Chris Sheppard

who said anything about skill I can unbolt stuff and put it back together, much more technical and I get help from a grownup

I'n not as badly affected as you, Butler, but seem to have had a spell of buying or being given old saws that more often than not don't work. Last few months have seen a 357 that needed a barrel and piston (done and gets used now), a 181 that needs a fair bit doing, a 2159 that I bought as a supposed non runner but runs great (currently gets picked up more than any other at mo), a 42 that the guy on ebay's idea of "starts and runs great" differs from mine, and thought I'd hit jackpot today at local husky dealer when I spotted a very tidy 288 and similarly tidy 242 sat on the dead shelf waiting for the owner to decide whether he wanted to rebuild them (had run both on neat petrol from what I can gather) - looks like he's hanging on to them while he gets someone else to "tinker" with them. Hoping I might still get them yet! Worked it out the other day, my newest saw is still over 5 years old and haven't bought a brand new saw for over 7

Depends on how fancy you go - usually a standard wireless remote will only control the winch - some wireless kits have buttons for throttle as well as sometimes even an engine stop, but usually the other bits to bolt to the tractor (whether it be servos or similar etc) are extra again.

Yes and no. Whilst it's great for us that more and more woods are coming on line to bring back into rotation, a lot of landowners still think that they are going to make a shedload of money out of it, not realising how much non productive work can need to be done to actually get any timber out of a neglected/unmanaged stand.

Softwood chip wood isn't great round us either.

They sound interesting

I'd put comfort over price when it comes to boots - if you're going to be spending most of your waking hours wearing them they want to be comfy

Haix tibet forest - never had wet feet yet. Even last winter when others had resorted to wellies my feet were still dry. They even have a half decent sole too.

My latest pair of Haix Tibet Forest are about two years old now and are doing pretty well still. They've had about a year part time and then the last year full time on them (nearly all forestry and no climbing). They did start to look pretty rough quite quick compared to the previous pair but then haven't got any worse and still turn water no prob. I know of a pair of Tirrol fighters (or whatever they're called) that are something like 3 and a bit years old and still going strong so can't grumble there I reckon. I quite fancy a pair of the meindl Timberking but they look a bit dodgy

Reckon it'll probably end up being Corwen Forestry that are nearest to you?

Absolutely. The extra control compared to an electro hydraulic is nicer when pulling over a leaner IMO. electro hydraulic when coupled with a radio control can be useful when doing a lot of skidding but can involve a big expense to claw back initially.

Phew, I'm not the only one who has to go through it Thankfully she's been working most of the evening so never saw it

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IkTI2MQPyc&feature=related]Tigercat 635C skidder part 2 - YouTube[/ame] Though any big skidder is awesome

stevie, stop buyign more kit - your problem is contagious and made me buy another tractor this morning Looks a fair beast of a thing

Wasn't sure at first but think it's quite cool [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD0cp3g6O78&feature=related]Ingmars klyv - YouTube[/ame]

He's dreaming - could have a brand new igland with more pull for that money

The winches Lakes lumber equipment used to sell were Uniforest as they were a dealer for Riko - Riko now have a Northern depot somewhere near York now (so you could deal direct with importer), or Forest Machine Services are also a dealer for the Uniforest ones now too.

Absolutely. Would always go the extra mile to help out.

As far as I know Lee packed up a couple of years ago and no one's seen him since.

My understanding of the 110 HD's were that they went into LRSV as a standard 3050kg 110 and rolled out with bigger brakes (off the 130), helper springs and the extra plate welded top and bottom pretty much full length of the chassis rails. Have a look at any 110 HD (and any 130 that has been through LRSV) and they wont have the typical seam in the middle of the chassis rails - there will be a bead of weld along the corners.

Only got experience of the 372 out of those three but can't fault it. Dug it out the other day for some biggish pines and forgot just how well it pulls. There's no fancy gubbins on it to go wrong, it's tried and tested and it feels like a proper saw (and still sounds like one too!)

Dad's old CZ 380 twinshocker was a close second