Chris Sheppard

It was another one of those that "got away" - and hindsight is a wonderful thing Should have hung on to it as an investment as I dare say it will make more than twice what it stood me in at (fair enough there's the patu and it's been re-shod but even so), but hey ho. For a one man band it was a great set up, forwarder/yard machine/skidder (had a 3pl igland for it) all in one and it sounded absolutely mint. Unless he's brayed it to death, mechanically it was great and it had been guarded up very very well so should still be something like. Crane, despite being quite light weight had a great lift and was quite fast. If ti's still the same traielr I sold with it, it's quite a good size (would take two bays of 7'6") and whilst cosmetically a bit ropey, was in reasonable fettle. Worst of it is, it's only 10 min up the road. Anyway, I'll stop dwelling on the past

Thanks to Charlie for the heads up, my old County is on Ebay here If I was in the position to buy it back I would do in a heartbeat, but I'm not (well not in time for the end of the auction). Was a great starter for an 1164 and the front swivel pins were in very good condition for one with a roof mount.

I think he thinks just crosscut rather than ripped using the saw instead of splitter.

we had a '96 one with the 1.3 petrol engine in and it was a great little pickup, just a bit small load space if you're used to hiluxes etc. never driven the diesle one but the 1.3 petrol was OK, and quite economical. Dad used it a few times on runs down to Plymouth and back (a long way from us) and said it was fine, just a bit gutless on long motorway climbs.

Woodmad on here might be worth a try, know he'll travel with his Mill

Got hold of some hydrochloric acid today and have removed what I think is all the ali from the inside of the barrel now, but I think it's goosed. Tried takign a few photos but they won't come out very clear at all. Kept going with the acid until it stopped reacting and washed it all off and it looks pretty bad still, just not ali coloured now. It's hard to see/feel for definite whether the rough area is on top of the plating or through it. Whats the worst that can happen if I were to leave it with acid on it over night?

Depends how far from base you would be to start with - sub 50km and I think you'd fall under an exemption.

It'd help if I re-newed my subscription

Glad it wasn't just me thought it was a bit of a camp pose too

HOW MUCH!!!!???? I could have had 70 of my old County for that

That thing is great - like a mini Ponnse Dual

I was always fancying one of those little Vimeks but upon seeing Woodwise's one in FJ that got me thinking. Seen it in the flesh at the Weald woodfair a couple of times and really think it's a great concept; like you say, it's the cost of the head that scuppers it. That valmet and botex that was on here a while back at that auction would have been a good starting point and only £13K was a bargain. I'm still wondering about one of those Naarva stroker heads but they're a guillotine rather than a saw, but might be a start.

Absolutely. We're currently using one little tractor which is either pulling the traielr, winching or pushing up brash.

We tend to do a lot of smaller woodlands and blocks that have been neglected so harvester is out for a lot of the work, at least initially, whether because of uneconomical to bring to small site or timber not really suited. Done a lot of handcut to skidder and nearly, but not quite as much shortwood to forwarder. Both work well on the right sites and timber, it wouldn't be fair to say which is best as one would be good for one site and bad for another. As for output, of course we're not going to get anywhere near the output of a harvester and proper forwarder, but my overheads were a fraction of theirs. Other than a harvester, there is, IMO, no way to effectively remove a man on the ground doing some sort of manual work, even a processor requires the timber to be felled in front of it, and shortwooding needs a fair bit of hand stacking, to be efficient. Currently, we're workign a site which has a selection of different compartments of different sizes and species (and thankfully it's all flat!) from untouched hardwood first thinnings right through to Softwood clearfell and each one we've attacked differently as required.

Might stand half a chance of getting there once it's finished Saw him twice last week - in the same week

I'm hoping to make it down just not sure how yet.

Living the dream I reckon you'll be onto a winner with the Valtra, I'm surpised there's not a few more doing it over here yet.

Tell johnny to shurrup - it's a proper arb stump is that

Ed, are you working your way through a set of camp Husky catalogue poses

Might as well be if it's one of those tong belts

Nice one So, plan of attack, try cleanign the current barrel with acid (next question - where would I be able to easily lay my hands on the acid?). If re-usable, get a new piston fitted, sort decomp, vac and then maybe pressure tests, all being well jobs a good un Thanks for all your helpful advice so far guys, I hope other's will find it as usefull in the future

That sounds great fun, be a change fro mover here. Iv'e never seen anywhere so forested (if thats such a word) as Finland - all we could see from the top of a hill in every direction was softwood and sky

then follwoed by hillside extraction

The plot thickens - just been havign a closer look at the barrel and found a split in the tube from the auto decomp - possible cause maybe?