maybelateron

I have found it so quick and easy to sharpen the multi tip teeth with a diamond disc, even on the machine, that I have cannibalised the multi tip wheel off my ancient Huxleys Little David grinder for a one off built machine to go on my digger.

I am in Staffordshire and pay my one full time employee £12 per hour. He is groundie and second climber to me. He is reliable, works hard, and good to have on the team. My regular subbie, as groundie and climber gets £120 per day, providing his own climbing but not lowering kit, and provides his Ford Ranger single cab for moving timber etc. If you can offer something like a decent pickup or trailer and tow vehicle of your own you could make yourself more attractive to smaller domestically based firms like mine, for when they have a large job and need more transport. Good luck.

Opinel knife is good for digging thorns out.

I started when I was 41, having been office based for my real job, but fit from living on a smallholding. I am now 60 and still climbing regularly. Your age is no problem. Definitely a good option if you can start learning the tree trade/ doing some work in it, while still having a job in another camp. I was lucky enough to be able to do this, and it was a lot easier for me, I am sure, than for guys who have to jump ship 100% to make the change. Where in the West Midlands are you - I am in North Staffs. Best of luck.

Agreed 110%

Does that mean I can say I am good, just cos I use a Stein Vega? ?

Agreed entirely, when I moved from using Blake's hitch to VT and hitch climber it was a major move forwards.

Sounds just like the Atlantic ones here. Six years ago we had council permission to take down a large TPO'd Atlantic Cedar on the residential estate where we used to mange the grounds. A couple of the residents whose houses are opposite it kicked off big time, so we agreed to leave it for a bit. It still has't died yet, and fluctuates a lot with repeated flushes of new needles, but you just know it can't survive long term. It is right next to a bus stop in the grounds (ex County Asylum site converted to housing). I wonder what the residents who complained will think if it drops a large limb onto the bus stop?

I note that you say Deodars, which I find interesting. We have had a lot of Atlantic/Atlas Cedars dying due to Sirococcus. Is this the cause for Deodars dying in France? Just looked it up on the net and says Sirococcus kills Deodars in the US.

Does this same exemption apply to O licencing? I have always found it a very vague area.

If the trees are owned by the neighbour and not subject to any protection I guess he does done nothing wrong legally speaking. May not be neighbourly of him, but no legislation for that of course. Has he felled so much (5 cu m of timber in one calendar quarter) that he might have needed a felling licence?

Not bad looking for a mere £50

I just clicked on like your post, but then realised this was some of the wording. I was liking the comment about not liking creamy tea. I assumed that your second comment meant you like your coffee strong, rather than meaning black.

I normally tow my Forst TR6 on an Ifor 12 ft plant trailer, sometimes with mucktruck on as well. Tows beautifully. In recent times logistics have meant I have had to put the TR6 on my Ifor 12 x 6.5 tipper, and it still tows very nicely in that, much better than when the trailer is 70% full of woodchip. Had it on weighbridge and it is just still legal, any fuller with chip and it is over the limit.

I would definitely replace the entire clutch, ie buy the kit to replace all the bits. I can't think of anything else you would need. The clutch has to be replaced with the same type as is in there, as the input shaft to the rear axle is different on single versus live drive types, of course. The farm I spent time on did their own 6 pot conversion on a Major, and called it Frankenstein. They were a bit disappointed by it as they had thought it would help with ploughing and other 3 point mounted field work. The balance was altered with more weight at the front, so traction was not good and the turning circle was bigger. I imagine it would have been pretty good for drawbar work such as pulling heavy trailers. Sounded ace too!

I spent my spare time as a teenager on a farm that ran Fordson Majors. Later in life I had my own Power Major for several years. Yours will be a Diesel Major by the look of it, and these had single stage clutches as opposed to "live drive". The former engages the PTO and wheel drive at the same time, the latter engages PTO drive with the lower half of pedal movement and wheel drive with the upper half of movement. Also I think the single stage clutches were preferred if more powerful engines, like your 6D, were fitted, as the live drive type did not cope as well with the extra torque. Sorry if you knew all this already, and were in fact asking about what manufacturer/what clutch diameter details in fact. I have just looked on the net and you could try this link. Ford & Fordson Major Clutch | Agriline Products WWW.AGRILINEPRODUCTS.COM Agriline is a leading supplier of tractor parts & accessories for the Ford & Fordson Major. All Major parts are competitively priced and shipped worldwide.

Yes, I can see the sense in a ripper. The 9 inch bucket was good today but a ripper would have had the edge, no pun intended,

First paid job for "Bob". Cherry tree stump 18 inch diameter, dug out today and then moved to its resting place. For those eagle eyed ones out there, yes the thumb is not used in this pic. I had been using it to pick up the stump, but could not get it off the ground, so I used the narrow bucket to break up the stump a bit to make it lighter. When it happened almost by chance to end up sitting on the dozer blade I decided to move it quickly before it changed its mind! By chance the stump grinder conversion arrives tomorrow. 20hp Honda petrol engine mounted above cutting wheel, to fit onto digger arm. Pics to follow soon of this.

I use Saturn Knives in Sheffield. "Free collection and return" is of course always built into the price. They sharpen them well, price is OK too I feel. Turnaround times variable, so I never leave it to the last moment, and have enough sets of blades.

That is a fair point, but some of us DO understand about cross contamination. My former career justifies that statement for me. It is also a valid point about potential for injury and need for hospital treatment. But then the government guidelines say it is OK to go to work if you cannot work from home, and can follow the safety rules. I think for a firm like us who are 95% domestic the reality is most customers won't want or expect us to be doing the work at present.

That's why I have learnt to get the details to my accountant by September at the latest.

Going to site in separate vehicles is no problem for us, and complying with social distancing in the yard is OK too. My main worry is that is could be all to easy to briefly forget distancing, for example when one of us is mauling with moving a piece of timber by hand etc. We did shut down fully, but I have started delivering woodchip and logs to customers who I am happy I can trust to keep distance. One customer wanted to come and collect woodchip from the yard, but I declined as I did not feel I could rely on him to fully comply with the rules. The other slight worry, as has been quoted in another thread, is that some people might see our signwritten vehicle out at work and bad mouth us through not fully understanding the government guidance?

Oops, pressed the like icon by mistake, sorry. Meant to press sad.

Cleaning the house. Fencing repairs in the field at home. Contemplating putting the tractor onto sawbench and cutting some long splits to 10 inches for a very picky customer. I'll do it this time for him, but if he wants the same spec again he will have to pay more. What does he expect me to do the the 2 inch offcuts from 12 inch splits - find a customer who wants 2 inch logs?? Being happy the ride on mower is stuck at the dealer's workshop - I have mown the lawn twice now with the 19inch walk behind, about 2,500 metres walking each time, should help keep the flab at bay with no climbing etc!

Good point, also less electronic stuff on Disco 1