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

[arboriculturist]

On 10/05/2024 at 06:30, Big J said:

Haha! A very amusing thread

There is a niche within the UK for low impact forestry. Mike does it far better than I ever did, in terms of marketing and sticking to his niche. I kept getting distracted by all sorts of different kit to expand my capacity, which ultimately didn't work.

 

The niche here in Sweden for small scale forestry is more limited to forest owners. It's too commercial here for anything under 5t really, and even then, some areas (like ours) are really too rocky for machines as small as that. 

 

The issue with the really small machines, like Logbullet, Kranman and Alstor is that yes, you can run them very productively and they also cost next to nothing to run. But run them hard and they will break. 

 

If I were to summarise it:

 

Small machine pros: easy to transport, low running costs, light footprint, good public perception, cheap to repair

Small machine cons: break a lot, limited capability, relatively low productivity

 

Big machine pros: can do virtually any job, very productive, reliable

Big machine cons: heavy footprint, bad public perception, cost a fortune to repair when they break (often due to propriatory parts), high running costs, high transportation costs

 

For the record, I no longer work in forestry. I run a resaw line at a large sawmill. I still spend a lot of time in the forest, but it's mainly on my gravel bike. I much prefer it that way. 

 

Wow, I never thought we would see the day when you would go down that route having sold a successful mill previously.  I stand corrected but isn't that a line turning cants into dimensioned boards ?   So we wait with interest to see what you migrate into next in the timber world.