santacruz

There is no choice but to take what's available. The new saws are what they are, I find them reliable. I use stihl and had one of the first 261s it lasted as long as I expected, and now have an mtronic 261 which is actually a really nice saw. Heavy forestry use they only last about a year, so you just have to go with what the manufacturers offer at the time. It's annoying when the models change as I build up a number of saws kept for parts.

It's almost certainly alder. The first picture my thoughts were pine by the way the chip has come loose. Then the next pictures I thought alder. The final picture of the bark confirms that it is alder.

It does look like the best mechanical aid, but it is still kind of pointless as a file costs £1 is quicker and better. If you think a brand new chain is the quickest and smoothest a chain can get then it may suit you. Stick with the file and after time you will be amazed at how quick and smooth cutting you can make your chains.

I think it depends on location. In our area lots of people burn what ever is cheapest. In a more urban area people who have natural gas as well as a log burner may still buy logs because they like to have a fire going. It is almost impossible to estimate the size of the UK market due to all the variables and the often informal nature of the supply system.

The market has shrunk in my mainly rural area alot with the cheap price of oil. Customers burn what ever is cheapest and at the moment its oil. It's also been very warm and sales are down around 50% on last year at a guess.

I was asked to file a land registratiom. Didn't understand a word of it, so didn't bother. That was about 6 months ago and haven't heard a thing since. I think if you dont make to much noise you can fly under the radar with these people.

I tried full chisel on my climbing saw but found that it tended to catch and pull chunks out of my pants when the saw was clipped up in my harness.

I think its a combination of oil price being very low, people have windblown stuff from the storms last year and they have stuff left over from the mild winter last year.

Log sales are down on this time last year. I think it is down to mild weather and the low price of heating oil. In my area a lot of people are on oil and they will use the cheapest heat be it oil or logs. Logs have to compete on price with other forms of energy, and I have estimated that at my prices when oil drops below 55p then it is better value than logs, not to mention miles more convenient.

Flippin eck. If you carry 20Kg at a time then that's 1000 trips. And if say each lift then carry and drop takes 2 mins then you have 33.3 hours of carrying logs ahead of you on that job. Time to sort out some serious man power.

I now do very little work with my saw probably a galon a month, I use stihls blue oil what ever its called, only because they didnt have the regular red stuff. It mentioned it had a fuel stabilizer in it. Do you think it will give the fuel a shelf life of over a month.

None of the handlers I have used have a trailer brake. Therefore no road work.

You need to calculate your total costs per day to operate including what you want for yourself as a day rate taking into account risk etc. Then work out how many tons you will do every day. This gives you your price per ton at roadside. If you are not marketing the stuff then that is your price. For a standing price you need to estimate the product mix, although with the price of chip wood for biomass it is often best on small pieces to 9ft the lot. Get a rough idea of the value of each product. Calculate the average value of each ton and subtract your roadside price from this. It is wise to take into account the extra risk in marketing the stuff your self. The key parts are working out how many tons per day. You must walk every inch of the job as finding something like a water pipe or badger set after you start can right balls you up. Also look out for key things like wagon access inc overhanging branches road condition etc, you may think it looks ok for a wagon and a wagon driver may come and start hauling but if it is at all awkward chances are if he can fill his day with easier work you wont see him again. Just look at every angle befor you price it as forestry is hard enough without accidently under pricing.

I may have been a bit rubish at sowing, but I found it a bit of a waste of time and on elasticy type pants like hi flexs wet suit glue was much better. No need even for a patch just glue the two edges together and its stronger than the original, no more nails is also quite good.

I feel any saw will handle any bar. Your engine has x amount of power which can therefore remove x amount of wood in a given time period. Just sharpen the chain accordingly. On a big bar you will have lots of cutters in contact with the wood so you need to remove smaller chips and on a small bar less cutters and therefore you can ask them to remove bigger chips. Saves you having loads of different sizes saws with different bars and also from carrying around a big saw when you only need the big bar occasionally.

Lots of people slate the stihl 261, but I am on my third and find the reliability of the thing amazing. Not one problem, not one break down at all, other than the usuall plugs sprockets etc. They even kept going long after I would have expected to have to retire them. Had my current one 4 months and even find the auto tune thing reliable as I had my doubts.

Nice project. One thing I have found in the past is that car engines never really suit machinery as the throttle is not controlled by a governor to the same extent as an engine from a machine.

Did 642 in the tax year 2013/14. Sales are slightly down now on this point last year.

I thought that fastracs were not allowed to exceed 20mph. They were capable of exceeding 20, but registered as agg were limitted to 20 by law. If you wanted to run faster you needed to register them as HGV with all the associated etc etc. That was my interpretation of the law when I was looking into what vehicle to buy.

I registered it was easy and now as far as I am concerned all my fuel no matter where it came from is now approved.

I agree speak to an expert it will save you a lot of time. Not sure about flowfit have used them a number of times and have had service and advice ranging from brilliant to rubish. I think it depends on who answers the phone. From my experience I have found tractor hydraulics a bit variable. Sometimes you get 3000psi and on some as low as 2000psi. I would pressure test your hydraulics first before deciding on your ram as a ram rated at 16t will be 16t at 3000psi/200bar. I feel its worth considering a petrol power pack for a splitter as a tractor is a very expensive machine requiring a lot of maintenance just for powering a log splitter. The engine doesnt like sitting a tick over, it is also turning the transmission as well as the pump. A 9hp engine pump and tank is nearly maintenance free, just change 1l of engine oil every 100hrs. I feel they are cheaper on fuel as well, and are easier to turn on and off when needed.

Just wondering on the cycle time on that splitter, I am not having a poke at it, but it must be slow as I have a 9t with 13hp and wouldnt want anything slower, or anything with more force, as it has enough force to slice through rough bits when they wont split.

I would sat that there would not be a problem running both from the same pump. You need a flow control valve. Speak to an expert to choose the right one. You can then adjust the flow to the splitter until it runs at an acceptable speed without slowing the processor too much. It will slow the processor a bit, for example if you have 100lt/min and send 20 to the splitter the processor will be 20% slower as the oil you send to the splitter will circulate around the spliters valve and back to return even when you are not using it therefore is not available for use by the processor. It will not over stress the pump as there should be a pressure relief in the splitter and a number of reliefs in the processor therefore all you are doing is splitting the flow and pressure into 2, not in any way trying to increase either pressure or flow. Another option which was common on forestry tractors was to weld a 540 pto splined shaft right onto the centre of the pulley on the crankshaft at the front of the engine and run the pump from that.

One of the problems I noted with kiln drying was the unrealistic fuel consumption of the boiler quoted by the companies who could supply them. All three I spoke to quoted fuel consumption way lower than was physically possible i.e. less enegy was going in per week than was quoted as coming out. And by a long way.

That's exactly my thoughts I have been at it 6 years and did 650 cube last year. Last year was the first year I made a profit. This year I have already bought and am processing the stock to make about 600 ish cube and I wont be buying any more I am sending the business in a new direction as a trial and if it doesn't pay off I am out of the game. Buying in hardwood now is difficult and expensive. Contractors are throwing in any old crap into the hardwood you get so much waste from every load, its a sellers market with so many people keen to get hold of hardwood, and if you don't know the seller well its easy to get ripped off.