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RichardT

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Everything posted by RichardT

  1. RichardT
    For an old geezer like me the big attraction of a processor is the reduction in handballing. With every passing year the attraction gets stronger....
  2. RichardT
    If you think that's tough, you should try transferring forest land to agricultural use... ;-)
  3. RichardT
    How do you get on balancing loads on one pallet fork?
  4. RichardT
    The hours are on a photo. I've fancied one of these for a while but I agree the start price is a bit optimistic for a machine w/o either loader or front links, and with £750 start price for the matching flotation tyres... They appear at farm sales from time to time for quite a lot less, a grubbier but better equipped example with a loader, bucket & forks went for under £3k near Hexham not long ago. Parts for the Holder engines (some had/have Deutz airbreathers) can be a bit tricky unless your German is good, apparently.
  5. RichardT

    Heating

    RichardT replied to haforbes's topic in Firewood forum

    We've been happy with ours too generally, it also provides our only space heating. V well insulated new house though, with basically all rooms opening off the kitchen/living area, so the layout was sort of designed around the stove. On the minus side the boiler has recently started whistling/buzzing a bit, presumably kettling around scale in the vessel, so at best we're needing it thoroughly flushed, at worst a new boiler vessel.....also the baffle plate warped and needed replacing. We may have been working it a bit harder than the typical lifestyle accessory market Esse had in mind...? We also looked at the Italian equivalents from Broseley &c.
  6. RichardT
    Anyone know where I can look up / have a decent idea of current prices? Specifically, what £/tonne should I be getting at the mo for green Sitka sawlogs net of costs for harvesting, extraction and delivery to mill?
  7. RichardT
    Not a problem: apparently they're Norwegian!
  8. RichardT
    In case you're interested in a punt on old kit, in the classifieds of the current 'Tractor & Machinery' there's a Krabat tracked mini skidder with fixed winch, 60s Swedish machine, they crop up occasionally in Scotland (I think James Jones may have imported them). Google not much help but there are a few snippets on Youtube (Krabat 232) and this old print ad : KRABAT 232 SKIDDER BROCHURE bei eBay.de: Vintage Construction (endet 05.02.11 14:52:01 MEZ) In Aberdeen IIRC. £1800. Dodgy diff but can't be that complicated....
  9. RichardT
    On the basis of my limited experience of using tracked kit in my woods, the first question to ask is how easily thrown tracks can be refitted, the second is how it copes with sideslopes and stumps - CoG, grouser pattern, etc.
  10. RichardT
    Thanks, I'll put that on my shopping list. He can't source an original spool block for the 'indicator stalk' hyd controls unfortunately, so unless one comes up on Ebay.de I'll have to bolt a generic spool block somewhere on the dashboard. The block was common to 421s and I think 406s too so if anyone knows of any round cabs being broken......
  11. RichardT
    Heh, sounds about right. Job no.1 is getting electricals and specifically block heater sorted out, it is not an enthusiastic cold starter! User manual recommends 20-40sec heating in warm weather, haven't checked cold weather procedure yet but imagine it involves a flamethrower....
  12. RichardT
    A 1964 411 TinyMog I got off fleabay. Work needed on wiring and hydraulics, but seems solid, ex snowblower with low hours. Will use it for fetching & carrying round the wood: And for old times' sake, the 406 I had for a few years and still regret selling: They do indeed rock.
  13. RichardT
    I'm losing the will to live, let alone get the ******** tractor! Will post pics of machine (early baby Mog) if possible, failing that of me in cuffs. Thanks for interest and advice, a bottle of Laphroaig is now demanding my attention, it's the only sane response.
  14. RichardT
    I'm assuming that picking up an old tractor I've bought for tinkering purposes (a toy, to be frank) does not put me into tacho / op license territory, if that can'o'worms gets opened I'll give up and hire a haulier. If the trailer MAM is what counts I'd estimate that 80%+ of all farmers trailing livestock to abattoirs/marts are illegal. Or indeed on the way back, with empty trailers.
  15. RichardT
    This from DFT infosheet, July 2010 http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/vehicles/vssafety/info_trailers.pdf "The maximum laden weight of a trailer which may be towed by an M1 or a light goods vehicle depends on (a) the stated gross train weight of the towing vehicle (GTW) and/or (b) the vehicle manufacturer’s recommended maximum permissible trailer weight. Neither the maximum permissible trailer weight nor the maximum gross train weight (the laden weight of the trailer plus the laden weight of the towing vehicle) should be exceeded. " Nothing there on the trailer MAM. Which suggests that actual rather than potential trailer gross weight is the clincher? My headache's getting worse.
  16. RichardT
    That's 3 'legals', 2 'illegals' and 1 'suck it and see'. See what I mean? Does the DIY derating thing actually have any legal force? The idea that a loaded trailer weighing below the towcar's capacity is illegal because it's capable of carrying more seems comical, a bit like busting a driver after one pint because he's capable of sinking 10. Then you remember we're paying people to dream this stuff up and enforce it. Ah well.
  17. RichardT
    I don't, despite trawling VOSA, farming and caravan sites and getting an industrial strength headache into the bargain. I've a pre-97 license, a SWB Trooper, a borrowed Ifor flatbed and a small tractor to pick up. For the sake of argument and simplicity the Trooper + driver is 2T, the trailer max loaded weight 3.5T, the trailer + tractor 3T, max train weight 6T and the towing max capacity 3.3T. Am I legal because the whole train weight is under its max and the loaded trailer is under its max, or illegal because, irrespective of actual trailer weight, the theoretical max is above the towing capacity? It seems like a simple question but I'm f*****d if I can find a definitive answer. Help!
  18. RichardT
    We're having several acres of Sitka clearfell de-stumped at the moment, looked at a big tracked mulcher but the costs were doolally. So a 22T 360 with a ripper, thumb grab and rake. (Was meant to be a 14T machine but this one was on site anyway doing some quarrying.) Very quick but pretty messy with the wet ground. Leaving them in windrows for the moment, possible accidental fires in due course. Using a 360 as a forwarder, one stump at a time could get a bit costly though...
  19. RichardT
    Up here in the frozen North the FCS continues to quietly flog huge acreages to the Duke of Argyll et al with no howls of outrage from bearded mountaineers or bushy-browed archbishops.....
  20. RichardT
    "It is a fact that whoever purchases ex FC woodland, from NGO through to International business, will reduce management and maintenance." Is it indeed? I could give you a few examples of management being massively improved after sale to private or community buyers. Anecdotal I know, but anecdotes trump bald assertions with no supporting evidence whatsoever.
  21. RichardT
    I think you can avoid notification if the new track doesn't directly connect with a council road, ie only extends existing tracks. Clearly though it will be of pretty limited use if it doesn't connect to anything at all........
  22. RichardT
    I had an Alstor demo'd here by Scottish Native Woods and I've watched the importer putting one through its paces on some truly improbable terrain. Very impressive machine, as it should be at the price. SNW have run a Vimek 101 too and apparently sold it in favour of a 2nd Alstor. I'd still prefer the flexibility of a separate tractor unit for tasks other than forwarding, if I had the cash I'd look at the Mactrac with driven trailer, no UK importer yet unfortunately. Artcom Tradebridge are now importing the 'Wheelhorse' which looks handy but I suspect couldn't match the Alstor on bad ground.
  23. RichardT
    All that's been published officially so far is the consultation document. It's on the FC site, or here at DEFRA: Consultation: Future of the public forest estate
  24. RichardT
    Public understanding of forestry has certainly not been helped by the crassly poor level of press coverage of these proposals. The output from career hacks has been bad enough, but there's no excuse for the idiotic rabble-rousing from the likes of David Clarke, who really should know better.. <<..look after pigs in 100 acres of woodland undergoing restoration...>> I hope you've had an easier time over the winter with your than we have with ours...
  25. RichardT
    Esse Ironheart for house (cooking, space heating, DHW and a couple of small rads); old Aga Little Wenlock for office (caravan). Maybe 10t all told in a normal year. Had a Clearview Pioneer in the last house, brilliant stove.

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