arboriculturist

Uh - Just Joking.

We all know that processing larger logs is beneficial in more ways than one, that said I would possible supply 1.1m3 for the 1m3 price. The end user rarely has any realistic idea anyway, unless they are in a timber related profession. By the way Jon, you can't afford to be hand stacking if you want to continue living the life you have become accustomed to

Spending an elderly couples money on anything other than a removal is a futile waste of resources on a Sycamore colonised by KD. Having seen many catastrophic failures of S. trees in similar circumstances this is only going to end one way. KD in Sycamore is aggressive, like a knife through hot butter. This species does not have the ability to compartmentalise KD and will loose the battle every single time. Monolith the tree, promoting and supporting bio-diversity and plant 3 new trees in the garden. Your time would be better spent encouraging people to plant more trees than debating further and I expect any expert with over 20 years experience will advise you similarly. I hope all goes well,

Trading Standard and the Police can co-operate to trace via your Bank who's account the cheque is paid into. Taking the law into your own hands can backfire, so perhaps best to defer the satisfaction you deserve. Law enforcement may dissuade the offenders from targeting the vunerable in future. Someone of his age deserves a little respect, hopefully he has some decent neighbours you may look out for him. Sad to hear stories of this nature.

Sticking to my guns: 3rd - Snowdrop tree (Halesia carolina)

My earlier post did nothing tho throw others off the scent, your just too good. Anyway here are the correct answers: 1st - Snake Bark Maple (Acer capillipes) 2nd - Small Leaf Rowan (Sorbus microphylla) 3rd - Snowdrop tree (Halesia carolina) If others think I am wrong, i'll go straight to the back of the queue

Second one's - Gleditsia triacanthos.

Having followed this thread with interest, I have to say that I would err on the side of caution with diy mods. Like is said 'a little knowledge can be dangerous'. Give your saw to an experienced technician like Spud and you pay a fair price for a saw mod. that will give you a major power upgrade, smooth running with long life durability. He brought our 346xp back from the abyss and it was returned as one of the best saws known to man! Horses for courses as always. Got 2 150's and 2 201T's destined to follow the same path.

Totally agree - cab off etc , total repair around 1K, but good as new after.

I couldn't agree more - we actively promote softwood and always have done. As you pointed out, there are still thousands of acres of available sites on home soil that could support the cultivation of soft/hardwoods. I am all for pulling the plug on imported timber a soon as possible - it may just help the UK Firewood producers / harvesters / cutters get a fairer price for their products / services.

Time how long it takes to process 10m3 from when you leave your house until when you go back in. Factor in your time to load and deliver this quantity on average plus transport overheads and any other costs directly attributable to Firewood production. Few institutions offer finance without a business plan and costings for good reason - you need to do the same to assess if it is actually viable to retail Firewood. You may find you are actually working for < £ 5/hr It is very difficult to make a worthwhile return producing Firewood from Arb. arisings. Very often it is far better to give all the on site arisings to a producer who will take the timber away for free saving you a stack of time, humping and dumping fuel / wear and tear etc. Do the costings, as you may find you are actually 'flogging a dead horse'. I did the analysis and found that it was only worth doing Arb. timber if you could pay some £5 / hr and those days are gone. I'd invest more in the Tree Surgery business to improve its efficiency and focus 100% on that. Several on the forum will agree, and others will not. Good luck

It's not 3 acres of brambles and solid similar undergrowth, which is why we would walk the site where accessable 1st and spray mark the re-gen worthy of retention, then go with a self propelled walk behind flail, but not a micky mouse machine.

Planting even cell grown trees as late as this is a dangerous game, dehydration is always lurking, dry spell, exposed site could be a disaster. Species like Hawthorn are extremely intolerant of water deficiencies at this stage. I wouldn't take the risk personally.

That's got me thinking - a subbie I know has one with little use on it, bog standard. May be persuaded to part with it and we could do with just that saw if spudded. What do you personally think as an owner?

Grazon Pro works better than Glyphosate and SBK :blushing:but I dare not mention that on here. NRA are only mildly comfortable with using Glyphosate near watercourses, hence why it would be my 1st choice in this setting.

Ideal saw - straight off to Spud to get the crank seals changed, all the fuel etc pipes replaced, carb kit and finally ported. This approach may seem OTT - however you won't need to touch a saw like that again for years:thumbup1:

The grim reality is Ground Elder is there to stay unless you like herbicides, as are nettles. Brambles can be significantly reduced by cyclic cutting. Letting the tree canopy close up will of course reduce the invasive weeds vigour but they won't accept that option. I would use a walk behind flail and get most of it down to ground level. Treat the re-growth with Glyphosate in September with an added adjuvant. Treat any secondary re-growth the following April. Not the most eco approach but efficient and effective. Talk them through the benefits of standing and fallen deadwood and habitat piles - don't leave the place sanitised. Patches of brambles and nettles can be accepted but some form of management is usually required. Once they have used the woodland for a time they will understand what access is actually required. Good luck

If you're serious it may be an option to join the CLA - as you will recieve free consultancy advice from a qualified expert one a member in the correct catagory. Here's a link https://www.cla.org.uk/why-join-cla/benefits/farmer-and-landowner

Absolutely, something that seems to have been left behind along with reading the handbook.

Stihl battery climbing saw weighs almost 1 Kg more than a Stihl 150 and everyone is loving them! ( I'd rather buy the Echo 2510 than either of those though and get it delivered straight to Spud before we put it into commission)

Good to hear your views are consistent with mine, thanks for posting. The only thing I will say when buying Chip in, is always get out to site and see what you're getting. Some will send you excessive small diameter i.e. 70mm and we all know how long anything less than 150mm takes to process whatever machine you have!

Ah thanks - I was hoping you would be along soon to give your take on the maths. If local - We would pay Haulage about £175 for 17.5 Tonnes green timber and £ 175 for 17.5 Tonnes of part-seasoned Chip which equates to approx 24m3. So we are actually getting approx. 30% more m3 when buying Chip delivered in for the same transport cost.

Sorry there was a typo on 1st post - should read 24m3 part-seasoned on an 8 wheeler. Whenever Softwood has been sitting roadside for any length of time - whoever it is always wants to sell it to us by the m3. We never get a say on the matter. I am just looking for some number crunching from others on if it works out much more expensive to buy part-seasoned roundwood by the m3 rather than green per tonne.

Sorry typo on 1st post. Buy Green - On 8 wheeler we get 17.5 tonne Buy part-seasoned Chip wood - On 8 wheeler we get 24m3 ( = 17.5 tonne) Both options are the same price. Transport is charged to us at £10 -12 on per Tonne basis whatever we have.

An 8 wheeler carries 24T approx - of part seasoned chip wood. Any of the big Firewood boys on Arbtalk tonight, as they will have all the data in their head ready to reel off ?