what equipment for a newbie?

[Paul in France]

This is my first time on this forum.

I have recently moved to France and bought a house which comes with 2 hectares of uneven pasture with some steep slopes and 3 hectares of woodland, mainly oak, also on a slope and quite difficult to access. We hadn't set out to acquire so much land and woodland but now we have it we want to take advantage of it particularly to fell for logs as we have 2 wood burners.

We'd hoped to come to a deal with a professional to fell and take a proportion as payment but because of the ground conditions it's not commercially viable.

For the last 3 months we've been staying with friends on a similar property and have been thinning out their woodland and producing logs for firewood quite successfully using chainsaws and a small articulated tractor and trailer.

I'm now considering what would be the best sort of equipment to get for our place.

If I could get a small tractor that we could use on the pasture to mow and rotavate as well as to haul logs out of the woodland that seems to me the ideal solution. I've seen a used Kubota B7001 that looks like it may do the job and gets good reviews, Does anyone have any advice on that particular piece of kit or recommend something else?

All advice will be appreciated as you will gather this is a big learning experience for us and we can't afford to just pay professionals to do it for us.

[Le Sanglier]

Hi Paul, A tractor would be a good idea, those mini kubotas can fetch silly money here in France as well as in the uk.

An older bigger tractor (30plushp) will run the topper for the fields and pull the wood out easier and cheaper. A lot depends on the slope, how bad is it?

[WorcsWuss]

Welcome Paul.

I'll start by saying... you lucky sod....

 

I can't really give you any specific advice re forwarding equipment, although I will say it does depend how big the timber you're moving actually is.

A little Kubota on decent tyres with a small ATV forwarding trailer on wide tyres might be good enough for you, unless the ground is wet.

 

You need to make a list of all the other potential jobs you will have for the equipment on the property and make sure you get the most versatile piece of equipment you can. For instance, a dedicated 8x8 mini forwarder would be great in your woods, but no good for topping pasture. You might be better off looking around for an Alpine tractor rather than a Kubota. They're still small but have more power and are designed for use on steep slopes. They're also far easier to come by on the continent than the UK so you should have rich pickings. Brands like Goldoni, Carraro, Aebi are a good starting point....

 

Do be careful though if you haven't really done much felling before. Make sure you know what you're doing when it comes to felling trees, what if one becomes hung up in a neighbouring tree, and where is the compression and tension in a felled tree etc.....?

Last thing we want to read about is an Englishman killed by a falling tree in France....

If you haven't already done so I'd strongly advise you to get some proper training.

Although it is perfectly legal and easy to go out and buy a saw and cut down trees, it can be a dangerous activity if you don't know what you're doing!

 

Good luck with it.

Oh, and we love photos, so let's have some of your new property!

Simon

[Paul in France]

Hi Paul, A tractor would be a good idea, those mini kubotas can fetch silly money here in France as well as in the uk.

An older bigger tractor (30plushp) will run the topper for the fields and pull the wood out easier and cheaper. A lot depends on the slope, how bad is it?

Its about 1 in 10 I'd say at worst. Ive seen advertised a fully refurbed B7001 with warranty at about £5000 plus vat and shipped from the uk for about £350 . How the warranty would work though I'm not sure!

[Paul in France]

Welcome Paul.

I'll start by saying... you lucky sod....

 

I can't really give you any specific advice re forwarding equipment, although I will say it does depend how big the timber you're moving actually is.

A little Kubota on decent tyres with a small ATV forwarding trailer on wide tyres might be good enough for you, unless the ground is wet.

 

You need to make a list of all the other potential jobs you will have for the equipment on the property and make sure you get the most versatile piece of equipment you can. For instance, a dedicated 8x8 mini forwarder would be great in your woods, but no good for topping pasture. You might be better off looking around for an Alpine tractor rather than a Kubota. They're still small but have more power and are designed for use on steep slopes. They're also far easier to come by on the continent than the UK so you should have rich pickings. Brands like Goldoni, Carraro, Aebi are a good starting point....

 

Do be careful though if you haven't really done much felling before. Make sure you know what you're doing when it comes to felling trees, what if one becomes hung up in a neighbouring tree, and where is the compression and tension in a felled tree etc.....?

Last thing we want to read about is an Englishman killed by a falling tree in France....

If you haven't already done so I'd strongly advise you to get some proper training.

Although it is perfectly legal and easy to go out and buy a saw and cut down trees, it can be a dangerous activity if you don't know what you're doing!

 

Good luck with it.

Oh, and we love photos, so let's have some of your new property!

Simon

Yes I feel like a lucky sod! Moving in on Saturday.

The advice is appreciated - yep the safety thing is paramount and we've really been careful not to take on anything remotely dodgy and will be getting training from a pro soon. We're in south West rural France so a bit difficult to get to training courses in the uk as listed on this forum.

[WorcsWuss]

Yes I feel like a lucky sod! Moving in on Saturday.

The advice is appreciated - yep the safety thing is paramount and we've really been careful not to take on anything remotely dodgy and will be getting training from a pro soon. We're in south West rural France so a bit difficult to get to training courses in the uk as listed on this forum.

 

Keep us posted then. Sounds like an exciting adventure.

I still have this move in the back of my mind.

If Labour get in at the next election and it keeps bloiody raining I'm out of here!

[Le Sanglier]

Its about 1 in 10 I'd say at worst. Ive seen advertised a fully refurbed B7001 with warranty at about £5000 plus vat and shipped from the uk for about £350 . How the warranty would work though I'm not sure!

 

Doesn't sound too bad for €3000 euros you would get a massey 35, topper and small trailer out here. You near Angouleme?

[Paul in France]

We are in Le Gers (32) near Massuebe. Trying to post a photo but skills failing me!

[Paul in France]

Just to rub it Worcs.Wuss we were in still in shorts and tee shirts until last weekend - make the move - it's a different world

[Le Sanglier]

Miles away, but as I say don't sprint home for everything, small agricultural tractors are cheap here, as are the implements, Try LE BON COIN a sort of french e-bay.

Mick