Brushcutter

Subtle is actually his middle name.

One from last week..

Nice tractors they pull like a train. They can be a little cumbersome in a small woodland as you've got a mile of bonnet and some front weights on the end of that. 130hp is a good amount for forwarding it anything a little overpowered for a 10T forwarding trailer. There was a t120 and a T150 which were a little less popular than the 130 which sometimes come up for around the same money. As for things to look out for nothing jumps out from memory. Just be aware that your budget will get you from 6k -10k hour machines. Depending on what gismos you have. Towards 10k hours I'd want to be getting an ag engineer to be going over anything like a CVT gearbox because if it's had a hard life it may leave you an expensive problem. If you've got a suspended front axle check it still works. It's early N series tractors that had some problems, not so aware of any with a T series.

Is this the information that the FCA article is based on?

I wouldn't apologies. UK forestry is rather a secret affair i think unless your in it. So i think it's good that issues surrounding it come out. Big one is not being paid because that come down to why does a cutter earn £80 a day. Well because saw mill hasn't paid me for the last two jobs yet so you're earning £80 more than me. I've been fortunate enough to have done mostly estate forestry (nice forestry) but commercial machine driving is a horrid affair. pressure to produce, pressure to make the machine pay. Then keeping at least one forwarder if not two keeping up with you. The best bit about it was at least i wasn't the one paying god knows how many million on finance for the operation. Having worked in Finnish forestry where payment through the head is a matter of course i just can't see why it doesn't catch on here. Well i do but some wrote an article summing that up rather nicely.

I read that yesterday evening. Thought it was a brilliant article. I thought of you as i read it.

As far as I'm aware goes for plywood and also some fancy faced engineered timbers.

Playing with Alaskans. Got a big lump of Yew to do at some point that i'll get some nice pictures of.

My god man don't encourage him. If he turns up like that tomorrow then I'll send him up to you.

I did a 1920s beech plantation final thinning a few years ago. All around 25" or so nice and straight too. Bit of squirrel damage so wouldn't have made top veneer logs. We cut 4 ish m bits and the whole lot went for firewood because nobody wanted them for timber. Sad really but at least it was used for something.

This. Or buy a proper cant hook, which is what i've gone for.

Very good machines. Tin work can rot away if they have lived outside or had a rough life. Like all 80s tractors they look a little dated on the inside. Like unimogs merc still make all the spares.

Both are very very good forwarders. There isn't much to choose between them to be honest. Both 8-10 tonne machines with cab mounted cranes. I've driven both and i prefer the Valmet 820. I like the cab more, it just feels a little bit bigger. I quite like the Cranab crane as well. Both are fairly rare and hold their money really well. A 20k hour forwarder 20+ years old is still going be the best part of £20k. In fact i can't remember the last time i saw a 810 for sale. As a word of warning as both of these little forwarders punch well above their weight. They can be abused by overloading and it wrecks the rear bogies. I've rebuilt the bogie of a 810 that was wrecked by some of the other crews overloading the poor girl. We had to winch the bloody thing out the mud and get the dam bogie off in the cold and dark. Check the forwarder thread in the woodland forum there is loads of good info in there. Also check out the older forwarders like the Burnetts as cost/profit forwarder they're hard to beat.

It's a John Deere forestry conversion made in Germany. Have twin winches on the front that run to the skid plate on the back. They've got a short jakeish mounted crane that is really powerful and quick. It's really a giant skidding grapple and that one has a clam bunk to carry the wood too. The conversion was a clue to where the photo was taken. The clam bunk was also a give away as they still do a lot of whole pole in Germany too.

Ooo Clambunk skidder that is a rare thing. I'm guessing Ireland or Germany?

Do you have a picture of the inside? I saw one in a dealer recently and all the knobs and leavers were different to the old ones.

Love the A93 tractor. Little cramped in the cab but it's a solid tractor. Like the front linkage and PTO.

But electricians don't buy valuable Walnut logs.

If you want an expensive way of doing it make a load of quick fit connectors up on that go between the block and the pipes to the crane. Then you can keep the spool block inside and just disconnect the services to the crane. Make sure you label and number them or it will never work again. Oh may leak a bit too. Could you not get a roof mount frame from wilsons and put that crane on the roof?

Mainly does forwarding. It's not that difficult to remove. The block is bolted to a plate that then mounts to the steel box inside. So it comes off but is a little more involved than lifting off the block that just hangs out the back. I think you had to take the leavers off to put it back on but they unscrew anyway.

Did you not have a roof mount before?

Get a reflective strip on there. I'd get some magnetic head lights too just because driving with just top lights is hard.

Like this. Also hung the leavers outside on the little lip that comes with the spool block but like you say it puts them a bit far away. Also had them on an arm that was made to go in the top link bit that came upto the back window. Although i don't have a picture of either of those.

Friend of mine said the same a few years back. He got about 18 months out of a 346. He use to brash trees for a harvester.

I know a man who drove one of those.