Blah

I had an Ifor 12x5 flatbed w/ dropsides before I bought the Sherpa, so it goes on that, on aluminium 8ft ramps. Plenty of space for all the extra attachments. It’s a bit more faff than a dedicated plant trailer with a drop down ramp back, but it’s what I have and it does the job. The guys I work with all run 4x4 tow trucks, as opposed to transit tipper. One of us will tow the tipper trailer, another the chipper, and me the Sherpa train hopefully quite often. Quite useful to be able to shift the trailers and chipper around on site with the Sherpa. I also have a towball mounted on the grab, but it sits on top of it, rather than on the side like yours. That means there’s less underneath the towball so i end up dragging the grab on the ground when the trailer gets nose heavy. Your arrangement is better I think.

Haven't even had the Sherpa a month now and it's been so bloody useful. It doesn't necessarily make anything significantly quicker, but definitely a lot easier. Loading/unloading chip, moving bulk bags, loading logs onto a mate's truck, presenting logs at waist height for the little splitter, splitting straight into a crate that can be moved to the store and presented to be stacked at whatever height is easy, stacking up brash next to the chipper, cutting logs at waist height instead of on the ground, moving trailers and chippers when the customer have moved their car "out of the way". Can't believe how little mess we made of a lawn yesterday. Rain was biblical and I genuinely reckon the trips we saved over manually dragging brash from a little willow pollard meant the lawn was looking better for using the Sherpa. The engine sometimes stalls when I reach a ram limit, particularly tilting up /down or opening/closing the grab. Anybody else get this? This a problem, or just a function of having the basic Sherpa?

Just picked me up a second-hand Sherpa 100 Agri with grab, bucket and rake. Anybody have a service manual / parts list / anything to help with maintenance? Any recommendations for which grease to use on the rams?

I love mine. Bought it recently, ear protection soooo much better than the Petzl I had before (with Sordin chipper spec muffs!). Wish I'd bought one years ago.

I held out for a couple of years to buy the t540ixp as I had a load of Stihl stuff and batteries already. Decided I didn't want to wait any longer this time last year and invested in Husky batteries as well. I really rate the saw, and reading your post StephenMews, makes me feel better about having both sets of batteries.

Pretty sure Pfanner Zermatt GTX are made by / actually Crispi. So, yes, have used them extensively

Pfanner Zermatt for me. I think my current pair is approaching 3 years and still waterproof.

I use the T540ixp with 300 batteries, it's fine.

This is why we run a 4x4 with a 10ft Ifor tipper trailer. 2.5t payload.

Had exactly the same experience. 23 years / 240k miles on a landcruiser before rust got it. Replaced with an 61 plate Shogun. The Shogun is quite a bit nicer to drive mind. And rustier.

I bought a set of Kebtek's about a month ago. Best thing I ever did. I use them all the time, and they save my wrists. On apple pruning they go through an inch easily, so hardly ever getting the silky out anymore. Speeds it up no end. Don't know which one you're looking at; I have these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09963TPZY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1. Looks like you can get £50 voucher, making them £149.99

How unusual.

I'd go for the t540 ixp battery version. I've not picked up my 201 since I bought it.

That's exactly what I've done on mine Mike. It's either 2 or 4 bolts, can't remember and makes for almost van like room in the back. Left the single rear seat in folded up.

This. I carry a 60m SRT setup, a 30m SRT or DRT setup and a 25m hitchclimber for dirty connies. I'll choose whatever fits the tree and the situation best. It's my life on the line, I'll choose how I can do what needs doing in a way that is safe for me.

I also use Bli300 with the t540i, no problems. It is a bit heavy, but it also lasts for quite a while.

I bought a Courant 11.7mm rope, very happy with it. I went with the Japora - got a discount on it because it's the last one they had, no longer made I think. Pretty much the same as the Squir in terms of self-tending. Don't know how the bounce compares ot the Drenaline yet, probably would use the Squir in a situation were that might be an issue anyway, and that's miles better. Mate bought Komora, also 11.7mm, also seems good.

The main question I have is, how does it compare to Husky's 540 iXP rear-handled saw. I invested in the Stihl MSA160 and MSA 200 when they first came out, with an AP200 and AP300 battery. I then wanted the extra power the Husky T540 iXP top-handle gave, so bought that with two BLi 300 batteries. That saw is much more powerful than the MSA 200, and in my opinion better than my 201 tcm. I like the idea of a battery MSA261, but absolutely not going to invest in two new batteries again, and doubtless a new charger.

I managed to get a good price on a Sealey 3000CXD a few years ago. Very happy with it. List price now over £200, I got mine just over £100 delivered on Ebay. Lifts high enough to work on my Shogun, and low profile enough to get under my Caddy. Miles better than the cheapies I'd had before.

I found the Schultz effect really useful in getting to grips with SRT: The Schultz Effect THESCHULTZEFFECT.GUMROAD.COM Best $39 spent.

This. Put some winch power on it, see how it behaves. Or walk away.

Currently use drenaline with a zigzag for DRT and SRT (with ZZ + chicane). It's OK, but getting tatty and needs replacing. I really like my 60m Courant Squir on the ZZ, super smooth and self-tends beautifully. Does anybody have experience of the other Courant ropes? Looking for similar to Squir, but with a spliced eye. And shorter. I know I could cut / splice, but I'd like something off the shelf.

My old boss used to say "If you're not sure, you're sure." mostly used when deciding whether to employ people.

The basic rigging kit I got after getting my rigging ticket was a Tree runner p500, an ISC red pulley (the 100kN one), a whoopie sling and a 14mm rope. Old climb line for a tag line, and this lot would cover 90% of the rigging we do. Obviously I've acquired more shinies over the years. On the rigging rings, if you only get one thing, I'd get a pulley rather than rings. Rings can be a pain when groundies have to lift stuff.

I'd add to those factors time of year. Sycamore for example can be a completely different beast in winter. Also, wind direction, condition of the branch etc. I quite often do a couple of test cuts where it doesn't matter to see how the wood will behave combined with wind direction etc. On a heavier branch, I sometimes do an undercut, then nibble half of the width of the branch away, then a top cut if I think the saw I have on me might not cut fast enough to keep up with the brand drooping. If I'm in any doubt, it's getting rigged down.