cutting sticks up the Moss

[difflock]

seeee

Edited April 28, 2014 by difflock

[silky fox]

Nice shots...what a great job.

[rowan lee]

Looks even more fun then my weekend playground in the 'moss' in Co. Sligo. Plenty of birch kicking round the edges there too. You have it well planned out in terms of setup - one engine, pto winch, piped to crane trailer. No manual handling of timber in the woods whatsoever. I'd love to come up sometime and see it on the ground, though like most of Ireland, always seems better when the sun is out and it dry of course.

[difflock]

Rowan,

Absolutfeckingutly!!

An entirely different experience when the sun is, and has been, shining.

I were gobsmacked to observe a cloud o "stoor" as I winched the turns in.

After preservering, for a good number of years, with a wet "glaur" hole of a sodden rodden, rush covered with puddles of clear water.

I switched to a dry, non rush covered rodden.

Each entirely different rodden beside a big deep sheaugh.

So they SHOULD be the same.

But they sure AINT.

All in the one wee small small patch of ground.

Marcus

[Ryan]

Excellent work Difflock. Makes me feel right at home. This is the kind of work in at in spare time. Not just as well kitted out though being without winch or crane. The weather has been great this month greatly increasing the tonnage. Bit of a change forecast from tonight. Im working a gradient currently in Co Antrim which adds to the fun when its wet.

[muldonach]

Rowan,

Absolutfeckingutly!!

An entirely different experience when the sun is, and has been, shining.

I were gobsmacked to observe a cloud o "stoor" as I winched the turns in.

After preservering, for a good number of years, with a wet "glaur" hole of a sodden rodden, rush covered with puddles of clear water.

I switched to a dry, non rush covered rodden.

Each entirely different rodden beside a big deep sheaugh.

So they SHOULD be the same.

But they sure AINT.

All in the one wee small small patch of ground.

Marcus

 

I dream about peat that I can drive across like that, we would not get the tractor off the road before the front end went down. Looks like the tail of your shirt has been wet mind you.

 

A pal has a pair of horses across at the moment to exercise them skidding logs in an old hardwood plantation - which was not fenced off from the moss. I offered him an electric fence which was declined. 4 days later we have a bunch of fire engines and recovery "experts" dragging a horse out before it drowns. They did mention that they had never been on a rescue so difficult to access and I am told that one of them was less than amused at the damage done to his truck.

 

He has since taken me up on the electric fence.

 

I think a radio controlled winch may be on the cards - how is your DIY radio control coming on?

 

I guess you will be milling the lodgepole:biggrin::biggrin:

 

Cheers

mac

[difflock]

Muldonagh,

99% of our moss is "non drivable", this is one of, and just off one of, the three main "Roddens" that accessed this upper end of the Garry Bog, for to allow the Dervock residents to cut and draw home their peats.

The first was referred to as the "stone rodden", the second, this one, as the "clay rodden", and the third, as the "green rodden".

Though these descriptors referred to the first wheen o yards, say 100 odd, in off the county road.

Where I am working & have my landing, has been eyed out by me during near 15 year of dog walking through the moss, as being unnaturally dry.

Relatively high ground, and whin bushs/gorse covered therefore is essentially "dry" underfoot, cos them Whin bushs aint stupid!

Though pure black peat moss.

regards

marcus

[rowan lee]

Now that you have that trailer of round wood back from the bog, what happens next in the system? Do you unload and buck up on the ground, or cut to 1mtr lengths while each piece is suspended in the jaws of the grab, and then split etc. Keep the photos coming from each stage, will make a brilliant thread. I will do similar, in the next month as well.

[difflock]

I park the ould DB, with 17 tonne Krpan winch (with integral 1 tonne winch) on the back.

About 10m from the end of the butts.

With the wee forestry trailer positioned off to the side (photos to follow of course)

Winch the sticks over to the splitter, cut off 1.0m lengths, split and stack in my home made 0.5m3 billet bundler.

Strap up with polywotsits strapping.

And sling the billet bundles off into a carefull stacked pile with the wee crane on the trailer, driven offen the DB hydraulics.

Can get them 4 or 5 rows high, which seriously ecomomises on the covering.

Am a lazy bugger!

I can then lift and transport the billet bundles with a set of pallet toes, or better still a round bale fork/toes.

Simples.

Cut to length as required with the wee cross cut saw in the shed

either in 1/2 (& = 0.5m long)for the outside boiler

Or in 1/3rds for the Morso inside.

Edited April 30, 2014 by difflock

[broonie]

see you hae all sussed oot then Marcus