Peter 1955

As others have said, you're best forgetting the little battery machine for this job. The Hawksmoor is the type of machine you need, but if it could be regarded as " disposable". If it managed this one job, that would be a result. Again, as already mentioned on here, the blade has to be a mulching blade, of the style of this one and vitally important above all, is to use an up and down motion, not side to side. That will result in the material being pulverised. If you go side to side, it will simply cut it in long and hard to handle lengths. In all honesty, for the money you'd spend on suitable gear, it should be more cost effective to get someone in with the correct gear, and the required knowledge. Also, it's the most mind numbingly boring job I know of.

Obviously I haven't handled the Makita, but from what I can see, the specs are virtually identical to the MSA 300. That might make it attractive to folk like my son, who is on the 40v Makita platform for power tools.

Is this the point at which I tell him he needs a 251, and I just happen to have a lovingly cared for immaculate example, one careful owner? 🤔 If your pockets are deep enough, you can't go wrong with a 261, cracking saw. List price of that is within £10 of a 391, and I know which one I'd rather have.

Said it before, I will doubtless say it again. " I disagree totally with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it". If an admin shuts something down, they're a censor. If they don't, they're not doing their job. Damned if you do.............................................

Dayton Albatross. My brother got that Villiers engine from said scooter, and nearly got it fitted into something I forget what. Mine had elements of a 14/4, but it didn't start life as that. It was somewhat of a Frankenstein, I seem to remember.

Good luck on that with my first bike. A BSA Bantam, of indeterminate parentage. My, but it was definitely “ entry level “ motorcycling. 😆

Agreed. I must say that for a forum I respect, and use as an information gathering utility, I regard the antics of many folks on the subjects not dealing with timber related issues as very disappointing indeed. I don’t have any problem with banter ( which is often very amusing) but name calling and insults really lower the tone. I’m by no means a snowflake, but I have standards. As a moderator on an unrelated forum, I appreciate the fine line trodden by those folks trying to keep us all in check.

I don't really have an answer as to how to find the fault, but I may have a solution. Why not simply buy a £10 battery isolator switch, and cut all possibility of current leakage when you're not using it? Simple but effective.

" When you make something idiot proof, they build a better class of idiot "

If you're not going to mulch it, then to me, the only way forward is a trailer to get it home in bundles, and a proper sawbench to log it. Been there.................

Thanks for all the thoughts chaps, much appreciated. Seems that hire companies vary in what they expect a hirer to do before returning an item. Let's have a go at replying to all without quotes: Mick: True, but are their charges fair was the question. Joe: A similar point of view to me. MesterH, NJA: It looks awfully like a generic safety cut out fitted to all manner of equipment,and I'd expect them to have a boxful in the workshop. Hire insurance would obviously be an idea, but it was never offered, or mentioned. David: Agreed, but I wasn't notified of any terms on hiring. Yes, my mistake, but I'm a trusting little soul. Doobin,Oldfeller: : Agreed. Thanks again chaps, not the end of the world, but safe to say I/we won't be dealing with them in the future.

I felled some regrowth thorns for a customer, and burning them onsite wasn't possible. They were in a paddock belonging to someone else, I'd felled them from the dyke bank. Having decided that removing them with a trailer was going to take a long time, and be very unpleasant, so client and I decided to hire a chipper. At my suggestion, one was hired from a local company who he had an account with, due to them having taken over the clients from a company who were no longer trading. We got a Timberwolf 190 with a diesel engine, and it performed far better than the Greenmech Quadchip 160 we had used on a job for another client. So far, so good. Only problem was, when feeding it, a branch whipped round, and knocked the emergency stop button off the intake hopper. When I returned it, I told them immediately, and was told " oh that's no problem at all". Customer rang me today, and isn't happy. He's had a repair bill. £3.50 for the oil the engine used, ( in less than four hours ) £3 for a cartridge of grease to regrease the machine. Now the dubious bits- £100 for the stop switch, and £90 labour. Customer now faces a £200 bill on top of the hire charge, and is not a happy bunny. I am not flavour of the month either, as you might guess. Have we been turned over, or is it par for the course? No contract was shown before hiring. The company is a big agricultural dealer, but the hire side is growing so fast that it appears to be run by a sort of " arms length " company. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Absolutely. " I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death, your right to say it".

There are people on here with way more knowledge than me about such matters, but from those pictures, I would have been firing up a saw immediately. They're some of the ugliest specimens I have seen, and at that size, I wouldn't have any qualms about removing them. When I worked for a builder friend, the building control officer in one area was absolutely petrified of Leylandii. If he saw one anywhere near, the footings had to be bigger/deeper. Once upon a time, a neighbour rang and asked me to fell the oak tree near his mother's house, as it had been deemed responsible for cracking/subsidence. I refused, and told him that the oak tree wasn't the culprit. He replied that he knew it was the big Willow, I knew it was the willow, but the insurance man said it was the oak, and it needed to be felled for the payout.

Understandable. In another life, I've met people whose real names meant nothing to me, but once I matched up their Forum name to them, I knew all about them.