Had ago in this today

[Wood wasp]

There was a group of Swedish foresters toured Central Scotland earlier this year and we met with them on couple of occasions to show our operations.

 

It is no exaggeration to say they left the country in complete & utter astonishment at the UK forestry policy. Their aim is to maximise timber production in balance with overall amenity value, the FC/quango obsession with native woodland, bats, bugs etc above all else was simply incomprehensible.

 

The best example was when they were being shown a local hotel which has invested heavily in biomass* - boiler, unimog, chipper etc. After showing his operation the hotel owner asked if he could buy timber from them as he struggled to source it in UK...... This conversation took place as we stood in hotel garden looking down onto the FC mulching up thousands of tons of Sitka to recreate a peat bog!!!

 

The Swedes literally couldn't believe what they were seeing and hearing, it was like a cartoon moment as they rubbed their eyes in disbelief!

 

They left the country thinking we're all completely insane.

 

*They also simply could not understand why people are being paid to burn as much wood as possible to extent of turning up the boiler and open the windows.

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

As a fat man the cab size of the ponnse is much better. I also liked the fancy leveling suspension on big rear wheels. I found the merc engine much easier to work with and the hydraulics seemed much better to work with in a maintenance sense.

 

The big big plus for me is that you sit behind the crane with the engine so if you make the crane fall over you should stay upright. The frame break was better although the 1270 I drove ad a rubbish one.

 

 

I preferred ponnse opti to timbermatic it's much easier to calibrate and adjust calibrations. The head has an automatic chain tensioner unlike the Deere.

 

I tend to agree about the Timbermatic (300), not exactly logical. H754 head on my 1070D has automatic chain tensioner tho. I'm fat too but I think the TJ cab is massive; you should try a Valmet - absolutely tiny. Ponsse must be mahoosive.

[HGBMX]

There was a group of Swedish foresters toured Central Scotland earlier this year and we met with them on couple of occasions to show our operations.

 

It is no exaggeration to say they left the country in complete & utter astonishment at the UK forestry policy. Their aim is to maximise timber production in balance with overall amenity value, the FC/quango obsession with native woodland, bats, bugs etc above all else was simply incomprehensible.

 

The best example was when they were being shown a local hotel which has invested heavily in biomass* - boiler, unimog, chipper etc. After showing his operation the hotel owner asked if he could buy timber from them as he struggled to source it in UK...... This conversation took place as we stood in hotel garden looking down onto the FC mulching up thousands of tons of Sitka to recreate a peat bog!!!

 

The Swedes literally couldn't believe what they were seeing and hearing, it was like a cartoon moment as they rubbed their eyes in disbelief!

 

They left the country thinking we're all completely insane.

 

*They also simply could not understand why people are being paid to burn as much wood as possible to extent of turning up the boiler and open the windows.

 

That is annoying and embarrassing to read. How the FC think they are doing good is beyond me. I went to interforst show in Germany last month and was talking to a few contractors out there and they all laughed and was shocked at the state of forestry and timber over here, they are so far beyond us it's crazy. They are thinking 20 years ahead all the time unlike us who are thinking 20 years back about our old oak woodlands and wild life that we used to have and now spending billions to save it for another 5 years. In 50 years time what will our timber production be like and what would the FC be doing if they are still around?

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

[Wood wasp]

There's no denying the FC have completely lost the plot. However given the lack of clear direction and the immense lobbying power of the green movement it's no wonder we're in a shambles.

 

Bear in mind this chaotic lack of vision and long term planning doesn't just apply to forestry. energy policy is short term and seems aimed solely at reducing co2 emissions and to hell with everything else, consequently we're spending billions yet still at risk at risk of lights out. Education is another which bounds from one reform to another and all the time standards keep dropping.

 

If I had children I'd be seriously worried about UK