Brushcutter

Not on one of my courses they aren't. I think the biggest problem is that many trainers come from the Arb side rather than forestry.

From memory it's EP90 but it's been a while since i did it. Check your manual or ring Wilsons.

I am. Forestry man myself.

Get a 4 furrow plough. 3 can be a total pain to get set up, its either pulling down at the front or twisting down the axis. 4 sits a little better and once you go to 4 furrows you normally get hydraulic vari-width which makes life a little easier. Personally I'd run the sub soiler over it to break it up then plough it. Then either dyno drive or power harrow it. Drill the grass in and give it a good roll with a set of Cambridge. I'd be thinking of leaving it till spring cultivations now anyway.

I'm currently with them. I asked them to send my policy documents by post but they never arrived. Come renewal time i never got anything through so i rang up, they had sent two letters out apparently. Which said it was auto renewal and it would be taken on day x. Which was two days before i rang up so i got £700 quids worth of insurance with no quote. Didn't have time to argue so learnt a lesson. Next day my new policy documents turned up....day after that the first renewal notice turned up next day the second.. NFU are expensive but they are good.

Unless you buy one yourself not a chance in hell of getting your hands on one. I've been a forwarder driver for many years but when i left the game an i needed one for a job i couldn't get one for love nor money. Well not that i could drive myself. Unless your good its probably cheaper and easier to get someone to do the forwarding for you.

Bigger flails would do 3-4" but once you get to big stems they tend to shatter with the force of the flailing. Maybe a circular saw on a side arm would be a better option.

A 180hp is a big tractor for a side arm for hedges. I've used a 100hp for a 5m 1.2m head with boot flails. Currently have a 5m on a 125hp with a pro trip on comp flails and its brilliant. If you go for big reach flails or big heads then higher horse power and bigger tractor come into into its own. We have a contractor who runs M series John Deeres with come forward Mcconnel flails only around about 135hp though. and they do massive amounts of roadsides, ditches and hedges. I think rates are around about £35 an hour but i'd want more for the tractor wear as well. Considering that a set of new boot flail,shackle and mounting bolt come to about 40 quid each.

Do you have a free flow return valve? If you do put the return on that, goes back to the tank meaning you get no back pressure on the valve restriction.

Awesome. Don't see that much any more.

I expect it is the same Sisu engine that is in the rest of the Valtras. I don't know how much truth there is to it but I've been told the M series had a lot of electrical gremlins.

This is useful. From the FC on doing conversions. http://www.highlandbirchwoods.co.uk/userfiles/file%5Cpublications%5CForest%20Research%20Reports%5CTN2495%20Adapt%20Tractors.pdf

If you have a Valtra/Valmet you can buy it off the shelf from Wilsons.

Smart bit of welding. Since it's a MIG in the picture i guess it's MIG but it looks like a TIG.

With the CVT you get much more hydraulic flow and a load sensing pump, which can be very useful if using a crane running off the spools.

Had the 9.5T on a 100hp Valtra and the 8.5 on a 115hp Valmet.

A T is a big N. All the same stuff really except you get a longer bonnet with 6 cylinders in it rather than 4. Oh it will lift more on the linkage as well. Tranmission options are the same as well. Hitech being basic sticks or verso being their fancy CVT. You get up to 250hp in a T series which is respectable. I've only used a T150 and a T130 none of the new facelift ones. Although i had a nosy around one in the dealers this afternoon. They now do a S series which go up to 400hp but i've never seen one of those. All depends on how many ponies you want under your bonnet. At the 2014 APF the Claas Xerion were popular as high horsepower mulcher tractors.

I've used the 9.5 and 8.5 Krpan and they are fantastic especially for the money. Folding butt plate makes travel in the wood really easy. You can use it on sensitive sites or on the road as you can fold it up and strop the tractor back so the butt doesn't dig in for anchorage. Best wire rope out of the box i've used. As for features that make it easier - feed motor on the cable so it is pumped out so you don't have drag it off the drum. Radio remote is essential for make sure you get one that you can pull in/out and one that also has free spool as well. On the remote that i had you could also rev the tractor up and down as well to increase line speed. You need a little servo for the tractor for that though. If you really want to make your life easy on slopes go double drum and set up a push/pull system.

I taught myself i tend to lean to Oxy Acetylene and arc mainly because it's easier to change media. I have a mig set but i don't really get along with it. If you want to do thin stuff then MIG is your friend. Dirty scrappy bits of farm equipment then an angle grinder and a big ARC welder is your friend. want to build something in big box from scratch then TIG is your friend. By some 3mm plate and road loads of beads of weld until travel speed is consistent and then work on running C shapes as you travel. Once that's all sorted work on penetration. Once all those basic are sorted do some lap joints and butt joints. Grind some groves in box and fill it in. Grind slices off everything you weld to see what you've done like your heat effected zone and how penetration has gone. Practice makes perfect. One of the best teaching channels on Youtube for welding is Chucke2009 i think its called.

As some may know i'm a bit of a Valtra/Valmet enthusiast. So any questions just ask. Ran a A95 with a Botex 10 tonne forwarding trailer and a A93 with a front end loader and winch on it. Driven an N series and the T with a roof mount and big forwarder. but no where near as much as the A. Used the 6000 and 8000 series as well, I'm quite partial to the 8000 series but wish for the turning circle of a 6000. The A series are solid little 100hp tractors simple and effective. I think the biggest is just over 100hp. I use to have a 12" 1.5tonne chipper on the back of one and it ran fine. They work very well in the woods as they're small and nimble got some photos i can put up if you want to see. It did struggle to do road work with a full up 10t forwarding trailer on it. 6 or 8 it would work like a dream. As a skidder it worked a treat and as a general loader tractor as well. Downsides is that the cab is a very tiny box and very bland although the radio and air con is very good. The seat spins around to the back but as its not a flat floor tractor the room working in reverse is limited. As said do get rear wheel weights i had 160kg on each if memory serves. Get the assister ram for the linkage or the pickup weight isn't great. Do get the forest roof. Get in an A series and think if you use the thing with the twin trac set up in. If your a big guy like me then it would be a no go but if you will fit worth its weight in gold. If you find a valtra with twin trac on it's expensive as it's that useful. Upgrade the pump to the hiflow one as well and get the forest tank. Just a note on side arms on a A series they're top link sensing and this can be problematic when attaching them Sometimes you need (or you really should have) an extra little plate to take the load off the draft sensor otherwise the thing judders up and down all the time. Due to the small boxy step cab the view isn't great, especially for verges hedges it's not so bad. N series is bigger range of transmissions which offers load sensing pumps and somewhere just sub 200l/m of hydraulic if memory serves. Cab is a lovely place to be view all round is amazing. As you'll be going second hand it's the best of what you can find. Once your on N series they're lower link sensing and come Cat 3/2 linkage with quick fit hooks, so if you have old narrow implements they don't fit, but no issues with hedge cutters. I'm currently looking at a N134 Active for farm work. Oh what a lovely beast it is. Down side is that they have a massive turning circle. Don't know why the 6400 were much more maneuverable by a mile. Make sure you guard the fuel tank they were made bigger for the UK market so when you punture it (and you will) more diesel to spill out and pay to have cleaned up. If you want a general tractor then get a used N series a 123 or similar 120ish tractor will do every you need. If you want a very specific tractor then a new A series with the options you want on it may b the better route. You could always have put a JAKE frame and put the crane from your forwader on the tractor which means you can do a bit more with it.

They're in Watford now. I use them for my wire ropes lifitng chains and the like very good. Also sell some fantastic padlocks.

I've recently picked up a 3 year old Bomford Kestrel for £6500 ex council and only done one years work. Has a float and on a joystick too rather than cables. 5m parallel reach as well. They had a Spearhead as well for an extra grand but that only had a finger bar cutter getting the flail was more than the whole set up. Having done many many miles of roadside verge around hundred or so miles a year. I wouldn't want to do it in a mini tractor as your not visible to other road users. Even my 6800 with a 1.2m head on is a little tipsy out a full reach. For what you'd pay for a new alpine size flail you could get a very nice used full side one. Oh make sure you have a cab on your compact or it's not even a goer.

Nokian forestry tyres. Very expensive, not exactly radial and someone rough on the road.

Used and abused Mitchlin Agribib for years. Put some big things through them over the years and nothing a tube and a patch wouldn't fix. I'm like the Trelleborg TM600 are the moment. Mainly doing Ag stuff with them but the Argibib were doing all sorts with.

Have a look at this. 11.1 Agricultural Machines. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/544635/v355x1-notes-about-tax-classes.pdf Looks like ag vehicle covers lots of things including tractors. So a fast tractor is in that and still subject to rule 253 -about no agri vehicles, even though it meets the requirement of performance. At least that is my interpretation of it. This is why i still think it's a little grey. Infact i think i've confused myself on the whole subject. if you've been stopped and got away with it then it must be OK at least where you are. Around here the police are having a bit of a clamp down on ag vehicles, speeding, lights and tyres are all things people are getting pulled for. Type can a mog go on the motorway into google and most of the posts are on arb talk about it.