Mike Hill

I know,but there are no propper Farmi dealers locally. There is a TP200 for 5K over the Oslo side,the TP150 is about the same price. The poor thing is,the guy selling the Farmi won't let me trial it for a DAY,bloody strange bunch these Nogs somtimes. I thought that might be because they jamb alot,that distance between the roller and cutting disk seems too great. But you reckon they are ok ED?

No after you've subtracted the 61% tax you pay,no.

Well,the deal on the TP150 fell through!Can you beleive the bugger sold it out from under me,one minute its there the next he's offering me another from Oslo and I pay the freight!DREAMER! So there is a Farmi for sale locally,ex demo but it just looks too long and the distance from the feed roller to the cutting disk looks to great,I think it'll jamb alot of short lengths sideways.But the price is a steal. What do you guys reckon?The mog took longer to arrive and I really can't wait much longer

I bought a new Tree Magic harness and have been climbing on it for about a month.Its the first "sliding D" harness that I have owned. Good points:Light :Dries out fast :Plenty of gear loops :Easy to adjust and tune Bad points :A bit to much elastic,prefer webbing. :Uncomfortable when hanging a 066 off it for extended periods(I bought it for pruning anyway) To be honest its a very comfortable set up,time will tell how long it lasts.Because it lacks suspender attachments,its not my choice for extended big saw use.I'm interested to hear how other people are getting on with this.It also has been popular with the female climbers in the area.

One of my groundies wore one and it saved his life.I cut a branch off from about 80ft up,I called before I cut,he wasn't paying attention as he was putting his ear plugs in,the branch hit his helmet,torqued he head around and gave him a "standing eight count". We bought him a new helmet! I'm not sure if you can attach ear muffs to that helmet,he used ear plugs and safety glasses.

Thanks guys,I'll see how this one goes,took it for a spin around all but the very tightest streets in town to see if a bigger one would have been practical.Not really as it turns out as the old cobbled streets are often all lump and as you turn the truck cants to one side.This might mean a taller chip box might clip somones house,I had a look at a U1400's,1600's as I like the idea of more capacity,but that would have been at the expense of manoverability and thats why we got it in the first place. I reckon I might build the chipper mount and then trade the hydralics on a set of fast axels.As I am now imagining a camper box for the back,that I could lift off with the hi ab. If I ever get around to it that is!

So after a 1100km road trip and a 16hout ferry ride my unimog is now at its new home in Norway.At a top speed of 80kmph,I just managed to make minimum speed on the autobahn. Its a 1987 U1000 with 100 000km on the tach and 6000 work hours on the clock. All in all I`m pretty happy with it,just have to build a chip box with rear and side doors to take advantage of the three way tipping deck. I bought hydralic linkage and had that fitted,I`ll sell that after I have built a swing away mount for the rear. Tomorrow I collect a TP150 chipper for the back.Farmi would have been first choice but there is a TP agent down the road that gave us 12months interest free on a new one.Too good to turn down.Ill post some photos when I have the rig painted and boxed up. The current "retna burning" orange is just to much to stomach after a few pints.

I'm having a hard time following you on that sentence about the sling and the lowering pulley? I can't see why cranking up the speedline would cause problems,unless the tenison of the line plus the weight of the branch over loaded the system? I wish we had coconuts here in Norway.I get excited when I see them in the supermarket!

II'll lower my 020 down on the lowering rope when I've finnished with it and have the groundie attach the big saw to the lowering liint and pull it up. I have a harness with the suspender attachment,it works great for me and wouldn't go without it for sustained big saw use in a tree. If I've been blocking or snatchin down for ages and am knackered,I'll turn off the saw and just park it ontop of the stem and have a rest..

A thing of rare beauty!I'm sure the missus is wrapt with her new pressie!

I'd advise against using a vehicle as a means of holding one end of a zip line.Well,a vehicle with windows,headlights,or panels that could get damaged. You can use a pully to re-direct the zip-line and have it parked out of the way if possible.remember that the distance the pulley is off the ground will be roughly the distance the zipline will fall when the load is about mid point,plus ofcourse any stretch in the rope. When it comes to chunks,you might need a "Tail rope",this is usually attached to the block and provides breaking to the chunk on its desent down the zipline,it also is a means of returning the block back to the climber. Somitimes it is also nesesary to have additional breaking on the zipline,getting a lenght of old fire hose,cutting a hole through it and threadding it on the zipline before you tension it.attach bags of sand/earth to each end of the hose still on the ground and when the pulley hits the hose,it cannot "eat" the hose,ie get stuck in the pulley,so it draggs the bags of sand and takes it to a steady stop.if the bags are to light you can tie previous chunks of wood to the hose also.hanging bags off the zipline can also work for the smaller bits. I prefer using a tirfor winch to tightnen a steel cable and use blocks that are designed to run on cable,they are generally steel and have "swing cheeks so they can to attached on the cable while its tensioned. Somtimes hanging a block off a hi ab is a great way,as the peice approaches the truck,the opperator dips the arm and the peice "runs out of steam". Zip lines can be most efficient in the right circumstances,they can take a long time to set up.I really don't like snatching blocks onto a zipline,it ¨shockloads the system and can cause all sorts of problems.Best have the zipline into a tree or two,or three behind the one you are dismantling if possible.Thats my prefered method,but it dosn't always work that way.

That does look like a good set up tockmal!I've used pickups with side doors on the canopy,well handy.How do you rate the Nissan against say a Toyota hi-lux?

[quote name='tockmal; Steps 1. - Directional notch made 2 - Boring back-cut placed slightly high marginally overlapping the top of the directional notch' date=' leaving one of those invisible hinges we all know only too well. 3 - Strap breaking back-cut severes holding section of wood allowing stem to be pulled over. Any comments would be good.[/quote'] If you didn't remove one of the two main stems before you felled the spar,the tree could have hit the bank and twisted so quickley that your rope snapped or timber hitch rolled out. Leaving the two stems as it looked like you did,might seem like a good idea (helping prevent it rolling) but as both stems are unlikely to hit the ground at the same moment,a bit more rigging work could have removed that hazard. I noticed that the stump had no "hingewood",even with a pulling line to a vehicle the spar could have snapped off the stump and falled sideways. I've falled trees and tied off the trunk to the stump,I used to do it with a single rope as you do.I still do it occasionally,but use a rope and a rigging chain as back up.I groove the trunk and half hitch the rope below the knot.I double wrap the chain around the stem in the opposite way the tree might roll and attach the chain around the stump with a shortening link. Alll these precautions are a result of "cock ups" that I have seen or done and well worth it in the long run.

Those little spikes in the in step might be for "walking on branches" not branch walking?In the bush if you stand on a branch you can go for a nasty skate if its on a hillside.I've seen guys screw little metal teeth made from folded alloy to the in step of their boots.This could be a new take on that concept?

The Mutts nuts good sir!We also have a Hi ab 071,but mounted on a Merc 5.5 tonner.Takes alot of work out of the big stuff if you can get close to the stick and is well handy.I like the idea of radio control,let us know how that works out for you. Buzz:If you need some leads for Unimog cranes,let me know.

Yup! Apart from the dangers of the heli being so close to the lines,I wonder if there are any long term effects on those guys bodies from the high voltage?

Grease is so much cheaper than bearings or hassel,check if your main shaft bearings require purging (pumping enough grease in to push out the old) and if so,do it regular. I used stick a strip of gaffa tape to the inside of the "bonnet" in which was written when I last changed the oil,anti freeze,changed belts or anvil.I'd simply rip it off and attach another when I ran out of space on it. Also change the bolts that hold the knives onto the cutting wheel or drum often,thats alot cheaper to do than extract a bolt that has lost its head.I think changing the bolts is an item often overlooked. Also try and not feed any sledge hammers into BC1800's,it wrecks the blades,puts a big dent in the chute and hits the back of the chip box like cannon ball!

Some one else to make the new chip box,aaahh fine weather untill...ooohhh....the next fifty years,only rains hard between 3 and 6am.And a book of tickets for the raffle.

Pure Gold!

Another little problem with that device is the way it gets "torqued" if for example if you use it for any loads that are not directly above it.I.e a multie stemmed Poplar..Some guys would seat the device on a Sika Spruce and then whack it with an axe to seat it. A technique outside the hand book probably. If you cut a box to seat the device in a thick barked tree like a doug fir,you must make sure the loops for the ratchet straps are an inch proud of the bark,or when tight thay will pull the device away from the tree. The more I think about that thing,the less I recomend it.

Yes I've used one a fair bit,we attached to Trees with a "Ratchet tie down".We had to often notch the bark to get either the device or Ratchet strap to sit propperly. I don't rate it as high as a "Porta Wrap" as its not as fast/easy to set up. Really requires two people to attach it to larger Trees

"Going up and down like a two-stroke Budgie"

I have used a Tanaka ground saw,it wa very light and powerfull but I thought it was too lightly built to last.Who knows what they might develop in the future though,the Japanese make excellent cars so they know a fair bit about engines.Honda makes great little motors so who knows?

There are a couple of reasons,first I will try and register it as an ag vehicle here in Norway,hard to do if it carries passangers,almost impossible if it carries passangers and has a turbo.I don't think the extra HP that a turbo provides compensates for the extra running costs of having it listed as a Truck. I considered buying a unit like a Mercedes MB trac,they have high road speed and great turning circle.Alas I would have to have a truck to carry the Crew ,so again no advantage. Thanks for your imput though,all is apprciated

What am I doing wrong mate?Thanks again!