Dan Maynard

I have a customer in Coventry that make engine parts, for a chunk of November their weekly order level was less than 10% of normal. Because the supply chains are so short that tells you how many vehicles are being completed.

Think @BigJ had/has a Berlingo, sounds like 60 miles a day that's the way to go.

I went tipper trailer route, I don't agree less capacity as it's 12 foot X 6 foot. Not cheap to buy but I think cheap to run - depreciation/road tax/repairs etc figured in. Brand new, super reliable, smart image. Storage is an issue to solve, also space at the job. I'm mostly rural and round the villages, go in to town and the trailer can be a pain depending on the driveway. If you don't already have a pickup though, you'll need something to tow it. You say large tree jobs, but surely not on your own? When I'm doing bigger trees I get other subbies in, before I bought my trailer I just paid one of them a bit extra to bring a transit or tipper trailer. After that, first vehicle should cover all the jobs you do on your own so either panel van if it's more landscaping and ground maintenance or maybe crew cab transit tipper is most versatile? You'll have to look around and see what you can get, a friend has bought one of these recently for 3.5k I think but he does look a bit disreputable turning up in it. Van is affectionately known as the shitbox. I think you'll get a much nicer panel van for 3k.

Cherry I've had has been dense and heavy, not that keen to burn but good heat output when it does. Better in a wood burner because it gets it nice and hot to keep it burning. Tried a Swedish candle from cherry once, rubbish because almost impossible to light.

How old is the helmet? Seems like it must be quite brittle for it to break like that, so if it were mine I would definitely scrap it.

Thanks I'll have a look at that as my trousers are getting a bit holey. Airstreams are the main choice, only other one I know is Pfanner will make some of their boots in size 15 to special order. I'm tempted but seems risky, if they then don't fit brilliantly.

directly to yourself from our Lodgewood Farm site, which I’m sure you will find of great interest being a local business. Doesn't really apply to most of us tbh.

Taking Bobs approach to calculation you could figure that at 1000 half hour stumps at say 150 quid a go average, so 150000 turnover over 7 years, obviously knock off costs of teeth, fuel, belts, etc but looks like a return for sure. I think where I live so many of the stumps and gardens are smaller that the 35hp machine would not be used as much, which is stopping me from rushing out to buy one.

I think it was an AGM that I bought, usually use a smartphone but one day in the rain couldn't use the screen at all. Good battery life, waterproof, camera was crap though. The problem I found was that even asleep and locked up with a PIN if you click the 9 button three times it will dial, which can happen pretty easily in your pocket. Having the emergency services call you back is very embarrassing, I stopped using it straight away.

I can't see the pictures when I open the thread but there's a preview on the app which I can see. Those logs look like ash and probably the pinkish ones are a species of oak. Definitely not cedar, that splits in a kind of brittle way with smooth faces. I'm not seeing cherry, but it's great firewood if it is. They do look pretty fresh, as Matty says take it up with the supplier. Could be they are imported as "kiln dried" and your supplier is not checking, either way you haven't got what you paid for.

Is the bar aluminium? It may be worth gentle warming with hot air gun, even 50C will make a difference because the aluminium expands faster than steel bolt. Give it a dose of WD while it's hot too, soaks in faster.

I'm still getting parts for my 9010 which has been out of production for a few years so I'm hoping they carry on with spares for everything for a while.

I would go to the relevant club and ask what they do. My dad re-registered his grey fergie, he joined the club for a year because it was cheaper that way. I think he just sent off photos but it was obviously a completely original tractor and had some old log books so easy case compared to yours.

I was thinking about the trailers pre 97 too, lot more home made ones whereas these have been thinned out by wear. I still have a flatbed built from a caravan, just needs new suspension, brakes, tyres, lights, and floor. And the hitch is really worn. I'm planning to scrap it to be fair.

Are your hands cold? Heated handles are supposed keep the circulation going which is apparently a good thing against vibration sensitivity. That is one benefit of gloves too, unless of course they are just wet and cold.

Chip it if there's enough wood in it, chip goes free. My chipper hates when it's just green clippings so if it's a small hedge, throw it on top of the pile of rakings at the yard. If it's a big hedge then leave it on the trailer and put the pile from the yard on top, and take it for green waste disposal. Round us green waste needs paying by the load so I try to make it worth going.

Very neat. Those saws will need a juggle if you get a full wrap on the 500i !

I'm fascinated by the Rumford fireplace, never heard of it before. If you read the rest of the Wikipedia article though, he went on to invent a cast iron wood burner called the Rumford stove which was expensive but the efficiency gains made it economical in the long term. So even Rumford gave up on the open fire.

Hmm maybe, guess the obvious question is how long have you had the Milwaukee so far? Trouble with saying thats cheaper, I don't have batteries or charger. To be honest I don't use it often enough to wear it out, but when I do it makes the job a lot easier and quicker so I'm happy so far.

I don't know about Masters but intercooler split can cause smoking if it takes a certain pressure to open up. I'm not sure how you test this though unless you can hear the air leakage.

I was using my impact driver the other day, thought I would update this thread with the final outcome. I went for DTW285, it's been great. My chipper blade bolts are only M10 so undo on medium, a lot of things undo on low.

We had him on 8-track tape in the car.

Agreed, it must take energy to evaporate the water. Surely there's going to be a lot of condensation somewhere too? Does the oven vent to the flue or will it just end up dripping down the windows?

The little things you say and do...

She really is the health minister. Is she too fat to be a Health Minister? Critics attack 20-stone woman leading Belgium's battle against obesity - Mirror Online WWW.MIRROR.CO.UK Critics say Health Minister Maggie De Block does not set the right example to be worrying about other people's fitness