Hello and your best advice please.

[John in Scotland]

Whereabouts in Scotland are you John? If you need cheapo timber for workshop construction, I've got piles of spruce and poplar.

I'm in Lanark. I have a friendly sawmill guy that I usually buy my shed/fence wood from and he seems cheaper than anywhere else around here. he also lets me take offcuts away for free...tons if I want it. thanks for the offer though.

 

John

[John in Scotland]

Thanks everyone. Thinking perhaps either a trailer for my fabia(diesel) estate, or getting a pickup with a tow bar..any suggestions. are secondhand still chainsaws usually fine? or should I be looking at new?

[John in Scotland]

any recommendations on an electric log splitter?

[doobin]

Mitox LS 700 if you can stretch to £450. If not then a Mitox or Alko horizontal splitters are about £250 and beat an axe hands down. Modify it so the ram doesn't return all the way, or to make it one handed, and it will be fast enough to begin with.

[ShooTa]

doobin - good plan reguarding the labourer.

[Mull]

Forget the tickets, you don't need them as it's only you. Buy a small trailer (you can also use this for garden work). Buy a smallish Stihl chainsaw and electric log splitter. Total investment under 1k. Sell 10 cubic metres of logs at £100/metre and you've paid for it all.

 

But keep it as a sideline and expand the garden work. Employ a labourer and double your money on him. That's where the money is.

 

"Forget the tickets, It's only you.....employ a labourer"

 

Good idea👍

[hedgesparrow]

just a tip if you have some free time go around the pubs with some nice dry wood see if you can get some orders from them. take some kindling with you.

i started with taken 2 bags of kindling to a pub i now deliver 2 cube a month to them. plus kindling and all year. so its worrth just going around. plus get into one and word spreads and locals then ask for wood. as other posts got to sell a lot to make good money but as a start if it buys a weeks shopping its worth it

[John in Scotland]

so the plan is at the moment

1. towbar etc and trailer

2. log splitter(what should I avoid)what do you use?

3. I reckon a stihl or a husky chainsaw would make life easier. At present i'm using a sanli with a .325 chain. I'm guessing a better chainsaw makes a world of difference.

 

which one should I get?..perhaps something slightly larger and use the one I have for smaller branches.

4 log bags off ebay.

5 ask around pubs

 

Thanks guys hope you can answer some of the above questions... you've been a real friendly helpful bunch

 

John

[Ian Clarke]

1 tow bar and trailer good idea as you know your own car and any niggles it may have rather than buying a second hand one that you dont know what could go wrong.

 

2. cant answer that one i dont own a log splitter.

 

3.keep the snali for now as its already paid for its self i guess. once you have the funds a new chainsaw would be v good what size of cord are you cutting ive been using a husky 550 *on a 15" bar* which is light for the size and very good in my opnion.

 

4. fleabay is a good place.

 

I would say the same as others stay in your own space and be as efficent as possible with it.

 

good luck. hope it goes well

[John in Scotland]

well this week I've been cutting beech up to about 20" diameter. No 1 thing I've learnt is to keep the chain sharpened regularly. every other time I fill it up sound about right? done with a round file. Seen those blade sharpeners in the shop...they any good?. I'm guessing that a decent file used properly is way better?