Diagnostics
Intermittent faults, power loss, overheating, hydraulics that will not hold. Found properly, so you are not paying for parts that were never the problem.
Service & repairs
Arb machinery repairs, by the engineer
Diagnostics, repairs and servicing on chippers, stump grinders and other machinery, done in-house at the workshop, Runcorn. Booked in, fixed properly, back out earning. We do site visits with agreement.
Diagnostics · Repairs · Servicing · Technical support
The engineer
A mechanical engineer,
every day.
Sky-Arb is Andy: a mechanical engineer who works on arb machinery every day and runs the hire fleet off the back of it.
That matters most when something is wrong and you cannot describe it properly. Ring, describe it however it comes out, and you will get a straight answer: what is likely wrong and what it will take, or that it needs to be in front of us before anybody can sensibly say.
Diagnostics. Find the actual fault, not the symptom that is easiest to replace.
Repairs. Engines, hydraulics, drives, controls, cutting gear: the things that stop an arb machine earning.
Servicing. Scheduled work so the machine keeps running through the busy months.
Time served before Sky-Arb: almost ten years as a workshop mechanical engineer at Spectrum Plant, first in Altrincham and then Warrington, and two and a half years running their Garforth workshop in Leeds, which a salesman and I built up from one unit to twice the size. That original company no longer trades, so a firm using the name today is not the one described here.
In the workshop
What comes through
the workshop.
Repairs
Engine work, hydraulic repairs, drive and clutch problems, electrics, controls, guards and cutting gear. Put right and tested before it leaves.
Servicing
Oils, filters, belts, plugs, bearings and blades. Booked in around your work, not ours. The aim is a machine that does not stop working.
Brands
Coverage, not
a dealership.
We service, repair and sharpen the major arb brands: Först, Timberwolf, GreenMech, FSI, Jensen, Bandit, Rayco and more.
To be plain about it: those are machines we work on, not franchises we hold. We are not claiming to be an approved dealer for anybody. If you want a warranty job doing under a manufacturer scheme, ring and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right people for it.
Parts come off our own shelves where we have them: Kubota, Sparex, Briggs & Stratton and the usual consumables. Anything else comes in on trade accounts with the manufacturers and their suppliers, so you get the genuine part rather than the nearest thing that fits.
Technical support
Ask before you
buy, hire or bodge.
A phone call costs you nothing and regularly saves a wasted day. Ring about a noise, a warning light, a machine you are thinking of buying, or a job you are not sure the kit will handle.
If the answer is “tighten that and carry on”, that is the answer you will get. If it is not something we know, we will tell you that straight rather than guess, and try to find you the answer.
Before you buySecond-hand chipper or grinder? Describe it and we will tell you what to check.
Before you hireNot sure which machine suits the job? That is a two-minute conversation.
Before it gets worseOdd noises rarely fix themselves. Early is cheaper than seized.
Common questions
Before you ring.
Who actually works on my machine?
Andy does. Sky-Arb is an engineer with a workshop, not a counter with a subcontractor behind it.
What kind of machines do you take on?
Arb machinery: wood chippers, stump grinders, and the kit that goes out with them, trailers included. We work on the major brands: Först, Timberwolf, GreenMech, FSI, Jensen, Bandit, Rayco and more.
Those are brands we service, not brands we are a dealer for. If yours is not on the list, ring and describe it. Most of this kit is petrol or diesel engines, hydraulics and cutting gear, and that is the day job.
Will you tell me if it is not worth repairing?
Yes, and before you spend anything. A diagnosis that ends in “this one owes you nothing” is worth more to you than a bill for a machine that is going to fail again in a fortnight.
Can I just ring for advice?
That is what technical support is for. Ring before you buy, hire or bodge it. If it is a five-minute fix you can do yourself, we will talk you through it rather than book it in. If it is not something we know, we will say so rather than guess.
Do you collect, or do I bring it in?
Drop it at the workshop, Dewar Court whenever suits, or ring and we will sort collection.
We do site visits with agreement.
Book it in
Get it looked at.
Ring with the machine and the symptom and we will tell you what happens next. If it is quicker to just bring it, the workshop has a roller door and somewhere to put it.
Hire stays local, because people collect the machine themselves. Service and repair work travels: based in Runcorn, but out as far as the Midlands, the Lake District and up towards Newcastle. Ring with where you are and what the machine is doing.
Quickest way to book07864 958 846
Opening hours
Monday to Friday 6.30am to 5pmSaturday to Sunday ClosedHours can vary, so ring first.
Repair enquiry