Treetom15

@Ty Korrigan do you find it a lot smoother with the 10mm line? Smallest I’ve used with mine is 12mm teufelberger and it runs ok but definitely too much friction for smaller sized stuff-I’d say if the branch weighs less than 30kg it’s too stiff and won’t run

@doobin 3.3% is a far flung dream these days isn’t it! Glad plenty of others have had the same idea re a personal bank account-I’m pretty good at keeping my receipts/invoices etc but having a second paper trail wouldn’t hurt. 
 

Nice thing about a small personal loan is I can repay it as quick as I want, and maximum interest I’ll get charged is 58 days worth, I’ve got no interest paying it off long term, I would much rather have the kit debt free as quick as I can 

I’m thinking it’ll probably be easier to just open another current account and use that for work, i didn’t realise you had to pay fees for a business account! Like @Steve Bullman said, for the small amount I’ll be turning over (in the grand scheme of things) I can’t see it being a problem. 
 

Also turns out my current bank offer small loans at a reasonable rate so I doubt I’ll bother with a business loan as it’s a lot less hassel and very similar interest! 

On 19/04/2023 at 11:01, dumper said:

If you have the work and can prove it talk to a bank you will need a business account anyway, write a plan and see if you can get an appointment always better face to face 

Cheers, I have a couple of banks locally that do business accounts & loans so will speak to them re an account. 

@doobin I do appreciate the advice. I’m well aware that finance companies don’t like older kit, hence my asking about a small business loan. 
 

Without over sharing my finances, I have enough work to pay for the equipment that is confirmed for the foreseeable future. In reality I’m looking to borrow a small amount (under 10k) the chipper is a friends machine that I know well (and is a very good deal) and the rest is for a tipper back on my current truck.

I would happily go down the route of cheap van and chipper, but it wouldn’t be enough to cope with the type of work and workload. 
 

Purely putting the question out there to see if anyone has any pearls of wisdom that I hadn’t come across👍

21 hours ago, doobin said:

You don't want a start up loan. You want asset finance secured against a chipper. This will be relatively easy, although rates may not be great currently.

 

Start up loans are high risk- you could spunk the load on advertising and have nothing to show for it. Asset finance is much easier, as the loan is secured against the machinery.

 

Try Peter Benton at Purely Finance. He dealt with my first machine, and I've used him multiple times since. I'm sole trader, not LTD- it makes no odds when talking asset finance for business.

That was my thought to start with, but the truck I have bought and the chipper I am going to buy are/were too old to qualify for a finance deal (the truck is 12 years old) 

I’ll give Peter a call, thanks for the info! 

Thanks very much Steve, I’ll look into that. Only issue I may have is I’ve been registered as a sole trader for 4 years (only for weeks whilst being employed-for insurance) so not sure whether they will lend as it does say 36 months…No harm in asking though!

As the title suggests….

I’ve taken the decision to go on my own, I’ve been a sole trader along side being employed for 3 years but this will be my first full financial year self employed. 
 

I’ve been looking into small businesses loans/start up loans, only for a small amount but just to fund a few bits to get myself up and running-a chipper mostly! Does anyone have any recommendations or companies that are worth speaking to? I’m sure there was funding for small businesses years ago but I can’t find much help online! TIA 

50 minutes ago, MattyF said:

If I was speedlining and making a job out of it I would have a rigging plate off a pulley on a taught line.. below where it was anchored high in the tree I would have a second pulley with a second line attached to the rear of the rigging plate so the speed line can be pulled back to you and controlled speed in ascent to the DZ.

off the rigging plate, then have two three meter lengths of dead eye off the rigging plate  that can be used to balance or tie off whatever your cutting. 
straight out balls speedlining just slings and crabs but I’ve found the above handy easy and time saving in the right situations. 

Similar to this? 

Not sure when in the video it shows it, but a useful idea with having your rigging end of the line on a pulley with a prussik to allow for extra tension. Only good if your speedline is anchored in another (higher) tree but a clever idea non the less 

Usually I would put the sling high enough above where the zip line is choked (assuming it’s tied below on the stem) to pull the sling down and keep it tight. Other option is like Dan said, but you could use something that’s quick to change over (X ring on a Whoopie sling with stitched loop works well!) 

If it’s something big, say above 12”, then I would neg rig into the speedline otherwise the forces could put too much strain on the slings or line

Horses for courses-I am pretty rural where I live and so is 80% of my work, so I’m in the process of getting a tipper built for my extra cab Hilux. If I lived in a town or city then the chip capacity would be much too small, so definitely a transit/daily would be the best (personally I prefer the double cab, d safe dry storage for tools & still plenty of chip space).

Iveco do a 4x4 daily which looks ace, but again once you had tipping gear on it you probably aren’t far off 3.5t (if you’re worried) and it’s still a big bus, so wouldn’t realistically be a great option. 
 

Like Will said, it’s really about which is less shit😂

I’m after a small road tow chipper, starting out myself and I don’t want to spend £££ on a new machine or get a huge loan etc.

I’m looking for something like a Jensen a530/540, or a Timberwolf 190. Older machines are fine, I’m fairly mechanically minded etc. 

Anyone out there if you’ve got something feel free to send me a PM and I’ll fire you my phone number 👍

Cheers! 

When you said blackthorn I think most imagined it as some wildly overgrown nightmare in a steep boggy field, that looks like a breeze! Day for 2 guys and that’s probably generous, small set of step ladders for the high bit, mash it on the back of the van and you’d fit that in 1 load. 
 

Drop by the job around 11am, see how much they’ve managed to “do” 

Depends if it’s full of old fencing wire, if they’re having to sharpen their saws every 10 minutes that will slow them down! Chainsaw with a long bar and a long handles muck fork to load the truck would do it I’d think. 
 

3 days does sound excessive, but (like everyone else has said) it sounds like an awful job so 6 of one…….

Ideal, glad to hear they’ve worked out well. Definitely putting a pair on my shopping list!

Did you get these in the end? Been looking at some as my Andrews are falling apart, they look the part but interested to see how they last etc 

I assume it’s a safety feature, which works ok because they usually always start 3rd pull. 
 

To the original post-could it be there’s something jamming the clutch slightly or an issue with the throttle sensor? 

I “drop started” mine the other week, with the throttle pulled (someone had cut bailer twine and it was stuck in the clutch🤬) and it did the exact same thing, wouldn’t rev out and just bogged down. Soon as I got the clutch cleared and started it normally it was fine-I’m not 100% but it seemed to be a safety feature that it won’t rev out if the throttle is pulled during start up or the chain is running. Might be worth a look? 

Re the alpine butterfly- I was shown a good system whereby you tie 2 about 1m apart on the stretch of rope just above your base anchor, and then attach another climbing system to this (just a spare rope and prussik would suffice) and pre tension this slightly so that if you did have to cut the base anchor and lower someone down, you aren’t cutting a rope under tension which is unpredictable. 
 

However like most of you have said, I only ever use a base anchor to access and then canopy tie, so while the theory of the above works well it’s not something that I have ever found useful in a work environment 

20 minutes ago, PeteB said:

https://www.stevensbodyworks.co.uk/our-build-range/

Thanks very much! I will give them a try today, Kirkland were very helpful too so hopefully one way or another I’ll sort something 

Dmm vault is brilliant, I’ve got the wire gate ones (1 on either side) and they’re at least 4 years old and still going strong, they’ll outlast any plastic ones. 

Spot on! Cheers I’ll give them a call👍

Stoke is no problem, have they got a website or number I’ll give them a shout, thanks Mark!

I’m looking for a company to build an arb tipper back for a Toyota hilux. I had intended on doing it myself but with work and parts being so expensive I’m probably best off getting a proper company to do the job!

I’m based on the Shropshire/Powys border, so looking for recommendations not too far away, I’ve had a few reasonable quotes but the company’s are miles away so not really cost effective. 
 

Cheers all! 

11 hours ago, Stubby said:

I use " Leder Gris " which is a rich kinda dubbin . You will loose the knapp but it will keep em supple and water proof .

I’ve got a pot of dubbin so will give that a try, always used it on leather boots but wasn’t sure with this “fake leather” but can’t hurt!