lux

I was looking at buying an extra van recently. Some used ones in arb spec seem to be going up in value. My transit van seems to be worth pretty much what I paid for it 4/5 years ago. I was very surprised. I bought another new tipper trailer in the end to go behind my 4x4 until next spring when I think I will just buy new as the secondhand can prices are daft.

I take it from the post you have a log kiln or access to one in which you can dry the timber. ? That’s a real plus for planks. Like hewn said if it’s beams for framing you want them green so as they naturally air dry and a mortise and tenon will gain an extra mechanical lock as it shrinks and tightens. Oak in particular Timbers for say staircases etc etc will want to be killed or air dried a number of years. I have found its best to move a stick in lengths back to the yard and mill at a later time rather than mill on site. Milling is a lovely process but is quite slow and makes a huge amount of mess. Unless a customer wants there own timber you will be spending a long time extra on a site and generating a big clean up in someone’s garden. Commercially if access allows you will make more money moving the stick and milling at a more convenient time / location and rolling onto the next tree job. I no longer mill anything because it’s just nice timber. I will relocate it and save it for another day. If you have the space etc. Generally the timber is then just used for my own projects. Hope that’s helpful.

It’s under £500 , take away the vat it’s irrelevant. That is very cheap for a big saw. I don’t need one but I might buy one out of curiosity now [emoji23] Are they on a par performance wise to say a 572 or 462 etc

Are they really under £500 ? That is very cheap.

Air leak somewhere maybe. I had one that only played up when hot. Cylinder and piston were scored. I’d imagine you’d be better off getting a new saw and chucking the old one in to be fixed and not worry about how long it takes.

See... humour helps. [emoji23]

Always makes me chuckle we use feet to express altitude in the UK. Go anywhere else in the world and what we label mountains are rolling foothills.... Scottish highlands the same, undoubtedly very beautiful but not particularly big. No getting away from the fact that our increasingly wet climate is getting tiresome. Makes you appreciate those lovely sunny days even more.

Sadly you are well wide of the mark on all counts. Luckily RSI never been an issue for me.

I only milled it once making a bridge in a horse field. Nothing fancy but some thick old slabs. I’ve heard of it being used as beams but I’ve only worked in the round at Ben laws. Some of the helical old stuff is good for veneer I believe. Anyway I have some real whoppers to fell in December. It’s down south but if it’s of interest let me know. I’ll be paying to have it lorried away as it stands.

Lol. I’ve done plenty of milling. That’s quite a description hewn. [emoji38] I hate gloves save for really cold weather. I’m just chuckling that these are special milling gloves. Do you ever mill sweet chestnut. ?

Anti vibration gloves for milling [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] .... seriously ...

Reduce the height no problem, reducing the sides will look terrible and by the look of the way it’s grown it would be a truly miserable climb. I agree with the fell and replant. Pick something that won’t outgrow its position or require lots of future pruning if you have their best interests in mind not to be giving them a future expense. Removing and replacing that tree will no doubt be enough of a cost for them.

Judging by the demand for the second hand ones going at new saw prices I’d say it would be worth it. Honey brothers got a batch of 880’s a couple of weeks back. Sold in days all at full rrp instead of the usual 27% discount from rrp. I will be getting a new 881 when they come out.

As already mentioned torque settings will be critical. On both my grinders once I have tightened them up I rotate the cutter and give each pocket a couple of knocks with a hammer then recheck. Usually grit / dirt moves and they need a nip up to torque again. Seems to work for me [emoji106]

Any tree you underprice [emoji38].

It would be useful if they replaced the 3120 too.

I have the same grinder. Have you tried buying bolts from elsewhere or even had some produced. Looks like the bolts are made from the wrong steel for impact work.

I’m not sure giving scotch bonnet to a pup is a great idea ... vets are bloody expensive [emoji38]

Tried that tactic when my viszla was a pup. She used to do a bit of kitchen worktop surfing to hoover up any food. I spiced the crumbs up with some tobasco, only thing I discovered was that she likes a bit of spicey grub [emoji23]. Greedy bugger lapped it all up.

Quite honestly as a generalisation this industry loves to moan and blow smoke up its own arse about how skilled we are. Etc etc. It’s perhaps only the physical nature of the work that sets us apart from other trades. In reality anyone who is physically fit and is a hands on practical person with some good sense will grasp the motor skills needed to do this job. Maybe it’s the dangling from a bit of rope feeling like an action hero that gives people a raised perception of what’s required. If the OP was going to learn to plaster or lay bricks at 35 people wouldn’t say much. Most of us couldn’t leave a mirror finish plaster and no doubt if I laid a big brick wall it would be as bent as 9 bob note. Climbing and cutting trees is a skill for sure but it’s not building a space ship. I recon at 35 he’s got some miles left on the clock and if it makes him happier then give it a bash. Good luck to him.

For sure. When there is no way of getting any mechanical assistance on a job and it’s down to dragging branches and carrying logs ground work no doubt saps the legs more. Plenty a good enough reason for the op to learn to climb quickly [emoji23]

I’ve been looking at telehandlers recently. Is that one running the hydraulics for the timber trailer. ? Does it have brakes on the trailer ? Cheers

I did similar to you. I left my career 5 years ago to pursue arb full time. I used to work shifts and had blocks of days off so I worked a lot of those days for a good 10 years prior to that for a friends arb company and some private jobs. I was torn about what to do when I was younger so it was great to be able to do it part time at least. When I was your age I took a career break and never went back. Business is good and I love what I do now. I went back to college to get more tickets and worked for other companies for a while on crap money but getting experience before I ventured into my own company. I don’t regret it at all. Still love climbing etc. It’s unlikely you will be climbing monster sized trees on a daily basis so don’t worry about being knackered all the time. Quite frankly trimming huge hedges 15 ft across off the top of stepladders with the telescopic hedge trimmer held horizontally all day is more knackering than most climbs. A lot of climbs will be routine average sized stuff not 90+ft trees everyday. If you are in the south east you are welcome to come and have some experience with us to test the water and see someone who has done the same Starting a business is hard graft for sure but if you are highly motivated and have some good common sense which it seems you do then you yourself are your only limitation. What you want to achieve is entirely possible , yes it will be hard hard work but nothing’s easy is it. I’m more than happy to pass on my experiences with it if it’s of any help. All the best.

I was in Honey Bros today. Was good timing , I got given 3 bits of kit to field test / review. One of which being an echo 7301sx. I was thinking of buying one so it’s nice to have a good long test of one before I do. They know I like my echo kit. Used it briefly this afternoon, initial impressions were very positive.

I wouldn’t buy a 40cc ground saw. They all feel lacking in power. Most will be put on a bar about 16” When you think that most full size top handles are nearly 40cc and most of them are run on a 12” bar you can see why 241 feels sluggish. They are also barely lighter or smaller than a 50cc saw so you might as well have the more powerful 50cc. But again it’s down to personal choice. Sadly I think the build quality of newer stihl saws is going down hill. Husky still feel solid and better put together. Never had an issue with build quality on my echo kit either.