TIMON

Hi Mike. Our business is owned by a large national charity set up to help people break free from drug and alcohol addictions. The work provides the finances for our residential recovery centres and also provides those on the recovery programme with the opportunity to learn work skills, gain qualifications and develop a personal work ethic etc.. Me and my colleague are accountable to the National Director and the board of trustees. We have no shareholders and ours is a not for profit organisation. When it comes to being impartial I think we are where we need to be in terms of balancing safety, objectivity and economics. I performed the TE on my own kit this time but my oppo double checked my kit and vice versa. After that an "independent " LOLER guy we know also ran through it as well. I really appreciate your comments and we will certainly discuss some of the points you have raised, particularly those of familiarity and sentimental attachment. Thanks Timon

Both I and my colleague co-run our ARB business and we are the climbers as well. We both recently qualified as LOLER competent persons so we can perform our regular thorough examinations "in house" in order to: 1. Learn the principles of LOLER and increase our competency. 2. Become better equipped in our theoretical and practical knowledge of ARB equipment and it uses. 3. Open up another facet to our business by offering the service to other ARBs. 4. Operate our business at a very safe standard. 5. save money. (Not the main reason which is why I have listed it last) I don't see anything wrong with us doing it in house in our situation. I failed a number of items from my own kit which another independent LOLER guy told me he would have passed. I realise that being relatively new to this my understanding is limited, which is why I often seek advice and guidance from others I know in the industry who have a much greater depth of knowledge. Periodically we plan to have an external TE. Which will I hope demonstrate we are conducting our own examinations without fear or favour.

Tony, We went to do a quote for some further work at a job where we had felled a tree 2 years ago. Found this at the stump. Not sure what it was but it looked impressive. Timon

Sorry to hear that Andy, I did wonder where you had got to. Rest well mate. Pray that you get a speedy and total recovery. Timon

Sorry Kevin, I'm a bit slow on the uptake these days.... Too much techno when I was young...

NFU wouldn't touch our mog.

Aye! Technical jargon from here on in now. (PU ?)

At last..,.,,, We talked the owner into having it re-juiced. Tomorrow Time to put our new rigging skills into action (passed our CS41 assessment this week). Will post some pics tomorrow.

Congrats mate!

We did ours at Ian Morgan Arb in Staffordshire. It's a week long course and it's specifically for arboricultural equipment. If that's too far away he could probably point you in the right direction.

Took mine apart too. I'm pretty sure it's a 5 wrap distel. I remember reading that in order to maintain its CE as a complete system you must use it in its original configuration. There are a few Teufelberger videos on YouTube that demonstrate it's uses and various applications.

A bit more chip under the chassis than a rear tip. If you are converting to a 3way or side tip you would need to make sure the pivot points are up to the job. A decent welder/fabricator would help you out. Someone with Agricultural background preferably.

Turtlewoods.... You obviously have far too much spare time on your hands!

We have side tip on our mog. One piece door hinged at the top like Bob says

Looks like you've got a good machine there. Johnny.

As in: "I'm very sorry....BUT..

Intolerance will no longer be tolerated on this forum.......

You would think that.... But..,,,We've found over the years that middle income areas provide the bulk of the work. Rich areas don't necessarily mean big bucks.

Sounds like a good deal. When it comes to flyers it's all about coverage in the right areas.

You'll have it dancing in no time! Also it's a good idea to locate all the grease points and keep on top of the greasing.

Manitou's are great machines, another good tip is to use the steering to side shift the forks or bucket when the machine is stationary and you are loading through a small gap. I miss driving them.

Because we've done it before and it has revitalised previous pieces of sheesham.

Steve...There is no real need to sand the table top and a good chance you will spoil it. Any reasonable proprietary paint stripper (nitromors or similar) will remove the old lacquer. Whatever you do don't machine sand it. Once the old lacquer is removed wash the top down with methylated spirits to neutralise the stripper. Then give the top a very light feathering down along the grain with a very fine grit sandpaper. 320 grit or similar. To try and revive the grain; a medium oak stain or similar should bring it out. Then lacquer over the stain once the desired effect is achieved.

Pieces not prices...

Steve. I'll see if I can get you a bottle of whatever our guys use in the restoration workshop. Or at least find out what is your best course of action. I know we've had loads of sheesham prices through.