Havelock

Having driven the 100 mile stretch of the A9 with all the average speed cameras (Dunblane to Inverness) whilst adhering to car (60/70/70) speed limits I said I would report back on whether I heard back from the Constabulary. As that was more than four weeks ago I presume I can now be confident that I will not be hearing from them. However, in the latest Hilux Invincible I will in future keep to 50/60/70. Here is why: The issue of course is that the latest, heavier (dual cab) pickups now exceed 2040 kg unladen weight. Although they may qualify for all the other Dual Purpose Vehicle criteria, if they are more than 2040 kg then, as Kevin has prepared us, some of us have to face 50/60/70 speed limits. Up thread there was some discussion about working out the unladen weight from the only figure given in recent registration documents, the Mass in Service. I contacted the West Yorkshire Police advice service and was advised: “You cannot convert mass in service to unladen weight. If the vehicle's unladen weight is not shown in your vehicle's handbook, you will need to contact the manufacturer - they will be able to tell you what the vehicle's unladen weight is, we would suggest you get a copy of this in writing. The legal definitions in relation to vehicles for speed limit purposes are very clear and precise and used to enforce the speed limit legislation” ————— Concerning the 2016 models, there was a useful article in Professional Pickup and 4x4 that specified which pickups are not DPVs: Affected pickups* Ford Ranger Toyota Hilux review Volkswagen Amarok *Not all derivatives are affected; usually only the high-spec models. Unaffected pickups Mitsubishi L200 Nissan NP300 Navara Isuzu D-Max Great Wall Steed SsangYong Korando Sports http://pickupand4x4.co.uk/know-your-limits That said I know of one Mitsubushi dealership that said that the top spec Barbarian L200 is also more than 2040 kg, despite the aluminium engine. If the Navara and D-Max are sneaking under the 60/70/70 bar then that ought to be quite a positive selling point - as you speed past those of us chugging along at 50 mph. If you think your dual cab pickup is a DPV (i.e. < 2040 kg ULW) then you would do well to follow the advice of West Yorkshire police, be able to defend yourself by getting the unladen weight in writing from the manufacturer. After all, on the first page of this thread rovers90 said: “I attended a speed awareness course in June and they made a point of stressing pick ups were limited to 50 on a single carriageway, 60 on a dual and 70 on the motorway.” For many of you, that will not be correct. Given the difficulty of getting a manufacturer to state ULWs, it would be helpful to share definitive answers on this thread?

Thanks Tom, I'd got that completely wrong. And whoops, you've just shot my fox (misplaced confidence that if HGVs were being restricted to 50 mph then I could go at 60 mph).

Thread resurrection (again - sorry Kevin) but as far as the thread title of speed limits is concerned I’m not sure just how much clarity we achieved previously. In November I bought the new Hilux Invincible. Toyota Carlisle were very clear that the relevant weight exceeded 2040 kg for DPV classification and that it should be Class 7 for the MOT. Now, upthread JohnnyBoxer said he’d been through a speed camera on a single carriageway at almost 60 mph. In a vehicle exceeding 2040 kg he anticipated he might well be hearing from the DVLA as for him the relevant speed limit would have been 50 mph. As Johnny never announced the arrival of said DVLA letter it appears he got away with speeding. I’ve just been up the A9 to Inverness and back. In what may well be a taste of Big Brother and the future, many average speed check gantries have been installed. [It's a journey I used to do frequently and the trick was to memorise all the speed camera locations and respond appropriately. Usually driving at night, it was a great way to keep alert. I never got caught speeding. With all the average speed check gantries, you can no longer play that game.] In the new Hilux on cruise control I kept at the car speed limits (60 - 70 - 70). I should have been adhering to 50 - 60 - 70. If the cameras were all live and ‘phoning home’ then I ought not only to be soon hearing from the DVLA but worse (given the sheer number of cameras) about to lose my licence. I was trying to gauge the speed of other LCVs. It seemed that some were keeping to 50 - 60 - 70 but others weren’t. But I am not expecting DVLA letters because there are also many road signs informing lorries that a temporary (ha ha) speed limit of 50 mph is being trialled where the A9 is single carriageway. The signs have a picture of an HGV and 7.5 tonnes and the 50 mph limit. Surely it would be odd to make all that fuss about HGVs (clearly differentiating them) if the 50 mph limit was and is being applied to LCVs anyway? I asked a local policeman for clarification but he hadn’t a clue. If the cameras _are_ phoning home then presumably they will enforce 50 - 60 - 70. I will let you know whether or not I hear from the DVLA..

"Can't get this one in the UK, shame looks good" Well two of us on this forum have imported that petrol version, 5.5 tonne SuperSplit from the USA - see the previous threads I drew attention to above. But it is cheaper and way easier to purchase what seems to be a good SuperSplit imitation that Jonesie has advertised in the earlier discussions.

Silverhooker Kinetic log splitters have recently been discussed - search the threads: "New super fast log splitter. Must watch." and "Kinetic log splitters". There you will see divided opinions. I think mine is brilliant. The 5.5 tonne is adequate for most purposes. Just make sure you get one with a bolt on table.

I was talking to a Hilux dealer today. He didn’t knock the competition but did say to check the warranty details. Is the cover limited to say just the engine and gearbox? He said any fault the manufacturer was liable for (he gave the example of the electric window motor failing just inside 5 years) Toyota would replace with a new part. As for the Hilux discounts available it is 16% (though for some reason 17% is offered through BASC) and at least some of those discounts can be obtained immediately on joining relevant organisations e.g. according to the CLA official I asked today, the discount is immediately available upon becoming a CLA member. Not bad considering 16% amounts to about £4,000. From the conservations I’ve had my understanding is that there is a slightly disingenuous reason for Toyota selling “as a lost leader”. Lost money now maybe but they have a longer term strategy. If the newly released Hilux shoots to the top of the sales charts it will then perpetuate the “”myth”” that the Hilux is the ute to have. Or maybe it’s not a myth at least compared to the Ford Ranger tales of woe that PeteB and Woodworm report upthread?

Another vote for the solid and basic 1.5 tonne JCB 8014. Mine is a 2009 model bought two years old with 200 hours (10K plus VAT). Really hammered since often in atrocious conditions, especially mud, stones and boulders beyond what any vehicle, tracked or otherwise could be expected to endure. Faultless. I do miss expanding tracks though. Safer if you’re likely to work on hillsides and also for bridging the gap over a slit trench e.g. I recently trenched for a power cable but went a bit shallow in the middle. Even with expanding tracks it would have needed great care to go along the trench to deepen it, but impossible without in the wet conditions last autumn. If you can, compare the speed the tracks can go. A Takeuchi was recently on site and was quite a bit faster than my JCB.

Your valuation, Biggarlogs, got me thinking. “cost up here is approx £35 a tonne delivered” For my own use I make up 0.25 cu m bundles of Scots pine. On one of the bundle threads Difflock weighed a number of dry bundles. Using Marcus’ figures pro rata for my smaller bundles, mine are about 83 kg each. What is the value of each bundle? 35 x 83/1000 = £2.90. For the amount of effort involved, intuitively that seems like a surprisingly miserable amount. Good job the two Knottis (2 x 50p) and rope are reusable. Realistically apportioning time for felling, transport out of the woods (ATV arch), chain sawing into rounds and splitting, I probably make three bundles in an hour, that’s £8.70. Ignoring storage costs, a big advantage of (wet) bundles made on site is ease of (minimum time spent on) transport to, stacking at the place of storage and of subsequent loading.

Yes, a fairly wide table is all but essential on these fast horizontal splitters or you will be continually picking timber off the floor. Also then able to split larger pieces and put half to one side. If they don't already, Portek really need to supply a bolt on, integral table. This is an optional extra for the American Supersplit.

Mike started this thread saying he was looking for a small billet bundler - by which he meant 700mm diameter, taking 1 metre logs that fit into his boiler. I’ve just had a Windhager log boiler installed that takes logs up to 550mm. I’ll explain why for me a small billet bundler is 800mm diameter taking half metre logs or 1/4 cu metre. No one seems to make such a small bundler so I adapted the Zurrbind design - simple and easy to tip the bundles out by hand. Having been running two typical British log stoves for all our heating I am used to spending a lot of time stacking logs but the continental log gasification boilers have altogether different, voracious appetites for logs. To avoid re-handling I needed a rethink. This year the plan is to fell and move (ATV & logging arch) the trunks to the edge of our woods and and split (Super Split kinetic log splitter) and bundle there. Then transport the bundles near to the house to dry and use a sack barrow to move each bundle to the boiler - no more log stacking. At about 15% mc my bundles weigh about 75 kg so moveable with a sack barrow. Using Openspaceman’s figures on difflock’s billet thread, they are likely to be about 170kg wet. So to lift them on to a trailer at the woods I will use a tractor or mini digger. I am tying them using the Zurrbind knoti cleats.

I was impressed by Teed’s video of his Chinese-made ATV log trailer. Especially for those of us on smaller operations, working awkward ground, Teed’s trailer looks good. This type of trailer may be popular in Sweden but I haven’t found a UK supplier importing from China. It is for sale in Germany at £851 incl VAT but freight would be another £200+ [ Logging trailer, forestry trailer HR500 + crane for small tractors and ATV Quad - Motorgeräte Fritzsch GmbH ] but that is imported from Sweden after having been imported from China first…. So the freight charges stack up. I’ve found the (or a) manufacturer in China. It works out at £676 carriage paid to Liverpool docks (I’m in the NW). VAT is extra if you’re not VAT registered. I don’t think there is any import duty on this sort of machinery. Half the cost is freight - basic trailer cost in China is £338. I’ve not definitely decided to import one but if anyone else is interested that would reduce the proportionate cost of the shipping on each trailer. So if anyone is interested I’ll let you have more details.

Having spent a year enjoying Arbtalk (thanks all) I've just registered and for my first post will jump in here on kinetic log splitters Your suggested price for the 25T version Jonesie is amazing. The Portek Quik-Split appears to be very similar to the American-made SuperSplit. If your 25T version is grown up size (like the SuperSplit) and anything like it’s reliability then the Portek is worth considering. I know of only three SuperSplit machines in the UK and I have one of them. Because of EU rules they cannot be imported direct because the EU says that this sort of machinery must require use of both hands to start each splitting action. On the video above you can see the Portek is EU compliant though in my opinion it is more dangerous tying up both hands, necessitating drawing the operators face into the machine. Also I would guess the unnatural, two handed operation would get tiring if used all day. But that is the EU for you. Well if we vote er the right way then all of us will be free to import the American version. I notice that safety invariably get raised when these kinetic log splitters get discussed on Arbtalk. I’ve only put about 20 tons through mine but would say it is a delight to use. I’ve never had any safety concerns. To import my SuperSplit I used a similar ruse to someone else on Arbtalk. I sent the money over to a friend of a friend in the US and got him to unpack it, split whatever he could in his yard and then send it on over. Second hand machines don’t have to be EU compliant. Expensive but for me worth it. The machine is awesome - I can split faster than the output can be stacked.