Highland Forestry

That seems awful steep.... we sell at roadside all over the country around the £36/t mark for hardwood.

If you are a small company it should be relatively easy, and not as expensive as you might think - it enables you to maintain chain of custody when buying and selling FSC certified timber which is always a bonus when selling to the mills. We are in the process of going FSC accredited and appointing a consultant at the moment,and if you have a good quality management system in place it should be even easier. One thing I learned recently is that if you are selling to a mill, and you are buying timber standing from a FSC certified source, even though the chain of custody is lost when you sell it, due to a recent change in the rules, you can now legitimately sell it as FSC controlled wood as it was grown and produced in a certified stand

£99 a cube for hardwood? That equates to roughly £247.50 for a 2.5m3 standard load delivered.... That is the most expensive delivered firewood price I think I have ever come across yet..

It's not 110hp, it's 80hp.. I'd say if it's been mulching then avoid it as it's had a very hard life. The gearbox problem will be expensive!

Playing devils advocate here... You say that the tree was felled, hung up and then winched out.. Could it have fallen/blown over and then had to be winched out for public safety? They may well have known there was a nest there and thats why the log was dragged to the side and left instead of cut up? It would be interesting to find out the whole story. If it is a case that the tree was felled intentionally, and knowingly with a nest inside then yes the contractor could come under some scrutiny, but it may be the other way round - the contractor may have tried to be sympathetic towards the nesting birds. Either way, if it was a dangerous tree and there were possible property or public targets within falling distance, you start to mitigate between the value human life and animal life - very interesting politics!

Think you can also get PL insurance with the Federation of Small Business... roughly £75 a year too

Thats because the NFU policies are.... crap, to be completely honest. You'll also have a clause that states you can not do roadside felling works within a set distance of a public road. Give Cameron a call at trust insurance. Their number is 01604 492644, option 3 Tell Cameron that Matt O'Brien recommended them, he might well do you a good deal. For what it's worth - I have all of our company insurance with them, PL, EL, PI, Plant and Hired Plant as well as Commercial vehicles.. I haven't found a better company yet, and they are very easy to deal with. Good Luck!

OOPS, sorry for the derail Farenheit!!

Thats roughly £3.00 per 10kg - BARGAIN. John - would you be interested in having a chat with us about pellet supply in North Scotland? I'm on the look out for a supplier at the moment for a new project which will hopefully bring in regular orders for dumpy bags filled with pellets, or posbly 20kg sacks but we could take by the load. Drop me an e-mail if you're interested - [email protected]

If you have three vehicles, then you have a fleet... Give Cameron at Trust Insurance a call 01604 492644, option 3 I have found them very very competitive for my 4x4 and cover off-road etc.

Very sad news.. Thoughts with the family etc Another reminder to be careful lads!

I had a call last year from a chap looking for a quote.... Nothing unusual there then.. I started asking about the job, and where was the property etc and I was about to ask him for directions to his house to look over the works required when he said 'So how much do you think it would be worth to you?' He was after a quotation of how much we would pay him for the tree! It was/is a large silver birch, and is still standing to this day.

now that my friend is a proper log stack!!

You would be well warned to get that Spiderjack LOLER inspected mate, before you do actually kill yourself....if theres anything wrong with it, you need to know about it.

It it comes to using agency staff in Arboriculture, then industry average rates would have to go up by at least 50% overnight. Agencies charge a fortune for staff, good or bad.. Having worked with alot of agency staff on utilities contracts I know that I could never use them as the agencies charge too much. For example, if they pay thier staff £10 an hour, they are charging £15 an hour, and mileage, and travel, and subsistence if they need to stay out, all of which are usual rates with more added on top. Nobody could afford to use agency climbers in this game and competitive pricing just flew out the window. A searchable database of bonafide sub-contractors organised by area would be a better idea - but the database should include competencies, insurance coverage, experience, equipment, LOLER compliancy etc

steady enough here

take a bucket of sand, spead around the trees in question and see what the footprints look like in the morning. Looks like deer to me - probably Roe.

How many good climbers or subbies are available at a few days notice though?? You'll need to contact me at least three weeks in advance if you want me on a job, or any of my kit, and alot of other guys will be in the same boat. It's a great idea, but would need some refinement IMO or you'll just end up with guys with little experience or happen across guys between or looking for jobs. Don't get me wrong, this is no bad thing - but if you are looking for freelancers they will need notice, and the better they are the more notice they will need. However, I would love to see a forum for guys looking for work - a simple name, age, location, brief experience and maybe a photo or two - employers could hen look through the listings and contact guys they think would fit the bill - if a job position is filled through this listing the employer pays a finders fee to Arbtalk of £50 after an initial one month trial or something like that. If every time I needed to start a new guy, I could come on to Arbtalk and do that, I would happily give £50 having got in touch with a good bloke and filled the position.

and 3) a bloody good meal for the whole team once it's knackered!

Matthew O'Brien likes this

You wouldn't catch me cutting Rowan - it's the witches tree! I know the firewood is not anything special, other than that im not sure what uses it might have. Legend has it that if you want somebody to fall in love with you, you should bury a lock of their hair under a Rowan tree...

Dry your eyes mate, diesel has been 149.9p per litre here for a few weeks now and red is 82.4 + VAT!

Well.... you did ask! Tree surgeons do it in all positions

YES!!!!!

Couldnt resist my previous post, sorry mate! Have you thought about a skylotec? They have very comfy leg loops and are comfy for climbing or sitting in.. I use a treemotion myself, but not sure what it's like for the ladies..