Chris Sheppard

Looks like I should be able to make it, just means I'll have to drag wolfdog round with me but she should be OK.

Yes Jon, where the APF was last time. It's a good site for big shows IMO

Probably similar, maybe half 5ish. Reckon we can normally do Ragley in about 3 and a bit hours.

Aren't they just - mine have just started to itch now

We're off tomorrow too. Quite looking forward to it.

Hot, Dusty, Horseflys - how do you think it went?

I might drop in for a look as am up that way Sunday anyway

Someone who Luvvers knows down Devon way. I know she sold it reluctantly a few years ago. It was that colour and had an Isuzu 2.8 on an auto box. Can't remember exactly but think it had some sort of racing history to it too. It might not be, but I can't see there being many with that engine and been resprayed that colour.

Go on Charlie, you're itching to tell us all about it, I can tell

I think I've driven that RRC a few years ago - is it Sal's old Helga?

That's a much more concise way of putting it

On the whole it's on our own jobs where it's been bought standing so it's based on tonnage. Do get some jobs on day rate from time to time but not often. Best I've managed so far with our current tractor and trailer (30 something hp Kubota and 4T Weimer trailer) was 26 loads forwarded out in a 12 hour day, with some of it at the far end of the site being the thick end of a kilometer round trip to the stack. That was exception rather than the norm though, typically it's more like 10-12 loads in a normal 8hr day but depends on what spec, how it's been presented and the terrain. Typically we'd get around 2.5T of 3.7m Hardwood firewood to a load and 3T of 3.7m Softwood sawlogs, though the 26 load day was a bit of a selection of lengths so probably nearer 2T per load. I don't know what the best I ever managed to skid with the alpine was as most of the time I'd pull them as I felled them as I was on my own a fair bit, though recently we were getting around 20/25T per day skidded out with the little landini (28hp) in small (typically 12" dbh and 30/40ft) sycamore thinnings. The tractor was pulling them 5 at a time butt first, uphill no prob and we would have been able to get more out per snig if we'd had more sliders. Even doubling up where we could it still played with them. One end of the site they were going aub 100m, by the time we'd got to the other end more like 3-400m. That site was quite wet in the end and even after three days or so of skidding out of the same gateway, we'd barely left a mark on the ground, wereas a bigger machine would have left quite notable wheelings and also needed wider racks putting in to get in/out in the first place.

Yes and no IMO. I think it's more about the right tool on the right site. I used to run a mid sized alpine alongside my old County and it worked well. Even now, we still run small machinery, and usually on standing sales so there's no subsidies involved. If we feel we need a bigger machine in then we get one in.

Got any pics of it Jon? Bet it's a grand little thing.

Sounds like a lucky escape. We were chatting about it yesterday, with it being as local as it said it was none of us knew of it or could think of who might have been selling it. Even the guy who was interested in it felt it odd that there was no contact number for the seller.

There's no doubting that your skidding arm is a handy looking thing, but how many full stems at 20cm dbh do you think it would take to make one cubic metre of timber? I don't know the answer but I think you might be a little out on your maths

I'd agree with that for sure - always remember grandparents saying stuff like "cut according to your cloth". Took a while to get my head round it but it makes sense.

One on constant pump with a return. The block with the crane controls is usally separate.

Ta

If someone happened to go for a look at it, is there anything in particular to have a really good look at? No, it's not for me (as much as I quite like the idea of one)

Dunno if it's his but it shouldn't be far from me acording to the listing, and I'm a good few hours away from Elfinwoodsaws.

That looks like it's a fine line between staying on and ending up in a big heap, Geoff Weekend was good fun, not really sure Rallying's my cup of tea though. Those guys are just plain nuts - some of them were hitting 100mph down some of the fire roads, desite the thick dust and a surface that felt like marbles on glass! Little DR managed quite well considering it was really not the right bike for it. Blew the seal in the rear shock and picked up a bad misfire after drowning it in the water on the last special test of the first day and spent the rest of saturday night and sunday before we started stripping the whole ignition, swapping bits of it and cleaning the carb several times to no avail. Had the shame of being the last bike off the course saturday after limping the 30 miles back along the liasion section at about 30mph Figured may as well make the start on the second day but somehow managed to limp it round the full 4 hours and come in on time, despite not being able to use more than half throttle all day and never seeing any more than 40mph briefly on the fire roads Did quite enjoy sneaking past some of the proper bikes in the more technical going, even with it spluttering like a good un - seemed like a fair few of them just like the fast bits and fall to bits when they get into the woods and sit straight down and start paddling. Good mix of bikes of all shapes/sizes/ages but mainly bigger 4 stroke enduro bikes and a few proper rally bikes. Didn't get many pics but heres' a few.

How so? FC (and most landowners) would want paying a fair bit for the standing timber if it's decent firewood. I'm pretty sure that's how forestry works on the whole...... Doing the work in return for the timber is usually a way of the landowner getting an unmanaged woodland back into rotation without costing them anything so that the next thin will stand better chance of generating a return on the investment of planting it in the first place.

If it's to coppice, then I'd guess there's going to end up a lot of stuff being undersize for firewood, which you'll still have to cut even though you might not get anything out of it. My limited experiences of coppicing have been that to make it viable, you need to utilise as much of each tree as possible otherwise you're felling a lot of stuff just to get it on the floor if that makes sense. There's plenty of potential markets, it's just a case of having the time/inclination to go chasing them.

Dunno yet, might do.