Johnsond

Managed to get saw build completed today. Spent a lot of time making sure everything was square and set up as per book and online advice ie you tube. Had a nightmare with adjusting drive belt tension as as soon as I tried to set it the motor pulled off at an angle. In the past I've always altered positions or tensioned the belts on a stationary engine with at least a pair of bolts to push the motor square. I ended up making up two adjusters at opposing corners to make sure I could get the clutch square with the two band wheels as opposed to measuring from the engine mount plate etc. Proper pain in the arse but it worked out better in the long run. At some point I will remove the motor and weld two permanent adjusters in place. Anyway on a positive note the first few practice cuts on some pieces that will be used as saw horses went well and saw was cutting square so pretty much happy with that side of things. Base frame is completed and just needs painting. I'll lower the rails a bit yet to minimise potential of damage to the bolts holding it. The frame is keeping everything square and level over the full bed length and proved very easy to level up. Contrary to what website said it did come with a battery !!!! Ive now got a spare !!!

WTF poss a shortage of fresh tulips

Got this pic off a Trailer for sale on gumtree Inverness. Quite like the boarded floor look

Do I think it will change much err no not really not in the short term but it's now out there and people are talking about it. There's nothing I need to know about being flexible and self employed/subcontracting vesp ive done it since I came out the army in 1990 and managed to pay my way to pay the mortgage and never once claim a penny from the state, I'd class myself as reasonably savvy in the ways of this game but I've been burnt and found my back to the wall with no slush fund. Shit does happen in life unfortunately and the reaction of that guy whilst wrong can be half understood. What is bollocks is how easy guys can fold up firms owing a fortune and start again virtually the next day

Come on vesp you are getting a wee bit excited there I would hazard a guess and say most members of the public are not looking at a building site and thinking there are hoards of criminally insane lunatics waiting to come flying out tooled up with a mini digger intent on wreaking havoc. Jokes aside yes he went too far but the issue of non payment to subbies is something that needs looking at. Sometimes it's not always possible to amass a slush fund or be as fiscally responsible as one would wish especially if you are self employed.

Sturgeon !! Yeah that would be one for the team for sure. You'd have to man up and brass that one out

No ex army though and we have standards

A tad harsh there Vesp !!. Whilst I agree you can't just go crazy every time that you don't get your own way and in no way to I condone wanton vandalism. I'm not sure if Joe public is aware of how much of that sort of thing goes on ie contractors nailing subbies, that's what needs sorting out, the amount of people taking a cut at different levels is mental. Ground level self employed guy has virtually no rights or leverage. I've been there myself. Yes he probs went too far but he has brought the whole topic into the public eye big time. 5 years is a lot nowadays when you see the piss poor sentencing that occurs so often for far worse crimes.

I'd pay good money not too !!!!

Would any of this have happened if he had been paid ??? £600 can make the difference between paying your mortgage and putting food on the table for your family. I would tend to think the contractor whom didn't pay him has had some questions to answer to travelodge!!.

I've used old scaffolding boards in the past, handy as if you bust one it's an easy replacement. Quite like the old school look too. Buffalo board like others have said. Any big civil Engineering concreting jobs going on near you ?? as it's often used for shuttering and then dumped.

Agreed I was bumped as a subbie for 10 grand a few years ago, news that I wasn't gonna get paid was given by phone on the evening of the 23rd of Dec whilst I was driving to Dublin to catch the ferry home. Xmas eve was spent driving from Holyhead to Aberdeen thinking how I was gonna get through the so called festive period. Credit card Xmas was what it turned out to be. Biggest kick in the balls is the individual whom was responsible wound up one firm and started another basically straight away and got away with it Scot free. So regarding Vesps comment if he was the judge etc etc and small claims courts it's difficult to comment or pass judgement unless you know all the facts. Me personally I say good luck to him and as like others have said if one good thing is to come out of the whole event it is that it publicises the fact that this bullshit is so prevalent in many industries ie subbies getting treat like shit.

Hi this is indeed the way its always been done, sling top of pile and then cut the bottom with a air or hyd chainsaw. The time taken to cut each one is a factor as diving is invariably an expensive operation and clients will soon kick back if it's taking too long. What I was trying to find out is what with the use of shears etc nowadays for felling is would there be a different ie better and safer way to carry out the task. Probs looking like old school or maybe an adapted grapple saw type arrangement.

Hi Agrimog point taken but the bunks don't have to be an exact match for me as long as height is same and log support is in correct place. This would only ever be as a contingency to replace damaged parts or to dobthe occasional long log. Ref the rail tops one of guys I work with has a multi axis Bridgeport milling machine that could achieve whatever the top rail thickness is, same guy has his own cnc plasma cutter so I'm quite lucky in that respect. Regarding the use of M18 it's only really to use a slightly heavier bolt with a bigger head to get more weld on probs belt and braces but that's never a bad thing. I'll throw a few pics up of the bottom frame once done, any comments are welcome.

Hi Agrimog cheers for the reply i picked up the longer bolts today and whilst there grabbed a m18 to try in the feet holes and an M12 to try in place of the supplied M10s in the track and bunks etc. M12s fitted no probs with still a bit of wiggle room. I totally get the benefit of having some built in tolerance whilst assembling a bit of kit, but also know the benefits of having stuff that goes together well with little tolerance, ( mind you at the price I do not expect it to be made with Swiss watch precision and will happily deal with a bit of mass produced error etc) whilst it may be a pain in the arse I may do a mock up with the M12s and see if it will true up once fully assembled. Regarding the swap from M16 to M18 to mount the rails to the box section I'll make my mind up once the lower frame is completed. The new woodlands trailer kit is indeed a decent looking bit of kit but at nearly 2 grand plus vat it's not an option just yet. The frame I'm building that will later on be the trailer chassis will initially serve as the base to secure the rails onto for its initial couple of jobs. I have the ability to lift and move the base and head separately and initially this will suffice. Hopefully any dings or damage that occur can be sorted insitu, looking at the rails I'm gonna knock up another extension and couple of bunks from angle and rectangular box to see how it goes as with templates to copy from that should be reasonably simple undertaking.

Crane barge will be on site to assist with removal of steel piles which are to broco cut out so hopefully it comes with a good driver with a rough touch when required as this will be the first option. Agreed ref the tirfors and chain pulls, they have there uses but not in this case. Minus 1m below existing bed level is requirement. I've done it numerous times before using several different methods. The question I was really asking and trying to look for an alternative is wether the shears will do the job, from the comments here I'd say it's not looking good. Looking like it's back to old school or poss one of the fishers offshore crane deployed sub sea shears.

Hi Mark Hard for me to comment at this stage but as a product the engineering seems pretty robust. I've made the comment on some of the welding and the hole size on the connecting plates, hole size is probs no big deal in reality and the welding will be sorted with a couple of hrs of mig work. My initial task with the mill will be cutting some decent lumps of Douglas fir for a timber frame project. With this in mind I'm looking to beef up the welds mentioned earlier etc before I start work also if there's anything else I see that I think can be improved I'll try and do that as I'm progressing with the mill. I'm ordering rectangular section tomorrow to make a ladder type base to mount the mill on this will later on become the trailer chassis but in the meantime it will provide additional strength and rigidity for the type of work I plan to do with it. ( I'll put some pics of that up once I've finished it) Regarding the ability of it to stand up to constant use, well I guess if it's looked after and poss a few improvements specific to the type of work you plan for it then why not !!. Ok it's not a woodmizer but it's not nowhere near woodmizer money neither. I'm sure there's lads on here whom have used them extensively. There's plenty of happy users on you tube who seem to be working them right at the top end of there capabilities with no problems. End of day like trigger Andy commented when I was looking at options. If it doesn't work out they don't seem to hang around long when used ones come up for sale. Cheers

Hi cheers for that yeah a bit of tolerance is definitely useful but I think it's probs on the excessive side. End of the day it's going onto a box section ladder type frame so once put down and levelled and trued up it should stay put.

Hi currently in the process of assembling a woodlands 130 mill and 1 section track extension. Built up the track but came across a couple of points that concerned me. Nothing major but could be better so to speak. The M10 bolts utilised throughout the track build have way too much tolerance in regards to the size of the holes on the bunks and the reinforcement plates. Even with all bolts in and reasonably tight the amount of lateral movement is considerable obviously when tightened and set up this will reduced but I still feel that the hole sizes are excessive. I'm heading to fastening shop tomorrow to pick up some more bolts as instructions stated 16 x M10x35 and kit only came with 8 !! so other bolts I've used at these locations are not engaging the nylocks. Probs buy a good quantity of 40 mm long ones and change most of them out. Other thing I'm intending to do straight away is to clean up and reweld the box section that holds the log supports. Quite frankly whilst the finish and engineering is of a decent standard I've a 9 yr old whom can mig to a higher standard than what's used at these locations.

Hi yeah absolutely the guy who is asking has nearly 30 yrs commercial diving experience and prior to that was a navy clearance diver. He now runs his own inshore commercial diving firm. Normal practice/old school would be to airlift around the base of the pile and then cut with a diver operated hydraulic or air powered saw as per pic. But the health and safety types are not keen on that nowadays. I've done this operation myself as a diver and dive supv and it's a hard one to risk assess and train for. It was myself whom suggested the idea of shears as hydraulics will happily work sub sea.The problem with vibroing out timber piles is the tops are nearly always rotten or weaker than the portion of pile remaining in the ground and invariably tears apart. Also the vibro hammers are designed to clamp onto steel piles not the top of old timber piles. The job itself is for demolition of an old navy jetty so the value of the timber is not a concern as it will most likely be scrapped at end of job. I was just throwing it out there hoping that somebody might have a way of or experience of adapting the newer bigger shears to carry out the task. Cheers

Hi looking for some advice on best option for sealing the ends on some large sequoia slabs. I've a fair area to cover so would be looking at a decent amount of whatever is recommended. Any advice would be appreciated cheers

Hi Yeah the first option will be to choke them and go for a straight pull. Can't use the vibro extraction option as the timber is in poor condition above water. This in my experience is generally the case as the constant exposure to air and then water is far more damaging than constant immersion. If they don't pull then client will want a contingency plan. All the cutting and or shearing would be a subsea operation at 1m below bed level, total water depth is approx 12m involving divers so dust etc would not be an issue although I will pass the warning on as they will no doubt be dealing with them once on surface. Regarding the shears the main concern is as to wether they would have enough grunt to deal with piles of that size. Cheers

Hi All ive a colleague whom has been asked to remove a number of greenheart piles from an old jetty. Basically they will be cleared to 1m below bed level then cut. Old school way was with a diver with an air powered saws as per pic but health and safety nowadays tends to not like such bits of kit. My query is are there shears out there that could deal with 14 inch square greenheart ?? And if so could they be crane deployed on a rigging bridle to be positioned on the pile ?? Just throwing this out there guys for some opinions Cheers

I must admit I agree with most of that and whilst I can't stand the the policies and bullshit he spouts I do know of one ex miner who did graft for his money back in the day that being Ronnie Campbell MP

Dial back on interfering in other people's wars and problems and concentrate on a strong defence force and all the associated engineering and manufacturing jobs etc it generates would be a good start. Accountability on massively over budget publicly funded projects ie Scottish parliament building etc would be nice.