josharb87

What a tool! I brought one of these Ratchet felling wedges over a year ago, reason being that I've always wanted a hydraulic version as i like the engineering principle, but at 2.5k the hydraulic ones are a bit expensive! These are a fifth of the price! So when i saw Treadlight Forestry advertising these on Facebook, i ordered one straight away (despite loads of typical bitchey Facebook comments) I kind of expected it to just sit in the truck not doing much, but I'm amazed at how much it gets used, and what it will lift/push over. 25 ton lifting force, and lifts about the same height as 2 wedges stacked ontop of each other (which tips a tree a fair way!) However you can insert wedges into the open back cut, remove the ratchet wedge, wind in, re insert and keep going if needed (not yet!). Its really easy to use, much much less effort than banging wedges in. The last pic was 30c in summer, 30 trees to fell away from a school, no sweat was broken! most were leaning towards the school slightly, so we would normally have set a line in with a throwline (LOTS of faffing about!) No need with this little beast! Its really goon on dead trees, where banging wedges in shakes the whole tree, this gently pushes it over. The size is really compact, easy to find a place for it in the truck. Its relatively light, marketed as being able to hang it on your forestry belt is stretching it a bit, its too heavy for that imo - It weighs as much as a small ground saw. No problems at all so far, and its been a really good buy, if i lost this one id have no hesitations about buying another! View full review

I started experimenting with SRT 7or 8 years into climbing, it took about 2 years before it suddenly clicked (using SRT primary for access then swapping to ddrt, then the occasional prune on the way up, then, one day, the whole tree) Small trees and felling is still ddrt. All self taught, i don't think SRT climbing is any quicker (after crown access-SRT is way quicker) but i have far more energy and can do far more big trees per day!

Seems a strange thread to me. Theres nothing stopping you getting bigger vehicles/heavier trailers, but it comes across as if you don't want to go to the effort, but think the law should change instead? Its the same rules for everyone FWIW, i read somewhere that trailers with over-run brakes are "safe" at a maximum of 80% of the towing vehicles weight. so a 2 ton pickup will be safe towing 1600kg.

Stop rope on rope friction

Had it been in-keeping of the thread title it'd be cool, even if a sales demo (that happened today). I genuinely would like to see what day to day jobs loaders are doing, even the mundane stuff

Never mind, with a bit of thought, just answered my own question-it'll make the rescue quicker - cutting the hitch will still leave the pully "trapped" on the wire strop and require a bit of faffing around to release the carbabinas to release the loop of the strop....

Out of interest, why do you have a cut-away strap when using a hitch?

Used needles and human shit or excessive amount of animal shit = go home early for me, someone else can do it!

I'll second mick on the timber grapple, they really do improve the machines for arb work

I’ll be selling the saw soon for a new one as it’s falling apart too often, will sell with a new chocolate Husqvarna bar from the replacement saw and keep the Sugi bar

Couple years old on the most used ground saw-560 paints vanished, chip on the rails by the sprocket, dressed once I think

Out of interest, how’d you work out 7m3? Just curious as i work it out at less than 6m3 if same height sides as mine valid point though, the 3621 is a good size, but only the same width as a Toyota dyna twin wheel tipper. Sweden is far more spacious than the UK so I’ve never had a problem with the size, the m3 capacity is perfect for my work, smaller just wouldn’t work.

Yeah it's the new style 12x6, TT3621 I think it's now called. Mines about 1300kg with the sides I think (they're actually the mesh sides with 3mm chequre plate bolted inside so weigh a little extra. And the steel ramps weigh a ton! The ally ones are far far better for regular use. I think it's great, no problems with build quality or performance. I put a small dent on the ally floor when I loaded a 3.5m long ash stem with the avant and dropped it maybe 10-20cm so it's still pretty tough even if ally! 8m3 capacity is really useful too @swinny

My two, the van arrived today

Bet you never forget the handbrake now! Nice one on the purchase! Whats the HP?

It could have quite easily been a branch that could have been cut n dropped for all we know, the climber could have screwed his cuts up, not cut fast enough etc. Im all for chucking a new climber in on a standard job (doesn't sound too tricky to me) seeing what they're made of. how else are they going to develop if only doing easy stuff? When subbing i've worked with newbies, got them straight up big trees with me (pruning) and thought they had potential, only to see them then regress over the months/years due to never being pushed.

Neither of us would consider ourselves big, but last week me+any of the other climbers, or Johan+any of the other climbers could be in the MEWP together. Me and Johan together and Beep Beep Beep said the MEWP Stretching is probably more important long term than training. Yoga is great.

Thinking about traffic lights Mick, we had hired a set of lights, done the job, Pete packed them up on the little light trailer with the signs, and off we went home in convoy, pete with the lights last. On the M1, cars were going crazy, some were undertaking us, some were overtaking, cars were backed up behind us....was only when we got to the yard we realised pete hadn't turned the lights off! He'd even put the blue and white arrows pointing either side of the truck under the respective lights!

The stumpgrinders powered by host machine are pretty poor IME but do as a once in a blue moon machine. IMO tracked machines are for moving an implement to a place of work- a digger to a hole to dig, a chipper to a tree to chip, a grinder to a stump etc, not for tracking back and forth all day carrying heavy loads changing the balance on the tracks increasing wear. But then, smaller machines are more useable day to day, the Giant skid steer pictured above will fit sideways on a tipping trailer. Then again, up to the 4 series avants (subject to wheel size) will fit side by side with a tracked chipper with the tracks sucked in. The biggest plus with the larger wheeled loaders imo is the telescopic boom for ease of loading/stacking. And you're sat down

an impressive fleet!

Its sitting in the garden, i'll chop it up for brekkie tomorrow!

A biggie!

Out of curiosity, whats the total cost of your work here spud?

Just ordered the Stien ones, will see what they're like, hopefully easier to use than taking the metal sides off the trailer!