www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Thanks!
This garden is 12 metres by 14 with a half metre fall across its width. With the minidigger I had the whole lot levelled off in two hours - just imagine doing that by hand with a barrow and spade! Even if you have never used one before, the time it takes to become familiar with the controls is still better than breaking your back shovelling, and much more cost effective for the customer.
BUT....you have to give these things respect - even tiddly ones like this. Its very easy to cause carnage, especially with drains and buried services. Also working tight against buildings, you can damage or knock the corner off brickwork very easily causing a very challenging repair. You have to be aware of the tail swing as well as what you are concentrating on in front of you. I'm pretty confident on one now though after a few hirings. Its an absolute no-brainer now, as long as I have good access.

I'm liking your rural garden, and looking at the felled tree got my 'log radar' twitching! Following on from the woodburner thread, I would love to have enough land that I could coppice my own fuel for the stove - do you have a woodburner?

Hi,

Many thanks for the information Chappy. I've been using machines for the last 50 years but have never used a digger although I've always fancied playing with a JCB? My father in law once blacked out an entire factory when he ripped a mains cable out of the ground whilst using a JCB digger. It would be dangerous for me to try to use a digger on our rear garden because of its steepness. A few years ago a near neighbour set on a builder friend of his to take up his reinforced concrete driveway and replace it with blocks; he set his labourer on using a big jack hammer and he pounded away at the thick concrete for two full weeks and he had to hand fill into a skip? I thought at the time this was torture and why not just get a digger in for the day with a chisel?

Thanks for asking Chappy but we don't have a woodburner although Bron and I seriously considered one quite a while ago. Like all heating systems a woodburner has both good and bad points; we still have gas central heating which isn't cheap but sure is quick and highly convenient. Some of our neighbours have woodburners and they are forever chasing logs which takes time then the logs if freshly cut cannot be used until they dry and need to be stored. When we've finally felled and disposed of all our standing timber then this will be the best time to buy a woodburner for us? Our garden is very natural and attracts lots of wildlife; Bron has seen a badger visit us on a number of occasions at night time whilst I've only seen it once.

Our rear garden must measure a minimum 120' x 60' and as seen in the pictures has many mature shrubs;bushes and trees; I went up the big blue spruce last year and removed 15' topping it bringing it down to about 40'; it's a beautiful tree so we want to retain it; the trees thus far felled have been either storm damaged or located too near buildings for safety. I dislike felling any healthy tree.

If you become fed up with the digger though Chappy I'll be happy if you throw it my way; they are expensive machines even secondhand. I bought a new cement mixer last year for use in installing new flood defences and sold it six weeks later only losing £40 on it; if I had storage space I would have kept it.

Have you completed the garden job?

Kind regards, Col.