wills-mill

The 'Pyrus' rootstock would give a massive, old fashioned size Pear tree. All the others are less of a handful and are more garden friendly. I say go large, someone will thank you for a very sexy Pear sawlog in future. W

It needn't be in wooded land I think. You can have a forestry building in a field. In theory you'd be right- I'll wait till someone drags it to the High Court so we get a proper definition of what is acceptable

I think the galvanising on nails has taken a hit in quality over the last 15 years. Current galv fixings flake very badly if driven into hard timber, you may be best off going for stainless or silicon bronze. I think stainless is a bit easier to get hold of, but I'm not sure how the price stacks up. Build with what you've got, I think either of your timbers make lovely cladding and framing. If anything I'd clad with Larch as it is less likely to wriggle about and be naughty. If you take the time to set up decent roof overhangs and guttering, then it'll last beautifully.

That's what I suspected. I'm coming back to self employment- I used to run a Ford 6610 with loader and a Fransgard winch behind (fitted with a tow hitch). Anything that was dodgy or silly to lift with the front end could usually be skidded or rolled into place, with the tractor out of harm's way. Looks like it'll be back to the same sort of setup, just a bit newer. My last loader had Quicke pallet forks with the timber beak/ thumb, which was a really nice lightweight way to move roundwood and brash, and superb for moving sawn timber. Will probably go for Riko's version this time, significantly cheaper but still nicely made. W

Well done David for asking the right questions, it's good to see Logrite on a good footing in this country. We fabricated our own arch using the (pre Logrite branding) Future Forestry Products arch as inspiration- way back before there was a European presence. I've only used arches behind vehicles, it'll be interesting to see what people are looking for. W

Agricultural smallholdings are limited to the buildings allowed. Woodlands, whether large or small, have no theoretical limit to the size of the building erected. Forestry buildings are felt to service a larger working area than the ground they stand in- you may have a building in a 6 or 10 acre wood, but you may actually be working the woods of half a county. http://smallwoods.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/planning.pdf

It makes really nice cheap 'softwood' cladding, with none of the resin issues. We sent some for pressure treating and the firm who do the treatment were very impressed with how thoroughly it impregnated. Nails and paints beautifully and very stable, we milled some 16 to 18in wide waney cladding from Pop and it was very well behaved. W

I'm looking at one of life's big questions- loader tractor or telehandler. I quite like pivot steer machines, used them in yards quite a bit but never on the road. Is an older bendy Matbro sensible for road mileage, especially towing? Manitou MLA any different. They all seem to be specced very individually when it comes to hitches, brake couplings, gearbox speeds.... If I did a decent run out (10 miles, maybe more) towing Wood Mizer or farm trailer, do all telehandlers get hot and grumpy in the hydraulic dept?

No chain brake= novelty not work. Cash

Let's hope it's a bit more sensible than Ebaypal. (off topic) are you still looking for Poplar?

Bump. Paypal is advertising the 'Here' card reader for £49 purchase price for the next few days.... Has anyone been using one? has it behaved?

Reading about everyone's different experiences, maybe it's best to find businesses nearby who have had dealings with your local authority. Have a chat and get a feel for how they think the relevant planning bods work.

A nice Trekkasaw sold a month or two back from someone in Woking. Completely identical auction from someone with zero feedback based in Shetland is up at the moment. I've reported it, it's well worth ignoring or pestering them with questions. Where they found 4ft chestnut on Shetland is probably the first one Trekkarsaw Mark 2 Mobil Saw Mill - Log Mill | eBay Does anyone regularly use a Trekkasaw? Any chance of finding out the hydraulic motor specs, pump spec and tank capacity? I might get round to bolting together a hydraulic drive Stenner resaw and think that the Trekka specs would be a good starting point. ta, W

I think Big J's bit is slow(ish) grown Scottish Turkey not a favourite. I've turned up to a couple of milling jobs where people have been sold "lovely big, straight 'Oak'" by naughty tree people...... I feel for that poor Mog! Whatever happened to loading up when you're on the way back out?

When we visited the Isle of Man a couple of years back I idly wondered whether there was a need for a mobile mill The mill at St Johns looks pretty brisk but doesn't seem to cater much (at all?) for Manx grown hardwood. Is there anyone processing interesting bits for chunky joinery and suchlike? Will

Method 1- 269 square ft is the same area as 25 square metres.... probably not the answer you're after. However, a 6in wide board covers 1/2 a square ft for every foot of plank length, so if you double 269 to give 538 running feet/ linear feet you are there. Method 2- Let's see how many bits of 6in board it takes to make a square metre (and multiply by 25 at the end) 1m length = 3.28 ft length 1m wide = 6.66 widths of 6in board (100cm divided by 15cm) Therefore 3.28 x 6.66 x 25= 546 running ft The slight difference in outcome is cool- let's be honest, it's one 8ft length of board difference. I think most sawyers would be happy to send out a couple of extra boards as goodwill to cover any bits that aren't up to scratch within a pack. Cubic ft- The actual volume of timber within 538 linear ft of 6x1 is 22.41 cubic ft. Roughly a tonne of green Oak of finished product. Careful now! If you use this method to try and work out weatherboard coverage you have to factor in the overlap of the boards. Probably best to assume that it takes 8 pieces of 6in board to cover a metre height on the wall. Therefore 3.28 x 8 will give you the number of linear/ running ft needed to cover a square metre. 26.24 ft. Decking boards are the other way around, as the gaps between boards give you 'free' coverage. Weirdly, the narrower the decking planks, the further the timber goes. 4 boards 8in wide with gaps doesn't go as far as 8 boards of 4in width with gaps....

£300 all in. It will cover some waterproofs so you don't get soaked next time

There's been a much much dearer version made by Mafell available over here for a long time. It's a shame there's no ability to change the depth of cut, it would be awesome for making big notches and halving joints. The Mafell saw is around 3 grand (only a mere 2 grand+ for their morticers) and strangely they are mainly available only in 240 volt rather than 110. Perhaps framers are expected to joint everything off site and then come out in public to show off their mighty erections. I'd been seriously tempted to fabricate a decent sized Makita or Hitachi circular saw and a small carving bar together- much neater than a huge circular saw for getting tidy corners cut out for tenons etc The Festool/ Protool saw is a much more sensible price, although it may well be a cut price machine for them- looking around German ebay (ebay.de) there's a much beefier and industrial looking one. Protool Zimmerei Kettensäge CCP 380 618265 | eBay

I don't quite understand what you want? 100no 750mm length 125 x 125? Do you need smart internal joinery grade or external fencing grade? We should be able to supply, send a message with some details and a phone number and I can quote.

Brenderup Trailers are very sensible critters, tough but lighter than Ifors and a bit less crude than the P6e and P7e...

Nothing wrong with solar kilns, especially in a decent sunny year like we're having.There are a few folks in the UK using them, I think the nicest one I've seen was operated by Tino Rawnsley in Cornwall, he'd built more or less a replica of the big setup that Jim Birkemeier of Timbergreen Forestry in the States uses. The best resource for plans, diagrams and ideas is at Woodworking Information at WOODWEB A lot of the designs have been brought together by Dr Gene Wengert

I had an older one with a superb Atlas crane (got pinched, photos here somewhere) http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/stolen-equipment/13586-distinctive-transit-gone-yard-damage-west-sussex-31st-jan.html With a 14 ft (maybe 12) dropside body with a steel and tropical hardwood floor it weighed 2800kg empty. One lift of the crane and you were overloaded with no problems at all, it was a great bit of kit for delivering and collecting timber, and the crane would haul a full bulk bag of logs around at full stretch (again about 14ft) with no issues. As for front axle weight, it did destroy a front wheel bearing on the slip road between the M40 and M25.... quite exciting.

Has anyone else been sucked into playing 'World of Tanks' online? Obviously it involves tanks, from the early 1930's little dodderers up to 1960's main battle tanks. You can choose to research the 'tech trees' of German, Russian, French, British, American and Chinese tanks. There's lots of tweaks and add-ons to bolt on to the tanks, and there is not a single mystic amulet, strange quest or enchanted sword in the whole thing. If you've not heard of it, it's a massive free download that pitches you into 15 minute team battles with 15 online players per side, all roughly matched to give a balance across the board. Currently holds the Guinness world record for most players online at once, it's absolutely huge in Eastern Europe but not so well known here. Like all these online jobbies it's pretty addictive- if you get a good battle you want more of the same, if you have a dire battle you know there's a good game around the corner Anyway, if you play and fancy a team up, send me a message and I'll let you know my sad tank fiddlers name If it means anything I currently play up to Tier 6 tanks and tank destroyers, mainly Brit and American.

Me too pls

Just a question as a bit of a brain picker, not looking to buy either machine but just looking for opinions and experiences..... I like the look of Bilke processors, but I always wonder what sort of length the last log on a piece of cordwood ends up like, as there's nothing to hold it to a set length as it dives into the drum. Are Bilkes great for long Scandinavian logs but a bit strange on short little UK logs? I know there was a fair discussion of the Urban range of small wood nibblers a couple of years ago, and I was really pleased to see them for sale at the last APF show. Has anyone taken the plunge and is supplying little pot bellies and chimeneas with coppice and lovely little tiddly stick logs?