Big J
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Everything posted by Big J
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I'm very envious of the lake frontage. The woodland is presently a mess, but there is potential to tidy it up hugely and make something of it. Thinning the main crop would be my start point. It'll damage some of the regeneration and the hazel, but they can be tidied after. It'll look much better when brought back into management.
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Stunning timber. Really glad it worked out with Copford. If you are looking for a customer to take the stack off you green, I can forward contact details.
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Do they supply you with a nose weight to keep the front wheels in contact with the ground when loaded with chip?
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20 year old trees are going to be small and fiddly. Not much of a tonnage per tree. I'd offer £10/t, but on the basis that the extraction and terrain aren't silly, and that a high specification was left.
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Email sent, albeit to info@ rather than grant@ because self evidently I can't follow simple instruction! ?
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Twin axle versus tri axle trailers - pros and cons?
Big J replied to Big J's topic in Large equipment
It's pretty much untraceable unless they are looking for it, so I haven't bothered. -
Access into site isn't great, and I don't have much stacking space either. I don't think hauliers are going to want to come in just for brash. The brash is almost all going to be western red cedar, so there won't be quite as much of it as with other softwood species.
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You offering to deliver that Tom?! ?
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Thanks for all of the recommendations chaps. There isn't space to mulch really. It's one track, about 4m wide as the only access in and out for a stand where there is 1000t plus to be processed, which has to be processed on the track. The job isn't until June, so I have a bit of time to think, but I'll look out for on in the intervening time
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Yep, definitely go to Copford Sawmill with that. You stand to lose hundreds and hundreds of pounds (maybe close to £1000) to sawdust if you chainsaw mill it. Much easier to get someone else to mill it for you and a bandmill like a WM1000 is literally effortless to use, as opposed to pushing/winching a double ended set up though burr elm. Andy - the blades on a mill like a WM1000 are actually quite cheap as they are only 50mm wide.
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Veneer market is dead, so more money in planking now. It's not an exceptional log, but it is now a rare one.
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Large elm is a rare thing. Please don't chainsaw mill it. Take it to a specialist bandmill and get it cut properly. On a 40" diameter lump (like that one is, I estimate), you'll get at least an extra two boards (more like three, as you have to take thicker top slabs with chain milling). 1 board at 7ft x 36" x 2" is 3.5 cubic foot, which air dried at £40/cubic foot (a modest price for such boards) is £140. Times that by three and you've turned £420 into sawdust that you'd otherwise have in your pocket. Couple that with the fact that the most expensive contracting mills will charge you no more than £6/HF for milling (£288 for the log) and the wastage from chainsawmilling is 1.5 times as much as the cost of getting someone else to mill it for you. If it was inaccessible and milling it on site was the only way to extract it, then fair enough. But it's already at your yard.
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Twin axle versus tri axle trailers - pros and cons?
Big J replied to Big J's topic in Large equipment
I've been very happy with my tri axle. I'm glad to have the extra axle braking here on the steep hills in Devon. The forwarder that I mostly transport is by it's nature an uneven load, and the trailer handles it well. -
Twin axle versus tri axle trailers - pros and cons?
Big J replied to Big J's topic in Large equipment
Big improvement in fuel economy (about 15%) and power too. Couldn't imagine running the truck on the standard 130bhp. -
Valtra N92 with Botex roof mount crane. Running a 6t winch with it too. Antonio Carrero 3800HST alpine tractor, just for running a 3.2t Iglund winch.
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I've got a job booked for later in summer where we're going to end up with the brash from 1000t plus of softwood on an extraction track. There is nowhere to burn it, there is nowhere to windrow it and I think chipping it is the best option. Can any of you possibly recommend a PTO chipper for the job? I've got a Valtra N92 (100hp) with roofmount crane to feed it, and someone once said to me you need 7hp per inch, so I could theoretically go to 14inch, though 12inch seems more sensible. Would be handy if it had the option of producing biomass grade chip (ie, has screens).
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Bit less than that. Closer to £100, and it needs to be flawless.
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Yeah, my mistake. I thought it was the tree in the first photo. Standing dead is quite understandable. Chestnut is prone to shake in Scotland though so if it's sound, it's worth taking. Any degree of ring shake, just walk away.
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It would absolutely criminal to fell that. What is his justification?
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Heart shake is normal, to a degree. Avoid anything with star or ring shake though. It's always (and I mean ALWAYS) worse once you open up the log. The is especially true if the log has any bend in it, as it'll split along the shake with extra vigour. I'm no great fan of oak, if I'm honest.
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Just remember that with oak any defect that manifests itself at the butt will almost always be worse once the log is milled. There are rarely any nice surprises when cutting oak.
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Fairly cheap. £150 a tonne is less than £6/hoppus foot and for such small quantities, that's very reasonable. Reasonable quality oak starts at £5/hf, very good quality is £8-10.
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My phone is pretty old and I prefer proper sat navs. The Garmin I have in the Sprinter is superb. Seconds to program in an address.
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I'm looking at the Enterprise (cruise control, AC, bluetooth etc) with 130bhp, then extras such as offroad kit, rear camera (mostly for my wife), ply lining, 240v socket in the back, doors both sides, probably a metallic paint as I'll let my daughter choose the colour (thankfully they don't offer purple). I think he quoted about £16600, plus VAT (including 4 years servicing and roadside assistance) but I'm going to try to wangle satnav out of him for that. I couldn't believe how large the cab was. I've driven the old Berlingos and they were OK, but the new one is massive inside.
