PatrickFirwood

To be honest I have been considering an Avant 220 or a Multione 2.3 - I did even demo a 2.3 and was really taken back by how much more machine you get for your money when comparing it to the mini skids... The only thing that really put me off was how bad their lift heights were and they are just generally a bigger machine. What I like about mini skids are that they are small, light and maneuverable - the main downside being how rough they can be on the ground.

Sherpa 100 vs Cast Worky Quad. I know they have been reviewed extensively on the site but I haven’t found much in terms of comparing the two. I currently have a Sherpa 100 Agri which I’ve owned for a few years now. Love the machine but I would like to upgrade to something with a larger engine, higher flow rate and some extras like electric start etc. I’ve got my eye on a used Worky Quad SSQ22 that’s going for a reasonable price. I’ve never really heard anyone say a bad thing about the Sherpas, they’re obviously built to last. I’ve heard mixed reviews on the Worky Quads and the build quality compared to the Sherpa does concern me?

Our Sherpa for sale if anyone is interested.

Hi all, We've been using sena smh5 on our helmets as our comms, but I'm thinking of upgrading one of our units to the stihl procom and I just want to know if the procom will connect with the other smh5s? Thanks

Has anyone rigged up some sort of rake attachment for their mini skid? Doing miles of conifer hedge trimming today and it got me thinking of how nice it would be to use the Sherpa to rake it in to piles!

Yes that's what I thought, I have suggested to some customers that don't want to loose the tree that we cut right back to where it's sprouting and see what happens, like you said a hard coppice/pollard.

So I've noticed a lot of what appeared to be dead Eucalyptus trees this year that are all following the same trend, appear to be completely dead earlier this year, and are now starting to resprout low down on the main stem. My question is will these trees ever make a full recovery? We have removed a few this summer, and although they are sprouting, the entire remaining canopy has been completely dead, dry and brittle, so I can't see them making a full recovery? Others have mentioned that they have seen a lot of dead Eucalyptus this year, so I'm just curious as to how others are dealing with them? We have a lot of customers that would like to retain the trees especially as they are starting to show signs of life again.

Over the past couple of years we've started to see a lot of Sycamores in our area with sooty bark disease, and I'm just curious as to how others deal with them. What measures do you take to minimise the risk of it spreading to neighbouring trees? What safety precautions do you take when working on them? (masks etc) What do you do with the material? Safe to climb and rig? (I've personally noticed a fast decline and trees very quickly becoming brittle with dieback and roots failing) Is there anything that can or should be done when the early signs are noticed? Any advice will be greatly appreciated

Will pull it apart and have a look. Not a very old or used saw so wouldn’t surprise me if it was something silly like a twig stuck in there 🤞

So I’ve been having some issues with my Husqvarna T540ixp, sounds more like a petrol saw now! As you can hear in the video, it definitely doesn’t sound right, haven’t had to time to strip it down yet, just wondered if anyone has ever experienced the same issue or know what could be at fault? IMG_1357.mov

So we've been getting a lot of firewood enquiries this year, and we do have spare logs laying around, so I'm considering selling some for a bit of pocket money and to clear some space. I have customers that are happy to take it semi processed, meaning cut in to manageable sized rings that just need splitting, I'm not sure I can be bothered with splitting at the moment as it's so time consuming. My question is how much is a load of semi processed hardwood worth? I have Mitsubishi l200 tipper that I would deliver it in. I've attached a photo so you can get an idea of capacity.

I’ve noticed the same here in the Bedfordshire/Buckinghamshire area, mainly the small to medium sized Eucs. I assumed it was due to the cold snap at the end of last year?

After a surprisingly busy start to the year things have slowed right down for us too. Luckily we're just a small company with myself as the only one full time, with a couple of guys part time and some subbies that we use. Although we've really been investing in kit, our overheads are still fairly low, so it isn't too much of a worry for us. I've just been using this time to really work on our website and boost out SEO so we have more of an online presence. This year one of my main goals was to up our rates and start making more profit, and enquiries are still coming in, however, we've noticed a big drop in quotes being accepted... It seems customers are just after the cheapest quote, or are naïve to the work involved and the going rate. Getting a lot of calls and emails " If I send a photo can you give me a ball park figure " or " We've just cut this down and need someone to chip and get rid of the waste " at which point I know for certain they're not going to want to spend the money! We're looking at trying to get more commercial clients this year so that we don't have to rely so heavily on the domestic side 🤞

Very true. although I wouldn’t want to be putting my leg in one of those regardless of what trousers I was wearing. Yes, I think so. My only concern is how durable they are… usually the lighter and more breathable they are, the thinner the material and the faster they will fall apart. I suppose everything is a compromise though!

So on Honeys it says "Tested and certified to EN ISO 11393: PROTECTION AGAINST HAND-HELD CHAINSAWS" Aren't all chainsaws hand held?!🤔

I had a piece of Hawthorn go in to my knuckle a couple of years ago, the swelling, pain and sensitivity lasted for around 6 - 8 weeks and then all of a sudden it just went and it was fine again. I first went to the doctors, then the hospital for an x-ray and then finally I saw the plastic hand surgeon and he said there's nothing still in there, and it can take 6 - 12 weeks before the swelling subsides, and thankfully he was right. It was quite worrying during those 6 - 8 weeks, I couldn't grip anything with that hand due to the swelling and pain, so I wasn't really able to work... It's nasty stuff!

Sherpa coming in handy on a tricky ash removal, saved us lifting them all out of the stream below. IMG_0258.MOV

Great idea, I would like to do something like this for mine. What make log grab are you using?

Thanks for the reply, helps a lot, appreciate it. We're considering renting some space from the farmer where I live and also store all our equipment, he has a large JCB Loadall, so might be able to pay him to load the lorry.

So this year we're considering renting/purchasing some yard space so that we can dump woodchip, green waste and logs etc. and wondered if anyone on here could shed some information on the process of having woodchip collected? For the last few years we've been using a composting site to get rid of all our woodchip, green waste and unwanted logs. The woodchip and logs we can dump there for free, and the green waste is £40 per load. The only issue is that the site is a 30 mile round trip, which is costing us a lot in terms of time a fuel. So my question is once you have a lorry loads worth of woodchip ready to go, do you have to pay to have it collected? Do they pay you? or do they have it for free and charge you nothing for taking it away? I'm guessing I would also need a loader of some sort to load it for them? or do they come with one on the back of their lorry? Sorry if this is a total newbie question, I've only ever worked for firms that get rid of all their chip at local recycling centres so I'm not sure how it all works...

Nice one, I will give them a try. I think so, bear in mind the tyres are tiny… size 4.00 - 10.

£609 + VAT from compact loaders, that’s a lot of money for what they are?! Had a look online and I can get the tyres for around £30 each, it’s just finding the right rims. Most that size are 4 stud, the Sherpas are 5.