growforest

Meindl Waldlaufers with a good number of coats of Cactus Clothing Wax from NZ. They need several coats rubbed in or let in with hairdryer. It's an evening-in-front-of-the-fire job. Keep putting it on until no more will go in. Then you can slop about in any old muck and slush in comfort while your wellie-wearers are hobbling about. Clean 'em well too, and reapply often. Oh, and have two pairs to wear on alternate days. Oh, and wash 'em out inside too, or the liner gets clogged with dirt. If you've any time left, you might get a bit of felling in.

Get a licence from FC for the felling. Should be straightforward. You may get some help and advice with a management plan for the wider site if it's big enough. Looks like 30+ sitka from here. Good luck.

Do the NPTC. There's one or two chaps on here sell / repair / deal in S/H saws. Save the planet from more saw-building waste and buy an old 'n. I'd recommend Spudulike for a good deal, but others are out there.

If you have trees, training providers are sometimes looking for stuff to work on when running a course. You may be able to get the training at your place, provide trees, teas etc and get a healthy discount + free felling (only a few stumps to tidy up etc...) Good luck. PS I'd go for Stihl. You can get a Husqvarna when you get good with the Stihl.

This place never ceases to amaze me. It's like a giant Hive Mind, ready to go to work on any given subject. Ask a question and sit back. Go off and chop some firewood, eat your dinner, have a kip. Come back and the job's done. Brilliant. I could even come on here in a right state, chewing my last stale crust and get psychoanalysed enough that I would be running a major multinational by Wednesday week. Hey, that Stein job is good but it's not a wheelbarrow. It's a trolley. Trust the French to corner the barrow hearts and minds of this great nation. Where are our great stampers-out of wheelbarrows? I didn't know I wanted to sit for an hour and read the history of the Chinese wheelbarrow until today. That three-foot wheel just isn't going to catch on. But maybe a barrow with a sail...? Keep your thoughts coming: you know you have things you want to add. Don't feel it's not important. You've read this far! Let's have pictures of your barrows at work. Let's see them grafting, earning their price tag.

In a world where we can choose between thirty-six superb chainsaws, a myriad of ascenders, bags and bags of wondrous climbing ropes, harnesses, slings, spikes, boots, tipper trucks, mogs, MEWPs, chippers and grinders, has anyone come across The Holy Grail? A decent wheelbarrow. One in the shed with a flat tyre. Check. One with a solid tyre rusted to crumbs. Check. Two piled up ready for the scrap man. Yep. One with logs in, slow puncture, squeaky wheel. Right. Several inner tubes, cracked tyres, bent frames. Nothing you'd say actually does the job, hassle free. I've been waiting to post a real burner of a thread. Will this be my chance? You got a barrow to be proud of? I'm talking: lasts more than a year; doesn't fall apart when looked at sideways; does all you ask of it, comes back wanting more. If so, let's see evidence, brand, price, pictures, maintenance schedules, tips and wrinkles. Over to you.

I've used winter tyres all year round on road cars, vans and pick ups and they're fine. Maybe a bit noisier, but hard-wearing if you buy a decent brand and no noticeable increase in fuel use.

Root trimming always the way to go. Done a lot of thorn and guelder in my time, and we always trim the roots. Beware compacting the bottom of the planting slot too with a too-heavy spade, or smearing clay soil. You want the planting tool to crumb the soil up so it can settle back in around the roots when you tread in. Planting can be profitable if you put in long days, and buy quality plants. As with anything, prep is the key. Weed-free, know the ground, should make some profit. On good ground, a treaded rabbiting spade works well. Schlich on harder going - but you'll know the next day. Cell-grown are expensive, but good for forest replants - best off with a corer, as said. Alba Trees have all the gear.

You want a butylene sealant. Others are inferior on aluminium. I know your pain - spent 2 years contracting from a 12'6" two berth. Ugggh:confused1:

Nice. Good family business feel I'd bin the flash for html so your customer isn't waiting, and tell us more about where you are. Maybe make the font on body text same size and type across all pages for it to run super-smooth. And a bit more about you and the lads too.

ATB mate - little one in my avatar got killed on road in October. Really gutting experience. Move on, learn, enjoy the day.

Get some bike rollers. Saves having a dumb bike stood taking up room. Use your road bike on them. Good for core balance and exercise.

You said it yourself - you need some better fencing. If you're going to keep hens where there are foxes, get some decent weld-mesh. Trap this one and kill him. It's getting cold and there'll be others on the move right now. Get fenced, get some electric wires up, but don't blame Charlie.

Like they said. The other key point to a good hot fire is the size of the gaps between the logs. You'll learn this through experience (I got a much bigger stove thinking I could chuck in vast chunks of roundwood, but it doesn't work like that), but smaller dry logs with the right gaps will save lots of time and keep the house warm. You'll be so hot you'll have to invest in a stove fan to move all the air to other rooms. Get some way to check stove temperature too (a cheapo oven thermo is ok if there's somewhere to jam it tight to the pipe, or invest in a magnetic one). Really handy to make sure you're burning efficiently.

Sorry. I think I said "a beer", though. Not "get wasted". Hey, your brush is out. It's Monday tomorrow. Another week full of surprises.

Nib, now 17 weeks.

Put your feet up and have a beer. You've missed "Take Me Out" though.

I've used them and found to be very good. Not much movement on book prices, but knowledgeable about their product, and helpful. Build quality of gear is good too.

don't suppose he ever forgot one while on the fire and got on with felling till he felt like tea at about four-ish, only to find a puddle of aluminium where the kettle once was? No, me neither....

At least you had the decency to admit that you were wrong to diss the kk.... I blew one up once on a very hot pine fire. Cork stuck tight. We retreated until it burst at the seams. Nice bang to go with it! Welcome to the kk clan (that can't be right?)

Zassenhaus make fine grinders - got mine off the bay for about 30 notes or 90 new. As said, invest rest in a good load of beans, and get a gold filter and funnel. Water at 90 degrees. Splash. Settle. Pour. Wait. Drink, etc.

http://www.tatonka.com/Products/Backpacks-and-Bags/Trekking/Lastenkraxe/1130 You can strap a deer to this thing and haul it out. Strong enough for any gear you're likely to carry - if you can get it anywhere to its limited weight you're one strong dude and should be able to fit a 440 behind each ear.

I've a feeling there's loads of posts on boots somewhere here. Had Meindl Waldlaufers for ages and they're great, if a bit heavy. Good leather and no fancy extras. Do the job. You need to invest in some proper waterproof wax to treat the leather, even with a waterproof lining, for that "feet in mush all day" protection you need. Try NZ Waterwax from Cactus Clothing - Meindl tell me it's OK. 'Bout £6 a tub. I've had Altberg Veldhog for years and they're brilliant boots - again, wax them well (e.g. heated wax rubbed in and warmed with wife's hair-dryer until you can't make any more layers soak in). Brilliant comfy fit off the peg for regular sizes, and can get tailor-made if you come into money. Cheap boots are cheap, right?

Checked in and am a little bit disappointed it's all been solved. I reckon someone's been on Google translate and misspelled "brake" - its "frein de chaine de tronconneuse" I believe. Bonne chance!

Don't know if I'll sleep tonight. This is better than The Archers:thumbup1: So exciting. Will the Man from France respond? Is it the brake band or some lump of plastic that's holding him back from logging? Find out next time...