Big J

I generally enjoy work, but don't like to do the same thing for too long or I get bored. Hence the switch from sawmilling back to forestry. Money is honestly my main motivator. I started out with an old Stihl 044 with a second hand chainsaw mill, a shitty old LDV tipper and about £200 in my bank. It's been an uphill struggle since then but I'm doing better now for it. I financially support my family, and without me going out, there is no money. I like the structure of big jobs. I work best in the company of others as they motivate me and I like to think I motivate them. I hate faff and don't deal with frustration well. Like Stephen Blair, I love a good repetitive (skilled) task that I can get my teeth stuck into and I'm very number (obsessive?) driven and like to set myself targets to work to and beat. Forwarding fits in well with that. The weather kills my motivation, but interestingly less so in the woods than at the sawmill. A forest in the pissing rain is an infinitely more pleasant place than a sawmill. I think it's important not to measure yourself by others, and understand that what makes one person happy won't necessarily work for you. Equally, what motivates you might not motivate another. We're all individuals......... .......( I'm not!)

I'm possibly at the stage of needing to increase my capabilities with forestry work locally, and I'm investigating 5 tonne class forwarders and tractors. I did my medium trees ticket today and was chatting with the assessor about it, and he recommended considering a tractor and trailer as an alternative due to the versatility of them. There is a locally available 2010 Valtra N92, fully guarded, 6m Botex roof mounted crane with 9t steering drawbar trailer with disc brakes. There is also a 6t winch that could go with it. It's done just over 3000 hours but it's completely pristine. Looks like it's barely ever set foot in the woods and my understanding is that it's mainly been used as a yard tractor for a firewood business and for tree surgery too. Does anyone here have experience with them, good or bad? Sensible to consider as an alternative to a 5 tonne class forwarder? Am I just trying to bankrupt myself?!

I would concur

Only an American pickup I think.

Are you married to the idea of a Husky? I ask only as a Makita/Dolmar EA7900 on a 20" bar would pull nicely.

Renewable Heat Incentive - it's the driving force behind the adoption of biomass systems providing mainly heat and occasionally power. It's widely abused, with much of the heat being wasted as you're only paid for the KW you use, not what you produce. So there is an incentive to waste it. I remember hearing second hand that a large scale RHI plant had said that chipwood prices could reach £100/t and they'd still be profitable. I can't source that quote, nor remember who said it to me though. To look at why firewood is expensive in the UK (and therefor why imported timber is commercially viable) you have to understand that there isn't enough hardwood firewood to supply demand. Logic would dictate that then you try to build the softwood market as it's more abundant, and let's face it, we'd all rather process softwood as hardwood takes three times as long. However, the softwood market is now so artificially inflated due to RHI that it's not a viable alternative so it redoubles the pressure on the hardwood, and as such opens the door for imports. Just in the past three years, I've watched chipwood in Central Scotland go from an average of £28/t roadside to over £45/t. That rise could not have happened without RHI, which is a scheme that we are all paying for through our taxes.

I would venture that the main reason that imported logs are commercially viable is that the UK firewood market is having to compete with the RHI market. Given that the vast bulk of the log market is not RHI subsidised, it means that the customers buying our logs are doing so out of their own pocket. Contrast that with the fact that much of the roadside timber, hard and soft, goes to biomass now, you get an idea of why our raw material costs have increased. Increased cost of local production combined with what is a consistent and quality product available overseas means that there is a gap in the market for imported timber. I'd like to think that more of the log production will be brought back onto home shores if Brexit happens, but then I'd like to think that that would happen regardless. Importing fuel that is effectively growing next door seems daft to me. But then I can't talk. I'm sending a lorry load of sawn ash from Devon to Scotland next week and they've got plenty of ash up there! ?

Hard to know what to recommend. I'm considering a Ranger as a second work/family vehicle but I'm not sure. The fuel economy isn't good and the Bi-tdi Amarok with 258bhp is rather appealing. But then I tow all the time so the power is more of an issue for me. Being more familiar with your part of the world now (as you are about 10 miles away from us as the crow flies) I'd have thought something with a narrow footprint and ideally the ability to see around blind corners would be what's you'd need on your nutty Devon lanes! ?

Never had any issues starting a DCS7901/EA7900. I've had three over the years. Very odd.

I just treat an overnight burn as I do any other. Shut the vents to the point where it's burning very slowly but not smoking. I get an overnight burn mainly down to the size of the stove (20kw). I haven't cleaned the glass since we moved in 4 months ago and we're mainly on softwood.

It's outstanding as a cladding material, but it needs to be big in order to be able to get a decent usable volume of heartwood (the sapwood band is usually wide). Then you get the issue of it being oversized for almost all European machinery. We're just not geared up for it. I did do a batch of redwood cladding for a customer, but I used a chainsaw mill to break it down into 150mm thick cants, and then stood it up on the band mill for resawing. The end result wasn't perfect as the chainsawmill doesn't give the cleanest edge. It was fine though. My point is, the processing is such a pain that I'd be very surprised if the sawmill owner offered anything for it. I got my logs for free, paying only haulage.

Thanks for all the info Eddie - loads of food for thought. Any idea on rough cost for a head like that?

350mm I'd guess.

So no point on a smaller machine? I actually don't have the space in this stand for a 7.5 tonner, such is the tightness of the access and the stand itself.

I was hoping to obtain some advice with regards to an arb digger. I've a large job coming up thinning a hardwood woodland. It's not fantastically accessible, and the extraction route is long. The limiting factor for productivity is the rate at which I can extract. I cannot do anything about the distance (measured at 680m to the centre of the first block to the middle of the extraction point) so the only way I can speed it up is to improve the presentation of the timber for me to collect. If it was in a neat pile next to ride, it would reduce loading time from 10 minutes to about 3 minutes or less. Due to the terrain, we're going to have to winch/grapple skid a lot of the timber to rides where the forwarder can operate. The side slopes are the issue in this woodland. So my train of thought is that if the trees are being skidded out to a ride, then the most efficient way to process them would be with a small excavator with a grapple saw. The trees are generally very straight and whilst you'd obviously not be able to do everything with the grapple saw, you'd be able to do much of it, and be able to stack the timber ready for the forwarder. I'd thought that something like a Kubota U20 with a grapple saw (still to be determined which one) would be a valuable tool, and would speed up production in the woodland significantly. Additionally, the reduction in motor manual processing would result in less tired workers and better overall productivity on what'll be a long job. Thoughts?

The sawmill at Milverton did some last year I believe, so they may have stock

We lived just outside Edinburgh until late July when we moved to Devon. We lived there 13 years, running a sawmill for 8 and doing some forestry work too. Tricky one to say really as there are some very well established and extremely professional tree companies in the Edinburgh area. TD Trees and Frontier Forestry spring to mind. I'd always advise considering working in forestry rather than tree surgery as there is huge demand for hardworking, skilled cutters. On long days, you'll gross as much as £1000 a week, but you've no quoting, machine maintenance (apart from saws) or yard costs. You also don't have to deal with customers (a big plus) and you'll always be in work. Even if you don't plan to continue in forestry long term (and I say this not knowing anything about your experience or tickets), it's worth doing at least 6 months of production cutting as it'll give you a solid foundation for tree surgery and put you in a class above much of your competition. The best tree surgeons nearly always have forestry experience too. Good luck

Ash also isn't the quickest timber to dry, which is funny given that it starts at only 37% MC. Wider boards take much longer to dry as well.

I wouldn't bother personally. Ash is pretty prone to splitting on any log that isn't ramrod straight and whilst they might look interesting and characterful when you cut them, they are likely to let you down whilst drying. Also, I was told that due to the coarse grain of ash, it's not ideal for worktops as the muck works it's way into the grain quite easily.

Much of lack of a 362 fandom stems from the fact that is a distinctly mediocre replacement for what was a superb saw (the 361).

If you're going to step up to a 462, you'd be as well to consider a 79cc Makita too. £300 cheaper, almost the same power and weight.

I feel that there is a very good argument for taking two saws in to stands with larger trees. My two main cutters did that on my last job (90ft ash, average 350-400 DBH). 70-80cc for the felling cuts on larger trees and 50cc for snedding. Most bluntening of the chain comes on the snedding and cross cuts so having a larger, more powerful saw for the felling cuts made for quick, accurate felling and less overall sharpening. Both of the chaps averaged about 20-25 tonnes a day on that method.

I'm no fan of small Stihls. They seem numb and gutless compared to small Huskys or Dolmar/Makitas. Either go Husqvarna 560/562 or Dolmar 6100 (or the Makita equivalent). Just not the Stihl.

Just dressing well really. A couple of winters ago I spent a lot of time out fishing (and intermittently for the rest of my life) and you soon figure out your layering when you're not moving and it's below freezing. Long johns x 2, down trousers and waterproof overtrousers on the bottom half and a repetition on the top with a couple of jumpers thrown in. Nothing worse than being cold. It'll be my first winter on the forwarder this year, but I can't see it being an issue. It doesn't really get cold in Devon and the forwarder generates a bit of heat from the engine and hydraulics which takes the edge off.

What a magnificent tree. I'd love to see it left as it is, but I do understand the homeowners concerns. It's massive given it's location. A light overall prune and a little taken off the left hand stem is all I could see as being reasonable. Any more would compromise the tree and just look daft.