ex for the Vermeer, but want to give the yellow jacket a good go before I change to multi tip.

We have lots of these things in the Poitou Charentes. The local French are terrified and insist that the nests are burnt thee times to make sure the caterpillars are dead. They are like cockroaches in the fact they are so difficult to destroy, they literally march out of the flames and have to be kicked back in. We get a good pile of embers going then play a leaf blower on them to keep the heat there. This year with the winter being very mild there were reports of the caterpillars leaving the nests in January, not the usual February or March. The method that seems to seems to help is to place sticky bands on the tree trunks to capture them on their descent to the ground, then the birds will pick them off. If they get onto the ground they then burrow in and the cycle begins again. Even though the nests are empty there are still the fibres off the caterpillar bodies which will cause irritation if you come into contact. Ty Corrigan is right in that he says to fell and replant, it seems to be the only tried and trusted method. I always look in customers gardens the first time I go there to see if there are any pine with the nests in them as the ex pat Brits are generally unaware what these nests are and the inherent danger to pets and children. I always advise them to contact a tree surgeon to get rid asp.

I use an old flail mower I bought cheaply. It's a Turner and smashes the small stuff up easily, after I have cut with a long reach hedger I lay the brash on the deck and keep going over it with the flail. Bit of a bugger on the tyres if you're using it on bramble but it is an option for you to try.

just got into my van after finishing work, 38 degrees inside, when I set of for home it dropped to 29 degrees, and it's only April!

As I told you before Ty, your part of France seems to have more cash than my area, the Charantais prefer to keep their money and not use it for what they consider a luxury job to have done. The only French I have worked for, stump grinding, is the professional classes who have usually moved her to work and buy a house locally and will pay what you ask, unlike a lot of Brit ex pats. Some you almost have to arm wrestle to get the rate necessary to give you a wage. The usual cry is when presented with what it will cost is "How much!" When you consider I sometimes am driving for up to 6 hours per day and covering 300kms and doing 8 hours hard work, they seem to think I do this as a hobby. The two tree surgeons that I work with most, Darren Shepherd and Nick de Sylva have come across the same attitudes. The Dutch ex pats are pretty decent and don't quibble about costs. I went to give a quote involving a round trip of 265kms to a Brit who worked in France for Kubota. I give him a ridiculously low quote, with hindsight now, of €900 for 3 days work grinding out 23 large conifers, my mind set was that it is so usual to have to quote low for most jobs, that I automatically went low. He had a quote from a French gang of €3,900! I still didn't get the work!

Christ Almighty! Remind me not to criticise Dealers again; I have just had to repel an angry mob brandishing pitchforks and burning torches outside my house. I'm going to look pretty bad if I don't buy anything from Global now, I may run away and live in the woods, grow a big beard and live with a bunch of elves. To be serious though, Dean has been very attentive since I first made my comments, and judging from what has been said seems to be on the ball. Hang on, I have to move a bit sharpish, there's a bunch of scruffy, dribbling herberts with chainsaws outside the house.

Thanks Treenerd. I will get in touch. To be fair to Dean at Global he is been contacting me via email pretty much all evening. Hats off to him.

Dean, you are correct it was Global, I contacted you via the email address for the sales dept as that was all I had. I will resend the original. Ian Clarke, I have spoken to Ty Corrigan about other matters before and you are right, France is a big country and he was the one who had a bad experience. I have been offered a Vermeer SC30TX from a local company here, only a couple of hours on the clock. They bought it to hire out one year ago but the local French don't want to pay out for grinding jobs so the machine hasn't earnt it's keep. The company can't give me a part ex as it wouldn't be viable for them. I can't offer it for sale locally as some other Brit would possibly buy it and start up in completion ,that's the quandary I'm in. I have a Gentleman's agreement with the tree surgeons that I work with that I pass tree work on to them and I get the grinder jobs. It works very well as both French and Brit blokes pass on work. All the lads that I know out here are decent and we respect each others jobs realising that there is work for us all. As I am not VAT registered that is another problem when buying kit here.

Has anybody else had less than a good response from UK dealers when inquiring about part exchanging a used grinder and buying one from them? I rang the offices of two companies who advertise on Arbtalk to inquire. The first one I wanted to buy new and part ex my existing one. The 12 year old who answered said "Sorry sir but we don't sell stump grinders you must be mistaken" to which I told him that I was looking on the company's website as I was speaking to him! I suggested that this may not be his specialist subject and could I speak to someone who did know. He then relayed answers from his, I assume boss, with the eventual reply that they weren't interested in part ex but would sell my old grinder for me. Not too impressed with them, maybe they had bigger fish to fry than me. At the second company I spoke to the receptionist and asked to speak to the chap who deals with grinder sales, to be very politely told, I may say, that he was in the yard and could I ring back in an hour. As I was going back out to work I suggested that maybe an email marked FAO then his name would be better. This I did. Nothing back from them so far from Friday morning. Is it just me and my sparkling personality or is paranoia creeping in.

I keep a spare set of either re-sharpened or new teeth in the tool box with; wire brush for the hardened on crap and a soft 1inch paintbrush to clean out the dust, an old chainsaw file to dig out the head of the allen bolt and the 8mm allen key. I found that tapping out the teeth unit with a rubber mallet better than using the lump hammer I have in the van, takes longer but must be better for the metal. Have you found that once one thing goes west on a machine it then follows that you get a series of them? Two weeks ago I had the hydro belt snap, due to working in heavy rain in clay conditions, fixed that, 5 minutes later no drive again. Stripped it down and found that the spring holding the pulley had snapped! Luckily the client was an engineer and sorted it out using his vice and brute strength. I always carry spares for everything but Sod's Law not a spring. I do now. The next day the starter motor was sticking, waiting to receive parts to sort that out. Still works but a bit hit and miss. Seems to be a common problem with Kohler engines according to various forums I looked at.

When I am in mud and knackered believe me, it takes 5 minutes! By the time I've knocked all the soil off, cleaned the head of the bolt free of crap to get the allen key in 5 minutes is good.

I would love a Jo Beau, I have a M200 chipper, very pleased with it. I have seen some of your kit on your website, the 31hp does look good ,but as I said before I will have to do some serious saving up! Before anyone mentions buying one on credit, living in France does not allow me to get credit from a UK company. Predator offered me credit terms when I got in touch to buy the 450, then called me back apologising profusely that credit wasn't allowed. What they did was got Max the boss to allow me to pay the £1500 I needed by taking £500 for three months via my debit card. Good service from them. Trying to get money from my French bank to buy from UK is like I had suggested something obscene!

Just spotted an ad on a French website, Agriaffaires, for a second hand M200, 2013, for €4750! This is why I tend to buy most of my kit from the UK, even paying for transport costs comes in cheaper than buying in France.

I've had a Predator 450 for over two years. Used with the Multi tip wheel it flies through stumps, as always keep the teeth in good nick. The beauty of the teeth is that when you have taken the edge of the two leaders then you change them for the next teeth in line. Five minute job for each one. You certainly know about it when you have done a full day with it, though, my knees were shot before I got it, now I can barely walk when I get out of the van. Predator are pretty good when you need spares, I usually receive them over here within 3 days of ordering. At that stage in life where I am seriously saving up to get a tracked or 4 wheeler to take the strain. Maybe a Rayco 1625 Junior.

I bought a 2 year old M200 from a bloke who used it just in his garden for a season. Paid €1700 for it. Price out here new is roughly €4300 (I think). Had to have the carb cleaned out as he left the fuel in and the tap open for a year so difficult to start. Paid €35 to get it sorted. Brilliant piece of kit, copes nicely with 2inch branches and throws the chip with no sweat.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time" Adolf Hitler, The Bunker 1945.