I can't believe we are still doing final cuts on grass in December!
I have been telling customers that this will be the last mowing visit for about a month now - but still it keeps growing!
I was hoping to service and moth-ball the mowing equipment back in November but we are still cutting. The poor machines have had a really tough season and luckily have lasted the course without any real problems, just a few wear and tear stuff like strimmer handles getting broken off and drive belts getting shredded etc but no large mechanical failures.
On the other hand, we did have an unusual one a few weeks ago with the hedge cutter. We were doing "the Hedge from Hell" for one of our letting agent customers in Kintbury which had not been properly cut back for quite a few years. The Council was starting to complain as the hedge had gone 18" over he pavement, making it a bit of an issue.
Basically, we were commissioned to reduce the size by at least 18" on the face as well as about 18" on the top. Instead of a nice hedge, this was a pyrocanthus, a very hard wood bush with nasty thorns which make you go septic if you get impaled. We decided that chipping the waste would be the best course of action to remove the huge quantities created.
As we started, I could see this job going a bit pair shaped as the shear toughness of the stems was proving quite and challenge even for our mega Stihl 30" heavy duty cutter, let alone our Husky commercial one. Chipping was also proving to be a challenge as the branches were so tangled together it was impossible to get them in the chipper without chainsawing them into chunks!
I sent one of the guys to trim the top of one of the hedges with the Husky, when after a few minutes he came back looking very sheepish. I asked him what the problem was and he said I should come and see....well I don't know what had happened but instead of a flat 24" blade, he had managed to bend it like a banana. Somehow, the teeth had got caught under each other and bent the bar! I took it to Kalehurst Garden Machinery and they had never seen the like of it!
Eventually we got the hedge finished and the customer was delighted - even though it cost me dearly in repairs!
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