Quickthorn

The forestry/agri/etc exemption now allows you 100 km from your base (it used to be 50 km)

I looked into it a few years back. The uk supplier wanted around £8k for one. Let us know if you find out how much they are now.

That's some good advice there. When you get to 12" plus, you can sometimes find it very brittle, with a tendency for the grain to run out..this seems to be worse on sand land. That, plus the weight, makes it difficult. Coppicing is often a better option. If you have to lay these bigger ones, I'd suggest getting as much weight as possible out of the top of the stem before you start to lay, so you can handle it and it won't flatten what you've laid before. You won't need all that height anyway. Also, laying at the start or the end of the season, when there's still some sap up, or sap is starting to rise, is better on bigger ones as the wood is less brittle. Laying big hedges is a slow process..sometimes, you're down to 10 yds a day.

Yes, if it went to court, they'd have to show that the quote amounted to an offer, which wouldn't necessarily be true. I might start putting words to that effect on my quotes-something saying that the quote is not meant as an offer in law.

Does anyone know.. Does a quote bind you in law to do that work for that price? On some quotes I did 3-4 years ago, I'd probably lose now just on the increase in fuel over that time, so I wouldn't really want to honour them.

I do mine on quickbooks 2001 as Topcat says. The vehicle is a "fixed asset" account, and at the end of my financial year, I transfer the capital allowance (ie depreciation) from that account to a "other expense" account set up to track depreciation. I had a loan for that vehicle, which was set up as a "long term liability" account. There were a set number of fixed repayments from a bank account, with each payment being made up of interest plus capital repayment; the interest i tracked as an "expense", and what was left went into the loan account to gradually reduce the debt. I've found the help with the software pretty good, but the backup used to be poor. there was one phone number that led to a queue, and you were charged at premium rate to wait in that queue..I don't think my call was ever answered! I hope it's a bit better now.

Healthy grass should out-compete moss. Like Shrek says, scarifying and spiking in Autumn help, but what often turns things round is top dressing, also in Autumn.

I thought that. The two clowns presenting it were poor, in a field where the bar is set pretty low to start with. I would have liked to have seen more of that cavity..it looked pretty significant, but they just wouldn't keep the camera still. Cameramen/directors on these programmes don't seem to be able to hold a shot for more than a few seconds; do they think we've all got attention deficit disorder or something?

I think it will, Dean. When I lay hedges, I often lay a stem into a hole I've dug, to fill a gap. I cut a bit of bark off where it touches the ground and back fill the hole. I don't often get to check whether it worked or not, but I've come across branches that have touched the ground and struck out roots where they touch the soil.

I don't do it too often..in one wood where I cut, I buy my stuff standing, cut it and take it, and there's a volunteer group of retired woodsmen who do the layering after everything's been cut and moved. They reckon on 70+% strike rate. I'm not sure how it stacks up financially: on paper, it may be cheaper to buy in stock and plant them conventionally, but when you add in everything, like the time to order, travelling to the nursery etc....also, just about all hazel planting stock has provenance from the south east, whereas you're obviously using local provenance stuff in layering. This is the first time I've cut in this wood..I offered to do the work, including the layering, in return for the produce. I'm looking forward to seeing how it does..I'm confident, because I've seen where branches have split, touched the ground and struck on their own, so all the conditions seem to be there..also, the canopy is quite open, so there should be enough light to help things on. You can do this to other species - sweet chestnut and willow have been mentioned, but you can also do it on ash, which is good, because ash has lots of uses. has anyone done air layering? It's something I want to try. They're all good ideas considering hazel planting stock from the nurseries I use seems to be a bit more expensive than other stuff.

What I tend to do is: scrape away a bit of bark where the rod will be in contact with the ground; dig a trench a few inches deep; bend the rod down and peg it to the bottom of the trench with suitable forked sticks cut beforehand; cover up, firm up and hope for the best! With a bit of luck, there will be a separate plant at each point where the rod is buried. This will grow on, and the rod can then be cut from the main stool. A good old fashioned technique if you're poor, but with time on your hands.

I've just finished cutting some hazel hedge stakes from a local wood. Although now neglected, it looks like it could have been quite good at one time. Hazel stools are too far apart to produce quality material in quantity, so a traditional way to increase that density is to leave a few rods on each stool (pic 1) and then layer them (pic 2). The layered rods should put up shoots where they are buried, and with a bit of luck will produce a separate root system there as well.

Surely the angle depends on how far you want the tree to fall before the gob shuts and breaks the hinge..so the angle varies, within reason, depending on the situation. For example, on valuable hardwoods, you need the hinge to break before it hits the deck, or it's more likely split. You'd set your angle depending on the ground conditions where you expect the tree to land. On cricket bat willow, I read about one contractor who seems to miss out the gob cut altogether..he has big saws with very long bars, and controls the fall with cables, winches, tractors, whatever. I can see why you'd want to do that: all the test match quality bats are at the bottom, and they can retail for £hundreds..putting a big gob cut in would lose at least one of those bats per stem.

I don't know about arborists, but this article by Treecraft Ltd (Introduction to birds article pdf) sums it up well - I've seen the author, Andrew Cowan, here and there, and he seems to know his stuff. Page 2 of that pdf describes the case: the first prosecution (under C&WA I'd suppose) for the destruction of birds' nests and eggs, in 2001, was of Ashfield District Council. They removed a 100 m section of hedge with a JCB that contained nesting dunnocks with eggs. They were told about the nests by a local resident, and they had a site meeting to discuss the work and agreed to postpone, but then went ahead with the work anyway. Statements from locals who saw the hedge before and after, plus remains of the nest and eggs,were used as evidence to report the council, two officials and the JCB driver. The council was fined £2,800. Also in that article, a case in 2002 involving a private individual was the first to convict for destroying a nest. He was seen dislodging a house martin's nest from the side of his house and putting the remains into a skip. That article was dated 2002, so I'm sure things have moved on; those two cases are the ones that have set the precedents. Has anyone found nests or seen nest building so far this year in any deciduous trees that have not yet come into leaf? I've still got 3 weeks hedgelaying to do, but any sign of birds nesting, and I will have to stop. I've never seen anything trying to nest in hawthorn at this time of year and before buds have broken. I know that nesting birds have cost me dearly in the past, when we've discovered a nest and had to stop; with no other work to go to, the staff usually got an early finish (one guy in particular loved it when we found nesting birds, because of the early finish..I'm sure he would have done somersaults if he hadn't been so bone idle!). Also, the perceived early start for nesting has shaved a month off the Winter season, with many clients wanting everything done by the end of Feb. Having said that, I'll always do everything I can to work around nesting birds, or any other wildlife.

I'm very sorry to hear this. I dealt with Alex briefly when I had a few problems with my chipper. He took a personal interest in the matter, and pretty much bent over backwards to get it sorted. At all times, he came over as totally sincere..in short, a good bloke. My thoughts are with his family and colleagues.

Sorry if this has been covered already in the thread but.. ..last time they changed these units, as far as I can remember, they told us the old ones were valid, and there was an opportunity to "convert". I had cs10, 11 and a few others, plus CS20, 21 and 22, and was able to convert them to the equivalent 30, etc, units. A few years later, they then announced that the old 10 etc and 20 etc units would expire after all. Have I remembered this right? Will there be a chance for people with CS30 etc units to "convert" to the new units this time?

My main issue with my 254 is the chain brake..it's very easy to flick it on when it's not needed. If I pull it off, then just let go, it will drop back on again through momentum of the handle. Is this normal, or is mine just a bit worn? Other than that, it's a joy to use.

In this case, I think the poor access would make them pretty much worthless. Another example of a little knowledge in the hands of an idiot.... he's probably expecting £8-9 /hft or something..

No, dougie, I don't think that comes into it for me. Most of my clients don't really care whether i drive, stay in B&B or whatever, just as long as I start when I said and don't overrun too much. I'd rather not ask for a pitch myself, but most people I deal with are good about it..the FC are normally ok..I think a lot of their contractors on harvesting or whatever pitch a caravan nearby. I joined the caravan Club, god help me, to get access to their certified sites. Some of these people are a bit funny, but I've met a few good contacts..normally older farmers..who are sympathetic. It's normally about £5 a night, which is a lot better than 4 hours driving and £20-30 fuel per day!

Hi charlie, I'd be interested in seeing some pics of this, too..

Well done for spotting that female flower, Graham. I work a lot with hazel, and rarely see any.

Most of my work is around 2 hours drive away, and i drag a caravan to any site where there's a week or more's work and 90 mins or more driving. It's the only way I can carry on, because the fuel bill would cripple me if I drove, and 4 hours driving on top of 8+ hours physical work every day isn't that good. You obviously save time during the week, but you spend a lot of weekend time getting it ready before a job, then slopping it out when you get back. I know mine was cheap at £700, and it's only 12 foot or so, and it's 20 years old, but it's not pleasant having to spend so much time in it, especially when it's very cold, as everything becomes damp (although my plan to fit a woodburner should cure that). The worst part's having to crap in what is nothing more than a glorified bucket which is only 3 foot or so from where I cook and eat my meals.

Which one did you get, and how much was it?

How far do you reckon you'd be towing from base? If you're going long distances, switching to a trailer might put you into EU driver's hours regs, tachograph rules etc. which might be something you'd want to avoid..