Chris Sheppard

Usually a toothed belt is used on small diameter pulleys, as a solid belt deforms more round a small pulley and reduces the amount of belt in contact with the pulley - creating less grip so increasing the amount of slip/generating more heat

for that sort of volume you want to be looking at something like a Pinosa I reckon, more of a firewood factory than a typical processor.

Difficult one - as a first saw a 346 is a good choice and will handle some fairly hard use on decent sized softwood thinnings, but it's always nice to knwo there's something in the truck with a bit more guts to it when required (372 in my case) The 357 is an awesome all rounder with loads of power (I was really really impressed first time I used one) and If I was only going to run just one saw in the woods I'd be tempted to go for the 357. The dealer might try and push a 365 at you as an alternative, IMO I'd not bother - we used to get issued with a 365 each on the Estate and they were an 'almost' Saw - they were almost a big saw but not quite, and almost a small saw but not quite - it was almost like carrying round a 372 with a blunt chain If you were looking to buy one saw and maybe add to the collection with something bigger later (or could borrow something bigger as required) then the 346 makes sense. Ultimately I don't think there's a right or wrong answer though.

My last post should ahve said G&S drake too

ey up, have a word with these guys - they don't have any on their website at mo but they might have something in the pipeline. My old one came from there and I think theres' at least one other on arbtalk too.

Something I woudl say with regards to choice of levers/controls is that if you do go down the route of electronic levers, keep a few spare solenoids on the shelf as a friend of mine runs a pair of Valtras with roof mounts on electric levers and has in the past had either of them parked up for a couple of days when a solenoid has gone - he know keeps spares just in case. Me being old fashioned I quite liked proper levers as I knew I could fix/replace very easily and quickly if required though do realise there can be implications as to where the spool block can be mounted (pipes in the cab etc).

I don't know about prices anymore best bet would be to give him a call on 07836 564778 or 01342 850013 Had a good look at the one on his own Valtra at the weald woodfair and that had a decent sized Farmi Crane mounted and had legs and he said even the more novice guys get on well with it - lets them get away with a bit more but also means you can pick up big bits too without it gettign all cockly

I always fancied a MF 3090 for in the woods as they had good ground clearance and 6 cylinder - other than that a MF390 as above or even a 3075 or 375. Borrowed a 3120 once and that was awesome - would have been good on a big forwarding trailer.

You coudl always go down the Jake Frame JAKE Start ENG - JAKE route for mounting the crane as that would botls straight on, have legs and also mean you could get a lot of the work done locally - win win all round Jonathan Latham supplies them and I know there's a wide range of sizes to suit lots of tractors and cranes

If that's the case, then why do HSE apply prohibition notices to machines with single hand operation? It's also a CE requirement. ^ what he said

I'd not worry - for it to be HSE compliant it would need to be double handed operation anyway

Did nearly go for the smallest normal one but figured I coudl always go up to a bigger one later if the need arises - currently don't have anything with a bigger bar than 20" and most of the wood I envisage milling will be quite small so would give it a go. Also, doing it this way means I can get a mini mill to go with it and still not be that much more cost wise than a normal alaskan (not that I'm tight or owt )

Finally got around to having a go with the Small LoG Mill I bought a couple of months back - had brought a couple of lumps of Oak back from the APF that were too nice to go through the processor and I earmarked them to make a new fire surround at home Was at a bit of a disadvantage right from the start as the only bit of wood I could find anything like suitabel for a guide rail was a 5x3 fence post that wasn't perfectly straight and also was a bit rounded but hey ho - worse comes to the worst and I could log it up. Ended up nailing it to the log too but it seemed to hold. First cut went a lot faster than I expected (372, semi chisel chain and 8 tooth sprocket so fairly geared up) but I suppose it wasn't really cutting much width. Set second cut at 6" and checked after - looked fairly parallel btu the whole thing had a bit of a twist to it. Bit of juggling with a square had the guide set up for the first of the side faces - took two attempts to get the cut where I was sort of happy. Didn't think the finished piece came up too bad - yeah it's a little out on one side but it adds character (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it )

I was thinking similar

I'd read that you actively shouldn't put any waterproofign onto Haix as it can damage them - not sure how?

Depends on the manufacturer, but usually cycle times quoted are for the time to go fully out and fully back, and if two speed then it is usually relating to the fast speed. Depends on what sort of thing you are looking for - generally petrol or electric are quite slow as from a small engine you can either have good pressure but low flow or good flow and low pressure (unless you start getting more complex). For the cost and spec - 16 sec is probably not bad, though it's certainly not quick.

Usually on lower priced machines they all use the same pump and engine so the hydraulics all supply the same flow and pressure. On a smaller tonnage machine the ram is usually a smaller diameter (in the sense of needing less oil to fill it) so doesn't require as much flow to make it move a certain speed - making a bigger capacity ram need more oil so if both are using the same flow rate then the bigger one will be slower. Also, the length of the splitting knife can be a big influense to how well a machine performs - a certain pressure over a small knife would make lighter work of knottier timber but often require more cuts per log, whereas a longer knife will generally be quicker on decent timber and require less cuts. I'd query them on the apparent one handed operation as shown in the photos as if it is only one hand operation there's no way it can be CE approved so they shouldn't be selling it. Also, if it's auto return, does it have an anti crush system fitted as on that style (i.e conventional exposed cylinder cutting on the push stroke) it would require this, to be fully compliant. if it's just for your own use then the above may do all you want - but I'd always suggest buying the best you can afford and buy once.

for the sort of money they are and the style they are, I'd have said more likely built in the US or the Far east. The Slovenian company who manufacture the Forest Master range of trailers and cranes aren't anything to do with that company selling the splitters. also, 6.5hp engine on a 17 or 22 tonne machine is definitely going to be painfully slow in both directions.

Chances are someone's already looked into importing them over here but decided it would be too muchj work to get it CE marked -there's a lot of good machinery in US and Canada but unfortunately the reason they are so quick and efficient is that over there they don't have as much red tape as we do over here.

Nokka make something similar but using stroke feed rather than rollers (so doesn't need a computer so could be mounted on more stuff easier)) and with an adjustable 4 way knife. Saw one at a show in Germany last year but can't find any info online at all so all I can thik is the idea never took off I thought it could be ace on the right stuff

i'm 99% surethe chassis is a major part of the points and can't be done without the original but I think a lot comes down to the IVA tester and how they interpret it - Any modifications to a chassis (other than a repair) is now, as I understand it, classed as a radical modification (though you can bolt stuff on) and the chassis can be swapped for a new one of the same specification/design as the original - so for instance you couldn't rechassis a 110 with a new chassis which had a winch rear crossmember as it wouldn't be the same as the original. you can't do a 90 -100inch (a-la-hybrid) So in this case how can a 110 chassis be the smae as a 130. Whether anyone would actually notice or not is a different matter but for the amoutn of £ involved and the risk of it invalidating the insurance (I agree it's alll a stupid rule) I'd still want to be 100% sure if it was me.

I didn't get rained off - just spent all day in and/or waiting for AA vans - been relayed by them from Kendal to a motorway services just south of there, then from there to another on the M62 and then finally from there home - 9 hours after originally breaking down

as above - but also you'll find generally they split better green too.

If you speak to Riko, Jim'll look after you

If you were considerign taking a timber dragon on the road behind a road vehicle then I'd have a good look into the legality before hand as I think you may find some problems relating to the lack of suspension and the nose weight if you wanted road legal (as opposed to agri spec) and a rocking beam axle then as far as I know there is only one out there commercially but it's a lot more expensive than a timber dragon.