Hand cutters...

[peatff]

Back to the old when you have sawdust in your blood you can't get it out!

 

It's usually the socks where I have trouble

[Logrover]

I agree with eveything said so far!! I love cutting which is why i go back to it, but in reality it is a part time extra thing you do because its fun! If you have a mortgage to pay then forget it. It has a limited earning potential that does not cover times of limited work, probable injuries etc. 20 years ago then its doable, nowadays i think the issues are:

 

Fue/oil costs

Increased cost of saws/lack of reliability

The fact saw users are not the main source of production and therefore are just an accessory to machines with high running costs.

 

Its one of those love hate jobs! I also drive a machine which being honest is a lot easier. The industry seems in a bit of a downturn anyway so nothing is paying at the moment!!

[Chris Sheppard]

And the nice shiny colourful hi viz jackets

 

No, No, No, No, No and NO

 

I can't be the only person to hate hi viz can I?

 

Orange braces are just about acceptable in the woods IMO and only coz they don't clash with the colour of the saws

[john k]

Working in the woods is one of the few places where I think that hi viz is actually useful.

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

No, No, No, No, No and NO

 

I can't be the only person to hate hi viz can I?

 

Orange braces are just about acceptable in the woods IMO and only coz they don't clash with the colour of the saws

 

Agreed 100%.

 

Working in the woods is one of the few places where I think that hi viz is actually useful.

 

Despite the above, only if it's orange.

[Charlieh]

Hand cutting is ace, whats not to love about first thinnings, 100trees a day, brambles, hawthorn,

 

this was a block from yesterday, and pretty much represented about 50% of the 3.5ha compartment.

 

If it rains your wet, no amount of waterproofs keep you dry.

If its above 10degrees you sweat to death in the ppe. I have been in a t-shirt two afternoons this week

 

occasionally we get onto some big stuff that's two wet or steep for the harvesters to work and that's always fun.

 

I just really want some good frosts now to get onto the wetter sites

[TheHungrySquirrel]

As CharlieH says

 

Brambles are fun tripping you over, they somehow even wrap your ankles when your standing still.

 

It's been a warm winter so far and as you say it's best weather most days, even in the rain. Fire smoke choking you when the winds blowing the wrong way and trouble trees getting hooked in everything.

 

But the rewards of a fire cooked fry up, working your own hours and being left to work is great.

 

Also I can't think of the last time I wore hi vis in the woods.

[john k]

Despite the above, only if it's orange.

 

Of course! Don't want to look like a builder

[Plodalong]

Spent some time earlier this year brashing rough outside trees for the harvester and felling the oversize stuff, I've another job which pays the bills, I'd love to go back to cutting full time however, 40ish, and now financial commitments that I didn't have last time round............ It's prohibitive, the guy I was contracting for paid a day rate and paid quickly.

Load of my mates are on machines and are fairly worried due to the downturn. There's massive amounts of timber standing roadside in Northern England.

The fault doesn't lie with other contractors it's the strong pound and subsequently cheap imports that've crippled the Forestry in the UK

[luftwaffe]

another problem is that these modern machines are so productive, a harvester snd forwarder can do 1000ton a week which leads to over supply hence driving down timber prices. is it any wonder thst timber prices are the same a 40 years ago. mechanisation has killed it IMO.