Chris Sheppard

It's a difficult one. For felling and snedding, it would be the 372 no doubt, but then it wouldn't be on a 24" If I were going for a 24" bar for in the woods, it wouldn't be on either the 372 or the 576. The 576 does seem to be a nice saw for crosscutting, but I'd not want to fell and sned with it for long (other than maybe heavy limbed hardwood). Why not just shove the 24" on your 395? I know they're a bit of a tank (but so is the 576), and it's not like the 36" is going to come out much in the woods. Swapping a bar and chain isn't exactly a big job either.

same here.

I do like those FJ's - never seen the green ones before. Still think I like them in the blue best though

Originally had a 48hp Carraro that I used a JMS 900 trailer behind (the diddy one with quad tyres and a 9ft long crane) and it was OK, but very small load capacity. More latterly, it was a 30odd horsepower Kubota 4wd with a 4T Weimer trailer and crane that was only a couple of years old when we bought it. Typically we could get around 2.5t of 12ft hardwood firewood on a load or around 3T of sftwood sawlogs. On the right sites it was great, and the whole lot stood us in at less than £7k. If I were to do it again, I'd look similar but ideally a slightly newer tractor (so better hydraulics mainly) and a longer crane. Ours only had a 3m long crane but a 4 or 4.5 would have sped the job up a bit. I've never had chance to use a driven trailer before, but can only think it could be a good thing.

Sounds sensible to me. There's a lot more choice on the smaller trailers now than there ever used to be. Our Kubota lacked a bit of hydraulic speed but it was really surprising where it would wiggle it's way into or pull it's way through, even loaded. The smaller machines don't seem to like travelling through brash as well as a larger purpose built machine, but if you are doing the felling too, then you soon adjust how you work slightly. I think the self powered processor is kind of cool, but it didn't look that quick.

Sorry to hear about what's happened, hope you're back up and sorted quickly. A friend of mine had a very similar experience 14 years ago but wasn't so fortunate, he's still in an electric wheelchair now, can't really move much and has some difficulty speaking still - he was 18 when it happened (32 now) and even the doctors thought it was just a really really bad hangover to start with. His clot was deemed too unsafe to work on so they've had to leave it. Even though he can't do stuff like he used to, he's adapted well and is still as daft as he ever was. Another mate converted a tracked wheelbarrow into an all terrain wheelchair with single hand controls for him a few years ago - he kept towing us all back uphill on our sledges when it snowed last

pretty sure they run small hole rims so should be possible, but never tried it

Sort of - think the 42's are open ported though. Use both fairly regularly and like both, but the 242 is a bit snappier and revs higher

That's where mine's heading one day

560 or 372 with 15" or 18" (at a push) bar and a one tooth bigger sprocket. 372's a big of a barge for snedding but you'll get used to it.

Anyone happen to know the maximum amount small claim court deals with? I've had a look online but can't find a figure before it becomes larger than "small" if that makes sense?

Best so far I reckon I'd probably ditch the roof box though and have a small, but full width toolbox on the back, in thr front of the body but with side access. I'd probably be swayed by a TD5 though, purely for a bit more grunt. I had a tdi 130 and it was lacking a bit at times.

We usually end up going for one the first weekend in December and Mrs insists it stays up for as long as she can get away with into January. Spruces tend to be looking pretty ropey by then but firs tend to be pretty robust in comparison. Ours is cut one, it's in the front room and less than 10ft away from the fire too.

Tirrol Fighters (Pfanner I think?). They seem to be wearing really well and are comfy enough, but the old Haix were like wearing slippers.

I had a pair of the tibet forest that did the same. I though it was the lining that had slipped until I cut inside and found similar to you. They were the most comfortable pair of boots I've ever owned but started hearing of more and more people not being happy with them so didn't go for them again this time.

I think Timberjack/Valmet/Ponsse etc might have just pipped you to that one Mark

That's only one a year, that's not that bad is it?

Sort of similar; I recently sold my landrover on ebay and had been dreading it. The thought of the usual emails and phonecalls and stupid offers just made me feel sick. I cleaned it inside and out and wrote a fairly long, warts and all description and set the price a little higher than I wanted (not by much), knowing that the chances of selling at asking price were slim, whether it be a car, toothbrush, pair of slippers or whatever. Stuck it on a classified, starting on a sunday evening and put it with email being the only way of contact so I could decide which of them were worth talking to. Within an hour, I had a deposit on it and had settled a fraction below what I wanted and then a day or so later it go picked up - I know it doesn't happen often but ebay can work OK. I think what's maybe the case with your L200 Swinny is the time of year. It's a work truck and it's only a couple of weeks before christmas so I'd guess a lot of people aren't goign to be thinking a lot about work or spending money on much other than christmas. Try not to let it stress you out and all being well the weather will get worse and buying a 4wd will become more of a priority in people's minds.

That may have been the case where you live, but not here.

We get round that by laying a 3" diameter pole on the ground and putting the foot on that to spread the load if it's a problem. Think it's the No. 3 I've used and it's saved loads of wedging/levering/winching, but it's a cumbersome thing to carry.

I like this idea the best

Same here - it's marginally better than it was to start with, but still a waste of time. Time for a change methinks.

I dunno if M Large still have dealers or if you just deal direct with them? Going from a sliding table to a rocking table, you'll probably wonder why you didn't do it sooner

It's possible, but it has a big sticker on it showing that it's for use by one operator only. If you are using two people, if it's a big piece of wood or particularly hard splitting, try not to both be splitting and cutting together as it usually makes the belts slip a bit if it's being made work really hard. I really like the eagle. The only thing I don't like is bending down to pick the logs up to split but I can live with that