Big J

That sounds like a bloody close call! Glad to hear that you came out unscathed. In the event of me slipping, the chain brake goes on reasonably instinctively. However for normal operation it does slow you down clicking it on and off constantly. It you're carrying the saw by the front handle, it's not possible to engage the throttle anyway. Jonathan

Haha! If only it were that simple - my father and his sister don't really get on. I'm in Edinburgh, my aunt in the midlands and my father in France! It's just compounding my feelings that most people that have dogs probably shouldn't. Even when she was well they were overfed, underwalked and subjected to cigarette smoke. She hasn't done anything malicious, but the dogs always had a crap life. To illustrate, I car walk our dog Katie quite a bit going to and from site and around the estate on the way home from work. She does a steady 20-30mph. Ellie could only do 7mph when she came to us - she was doing 15mph by Christmas and is fitter now. She went from walking 5 minutes and lying down to walking the Eildon Hills with us (around 4-500m ascent and a 2 hour walk). It just pains me to think of her going back to that smoke filled box.

Impossible to rationalise with her unfortunately. As well as the dementia, there is an element of mental health problems too. She just doesn't understand how poor a life her dogs have had. The local field where they have occasionally been walked is a dog dirt, litter strewn quagmire, and there is nothing else. Even if she gets a dog walker, which she says she will do but invariably won't, Ellie is still cooped up in the house for 23.5 hours a day, passively smoking (the previous dog died of lung cancer aged 10) and being fed constantly with toast, chocolate and anything else she can find. Apologies for the accidental swearing in the original post - complete oversight! Because the family that have her are retired, there is someone with her all the time. She's walked 2 hours a day, around an upland reservoir on which their house sits. She's never fed rubbish and is in cracking shape. Faking the dogs death it is then!

Posting to ask a bit of advice regarding a golden retriever. My aunt has always had GRs and has always done a fairly poor job of looking after them. The previous two were always very overweight and died young. My aunts health has been failing in the last few years, and she was very unwell by October last year, so we offered to look after her present retriever (a 7 year old called Ellie). When she came to us (my father brought her up from Derby to Edinburgh), she was vastly overweight, very very unfit (unable to walk more than 5 minutes without lying down) and not really trained. We put a lot of effort in, stripped 10kg off her (she started at 42kg) and she is now very fit but for a slightly weak hip. At Christmas, my aunt was really very unwell indeed, and we didn't expect her to last very long. My wife and I had just been through the trauma of losing our baby and we just needed to make life a bit easier, so we rehomed he with some good friends who lived completely rurally. They are both retired, but have a teenage son, and they are a mile down a farm track at the foot of the Pentland Hills. She has a better life there than she ever had in Derby (she was practically unwalked). Now the problem is that my aunt is little better and wants her back, but I can't bear to take what is a fit, healthy, happy dog away from the perfect home to put her back with my aunt, who just destroys the health of dogs she has. We left Ellie with her for 6 days over Christmas and she gained 2kg. I have also never seen her look so depressed. My aunt is unable to look after herself (4 carer calls a day, can't really walk, has early dementia and many many other health problems, as well as a heavy smoker) and has never been able to look after dogs, even when she was well. What do I do? I'm just stalling with my aunt in coming back to England, and I don't want to ask to take her back from a family that love her. I honestly didn't expect my aunt to still be alive now, and at the very least I would have hoped that she would be able to see that in her state, a large dog is unwise. Speaking to other people, the only thing that seems to be suggested is that I tell her the dog has died, but it would be an awful thing to do. If I return her to my aunt, I'm condemning the dog to an early death and a **** life, not to mention that my aunt had quite a bad fall as a result of having the dog back at Christmas. Help!

That is superb, thanks. Slightly higher standing price than I expected, but also high price at roadside. Jonathan

Hehe! Perhaps a little too small, but certainly under budget!

info at rstw.co.uk - thanks for that! Good thing is we've been doing hardwood thinning on the neighbouring estate for years now, so a 10 minute car journey away are 10s of hectares of woodlands we've thinned that I can show them. Call me an idiot, but even on tonnage rate I still cut scrub and prune where needed. I can't stand slash and bash cutters who just go in for the tonnage. I reckon you get more work being conscientious anyway. Jonathan

I'm in the process of trying to persuade one of the local estates to start managing their younger hardwood stands. They see them as a financial drain, and I know that they could make money from them. It's mostly 30-50 year old ash, sycamore, beech, oak and the like. Potentially a few beam grade logs from the oak, but very few. What would you be offering on the tonne, standing? I think that I can make a reasonable amount up to about £8-10 a tonne, beyond that the economics go out the window somewhat. Additionally, securing a stand of these thinnings means we can get a hardwood thinning workshop off the ground too

I only think that the Alstor is too expensive for what it is. I think £40k for a forwarder is not excessive given the potential income. I am pretty sure that the chap with the Alstor here gets paid around £9 a tonne. He pulls 40 odd tonne out a day on average, so doing the sums, it's not going to take too long to pay the machine back. I think £40k would be a good goal. Match the price, but improve the quality, capacity and versatility. The Alstor struggles with some of the larger logs we cut, and looking at what it leaves behind, you're left thinking that it could do with being just a touch beefier. I think that the main constraint with regards to size is that it fits on a 16ft tiltbed (or similar) trailer and can be towed behind a Landrover (or similar). Once it gets any bigger than that, the economy and appeal of it goes out the window. I won't pretend to have enough time to be able to operate a forwarder full time, but I am really rather interested in doing a couple of days a week and subcontracting out the other days. There is almost no one up here doing this kind of work. Jonathan

I have broached the subject with my tame engineer, and he seems to be quite interested. He did have one superb idea for an anti roll side slope system, which is to have the timber bogey on a horizontal sliding rail (similar to the sliding bogeys on timber haulage trailers). Hit an unavoidable side slope, all you need to do is move the load across a foot and it should be far harder to roll. It would obviously be an expensive option that would be expensive and incur extra weight. However, if a lot of your work involved sideslopes, you might have the market to yourself.

I've got a Logmaster LM2 on the way. I will be distributing Logmasters here and they are a very solid alternative to Woodmizer and Timberking. Mine should arrive late August, so I shall report back then!

Just stick to the normal 550xp. I never, ever use the chain brake in normal operation, only applying it when the slope to be climbed is so severe that I physically have climb on all fours to get up it. I really wish that they weren't so bloody militant on chainsaw courses regarding chain brake application. If your hand is on the front handle, it's practically impossible to engage throttle. All the time flicking the brake on and off is lost production time.

I am considering importing the smallest of the Logmaster sawmills into the UK (I've just placed my order for the larger LM2, which will be arriving in about 5 months, at which point my Woodmizer will be available for sale). It's a manual bandmill built much bigger and heavier than it's competitors. Broadly speaking price wise, it's fairly similar to the Hudson Oscar 228. I should be able to offer it for sale in the UK with the basic 14hp motor for about £4500 plus VAT. For comparison, here is the Oscar: Hud-son Oscar 228 Saw Mill | eBay And here is the Logmaster: Log Master As you can see, the Logmaster's capacity is larger and it's almost three times the weight. I would be offering them for sale with dealer back up, parts and CE marked. I need to get 5 orders to make it worth the while. This is just a preliminary thread to gauge interest. Anyone interested?

If you could locate yourself a bit closer to Edinburgh, I'd be happy to trial you here G. Lee and Craig speak highly of you and I for one would recommend forestry over domestic work any day! Jonathan

I'm disinclined to consider utilising and adapting an existing machine as I think that the principle of building a small basic, but tough forwarder should be doable. Basic requirements that I would regard as being paramount. * Ability to lift and extract up to 750kg product lengths, up to 4.9m in length (this translates to about a 50cm mid diameter sitka log at that length). * Ability to extract approximately 3-4 tonnes per load. * 6/8 wheel drive. * Full cab, with heater and tool storage. * Maximum weight of 2.5 tonnes gross to allow haulage to site by trailer and 3.5 tonne class vehicle. * No exposed mechanicals, ie no exposed drive shafts and minimal exposure for hydraulic lines. Beyond that, decisions would have to be made about drive. The Alstor uses drive shaft and direct chain drive, which is very effective at putting power down but at the point of articulation is very vulnerable. I like the idea of hydrostatic drive, but I must admit that I am not entirely sure how easy it would be to ensure one or more wheel wouldn't spin out, with the lack of a mechanic differential. The advantage (I feel) of hydraulic drive is that hydraulic lines are easier to protect and cheaper to replace in the event of failure. Regarding the cab, I like the idea of having the engine under the floor/seat if possible as it will lower the centre of gravity, and leave space within the length of the cab for additions such as a hydraulic winch/tool storage.

Alec, I wouldn't bother milling the top lump, not for the amount of effort that it is going to take to do it. I very much doubt that it will do anything other than move horribly when drying and you'll most likely be left with unmarketable timber. Only my 2 cents though.

Haha! Just did the quote and it was £10075 for the Navara and VW LT! I'm not even high risk - sometimes there is a benefit to speaking to people directly rather than filling in forms online, I reckon.

What do you folks out there with multiple vehicles do for insurance? I have the crappy Navara and I'm looking to buy a van to do timber deliveries/be a back up work truck when the Nissan is in the garage. My insurance is presently with Lycetts (who are very good by the way) but it's very tricky to add a second vehicle and indeed expensive as apparently you can only have no claims on one vehicle. My insurance renewal is £595 (28yrs old, 3yrs no claims, low excess, anyone over 25 can drive it etc) but looking at quotes for a 56 plate VW LT with no no claims is bringing up quotes of over £800. Anyone any suggestions to bring this down?

From what I understand, bog oak is very very difficult to dry and 90% of it is more or less worthless (due to structural defect etc). However, if you are lucky enough to find a piece that is sound and you have the means to dry it (it should be immediately kilned, not left to air dry) it can be worth quite some money. My best advice for a piece like that is cross cut it at 6m and have a good look at the end grain. If it appears sound, put the chainsaw mill away and hire in a Woodmizer (or similar) as it's the right size for the mill and you will make the money back for the hire from the extra boards you don't turn to sawdust. Some pictures would be lovely if you get a chance!

Sounds like you are felling an arboretum!

I'm not disputing that the Alstor works, but I do think that there is a huge amount of room for improvement. I'm 6ft 8 and I really struggle to fit. I stand by my observations/comments. I obviously haven't had the same amount of time on it as you but it is over priced and I am sure that there are agricultural mechanics here that could build a better machine for a lower price.

Interesting Josh that the Kranmans haven't a good reputation. I think it was a thread a while back where you mentioning them alerted me to their existence. Areleywood - glad to hear that you are doing well with yours. I don't dispute that they are quick and efficient in the right hands but there are a lot of problems with them: * They do roll easily on a side slope - watched a very experienced operator go over on very little side slope combined with a stump. * They have aspects of their design that are really poor - the brakes are awful, the gearbox is awful, there is insufficient space for a larger person to operate it comfortably or carry any tools. The underside/driveshaft is exposed. The cab option is cripplingly expensive and required if you are going to use them on FCS land. * When you actually look at the components, they aren't worth close to £40,000. Can I suggest that anyone who is skilled in this kind of agricultural welding/fabricating that there is a gap in the market for a UK built mini forwarder?

Log of that diameter and cleaness (excepting the branch on one side), it seems a shame not to quarter saw it. You would still end up with QS boards almost 3ft wide. I'm off to see a very large elm tomorrow (though a measly 5ft really) and my plan to deal with it is chainmill a top slab off, then one board. Rotate 90 degrees and repeat. Repeat on all sides until you have a squared length (with rounded corners) 42 inches in width (the throat on a 50 inch bar). Halve the log with the chainsaw mill, then ratchet strap up. Rotate 90 degrees, halve again (making sure to move the ratchets when needed) and you're left with four lovely quarters ready for resawing. Jonathan

Have used them in the past. Good concept, though the Alstor itself is too expensive, too delicate and too easy to roll. Check out the Kranman Bison - much cheaper and whilst I've not seen one in person, looks better.

That is indeed the plan, albeit in a few years once finances allow. We're going over next month for a few days to visit family and reccy the area. I am painfully aware that qualification is king over there and have a list of distance learning courses I need to do to bolster my on-paper credentials.