MattyF

I was also told the other day your better off ripping them out before 8-9 inches if you want to keep on rotation as your supposed to get a felling licence from the FC for over that size.

In answer to one of your first questions though 2m matrix works well and gives room for mowing/ weed control and shaping.

It’s probably more bog than soil , but clay , I’ve got about 100 in on a test bit but half died and the surviving trees they have not moved in two years 12” max !! where as the frazers seem to tolerate the ground and put on very good growth. Could be worth a go , the smaller the block the better really as you can give them more time and care... There was a lad Daniel on the forum who knows a lot about growing Christmas trees as to be honest I haven’t got a clue really ! Just delving in too something that could offer us income for the farm when I’m too knacked to climb trees any more. We have always grown a small plantation of Norway’s since I was a kid and it’s ok if you enjoy growing things... what I’ve got now is a bit bigger and I’m probably going to let half of it grow on for timber and display trees as there are a few blocks pushing 15ft now and where very badly spaced and not trimmed.

About that for a 5-6 for a Norway obviously a lot less if wholesale and more if nordman but that’s the other thing .. dealing with a lot of sharks!! Bit like buying and selling timber , there are sound folk to deal with and some who will bite so be wary.

There is a lot of work and they are difficult to sell, we have about 25 acres of Norway , lodgepole with a smaller amounts of Fraser and blue spruce ....sold about 250 this year , main buyers held off due to covid so missed 1k plus trees going out , some never came at all but if your selling to the public and are near some where accessible you could make money as you miss out the middle men but certainly not a fortune and to be honest it’s a bit taxing after working all week to spend the weekend tending people’s needs with trees coming up to Christmas! I don’t think we have even broke even if I take my time in too consideration with the evenings and weekends Mowing with the billy goat down the lines , then there is trimming them , Nordman seem what folk want as well really but our ground won’t grow them and to be honest sticking loads of fertilisers and hormone treatment on them is not really my thing as the run off would go in to sssi and speaking to the folk who want to pick and choose they are happy knowing they are getting some thing a bit more environmentally friendly.

Was a strange saw being less powerful but the same weight chassis as the 660 but 84cc .. if you have use for it why not.

Think it was winter 2009 -10 that did them in as it was brutal in this location from people who knew the trees before they lost most of the blocs... 2013 spring didn’t help I imagine!

Almost with out a doubt.

Went out for a walk in a FC eucalyptus test plantations in keilder forest this afternoon , interesting lines of eucalyptus all named and numbered but mostly just the rotting trunks of semi mature trees present, they looked like they achieved about 30ft then died in most of the blocks but visibly out of a lot I’m guessing only 3 types survived , unfortunately the tags for these survivors have long rotted away so would be hard to ID , I guess E gunnii does not do to well as those lines where all dead ! To be honest it looks like eucalyptus plantations would be a waste of time in the north. I’m sure there are more but the Sitka is that fast growing I can’t find the last test plots I discovered 4-5 years back ! It also made me think walking back through that aspen, alder and birch are not far off the growth rate of Sitka in some patches and these are what I would choose over eucalyptus , they are far more fitting with our environment and climate.

Not really if it saves you half a day moving timber... Arb timber arisings are fine if they are for your own use and you have the time and patience to process ,dry store and deliver .. if your in the serious market of doing firewood you want stuff that is easy to stack on the log deck and get in a processor and won’t have the seasoning time of oak...that is the last thing you want in your log heaps! Easy day for a team of three if it’s all left there and only the chips are removed.

I would not want to be any where else now ! Less tourists though, it’s wildness is its beauty ,we don’t need Northumberland’s national parks becoming the next Lake District and disturbing its recovering and rare wildlife and it’s getting more that way every year thanks to tv coverage form the likes of country file, I have met some interesting character’s on there travels in the forest though! Worked in a small wood down in this valley on the eastern edge of keilder last week and was the first job in a long while I have enjoyed despite being rained on all day. Beats working in Gateshead!

It does not all go to eggar though Khriss, Cramlington takes a lot for biomass and there are plenty of other biomass company’s taking wood out of keilder , we have them on the drive extracting brash for chipping at the moment. saw mills take a lot of wood out and thinnings go for fencing out of keilder , I do believe it’s one of the only profitable forests of the fc in England. My father has helped mill and build structures from Douglas and larch from the forest so they do utilise it for local projects if asked , the cabins and imported wood chip at leaplish are a joke though! I think they manage the border Myers and burns and rivers in it well for conservation unlike other large organisations who I won’t name who I’ve seen first hand don’t care about run off in to water courses and plant right in to them with Sitka and other softwoods.

I found mine jammed up you could not actually move it and was unusable... and that was with near new rope... it was one of the go fund me ones so maybe they have changed them a bit since.

found the akimbo great until conifer sap got in it.

If you go milling with a 90cc saw you will wear out the clutch pretty quick no matter how sharp it is and well it cuts ... 880 or 120cc saw is far better.

Pallet forks On a avant.

Second hand with low hours with these new restricted engines .... would be my choice any way.

If you can buy a machine now I would instead of hiring , you will get paid but it can be a wait

Took me 3 months, mostly because they decided to investigate as they didn’t believe that some one had gone through all that security... can’t fecking win [emoji35]

Thanks mate, will be my Christmas present holiday read for myself.

Amazon do the series

Started watching generation kill last night , some classic non pc one liners in it!

Lovely that mate.

Camo on sites where trees are being dropped or bombed ? Sips , pfanner , cut and climb all make decent gear for tree cutting..

Was it the petrol 165 version? I did watch a video of the forst st6 petrol today and it sounded under gunned with the no stress constantly engaging