Big J

Don't assume that the political right endorse the kind of fascist xenophobia that is espoused by Trump. As a teenager I used to be very left, I'm now not and would position myself right of centre (small state, low taxes, private healthcare and education are all things I support) but I also support measured multiculturalism. I am not saying that we have it right now, but closing borders and building walls (figuratively and literally) is not the right way to go.

Seriously? What planet do you live on?

A bit here and there, but it's likely to do it anyway. You can have a much bigger effect milling early in winter, stacking correctly (sticks near the ends of boards, large, tall stacks to keep boards as flat as possible) and picking decent logs. As a rule, I don't cut cherry any more. Horrible, twisty, bendy, splitty wood. Not worth the effort.

Very good! How are you getting on with the mill?

I wouldn't worry about it. Don't know of any larger scale mills that do it and I don't either. We cut over 600 elm boards in the past 3 days - would be quite an undertaking to seal them all!

Very sorry to hear that - that is a big haul.

Stupidly busy. Struggling to find time to get stock cut or do jobs at the yard that have needed doing for months. Been very busy on timber harvesting/selling, but the milling has still been pretty steady. Lot of work going forwards too, that will take us to mid summer I expect. At that point where I need to step back a smidge and delegate, but as a self confessed control freak, I'm struggling!

I use a HIAB that would have lifted that 16m. It's a long wheelbase artic unit with a 15ft flatbed on the back. They charge me £58 an hour. It's pointless moaning as I presume it's milled now. I'm just trying to illustrate that there are usually ways of getting these things done.

What was the distance from the nearest road/hard standing? James - I could have milled that on my mill. There are a great many more wide cutting mills around than you would think. Lot of old Stenners that cut big. Also, Arbtalk member Youcallthatbig is on the Norfolk/Suffolk border and has an Autotrek that could have cut it.

Why is it being chainsaw milled? Surely an effort could have been made to get it out whole and then band milled. So wasteful. A 5ft butt (which that looked to be) cut at 50mm with a chainsaw mill wastes at least 4 extra boards to sawdust, not taking into account the thicker top and bottom cuts required for chainsaw milling. Gutted it's been felled, disappointed that it hasn't been milled to it's full potential.

You need to be more specific. This is a topic that books could be written on, and also varies wildly according to time of year, market conditions and location within the country. Elm for instance - I've had logs that I've struggled to sell at £24 a tonne and other logs that have made over £1000 a tonne. It varies that much.

It's been raised many times. By me on several occasions! I'd happily pay to have an increased inbox size. Basically cannot be bothered with the fuss of moving them, and I'd hazard a guess than nobody else can either!

I bought a barely use (63hrs) ex-standby generator for mine. 50KVA (which is only just large enough - on colder mornings, the first time I fire up the main motor is stalls the generator), silent running with a Perkins engine. Early 1990s, but as I said, barely used. Cost £4500 plus VAT. Also used almost no fuel - gets through 200 litres of diesel for about 125-150 tonnes of timber. That's £70 or a 50 pence a tonne/2 pence per cubic foot. Compared to the Logmaster (which as 15 litres of petrol for an average day, where I'd cut about 200 hoppus/7.5t - that's a cost of £2.10 a tonne) it's saving me about £2000 a year in fuel (as well as the repeated trips to the petrol station). The blade sharpening equipment has saved me a fortune too. Sharpener and setter cost £1750 together. Have done perhaps 120 odd sharpens, which at £12 a go (which is what I used to pay) means the machines are already almost paid for. Also getting much better results sharpening my own blades as well as having had no band breakages (some blades have been sharpened more than 15 times). I'd certainly recommend a trip up to Biskupiec to see the Trak Met factory. Anna is lovely and looks after you well. The area is very pretty (a lake district of sorts) and everything is incredibly cheap. Just give me a bell if you want any further information.

I actually cannot remember if board drag back is standard. I think it is, and if it's not, it's not expensive. Fantastically useful. I also have twin powered rollers, which are great for moving cants up and down the mill and powering off the final beam/board. The hydraulics are worth every penny. Even if you think you won't use them, I guarantee that you will. Also worth fitting an uprated motor for your reclaimed timber, which will be hard and dry. I'm on 30kw and there are still times it is slowed by hard/dry timber. Pratting around this morning clearing sycamore/elm before new loads come in this morning we did about 4.5 cubic metres cut to 45mm in 3 hrs.

The new Navara you have Steve certainly looks smart, but I do hope that you have the same incredible luck with it that you had with your previous ones. Even the head mechanic at the local Nissan main dealer said they weren't well built. Mine is now finally gone (and has ended up in Zimbabwe as a hire truck) but not without stinging the new owner to the tune of just over £2000. Apparently some sensor failed and something melted - couldn't quite grasp what it was, but it sounded bloody expensive. Without a doubt the worst vehicle I've ever owned. I question how good pickups really are for general arb work - too cramped and small for carrying decent amounts of kit, not great for towing due to high first gears and reverse and the long rear overhang and most of the new ones look like they'd be more at home in Chelsea than a work site. If I did more off roading, I'd have a 4x4 Sprinter for work. As I don't, I have a Disco 4 for those odd off road moments and a Citroen Relay (which is awesome - returns nearly 40mpg unloaded and driven sensibly, as well as being reliable, comfortable, cavernous inside and extremely cheap to own - £18.5k plus VAT for the new one that is coming with almost every extra on it) for everything else. In Europe, it's only the UK that has a love affair with pickups. You don't see many on the continent.

Very good overall. Heavily built, works well and is fast. It's saved me a fortune in petrol costs over my previous mill, as well as sharpening. The blades supplied could be better, and whilst the cut performance isn't 100% they last forever (some are on over 15 sharpens and sets) and cost buttons (£18 and that's for a longer blade for the wide throat). The wide throat hugely speeds up large log breakdown - did two large sycamore logs at 45mm in an hour today. About 80 odd hoppus foot. Weaker points, if I were to nit pick are: * Block guides - would prefer deflected rollers. They need adjusting every couple of weeks for alignment and wear. * Hydraulics are very fast but could be a touch stronger for the largest logs. Once you get over 2.5 tonnes with an awkward shape, you start to have to think about the whole operation. * Head movements could be a bit quicker (up/down and forward back) - I'd be inclined to specify a 50% increase in speed next time. That's pretty much it. Fundamentally, it's a big, solid mill with quite a lot of toys. The board drag back is great, the twin chain turners are very handy and the 30kw motor powers through anything. It's about 50% quicker per cubic metre than a Woodmizer, costs a lot less and can cut a board that is 18 inches wider. No brainer really. I would strongly recommend the 800 over the 600 as it's more heavily built, has larger band wheels and a few other extras. Worth the money.

It is worth considering purchasing the machines to do the sharpening and setting yourself. We got them with the new mill in October and haven't looked back. The blades cut more consistently (despite the fact that I'm still not 100% on it) and it's saved me a fortune. Probably at about 150 sharpens so far, which has saved me £1800 compared to using the local saw doctors (the cost of the machines has been covered). Also lets you take a somewhat laissez faire attitude towards metal in wood.

We're just about to do this ourselves for our chip stacks. We've at least 50-60 tonnes stacked at the moment and it needs to go!

Good! Though I've barely used it yet as we've been so busy felling elm up north. It is quick and powerful though, with very little jamming it, even on the 8 way wedge. Looking forward to actually getting a chance to use it a bit more when I get back to a more normal routine, but in all likelihood, it won't ever be me using it, but rather one of the guys.

2011. It broke down again not long after I sold it too. I always had BF Goodrich A/T tyres on it, and I'm reasonably competent off road. The one and only time I got stuck in it was entirely my own fault. The van is mostly rubbish off road, though good in the snow. I got stuck on my front lawn (which is admittedly quite soft after rain) earlier in the week in the van and had to tow myself out! I would have gotten out fine had it not been for trying to reverse the trailer off the lawn. Anyway, more 4x4 vans please van manufacturers!

I honestly don't know. I used to have a Navara, which was awful. Crap on fuel, uncomfortable, cramped, couldn't carry much, didn't tow well and was terribly unreliable. Pretty good off road though, I'll admit. I now have a Citroen relay van. 26k trouble free miles (34k on clock). I can carry a tracked chipper in the back, it's quiet, much more comfortable, more spacious, better on fuel and tows brilliantly (albeit slowly, with only 130hp). Not great off road but new one next month with 'all road' kit should be better. I think if van manufacturers were more switched on to 4x4 vans, we'd leave the pickups behind. You don't see many on the continent at all - they are only popular here due to the tax incentives.

Really pleased that you got it back. Great result!

A ten foot container won't be particularly heavy, nor will it be difficult to strap down. Just put a lot of straps on it. Where is it? If it's on my route north I could possibly pop it on the trailer assuming there is something to load it.

Kranman do a Pro series option on the 10000 with everything beefed up. It would be something I would check though.

That is certainly an impressive improvement over the original. I admit, my experience is only with the original and I shall reconsider the 821 in light of the improvements. Still a lot of money though!