Highland Forestry

lol Matt, you can really see who 'rules the roost' in your office!! Dont feel hounded about the chicken.. you might end up barking up the wrong tree! hehehe

Was there any canabis left over???

This question comes up practically every week on the forum - why not use the 'search' function on the menu above to look for similar posts, there's loads of advice there. g'luck!

Erm - in my experience there is a hell of alot more paperwork involved in modern foresty contracting than there is in arboricultural work. There is a cross-over when it's commercial as the paperwork is similar on both sides of the industry BUT there is a big big big difference between professional contracting and domestic arb. How many domestic customers ask you to fill in a PQQ before quoting? and then ask for a guaranteed quote, and then a contractor questionaire, then copies of all tickets, insurance, risk assessments, method statements, local environment risk assessment, COSH assessment, FEPA record for pesticides... The one thing with forestry is that the jobs can be alot longer than arb jobs, ie, first thinnings could be a month or more or a variable density habitat thinning could be three weeks or brashing could be two months for a harvester. The paperwork for both is the same but the arb jobs comercially are done in days rather than weeks. For me, forestry is a lot harder than arb, especially as the gaffer - the paperwork, stress, cash-flow, organisation, chasing contracts etc Having said that, if you work for someone full-time as a cutter in the wood you work hard and get paid at the end of the week, no paperwork to think about and nobody hassling you it must be a much better job.

Bloody right! That's alot of money for traffic management!

ahhhhhhhh yes.... a big dead elm in a posh garden would be the ideal candidate for a crane job....

Alba charge £480 for a lane closure on a main road I believe up here... Not sure if that is hourly or daily or what.

Great pics...it's interesting to see cranes used in tree work, I dont think they are used enough IMO. I really would have taken the crown down with the crane as well, would have saved you a second trip to the site and you would have really got your money's worth from the crane... especially if the client is paying for it.. enjoy it while it's there. I've not had the pleasure of a crane job yet, but seriousley trying to invent an excuse to get one out!!!!

I love my treemotion but if I was going to go for anything else it would be the skylotec - very very very comfortable harness..

Already put the ball in thier court regarding a crash-bang job, but they have specified that they want it dismantled so that's what will have to be done.. Don't have a ticket for a mewp so that is out of the question.

Fantastic..... nice to hear stories like that

Blimey! I go away for the day and when I get back everyone has gone crazy on the pricing elm thread.. I've put in my price for the job - I'll wait to find out wether we get it or not first but i'll let you all know what I put on it. Most of it in the crown i'll get with my 281 XP which has a 2ft bar and will be fine for lumping down, and then we'll fell the stem with the 088 - I want to avoid using the 088 up the tree if possible. We've put two days on the job, removal of chip from site and timber left in lengths for the estate to deal with.. and extra charge if it's to be ringed up... it's elm after all, not the easiest stuff to cut in the first place. Had considered using a mewp but I dont have a ticket for one and so couldnt use it on the job.. the other idea was to bash the thing down in one day and use a crane, but it would just be an excuse to get a crane in really and would fairly eat away at the profits.. it wouldnt be essential so I dont want to cut my nose off to spite my face.

I really wish I had taken somebody with me to stand next to the tree for an idea of scale.... it is one hell of a big tree. The estate are actually selling soe of thier standing Elms to a hardwood merchant but for some reason they want this one dismantled... I've put in my quotation that we will take the chip off-site and dump at thier farm for no additional charge as it is in the lairds garden and I really don't want to leave a mess because I dont think it would give him the right impression. I've also put in the quote that if it is required to be logged for firewood then there will be an additional charge.

Yep.... one day for three men me thinks... £700??

That would make one hell of a table! lol Moving it could be a problem, but then again it's right next to the access road for the lairds house so a lorry and hiab would have no problems at all... I'll see what they say on Tuesday... I'm going over to the Isle of Rhum tomorrow to quote another job while you lot down south are having your bank holliday monday!

That is a damned good point.... I hadent even considered that... Could have a go at persuading them to have it sawn on-site for planks or something

wonder what he'll do when I mention 2k! I wouldnt mind having the timber myself for firewood, but am told elm is a nightmare to split so I'm happy enough to leave it for the estate.. Theres some nice burrs on it which will have to come my way I think.

It's a commercial job for a management company and I doubt if anyone else is quoting for it..... we're not busy at the moment, barely ticking over just waiting for all the jobs we've quoted to come in.. Figure that first popped into my head as I walked up to it was £1700

Nice one - i'll look forward to seeing you there Stevie... Deffinatley a chance for a beer me thinks.

It's a private access road to the lairds house Stevie... it will be blocked off, and no it;s not a manhole cover you're seeing, it's actually a randomly placed paving stone, not sure why it's there but theres nothing underneath it as I checked while on-site. Just out of view in the pics there is an old fashioned red telephone box which is randomly in the middle of the garden also. With the size of the lawn, the whole thing could almost be felled but they dont want to loose the smaller target trees and we're to try to avoid any unecessary damage to the lawn, but cut and chuck will be no problem at all. Was originally asked to stack all the brash and leave it in a pile for the estate guys to clear up but I think it would be easier for us to just chip it and only handle it the once. The timber is to be left in manageable sizes, which means the main trunk will have to be ringed up with a very sizeable saw. I may have just found the perfect excuse to go buy my 880 with a 4ft bar!! She's a real big tree and I would think there's at least 7 ton of wood there, if not more.

hmm - what kit are you chucking at that??

LOL Andy - it's a bloody long way from Cambidge mate..... about 550 miles infact!!

Looks a good motor mate.... smooth and quick.. perfect!

It will be me climbing, and some of it will be lowered to avoid damage to the private road underneath... Doubt I'll get the whole lot decked in one day though... I'll be well up for trying! Looks like it will be a great tree to climb... the pictures don't do it justice really..... it's a monster.

Carve Carrbridge Chainsaw Carving Competition Saturday September 5th 2009 CarveCarrbridge - Scottish Open Chainsaw Carving Competition - Home Anybody planning on going??