muldonach

Of course the objectives will contradict to some extent - if you want to maximise biodiversity the first thing to do is ban non essential humans and all dogs. However there is also synergy in some of the objectives - management to increase biodiversity will produce firewood, and open up the woodland for public access. The trick comes in achieving a satisfactory balance

A quick look at the Lucas catalogue indicates that the recommended Lucas unit for this tractor is LP663 or LP663H. LP 663 is 12V 110Ah SAE750 so you should be good with the 110Ah SAE1000 unit you are thinking of. One of the better moves we have made over the years has been to fit a tractor battery in the land rover and stick a set of truck jump leads behind the seats - been well worthwhile. Cheers mac

Or to put it another way - move towards diversifying the age structure and canopy intensity of your woodland by selective felling, probably focused on the sycamore since it is unpopular in ancient woodlands but popular in fireplaces, so fell sycamore where you can and fell other species where you must. Don't burn a stick - pile your lop and top in big piles and let it rot down, leave dead stems where safe to do so, if you have to fell them or they windblow/snap then cut them at 1m lengths and pile them in no particular order. If your wood is even aged some small felling coupes and replanting may be in order. If there are roadways or paths then look at varying the width by doing a bit of felling and vary the frequency of any mowing you do to maintain them particularly along the sides. The more you can vary the level and intensity of light getting to the forest floor the more you will vary the habitat Have fun Mac

I may have expressed myself poorly - what I meant was that I was suprised that having gone to the expense of felling, cross cutting and stacking plus brash piling the estate did not find it economic to put the timber on the roadside and offer it for sale. I would guess from what I see on the forum here that it would find a ready market at £30-40 at roadside and should not take more than £25 to put it there Cheers mac

Don't worry about what will be left - worry about what is downwind once it gets going!

I rather think you do actually have to tell them you are charging VAT and you are obliged to provide an invoice with your VAT Reg no. I am not sure that the majority of people are as niaive as you seem to think on the subject of VAT or at least not the one's I deal with! Cheers mac

4 ton Heavy Duty Snatch Block 4 1/2" With Hook | eBay Whille the comments above on the use of snatch blocks are technically correct you can make a rod for your own back. There is (imo) no need to lug a 10t SWL snatch block around to assist a 5t winch with skidding, a 10t SWL block has a MBL of 40t minimum and is a heavy old bit of kit to carry about. It should also be borne in mind that your winch rating is for first layer only and the max line pull will fall off rapidly as the winch fills with wire, I would be quite happy to use a much smaller block with regular inspections and match the MBL of the block to the MBL of the wire. Also we never bother with long chokers - simply use two choker/slider combinations and hook them together. Cheers mate

Take two companies same kit etc etc. for simplicity assume costs are same at £200/day (net of VAT), both also charge £200/day over costs. Company A is no VAT registered Company B is Company A has a dayrate of £(200 * 1.2)+ 200 = £440/day Company B has a dayrate of £(200 + 200) * 1.2 = £480/day Ok figures are plucked out of the air but show me a case where (1.2x+y) is less than 1.2(x+y) The effect of recovering VAT on inputs and charging it on output is to pass the VAT on inputs on to the end user as far as I can see Cheers mac

Give him a ring and see what he says or does to make good or not. Once the situation is settled either way go and have a pint in your local and spread the word, there is no advertising to beat word of mouth

Start off with the forestry website Forestry Commission GB and take it from there, no certain knowledge but I think SRC is agricultural rather than forestry. http://www.forestry.gov.uk/fr/INFD-8A5KL3 I find our local FC guys and girls more than helpful - the answer may not always be what you want but at least you will get an answer and in the case of refusal a reason or guidance as to how to change your application. Cheers mac

In Scotland it is normal to fling your bunnet up the lobby to test the reaction from inside before actually entering:001_cool:

Just been talking to my youngest boy - he is working on an estate in North Wales - they have just been thinning out hardwood plantations - dunno what acreage but apparently mixed ash & sycamore, all processor sized. Anyway it has all been x cut at 2.0m and stacked - to go to waste (and no there is no bunnyhugging scheme involved.) Looking at the forum here I would have thought that would be well worth putting on roadside but it seems not. funny old world ain't it?

If you have the option you may find a decent sized digger a very useful weapon in this environment - the ability to grab and lift a stuck butt, lift cut off trees, knock rootplates back down and make or improve / maintain skidding trackways etc could be pretty useful. Obviously you are unlikely to be able to make the job pay for one but if the landowner you are working for has one available I would mention it in the deal. Cheers mac

Have you got deer on your ground? If the answer is yes then just about the last thing you want to do is spray planting strips. We have never tried to plant willow - quite the reverse actually - but from what I have seen getting it to grow is not a problem - 6" diameter logs will happily sprout regrowth if they have any ground contact at all. From what I have seen all you have to do is stick some cuttings in and walk away - no need for any mowing or spraying. I second others comments on firewood qualities as well - we burn loads of it quite happily. The only problem I have is that it will grow in any direction except straight but ours are self seeded and self layered Cheers mac

:lol:My youngest boy was doing works experience on an estate in Northumbria with a pal. They went past a fence end where an old telegraph pole had been used as a strainer. was about 6 feet of it still sticking out of the ground. His mate says to the head keeper "That strainer ain't in far enough!" the reply came - "it is son - that's a whole pole!" Cheers mac

Get your straining posts in, preferably driven in but one way or another get them in as solid as possible and strut them against the direction of strain at both ends of the span. I assume you are using rylock? If so position the net at one strainer and double secure it top, bottom and middle. Get a length of plain wire and secure round the straining post at the other end of your span (a twisted eye loop is fine), it is important that the long end comes off the side of the strainer that the net will be secured to, put the loop just above the level you will secure the bottome of the net at. Install the lever end of the monkey strainer on the free end of the wire loop and the fully extended chain on the bottom of the rylock, take a strain, use a set of fencing pliers to tension up the short slack section and double secure to straining post. Lift your plain wire loop up to just above the top strand of rylock and repeat, watch the strain so as not to overdo it and pull the bottom slack. Bob's your fathers brother. Its easier if you use two sets of strainers top and bottom and you can put a bar or clamp on the net, use tirfors, landies, rachet straps or tractors - but if you only have a short length of fencing and dont have any of the ancillaries you can do it fine with one set of monkey strainers - and you don't need HT wire. Just make sure your straining posts are rock solid and then strut them. Cheers mac

Excellent result - one for the good guys - even if they don't end up in jail:thumbup:

First reaction was to extend or modify the fork truck as others have suggested however:- Make a small loading bay the same height as your trailer or slightly higher, preferably with a smooth top - old diesel tank with painted side for example. back your trailer up to the loading bay and put a bag on the bay with your fork truck. Two of you should be able to slide a bag in without too much effort, I assume your trailer is alloy floored? Cheers mac

According to Husqvarna there is no difference at all in the weght - see spec sheets posted above

Not in Aberdeen by the looks of things and certainly not in our little neck of the woods, I can hire someone to push a lawnmower or hedgetrimmer at a third of that. A quote of £750 per day for a couple of chainsaw operators and a chipper would likely get the dogs set on you. If you get work at those rates then good luck - that is your local market, but if you can get work locally why would you travel 8/9 hours and stay in digs to do the same job? Cheers mac

If the pump works when you turn it by hand but not when it is on the saw then it sounds as if it is not being driven by the saw? Take the spark plug out and strip the clutch if you need to to get access - put a finger on the drive gear and turn the saw over by hand and make sure that it is being driven against resistance. We had a case with a stihl where the oil pump was not working properly but drive gear etc was fine and eventually found a crack in the body of the pump - but even then it did pump a little oil Cheers mac

Whilst taking the comments that this woodland is an SSSI on board, if the above is a general provision then we are truly living in a world gone mad.

You are following your clients instructions and getting paid for it which makes you his agent or servant - as such he will be responsible for your actions - provided you follow his instructions of course, do you have a written scope of work? It would appear to be very much in your interest to have someone with you on a full time basis and they should be a party to all conversations with your client, the lady in question and anyone else who comes along, that person should not be a relative. You should also check carefully, preferably with a witness, that the field is stockproof at any time you leave it, your client may be able to assist by providing gates etc. I would keep a diary and take notes of all events, conversations etc as soon after they occur as practicable, a camera in the vehicle would also be useful to have around. You might wish to consider calling the local press and telling them you are not getting much interest out of the RSPCA - but perhaps mention that to your client first? Alternatively perhaps an acquaintance of yours could decide to call the RSPCA and assuming they meet a similar lack of interest take matters up with the press independently as it were:wink: I would discuss matters with your client and let him know that you are not 100% comfortable with your present pig-in-the-middle position and try to get something from him or his lawyers to reassure you. At the end of the day it is his land and his hedge, there should be a contract between him and the lady which puts the onus on one or the other to maintain the boundaries as stockproof (normally the grazier) and as long as you take reasonable steps to keep the hedge stockproof I would think you would be in good shape. Cheers mac (who has no legal training whatever)

It does not make me cry but it annoys me to an extent - there is a "reserve" near us which I am told operates a similar policy i.e. nothing gets sold and everything stays as "habitat". Thing is these folks are then holding out their hands for grant money and donations! There is surely a middle road - keep the non marketable stuff & whatever else you need & sell what you can. We certainly keep all lop and top, leave standing deadwood if possible otherwise deadwood is shortwooded and piled - we do not leave good timber to rot - that is not what it was grown for! Cheers mac

Just a small point as well on VAT - you are advertising a rate of 5% - that is only valid if the purchaser is going to use the wood themselves to heat their own house. If they are going to sell it on or use it to heat a business then the VAT rate is 20% Good luck with your venture but I think you will struggle to get £50 per tonne collected. Whereabouts are you - your firewood prices look pretty optimistic too - we are gettin £60 per cube for seasoned hardwoods and a local guy is doing large scale (for here) fire wood with seasoned softwood at £33 per cube collected Cheers mac