cousin jack

I have a customer, who wants to fell four old fruit trees, damson/apple, in his large garden, he will use the resulting timber for his own firewood use. Max height of trees 18ft, but he is within a conservation order area, could anyone advise on procedure about obtaining permission etc. Thanks CJ

They used to use the Volvo/Sisu type high-lift log handlers and assume they still do, pretty much unloading one train carriage at a time.

To say I felt inadequate with a LogLift 85 is somewhat of an understatement...

 

You feel very small inside Kronospan in a timber lorry!

Seems like Shotton is into recycled paper nowadays, think the wood train is going to Chirk, found quite a few vids on utube

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq6ssEBf-Qs]Kronospan Timber 14 07 2009 - YouTube[/ame]

Would love to see how they unload it. Should add, once you've seen the first 2 mins of this video, you've seen it all, don't waste 5 mins of yer life watching the rest unless, you want to see a tidy bit of reversing by Jones the driver.

Saw this in Crewe station, heading towards N Wales, where was it going Chirk?

Well worth a watch

We currently have 100 tonnes of mostly sycamore for sale, ranges from 6" to 4' in diameter and in 8' to 14' lengths.

 

Easy collection & access A55 junction 31 North Wales express way.

Will have another 100 tonnes plus in the next month of ash, sycamore and alder.

 

Priced to sell any quantity, no restrictions on area to be sold. Collection only.

Can't see where it mentions M4, but Junction 31 of A55 is near St Asaph in North Wales, the A55 runs from Holyhead to Chester.

Forgive me if I'm wrong but I'm sure there is no junction 31 onM4

I'm down that way this week I'd be interested in a load at £30 ton. For chipping.

A55 Holyhead Road from M6 I think

Respect

no 1 reduces the chances of no2 happening i got pictures off net

Been there! Not nice. Mine was over some ash rails, they did'nt break, spent 6 weeks in traction with a broken hip/pelvis.

We feed all year round as well, had a hell of a selection, yesterday. Blue, Great Tits, Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Chaffinch, Long tailed tits, Robin, Blackbirds, Wrens, Woodpecker, Sparrow, Nuthatch, even a couple of Fieldfare's. And a couple of cock pheasants, who will now be on the menu later in the week.

Should add, well away from the shooting coverts, so fair game in my book.

I feel much encouraged by your comments guys.

 

We have 3 Ha of woodland but a lot of it is on slopes that make extraction nigh on impossible.

 

The previous owner has driven in wide pathways - wide enough for a tractor which helps a great deal.

 

I'm 59 pretty fit and getting fitter by the day. I'm early-retired so I'm priviledged that I don't have to do a "proper" job anymore The weather here generally does make the work more enjoyable, although the last week or so has been a bit rubbish and very wet. Of course sooner or later my body will give up on me but until then as has been said I'm in a green gym.

 

Apart from providing us with 'free' firewood I'm checking out the woodland management aspects of the Forum so I improve the woods as I go.

When you say "nigh on impossible", I am assuming you are talking about uphill extraction. Two things, can you make a path out along the bottom of the slope, if so, extract downhill, then out, also, a simple pulley block, and rope will halve the effort needed to pull anything. Anyway, good on you!

He ordered 2 bags of baby carrots!!!!:lol:

 

Brilliant!

Is that right, always thought they were just ordering a Big M for themselves, even funnier now!

Jotul is another good make, up besides Morso, get on the bay, you will certainly find a good second hand one there.

Like that, good link

Our Nige is getting through The Street birds from the Audrey downwards. There is also the hope of some girl on girl stuff soon.

Crikey it's moved on a bit, I can remember Ken Barlows first wife getting electrocuted, don't think lesbians had been invented then.

Jesus, there's a panto on telly now, since when has Nigel Havers been in Corination Street, what happened to Albert Tatlock and Ena Sharples

Watching it now! Derail I know, but anyone watch the new David Attenborough series on Africa, Wednesday night absolutely fantastic.

I have given him a email and I found the articles very useful on his website, think I am going to do a course of some description to learn about the techniques needed, maybe a weekend course to start and then see if I feel I need to do more.Given the BHL a email to find out about courses.

 

What a beautiful mare she is stunning, I would love to know a bit more about her! This might sound like a daft question but do they 'fit' in a standard horse trailer or do they need some adaption for large bottoms?

They fit in a standard trailer ok, you also have a PM

Thank you, I shall give him a email, his website is very helpful!

 

Do I really need a training course! I mean I have ridden from being very young and also driven horses! I understand that the horse must get used to the sound of the chains/equipment behind it and pulling weight but surely like anything with any horse it is a case of building trust and introducing them to it over a period of time, making it fun to them as all horses (apart from the lazy plods who need some convincing) love to work.

 

I would be very interested in hearing of that mare you have.

I was riding horses about 30hrs a week for 27yrs, and yet found it very frustrating when driving from the ground, it is a different ball game.

If you only go for one day with Simon, you will benefit from it, I would not recommend anyone else.

If you wish to see the mare, click on the facebook link below my post, you will see pictures of her, she is called Leonne.

I have never known a horse that can start the saw yet.

Horses extract timber, they don't fell it!

I have a few questions that I can't seem to find the answers to and was wondering if there are any horse loggers on here?

 

I have been looking at different breeds! Dales ponies seem to pop up ever so often as a popular choice and heavy weight cobs (around 15hh) seem to be good as you get a good horse for considerably less money than pure heavy horse breeds. Then there is the Ardennes (belgain draft?)! The perfect breed for the job but trying to get a hold of one or finding a dealer/breeder is like trying to get hold of unicorn poop! Does anyone know of any breeders/dealers/importers over here? Where did you purchase yours?

 

Where do you source your tack? and what is the cost?

 

I was wondering how complicated the training of the horses really is! I am presuming it is just a case of training the horse to accept the movement of a log behind it and getting it used to the tack and also teaching words like "walk on", "stand", "steady" etc etc and teaching the horse to use it's brain

 

I am not looking to make a huge profit in horse logging, more of a small profit making hobby (I have mentioned that I was thinking of doing it to friends and they have already expressed a interest in using the horse) as I have been around horses since a child and want to help keep this tradition alive.

 

 

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

Contact Simon Lenihan of Celtic Horse Logging, he can tell you all about The Ardennes, and gives training courses. Celtic Horse Logging | horse logging contractors | - Celtic Horse Logging

Also, I might have a Ardennes mare for sale.

Looks like it was a pulling competition, and I'm guessing it was Austria, as they had some Noriker horses pulling.

I personally would'nt want to do this as it get's your horses fairly revved up! If you then take them into the wood to work you have got a real handful.

A good horse works carefully, listens to you, and gives you the power when you ask for it.

£40,000 approx for a new 820 and up to 400 m runs for high end outputs, as the pay load is 2 tonne longer runs than 400m will reduce out puts. also important to present timber well for forwarding. typical extraction costs per tonne range from around £3.50-£10 per tonne. don't get me wrong i think horse logging is a good way to remove timber we had a few shires on our farm and enjoyed using them, i have also worked on site with horse extraction and for short hauls they work well. the only problem is commercially the cost of extraction. to make timber commercially viable without off setting with subsidy or grants the harvesting operations should at least cover its own cost and should look to make the owner a profit. the cheapest option would always be mechanical harvesting and extraction, with larger machines with costs around or sub £10 peer tonne to roadside. typical new investment costs of £250k plus for a harvester and £160k plus for a forwarder, these produce high outputs, but as large scale forestry is dying in the UK they tend to have to work for less and less and for longer hours to make the payments, i know as i own a valmet 901 harvester. its by no means new, but it still takes a lot of paying for. larger machines can sometimes be hard on the ground, which may ask the question by owners what other methods of extraction are available. i use an altsor for my delicate or difficult sites as it offers me a good solution to many of the issues that i encounter. yes it is not a cheap option but no new machines. You can never compare second hand prices with new. Also a company that produce 50 machines a year would have a higher unit cost that say a company that produce a 1000.

 

Also another factor is how much need s to be felled or extracted per day. If its a small amount then a powered wheeled barrow might be a solution to some people or at the other end of the scale a 20 tonne class forwarder may only just keep up with a hgigh out put harvester. there is a massive skill shortage of good forestry cutters, with a decline reaching back now over 20 years. production forestry is a dying art and is hard work with very little good operators wanting to enter this career. there are clots of folks working at it part time, but a lot have the timber costs off set by trust or organisations. there's room for all kinds of working methods in forestry some better than others and some more sensitive. surely the aim is to do a good job and try and make a little money in one of the hardest jobs in the world

The opening post states that the owner of the woodland concerned could be better off to the tune of £300,000. If that is'nt profit I don't what is. The figures were compiled by Dr Adam Watson, he is a scientist not a forester, he is impartial as to the profits/losses incurrred, his main concern is the effect modern forestry is having on the area where he has lived all his life, ie The Cairngorms.

Well if its tricky extraction and you need high outputs consider an Alstor, its under 5' wide and can move between 30-60 tonnes per day to roadside, ( WITH A GOOD OPERATOR). i know i'm biased as i have been operating these for 15 years now, but for its size there's nothing else to compete at the present, it also makes a lot less mess than the completion including the old horses with a psi foot print of 4 to 1.5 psi. you can also lift logs of over half a tonne so 5m saw logs, then put it on a trailer and take it home. if you need a winch we now fit a hydraulic one to the loader with a remote control and 35m of cable to get to those hard to reach places

At £50,000 you need to keep it very busy and it would have to be a VERY short extraction to get 60 tonne to roadside.

would extraction via winch to ride and then stack with tractor make it any easier ? . only asking as im interested in your thoughts and findings .

As someone has said above, each site will be specific. I have worked alongside a winch, pulling larch thinnings to chip and there was nothing in it, horse and I easily compared to the winch operation.

I will always try and advocate using a winch on uphill extraction, site tractor and winch above, and then use the horse to pull across or downbank to the winch line.

The above sample, (which was not cherry picked), has been produced to try and make woodland owners, foresters and agents, to consider using horses as a viable and sustainable alternative to machine methods, and proposing that selective thinning, rather than linear will produce a better yield and potentially bigger profit's over the lifetime of the crop.

Of course the other thing to consider is that the horses and operators are up to the job.