Pine Marten

Totally agree with the comments - that's why I posted. Dried long enough you can burn about anything and given the current demand for firewood here in Mid Wales that's exactly what people are doing. btw my favourite firewood has always been birch!

(thought to share!) The Firewood Poem Beechwood fires are bright and clear If the logs are kept a year, Chestnut's only good they say, If for logs 'tis laid away. Make a fire of Elder tree, Death within your house will be; But ash new or ash old, Is fit for a queen with crown of gold Birch and fir logs burn too fast Blaze up bright and do not last, it is by the Irish said Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread. Elm wood burns like churchyard mould, E'en the very flames are cold But ash green or ash brown Is fit for a queen with golden crown Poplar gives a bitter smoke, Fills your eyes and makes you choke, Apple wood will scent your room Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom Oaken logs, if dry and old keep away the winter's cold But ash wet or ash dry a king shall warm his slippers by.

I'm in! Great works guys again this year for a terrific cause Well done and good luck to all Cheers

Bit of a long shot but we (National Trust - Pembrokeshire) had our grapple of our new Palm 470 forwarding trailer stolen sometime around the 23rd March 2010. If anyone has been offered such an item for sale or has any information then I'd be grateful to hear thanks PM

Hi Ross Yes that's the accepted method, certainly was in my Forest Service NI years! 2500 stems/ha at 20 years? 100% take on the initial stocking of 2m x 2m (10,000m2 / 2m x 2m = 2500stem/ha) Blimey you guys are really good!!!! LOL! 1700-1800 would be closer to the truth IMO. BTS You probably want to bang in a few inventory plots. Personally I would get my hands on FC Booklet 39 Forest Mensuration and use the worked example detailed on page 110 as the basis of your calculations. Its not as daunting as it sounds and mixes circular plots (5.6m radius = 0.01ha) and top heights to obtain a tariff number obtained by species on table 11. (As long as the crop is not that variable!) Relascope work in 20 year old conifer is nigh on impossible in my experience, but heh, knock yourself out! cheers PM

Positively hypothermic! :lol: 3 dogs, I think its too small for rotational plots, and probably unnecessary with the client in question.

Thanks Brushcutter and 3dogs, the client has traditionally taken out 7 tonnes per annum (firewood personal use) since 1992 across the site, I'm simply trying to formalise this methodology into something coherent for the FC. The management seems a bit ad hoc, but looking at the site they don't appear to have damaged the long term sustainability.

Cheers SMG I've just dusted down my old copy of FC Bulletin 62 'Silviculture of Broadleaved Woodlands' and it quotes 6 - 10 years to get material to 6-8m tall and 7-10cm diameter. Seems a bit hopeful TBH Just as an aside I'm starting a new job in your part of the world soon!

I have a client with a mixed woodland of about 3 ha. The client has traditionally taken out 7 tonnes per annum through poaching timber here or there. He now wants some management and I have suggested 're-coppicing' in line with the grant scheme with the goal of removing sycamore and beech, marking final quality oak and ash trees and working around them, effectively a coppice with standards. The question I have is given the mixed species composition Oak/Ash/Sycamore/Beech/Hazel/ etc and the wide age classes represented in the stand what would be a reasonable firewood rotation length? My guess is 7 years + but open to bidders! Coppiced firewood will also be a mixture of species Cheers PM

In a word WD40.......but obviously don't try this at home....

Richy Basically what Charlie says, look into / speak to local FC Officer and see if they will subsidise the operation as part of the EWGS. The public value in this will be the creation / restoration of native woodland. See this Forestry Commission - Woodland Management Grant The above will allow you access to the WMG Calculator 2009. This may allow you a range of operational options such as Timber felling, trimming and crosscutting in uneconomic woodlands and extraction as well as subsequent site prep etc. Economic or not its worth a look cheers PM

Once you've gone through the excellent advice above take a look at the FC (Wales) Woodland Improvement Grant (WIG) Calculator page. It give indicative values for forest operations including average roading costs Forestry Commission Wales - BWW - Calculating WIG

:lol: That's me! Always the optimist!!

I'm yet to measure it all but it appears to be decent quality 45 year old DF - will stick in a view plots and top heights next week when I'm passing that way. Thinking about it (and seeing your avatar) I'm wondering about adding value through milling? At guess I would say your looking at around a cube a tree

Hi all I've been asked to look at a 5ha block of Douglas Fir as part of a bigger grant application with a view to felling. A part from encouraging the landowner to keep stock out of the woods before or after felling I'm currently looking for ideas of current fell and extract prices. Its a decent site with good access on a slight slope so I don't forsee too many problems - my guess is about £7/tonne but open to ideas? Also has anyone got an idea of current Douglas Fir prices either standing or roadside? Will make enquiries later today elsewhere but thought I'd ask here first. Cheers