Argyll Rainforest Restoration - Squad Supervisor

[5thelement]

9 minutes ago, htb said:

And don't forget its in midge central

This job just gets better and better.

[Knoydart]

40 minutes ago, htb said:

And don't forget its in midge central

 

Yup, midge, keds, tics. You need to know how to look after yourself and your kit and as I say want this job, not a job. Fine if not for you, but others crave the challenge because of the achievement, experience and how important the work is.

[5thelement]

1 minute ago, Knoydart said:

 

Yup, midge, keds, tics. You need to know how to look after yourself and your kit and as I say want this job, not a job. Fine if not for you, but others crave the challenge because of the achievement, experience and how important the work is.

I bet they are cuing up round the block. 

[openspaceman]

7 hours ago, Muddy42 said:

Agreed, in one area I'm still pulling up seedlings 10 years after the bonfires went cold.  In the early years we used glphosate to tackle the regrowth but seedlings keep sprouting for years to come.

That's interesting. I have just started helping out our local environmental action volunteers on what was up till 1945 a working farm. The main parts became council housing in the early 50s but the riverside fields were left as open space and have developed into marsh and carr. Laurel and rhododendron have invaded from the posh victorian houses  adjacent. They have been hand pulling and tree popping, What is left is stems of over 4" diameter and we are topping them at 4ft, piling the lop and top, then I am pulling the stumps out with the Eder winch. No herbicides considered.

 

It will be interesting to see what groes.

 

After 80 odd years the alder are beginning to wind throw. I have advocated coppicing but that has not been well received.

[Mark Bolam]

54 minutes ago, Knoydart said:

 

Yup, midge, keds, tics. You need to know how to look after yourself and your kit and as I say want this job, not a job. Fine if not for you, but others crave the challenge because of the achievement, experience and how important the work is.

 

Fair play to you Knoydart, you’ve fought your corner pretty well here.

👍

[peds]

If I was local to it, and not as tied down as I am now, I'd be interested. 

 

As I say, massively important job that no-one seems to be doing. We need more of it.

[peds]

1 hour ago, openspaceman said:

They have been hand pulling and tree popping, What is left is stems of over 4" diameter and we are topping them at 4ft, piling the lop and top, then I am pulling the stumps out with the Eder winch.

 

Yo, what size of Eder will pull what size of rhodie stump?

[openspaceman]

2 minutes ago, peds said:

 

Yo, what size of Eder will pull what size of rhodie stump?

The Eder pulls about 1800kg and that rips a 4" stem out if 4ft is left as a lever, then we up end the stump on the brash pile. I have had to resort to using a sheave block to double the pull on multi stems. It's time consuming compared with a digger or the grapple on a tractor. No mess from wheelings though.

 

I have been involved in large scale rhododendron eradication 20 years ago in a ~P60 100ha scots pine plantation. The bushes were up to 18ft high but luckily the 8ft mulcher fitted down the rows I spent 3 months there and took the bushes out between the trees with a rubber tracked rt100 and FAE mulcher. It is a private estate with no public access so I never got to see the results but a young ecologist has recently surveyed it and there is no rhododendron,so the follow up must have been good. Lord knows what it cost.

[peds]

Great stuff, thanks. That sounds like a setup I'd be quite happy using. I see on the Eder website they've got smaller than 1800 available, but it sounds like you wouldn't want to drop any lower than that.