lux

On 06/01/2024 at 12:09, Big J said:

Do you have a studded tyre or just some knobbly's for the snow / ice ?

11 minutes ago, carlos said:

just curious why you find a 346xp better than a 550? 

probably build / engineering quality.  I think the saw mechanics really appreciate the 3 series huskies as being some of the best thought out / put together stuff there is. Like most things this quality is a little diluted on newer things. That doesn't take away from the performance of a 550. 

Same with most if not all brands. I have a lovely Stihl 064 made in West Germany so mid eighties id guess, still a dream to use. Can't imagine any 500i being around in 30 plus years...

3 minutes ago, MattyF said:

I’ve often wondered who does that and their IQ…

Its almost like its the 'approved and taught technique'... doesn't take much effort to get the stuff just to lay flat on the ground... 

2 minutes ago, maybelateron said:

Morning all,

 

I apologise in advance for the coming storm and winds. Definitely my fault.

 

Why? I hear you all say. 

 

I have found the best predictor of impending storms is me being unavailable for emergency work. I have missed out on plenty of storm damage work (not that I'm bothered) by either being on holiday, or post op - knees x 3 and now hands x 2. No - I don't have three knees before one of you cracks that joke.

 

Next time I have a date for any future surgery I can let you all know. Then you can make sure you are available or unavailable, whatever your preference may be.

 

Stay in or go out, but stay safe and carpe diem.

Well if I make a decent earner on the storm ill put a brown envelope in the post, all you need to do is find something else that needs replacing or fixing, hip maybe .....

Speedy recovery. 

1 hour ago, Stubby said:

Being honest , I don't like it . Looks really uncomfortable . Soz .

I agree , looks crap. Not sure why its in the woodcraft forum, that would imply it took some skill and effort to make....

2 minutes ago, MattyF said:

A lot of contracts stipulate not to leave logs by the road for the reason passing motorists pose a significant hazzard to them selves and others doing exactly this… nothing pisses me off more than some bell end pulling over with his hazards on for logs  causing chaos in the middle of a job especially if there is TM on. 

Talking of rd side dangers the one that gets me is fallen trees being left cut off horizontally right at the kerb / verge line, usually about chest height. They end up looking like a Lance waiting to go through a car windscreen or window should anyone be unfortunate enough to have an accident at that spot. I get it that the contract is 'clear the rd' but ffs just rash the rest down so its not waiting like a spear at the edge of the rd.  

5 minutes ago, nepia said:

Mick, Faygate's as good as gone, disappeared under the new Milton Keynes. It's simply hideous. You'd weep.  Horsham will soon be a large pile of bricks, not a small market town

That whole area from Billingshurst to Gatwick is just like one sprawling town of soul devoid suburbia 

I dont head that way often but when I do it always seems there's a new estate under construction 

On 16/01/2024 at 21:14, Stere said:

Looks like poor grade of material for weaving rods from the pics, the wrong variety of willow perhaps or plant spacing & coppice age etc

 

Needs to be more uniform like this pic

 

I wasn’t referring to basket weaving. I was referring to hurdles / fences.  This is cut willow going for fencing. 

Sell in bundles for woven fencing / hurdles. Its having a bit of a resurgence in popularity it would seem. 

38 minutes ago, Bernie SE163 said:

1st choice, Looking at a G1600 3 cylinder diesel  ride on mower, it has 1700 hrs on it. Larger mower bag, vacuum fan, PTO and other fittments can be used. 
2nd choice a petrol countax mower with power sweeper and roller, 

I was thinking Kubato as they seem to go on for ever, but has anyone any feedback of either machine. 

 

Countax and Westwood are the same thing, share parts etc. Only suitable  for larger domestic gardens. Transaxles are weak for towing. If its a used Countax be aware that parts become obsolete quickly. I inherited two Westwood / countax that came with our house and took another as part payment from a customer. I thought the one from a customer was relatively new, certainly looked it. Parts were already hard to get for it when it needed bits. Parts can also be very pricey for what they are. 

Generally they are not durable or fast enough for commercial work.

If its for your own large lawn then they are fine but don't buy an older one. 

The Kubota will be a far far  better machine but like Dobbin said, what are you expecting of it ? its not for paddocks etc really 

6 minutes ago, jose said:

jokes aside a good gypsy wand as i know it as is a great tool! can save a crappy climb or stretch many a time.

Couldn't be without them for hedge trimming either. 

Invest in a decent Auger. Way quicker than digging and the post holes don't 'grow' in size so you will be more economical with postcrete (which has gone up in price again). Buy the post Crete by the pallet if you can, you'll get a better price per bag. 

The cheap concrete breakers are actually very good. they are all the same just different badge on them. 

Post puller will be a sound investment if you are taking out lots of old fences. 

Cordless nail gun will speed you up no end. 

Try to use the same supplier and work up a discount rate on materials to improve your margin. 

Its just simple things that save you time and money, for instance if you are replacing a line of fence that has a shortened bay in it look to relocate the short bay so you leap frog the existing post Crete and do not have to remove it hopefully just putting in new holes with an auger. 

You really don't need a course to put up domestic fencing. 

Stock / Ag / Deer fencing etc requires more specialist kit and more fencing knowledge to do properly. Avoid it to start with or just sub it to a specialist and put a bit on it .

Its only going to get bent if people put stuff like blowers or step ladders on top of it.  When the van is empty I just put them down one side and when its full of chip etc just make sure they lay flat on the chip pile , not one end unsupported.  Shouldn't be any problems if the van is loaded with a bit of care. 

21 minutes ago, Mark Bolam said:

Found the charging port in picture 4 then. I’m glad you spared us picture 5 of another case of leaking battery acid …. 

I would imagine one of the largest sole contributors to air pollution in London is Sadiq with the shite that comes out of his mouth into the London air....

1 minute ago, doobin said:

Found a couple of pics. Not the biggest timber but you get the idea. 

Is that the job near me we still need to winch some trees over or something ?

4 minutes ago, doobin said:

You know I’ve got no tickets, right? 🤣

you dont need them, you just use me 😂

If its on a farm just burn it. Any  chipper for that money will either be new and disappointing in performance and if buying something decent but old its likely to need work at that budget. 

Just grab it up with a tele handler and have a burn.

I will mostly echo what others have said, tickets are great and essential but they are not an express route into the climbing roles etc. Experience and competence will take you there but you are starting out again and working from the bottom. I fully imagine you will have to take a pay cut whilst you learn on the job.  I would say your bigger decisions are if you can afford to make the transition into a new trade and if so are you willing to, to begin with. 

Maybe find some part time work or use some holiday to work for local firms to find out if its for you before you leap. 

3 hours ago, Squaredy said:

I sort of agree it seems un-necessary to have the steel container when such a good job is done of the log "cladding".  BUT, imagine the look on the face of some toerag trying to break in, and he discovers that underneath that lovely hobbitesque exterior is an impenetrable steel shipping container!

Never fear, there's always the windows to get in through 😀

3 hours ago, Sviatoslav Tulin said:

Dont want to be rude , but it waste of materials and time . Absolutely no benefits in that type of building.

Quick and easy 'faux' cabin. Building a proper log cabin would be a whole lot more time consuming and involved with scribing and insulating on every course , given its a just container and likely to be a little office /workspace/ home studio or similar I  see the benefit to it looking aesthetically better than a container. Given what those flat pack faux cabins cost which are basically slightly thicker sheds I recon this would be a good addition for someone in the right place. 

I make things as a hobby. I do blacksmithing and woodwork for fun. 

One of my regular Tree customers was event planning for a local country house / gardens and asked if I would take a stand at their Christmas market. 

It was running for two weekends so I just took a Sunday on the second weekend, cost £40 for the 'pitch' inside the Great Hall. 

I kept things simple and made stuff at prices that would be easy Christmas gifts, stocking fillers etc. 

I didn't have much expectation and was hoping just to cover the fly press I had bought to speed up smithing production but I pretty much sold out and took about £750 , I was pretty chuffed. 

I Put a poster up for the tree work and gave plenty of taps on phones with the new digital business card so maybe a couple of enquiries to come out of that too. 

Maybe give the local farmers markets and craft markets a punt with your work

27 minutes ago, huskykev said:

2 hours ago, lux said:

Couple of barn doors on the van would make that load legit 😉

 

I often wondered how overweight the vans are and made the usual guesstimates... when working out of area a few months back we were running transit with 10x6 tipper trailer loads of wood chip to a nearby green waste centre as it was considerably closer than going back to the yard. Had a weigh bridge on the weigh in ..... transit and trailer rolled in at 9 ton both brimmed with rhododendron chip.. 

Threw that weigh ticket away pretty quick (after a brief thought of framing it). 

 

Thank god for uprated springs and barn doors to hide my little traffic infringements eh..

 

any idea what the trailer weighed full? 

Can’t recall.  The van element was the biggest issue.  With the chip box , tool locker , few tools , driver and fuel it’s only got around 400 kg of payload available legally. 
Brim it up and it’s 5t a lot of the time.  
 

the trailer is excellent, has 2.7t of payload legally and has nice dampers so tows well at 3.5 ( or maybe more ) ton.  
 

On 14/09/2023 at 19:16, Mark Bolam said:

May have overcooked it today on a seriously compromised cherry takedown, but I had to get back for kids football.

 

Couple of barn doors on the van would make that load legit 😉

I often wondered how overweight the vans are and made the usual guesstimates... when working out of area a few months back we were running transit with 10x6 tipper trailer loads of wood chip to a nearby green waste centre as it was considerably closer than going back to the yard. Had a weigh bridge on the weigh in ..... transit and trailer rolled in at 9 ton both brimmed with rhododendron chip.. 

Threw that weigh ticket away pretty quick (after a brief thought of framing it). 

Thank god for uprated springs and barn doors to hide my little traffic infringements eh..

3 hours ago, doobin said:

Somewhat ironic. We had a romantic weekend in Yorkshire in the camper van....

 

 

 

...because that's where I had to go to collect the tilty!

did you keep quiet about the tilty and then surprise her saying "I've just seen this on the local Facebook pages.. what are the chances eh" 😂