Small scale thinning equipment - potentially silly idea needing a sanity check!

[JonnoR]

Hi All,

This might not be the right section at all for this question, because it involves equipment that is by definition not 'Large equipment'!  I finally pushed the button on a Lennartsfors Ironhorse (the flex2), plus trailer, crane arm etc. I'm tiring of hand hauling lumber up a sodding hill in my woodland, but it also got me thinking that other smaller scale woodland owners might also be feeling like me. In the view of the great and good on here, do you think there could be a niche for a smaller scale equipment rental enterprise, to support limited scope thinning operations for the group of lower scale private landowners trying to manage their stands?

 

I'm thinking of one of the smaller Menzi Muck machines (probably rented out on a plant+operator basis when I'm not using it), a low impact small forwarder like the lennartsfors with hydraulically equipped trailer/crane, or even some sort of compact skyline setup to help rip out thinnings in smaller forestry parcels. I think it should be super easy to trailer to hard to reach sites, and with additions like augers and dump buckets it could be useful beyond the forestry work I envisage.  

 

One of the things I'm assessing is whether there's a 'Goldilocks' midrange of potential customers, who probably don't have the tonnage of lumber to justify higher costs associated with renting and moving heavier machinery (HGV costs, higher personnel hours to run more complex plant etc.,) but might also require an efficient way of extracting timber for personal use or smallscale firewood production.  Might there be sufficient business to be made to at least offset ownership costs for my own use? I'm looking at some additional bits of land in France and the UK, so would likely need some proper equipment mysefl, as I manage more land. 

 

Speaking with Mick D he suggested that maybe @Big J might be someone who could expand on the utility of smaller plant to support sensitive site extraction.  Grateful to all for feedback!  Jonno

[Whoppa Choppa]

Déjà vu. Big J thread.

[GarethM]

Whilst we wait for Big J, we can probably say there might be a niche but he did move to Sweden so that might reflect on that.

[5thelement]

Iron Mike seems to be doing a pretty good job with his award winning Low Impact Forestry business, he is shit hot on the decks as well.

[JonnoR]

29 minutes ago, GarethM said:

Whilst we wait for Big J, we can probably say there might be a niche but he did move to Sweden so that might reflect on that.

I'm not moving to Sweden to explore this idea 😄

[GarethM]

15 minutes ago, JonnoR said:

I'm not moving to Sweden to explore this idea 😄

If you've been you might think differently 🙂.

 

Once you gloss over the incessant playing of ABBA, you then realise your the ugly ducking but amongst a massive population of gorgeous ladies with less options 😉.

[JonnoR]

9 minutes ago, GarethM said:

If you've been you might think differently 🙂.

 

Once you gloss over the incessant playing of ABBA, you then realise your the ugly ducking but amongst a massive population of gorgeous ladies with less options 😉.

You make a compelling argument!  I actually studied Swedish at uni, as a second language on my course - despite having never been there and my only exposure to the language was grainy VHS videos 😄

[GarethM]

2 minutes ago, JonnoR said:

You make a compelling argument!  I actually studied Swedish at uni, as a second language on my course - despite having never been there and my only exposure to the language was grainy VHS videos 😄

FYI watching dodgy VHS porn is not studying a language! 😉.

[JonnoR]

1 hour ago, GarethM said:

FYI watching dodgy VHS porn is not studying a language! 😉.

In that case, I've not spent as much time studying as I thought!

[slack ma girdle]

Smaller scale forestry is the devil's own work. Dispite the fantastic videos showing how effective the machine is, the output never justifies the machine.

By the sound of it for the money you are spending on the Iron Horse, you would be better off getting a Logbullet.

With a Doosan 6 tonne digger with grab or tree shear ,  Logbullet ,  and tractor & forwarder,  i can just about cover the felling & extraction costs with volumes over 100 tonnes of smaller trees.