Big J

Tra la la la laaaaa, the sewage drain to the septic tank is mostly blocked. Shit. Literally. Any festive tips on DIY solutions? I shudder to think of the call out charges for professional on Christmas day. It's oozing a bit from the cover on the drive, and removal of the cover and prodding with a hoe (I can't think of a less attractive use of that phrase) yielded no joy. I poured half a litre of washing powder in and closed the cover up again. Have to leave the cover on as it prevents any solids from escaping. The liquid I'm flushing away with the hosepipe onto the lawn and it's manageable. It would happen on Christmas eve, when we've folk staying so there is more pressure on the system than usual.

The advantage of having the hydraulics is that you present the log with the forklift to the point where the hydraulics can get a hold of it. You don't have to final position it with whatever it is that you are loading with. It's really easy to damage even a very robust mill loading. I bent a backstop on my Trakmet with a 4 tonne beech log. It's easily done.

Quite possibly. It's been a while since I had a mobile mill but even the (much heavier) Woodmizers aren't that rigid.

I guess that it's more of an issue with larger logs and hydraulics, but one roughly loaded log on a mill that isn't bolted down can knock it right out of alignment. Trailed mills are more of an issue to keep straight. Regular checking of jacks and levels. It's annoying!

Yeah, the shear pin did not shear! A kill switch would be really handy.

Better with concrete, bed rails bolted to it. There is no substitute.

I didn't even have that luxury. I went to the factory in Poland, saw some of the machines and ordered on spec. Mostly fine, though some teething issues

I had the first Trakmet machine in the UK, I believe. Before the dealership in Hereford was set up. They are good machines. Not great, but good. Solidly built and will last a lifetime, as well as being good value for money. From a design point of view they aren't that clever (having worked with a Serra sawmill the other day, that is apparent) and the engineering precision isn't amazing. But, you get what you pay for and I was generally happy with all my machines. We had a sawmill, log deck, frame sawmill, firewood processor with log deck and edger. Only the edger was substandard.

What was funny about the v twin Kohler I had on the sawmill before it was replaced under warranty was that it belched black smoke regularly. For quite a while after, there was a coating of black soot on the roof of the sawmill shed. Not a clean engine at all. I just like the convenience of red diesel. I have a diesel tank at home, I fill the cans as required, I know I don't have to go to a petrol station to top up, and it's much, much cheaper.

Generally speaking, there are no bad dogs, just bad owners. If your dog has issues with livestock and you want to let them off the lead, don't take them somewhere with sodding livestock. If your dog has recall issues, train them until them don't. If can't train your dog, don't have a dog. You're failing in your responsibility as a dog owner otherwise. Not all dogs train as easily as others, and I appreciate that. We've a cracking little collie cross called Katie who is 100% reliable with livestock to the point where on a job earlier this year, she was walking to heel to the forwarder as we crossed a field with sheep. The sheep were completely disinterested in her, so often Katie would pass 8-10ft from the ewes without either batting an eyelid. She also puts up with our 1 year old sitting on her amongst and is generally a total doddle to look after. Either way, I'm glad your friend was released without charge.

You're asking the half German if he keeps track of the figures?! ? I get between 6 and 7 hours running time on a 15 litre tank (albeit, I refill just before it's empty). I just can't see the benefit of petrols in regularly used plant machinery. The running costs are so much higher, as well as all the issues with fuel storage.

People have been committed to the nuthouse for less than that. Total insanity.

That's high fuel consumption. I work my forwarder a bit harder now than when I first got it (just have it at higher revs) and my 44hp turbo diesel uses 2-2.5 litres per hour.

Which of Santa's reindeer makes the best kebab? Donner

I had a TTS800 standard mill when I was in Scotland (until July). 10.5m length capacity, 1.4m diameter capacity, 1.1m cut. Full hydraulics and about half the price of an Woodmizer LT40.

Looking at generators on eBay, you'll get one that'll run the little Trak met mill for about £1200. Worth considering as you'll save £10-20 per sawmilling day in fuel and it's very much more pleasant to use an electric mill with the power source a little way away (no fumes or noise).

If you have access to 3 phase power, I'd recommend the little manual Trak met sawmills. They are much, much more heavily built than anything else at that price point, but the 3 phase supply issues are the main hurdle. A diesel 3ph generator will be much cheaper to run than a petrol v twin in the long term though.

Most of these little bandsaw mills benefit from having a secondary bed underneath the rails that they are supplied with. Something your local smithy can make up for you.

Love is like a fart. If you have to force it, it's probably shit.

They aren't good. The Logmaster LM2 sawmill that I had with the 38hp V twin would quite easily use 25 litres of petrol on a standard day's cutting. 30 on a long day. I replaced that with the Trakmet TTS800 sawmill running it off a 50KVA Perkins generator. It used 3 litres per machine hour, and you struggled to do more than 6 machine hours a day when you included the stacking, loading the log deck and everything else. And that sawmill had a 30kw/40hp main motor. So despite increasing my cutting capacity, cutting speed and adding additional tools (more hydraulics, hydraulic log deck too) I reduced my fuel bill from £31-38 a day to £11-12.

I've asked for no presents this year unless I specifically ask for it. I've got too much stuff as it is, and if I want something, I generally buy it (within reason, of course. The gold plated Unimog is a way off yet). Same for the kids. If they need it and it's warranted. They've way too many toys already. I don't understand why people go so far as to put themselves in financial difficulties over Christmas. They were talking about it on Call you and yours on R4 the other day. Madness.

It's almost the case for us too. Given that we only seem to live in old, uninsulated houses (which is amusing for my wife, as a green design specialist architect), the fire is still on, but we're letting it die down to almost nothing before restoking it.

That's good to know, but considering how inefficient petrols are, that's a day's work with my forwarder. So 30x £1.20 is £36, versus 20 litres of red diesel which is £13. Almost tripling my daily costs. On my next job, where I reckon I'll be on site for 60 odd days, it'd cost me an extra £1380, plus the hassle of having to go to the petrol station every day. Also, in summer, I tend to stay on site, so 100l of diesel brought with me would last all week. Not possible with petrol.

One of the main issues for petrol engines on plant in the UK is the law regarding transportation of petrol. It's only supposed to be 2x5l cans in your vehicle and no more. I also don't like the stench of petrol in the truck, the fact they expand like balloons in warm weather, the cost and the fuel economy. I had a Kohler 38hp v twin on a sawmill from a few years back and the engine had to be replaced under warranty. It was loud and obnoxious too compared to a diesel.

Well that makes sense!