GA Groundcare

We have a TP 215 in our workshops for service this morning. It is a lovely, well built bit of kit with some nice features. Understand there is a change of dealer for England now and no longer JPW.

Your man here is chipping to the back of a transit which is approx. 13ft? Appreciate the green conifer is dropping closer but then I don't know a chipper which doesn't do that. The chute flap is positioned level so it stays in the bed, if it was opened another 20 degree it would obviously fly further. But then, why would you really need to?

Forst no doubt are giving "top money" on their used machinery in part ex, however with a couple of hundred used machines sat in stock, unsold you could say they have been giving unrealistic values in a bid for new machinery sales? How long can you give top px values when you already have a couple of hundred in your yard? I don't know any "plant" manufacture with a used stock inventory like that.

That they definitely, definitely do not. Try getting someone to underwrite a Forst apart from Forst themselves who strip them down and completely rebuild them. (As per their own latest YouTube used machinery video) Getting a TimberWolf, Jensen, GreenMech, TP, Vermeer etc underwritten is a piece of piss.

Pretty sure the Contractor 750 wasn't actually 750kg ?

On the 8" + chippers we quite like the Bandit. Look after a couple locally around here.

Although they might be a distance away, they'll most likely come to site in the event of a breakdown, service or warranty repair. On servicing we are normally on site by 8am. Any parts you need can be over night direct from factory to you if ordered by 3pm. We now have our own eBay shop with most parts you'll need.

A CS will throw chip a good 15-20 feet no problem. It’ll go further with the spout further “open“ but naturally becomes less accurate.

£90 a blade. That is much the same as other brands out there.

It’s a bit far fetched to say it’s a problematic engine. We have sold many chippers with that 37hp EFI engine fitted. It’s the same engine Forst fit in the ST6P as well as other manufacturers fit in other plant / Groundcare machinery. We supplied the machine to the operator who picked it up from our premises and took it to France. He had a issue with the running of it, it has been into the Briggs engine dealer a couple of times and the underlying issue not resolved. No matter what brand of chipper you buy, the engine is covered by the manufacture of the engine and their own engine dealers. Thankfully engine warranty is usually very few and far between. Its the first engine issue in the 150p we have known as a supplying chipper dealer. Typically it’s in another country and the engine dealers in France seem a little slow on the latest engine models.

Definitely look at the GreenMech Arborist 130... For much the same price you can have the following extra.... Bonnet, LED Lights, Brakes, Hand brake, 6" x 9" Infeed, Adjustable Height A Frame & Locking Hitch. We have an 2017 Arborist 150p in stock with 340 hours on. It is fundamentally the same as an Arborist 130 but fitted with a 37 EFI Vanguard. Still under 750kg. £8,750 ex vat. UK delivery included, manufacturers warranty until July 2020.

Loads I expect. Also begs the question, who's building these setups... And, clearly the buyer has not done any checks / research into load capacity / suitability of vehicle.

Blimey! Do they take cut n shut requests?!

It is a rough rule, but it'll put you in the right ballpark and you usually aren't *that* far off. Add a decimal point to the hp for fuel consumption. eg a 18hp Briggs will use circa 1.8 l/hour, a 23hp Honda fitted in the GreenMech Arb 130 will use around 2.3l/hour and the Briggs 37hp fitted in the GreenMech Arb 150p will use around 3.7l/hour. Rings true with Ashbrooke's comments above and also I know from multiple users feed back that a GreenMech Arb 150p will use just under 4 litres per hour.

Does "any publicity is good publicity" still apply ?

Remove sign writing, once its left your hands you have no control of it! Won't say which company, but an employee for a contractor put an old company work top in a clothing bank. A period of time later an ISIS style rebel was on TV wearing it being interviewed. To him it was just a piece of clothing, to the company it was their worst nightmare.

Something in that region yes. Obviously for most operators they are guessing on their usage.

It would put you in a rough ball park... Most users get around 20 hours on a flat blade before sharpening. As mentioned there is some very simple hour recording devices available..

Although not trucks we have sold a few machines for export over the years. Most recently earlier this year a couple of big 9" GreenMech old chippers to Lithuania. They seem to like big, heavy, strong, fairly worn out old kit. I think what we consider end of life and what some countries consider end of life are two very different things. I get the impression they have a more make do and mend attitude... I sold a couple of old MF 390 tractors with cabs to South Africa about 3 years ago. In the UK we considered them almost scrap. Both cabs were rotten, one wouldn't stay in its gears but they cut the cabs off and went to start a new life down there and were very happy with the products!! The export market seems to be all or nothing depending on where the exchange rate is. The Gov.uk website is brilliant for export advice.

Also, if you look at the cost of a premium chipper (I will choose a CS100 18hp in this example) when buying new it will be circa £4,350 plus vat hand delivered by your local dealership who will support a full three years parts & labour warranty. Any problems, you give them a call and they'll come out and repair the machine. What happens when your Chinese chipper breaks down on site? A distributor sends parts in the post to fit yourself? How long is the lead time on those parts? We keep belts, blades, screws, bearings, infeed screen, stop button and serviceable items on the shelf here ready for a customer to pop in and collect directly or have sent. When you sell that 5 year old CS100 you could see 3k 3.5k back no problem if you retail it fully serviced, cleaned and sharpened. Cost of overall ownership = less than the Chinese chipper and productivity much higher for those 5 years. GreenMech are running some pretty decent finance offers currently too.

Ah! I only scanned through it on BBC news page. Sounds about right for a developer. Whilst its "only" money and whilst the fine can be built as a cost into the housing estate it'll continue to happen. Stick the board of directors on hundreds and hundreds of hours community service instead....

Do you think the property developers have / are planning to pay out the tree surgeon? Being that it’s been ruled as “deliberate”

Most welcome!

We have a 2017 GreenMech Arborist 150 petrol for sale, 37hp EFI engine, -750kg, 344 hours, 10 months manufacturers warranty left. £8,999 plus vat. UK delivery available.

Description A 530 (XL) A 540 A 425 A 328 A 231 A 141 XL Weight of the flywheel 70 kg 120 kg 150 kg 170 kg 275 kg 385 kg Dimensions of the flywheel 600x25 mm 650x30 mm 730x30 mm 820x35 mm 970x35 mm 1060x40 mm Diameter upper roller 110 mm 135 mm 120 mm 160 mm (option 200 mm) 160 mm (option 240 mm) 200 mm (option 280 mm) Diameter lower roller conic 110 mm (middle) 120 mm 120 mm 120 mm 160 mm 160 mm