Treetom15

I use the 1.9 regularly for a chap I work for. MPG is pretty good considering it’s got a big tipper back on it, it’s pretty gutless unless you really rev it though so if you’ll be towing much I’d go for the bigger one. The only thing I’ve noticed with it, it seems to eat brake pads and apparently this is a common problem?

Cheers @Mark Bolam, no it came as a regular pickup and they did it all. The things I noticed that were nice touches were things like rubber grommets on the pin shackles for the rear doors, keeps the rattling down! I’ve got a home made double shelf in the back for kit and saws, which comes out with 4 screws and the seats go back in for the sprogs.

@nepiai think they’re more rare because I was under the impression Toyota didn’t make as many, or that they were more expensive brand new so not so many 2nd hand in circulation. I took a punt on this one as it had no service history but chassis was great and it ran brilliantly, they’re hard to find with decent miles that don’t look like they’ve had a tree felled on them 

Internet is finally playing ball- approx 4m cube capacity, hopefully will be a good compromise for the majority of my work. 

Thought this was worth updating in case anyone else is after a tipper fabricated.

I took @Mark Bolam’s advice as well as a few others and got Kirkland Commercials to fabricate the body for my hilux. They’ve been brilliant; good price, turned around in 3 weeks as promised, and even fitted the airbags for the rear suspension. They built it exactly to my spec and the build quality is great, a lot better thought through than some of the tippers I’ve used! Will attach a picture when the intern plays ball

I’ve got the alloy versions of these (minus the clips) and you’re right the gaffs do feel short compared to others out there, and the long ones are horrendously long for anything that isn’t redwoods or something with very thick/soft bark. 
 

I just kept using them until I adjusted to the shorter feeling gaff, slight change in work positioning on a pole etc and just making sure you “kick” them in pretty hard if you’re unsure. Most comfortable spikes I’ve worn so worth the trade off!

I’m in the process of having one done by Kirkland commercials in Stoke on Trent, they’ve been brilliant so far and others I know have had good work done by them, not local to you but not a million miles away?

That looks like insulated cable, which I think is 300mm statuary clearance as it’s “insulated”, chances are they would just prune around the wires? Best thing to do is try and call the DNO and tell them you’re worried about the tree and can they remove it (Scottish Power are doing a lot of this atm) 

41 minutes ago, josharb87 said:

You sure the engines running flat out? 
 

my old one the rollers would be spinning 5 times faster than that. I do seem to/want to remember that the rollers crept with no power like that when revs weren’t all the way up. 

I’ve got an A528t and yes the rollers do creep at low revs, it almost looks as though the rollers think the revs aren’t at full-mine does the same as the chipping video, they turn at low revs but a small piece of brash stops them. Like the pump is just over running slightly. 

I got my chipper insured with Tree Surgeons insurance who also do my PL and EL insurance, my truck is with the NFU but they wouldn’t do my chipper unless I had public liability with them. Tree surgeons insurance will do you cover based on your “predicted” turnover, so if you won’t be full time they should be able to offer you some cover-it won’t be classed as part time but in essence that’s what it is. 

I sub to this chap, he’s Shropshire based so not too far away and the Merlo with the grapple head is pretty incredible 

Also can use a box winch, so it doubles as a small size crane 

I think the days of being able to pay someone £80 to drag brash are gone. A friend of mine was recently labouring for a hard landscaper, without any prior experience and was getting £150 a day, which isn’t out of the ordinary for labours in general it seems! 
 

Also, most younger guys now don’t want to start dragging brash, they want to get up a tree and take as many arty pictures for Instagram as they can🤦‍♂️

1 hour ago, krummholz said:

That just sounds like a situation where there is no adequate rescue plan in place - if the designated rescue climber isn't competent and able to undertake the rescue then there's no rescue provision in place? 

I assume that's what the regular rescue practices is meant to remedy? Boxes need to get ticked, yes, but why not make it worthwhile?

An access line in the tree and a properly trained rescue climber with, say, a combat application tourniquet can definitely improve the chances of climber with a catastrophic injury surviving.

Unfortunately, this is the reality for most (larger) companies. Until I started working consistently with a good climber as my 2nd man recently, I doubt I’ve ever worked with a groundsman who’s truly capable of rescuing someone quickly enough to prevent a death from a catastrophic bleed. 
 

I worked for a big company who did 6 monthly aerial rescue refreshers, which was a great box ticking exercise and nothing else. The designated groundsmen had a go, but you can’t gain years of experience by climbing twice a year! 

Cheers to the people who have messaged me re this post-I’ve dropped on a tracked Jensen a528 so no longer in need. Thanks all

+1 for NFU, I’ve got a “fleet” policy for my a Hilux and a Vito van (wife’s), and that’s about £800 a year. Plus their local office is 10 mins away, and they’re very helpful! You could probably find cheaper online, but having someone on hand to speak to is worth more than a few ££ IMO 

4 hours ago, Dan Maynard said:

I did 2 pollards yesterday, seems I should charge about £40 at that speed.

 

More seriously I think rates in my area have gone up, problem for anyone is all the business costs have gone up but customers also have less spare cash around so there is a squeeze in the middle. You can only charge so much for a job before it just doesn't get done or some door knocker gets it.

I did think think that re rates for a company, especially if you’re employing a climber at 250/350 a day! Going rate around here is anywhere between 5/700 a day for a 2 man team depending on what you’ve got/how good etc, so if over 50% of that is just 1 persons wage that doesn’t leave much for chipper, fuel etc…….

What part of the country are you in bud? If you can get 350 a day then I’d jump at that, I’m in Shropshire/north wales area and most good climbers here are 200ish so that’s a fair increase! 

I would assume he’s referring to the fact that IF you have an insurance claim (on a biiiig f@&k up) and it costs more than your insurance will cover, if you are a LTD company then they only have access to the company’s assets, whereas if you are a sole trader and the same happens, then the sole traders assets are up for grabs-you could lose your house etc……. 
Unless I’m miles out? 

14 hours ago, Ty Korrigan said:

 

Yes, far smoother.

 The new 12mm lasted a morning's worth if frustration before I ordered a 10mm.

Good to know 👍 I need a new small diameter rigging line, so will try the 10mm-the wrench doesn’t get used much as I mostly find it’s too much friction, so it would be nice to make it more versatile 

@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!