ToughButterCup

Ed, have you ever tried one of those light-weight bars? I might be able to smuggle one under the SWMBO radar buried deep in an invoice.

Grind that flat with a rougher stone. Someone explained to me years ago that a set of soft pencil marks (cross-hatches) on the stone to be flattened is a big help in working out which bits of the stone need some work. And sometimes less work needs to be done than you think. Sharpening is my equivalent of the Army's bulling boots, and one Saturday morning in four I sharpen everything. More often if something's annoyed me. Soothing, satisfying, useful.

I threatened.... however, in a previous life I did an exercise somewhere in France I neither remember nor care where, Massiv Central somewhere - and got myself 'captured' (we were acting as enemy) by the Legion. Bastards hung me from a tree branch by tying my thumbs together. An hour or so of that, and I was squealing like a weaner. So embarrassing.

Big? Who cares? I've only got eight left. Q. "Wanna hand Ian?" A "Naaah thanks, a couple of fingers will do in my case"

A link would help. I've looked, but can't find one (in the online version) Ian

Well, if you will drink latte from a glass, unlike us he-men who drink it from a trough, what do you expect?

Hi Ferdinand..... yes, and a digger in the garden spoils the view and lowers house prices.... godda watch for that

Know what, Ed, I don't think it is bigger....

That image was taken in Calvi, Corsica. Where we went on honeymoon. It's taken just outside the gates of the 2nd Battalion French Foreign Legion - where I threatened to walk through the gates unless SWMBO bought me an ice cream.

I bought it to make my cladding with. I can assure you, as soon as that's done, it's going. The guy at the wood yard has already made me an offer.....

It's easier to use than the other ones I use, better balanced, easier to start, less vibration, and just a little bit frightening. It coped with the root bowl of that Hemlock tree in short order - and in that sense it's less hard work.

You are going to tell me you use it for curling now aren't ya?

Got it in one Declan. There's two shackles; one U shaped with a locked nut (rated at 4 tonnes) on the bucket mounting (not the bucket) and a largish shackle hooked up to that: one big enough for four strop loops. I'm being veeerrrry careful moving heavy things - I can make a heavy weight swing all too easily. The other thing I'm trying to do is -where I can- move heavy stuff just a few inches off the ground. And all the time keep the weight as close to the digger as possible. That said the piece of cedar in the photo was lifted at full stretch (3 meters) without fuss or noise from the hydraulics at half-full revs. I thought that distance (stretch) was pushing it a bit. But the digger makes so many things so much easier. I'm starting to think about how to solve a problem with a digger now, rather than think for a while, and then realise - Oh yes! I could sort that with the digger.

Just to illustrate my point earlier in the thread have a look at this.... The 'pillars' were inserted by using the digger - the holes dug, the hemlock tree sawn in two and 'posted' into the holes - both back-filled by the digger , the cedar tree off loaded from the trailer (at full 3 meter stretch) and dropped onto the rails (4 by 4s). All on my own with no help. And I thought diggers were for digging holes. And that's Tess, the Chicken Dog. She spends all day rounding up chickens and herding them into the branches of a Bay tree. Yep, I dunno why either.

I'm not grey, I'm silver, silver, OK?

Instructions in my PM....

Welcome here. I used to teach in Bicester way back last century! God, I'm old.....

Hello Vijay. Here's the original post on the matter I have a 2 tonner. The thing that nobody tells you is the way your mind changes as you come to start thinking about how to solve problems with a digger - as opposed to without a digger which for me was the normal way until a few weeks ago. ConstructionChannel puts it best: '...See a problem, turn the key...' Jobs which in my minds eye would take a whole day (move a newt hibernacular) took 10 minutes with the dozer blade. Jobs which were impossible on my own - make a woodmill work-bed out of two large (500+ kg) tree stumps took me an hour on my own. I've always wanted a land drain across our lawn - but couldn't face the job with a shovel. It's a nice-to have, but not essential. It took an hour.

This checklist is copied from a post we made on ebuild. It is a summary of the authors' collective wisdom. Unfortunately the links are dead - but the author's name is always listed. And since most of the usernames have been preserved, they are still relevant. This (and every) checklist will benefit greatly from your comment and experience. Bring a tame fitter with you / or ask for a recommendation from him or her. (Triassic#10) A digger from a hire yard will be better looked after and will have always been serviced. (Declan #5) Stolen? Paper work, service history: check serial numbers (Declan#8) Cab? (Ed#9) If so then : window covers (GRP / metal) Hydraulics Pipes will burst; local hose supplier - easy to swap, you just need big spanners. Have a 25 litre drum of hydraulic fluid as a second hand digger will leak Check track depth : new tracks cost about £200: (proDave #3) Check teeth on the Drive Pinions (proDave #3) Track Motors: Hydraulics Leaks? (proDave #3) Engine service history ? None? Immediate service (proDave #3) Pins: play? If an old machine re-bush. (prodave#2) Joints: play? Slew: play? If it's going you will hear grinding, popping or clicking noises. Check the grease on the bearings. If it's got metal filings in it then it's been grinding. (Declan#8) Check for clean grease around nipples, all the pins should look like they have clean grease on them. Over-greasing is good! Check it will hold the arm extended/bucket raised for a length of time, if hydraulics are on the way out then the arm gradually lowers. (proDave #3) If you have a choice, get one with the main boom ram mounted on top of the arm - the older ones that have it below the arm are prone to damage and bending when something gets caught between the bucket and the ram. (PeterW#3) Fully extend Spool valves and Rams - you may need an assistant to push the levers as far out/back as possible and look for weeps on the joints and also on the ram end seals. (PeterW#3) Equipment: What does it come with? Quick hitch? Right buckets for your needs (Ed #9) Need to buy a bucket? Where from? Check before purchase (proDave #3) Check engine start FROM COLD; easy, hesitant, non-starter? Get the seller to show you how to drive it. (proDave #2) Can machine easily lift itself off the ground with the dozer blade lifting one end and the bucket lifting the other? (proDave #4) Water in fuel? Check fuel filter Water in the oil? Look for mayonnaise-type emulsion on oil filler cap Use red diesel - and don't be tempted to use it in your car. Leaks of oil and hydraulic fluid : get a drip tray Keep it (and spare buckets) secure

Well, Barney, if you don't get a tipper - or have a digger- (and up til recently I didn't) I found myself choosing easier-to-shovel stuff if I had the choice. In terms of reversing, I have a Defender. The standard mirrors are poor. A wide-angle view mirror will help I'm sure. Twisting round in the seat is OK, but reversing while scanning both wing mirrors is much easier. So, wide-angle mirrors for me if I can source them. Just a quick note on straps and chains. 5000Kg straps are excellent - nobody taught me to use them, until the other day at the wood yard. The hooks seem to be the sensible way to attach the strap to the hook on the trailer bed. But if , on the strap, you use the loop of metal from which the hooks are formed, there is no chance whatsoever of it slipping. Strapping in a zig zag fashion (cross and re-cross) the bed is a nightmare. Because the strap loses it's tension in the first section of the strapping. So, where 1 strap will do (with a zig zag hookup) I use 2 straps instead. Chains are much stronger. I use them for the trees I buy (2 tonnes each). But it's hard to tension them evenly. But by the ends of the build I'll have got it right - I hope.

Thank you very much. So many people made so much effort to help produce the list. It would be a great shame to weaken the resource. If I can, I will as a matter of course, always reference the original post and author. And if by chance I forget, please dig me in the ribs. Ian

Meta-discussion. Aha! One of them!

CIC online offers a really well collated set of information But, I get the feeling that, since it's a project funded by several Higher Education Institutes, the project is likely to be pruned. The site isn't as useful as it might be because there's no site-based search facility. For example, I'd like to have researched 'Thermal Mass'. Purely for reference and research purposes you understand. However this page was the most useful starting point for me : it lists a set of relevant categories It's best to register (they'll ask you to do that for some resources -not all)

Thank you. That's that issue on my list ticked off. 'Nother 3,456 to go. Ian