Big J
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Everything posted by Big J
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85 hoppus foot by my calculations, so £425 to £595 pounds. Kiln dried, in England, you've got £3400 there.
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Tight bastard! Given what the final value of the stem is once milled, I reckon £5-7 a hoppus foot is a fair price. Lord knows you would be paying way north of that if you were to approach a timber dealer such as AJ Scotts or Chantlers. Elm is a rapidly vanishing resource - snap it up chaps!
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I got my iPad 1 just before the launch of the iPad 2. Consequently, they were quite cheap - I paid £75 for it and £20 a month for two years. Useful bit of kit - means that I don't usually have to spend so much time at home at the end of the day responding to customer queries, as I've had time at lunch to do it. It's also a pain in the backside for what you can and can't do, but I would have one again. Jonathan
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I was thinking about this yesterday, and I think we worked out that there have been about 6 days so far this year that you could classify as BBQ weather. On the up side, it's the first summer I've managed to work right through in chainsaw trousers without suffering from minor heatstroke!
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I think that a lot of it comes down to the exchange rates
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Quercus pubescens...?? I'll get my coat
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Hmmmm. I'm not sure why you are having issues with them - I do find them to just have the edge on regular ripping chains. I never file mine by hand though, always with the electric grinder instead. That way you don't have to take the chainsaw out of the mill. I was milling 30 inch elm today with a granberg and it was great. Filed the rakers down on the scoring cutters a bit more than usual, got the log on a good slant and it blasted through. Jonathan
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Yep, liquid cooled. That model is 16hp, and I've used the 18hp model too. There is a 15.6hp diesel, but it's only available with a cab, which pretty much precludes my use of it. I don't know how much cheaper it could get though - in fuel costs in the hands of a good operator, you are taking about 37 pence a tonne. Jonathan
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I can say that with only one exception (being a lovely old Stihl 088), every second hand saw I've bought has been a headache, and every new saw (bar one awful Stihl MS250) has been great. Save up and buy new if you can. I've just got a 346xp for forestry and it's lovely. Jonathan
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My neighbour's African Grey Parrots meow.
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Not being paid to train on it, but simultaneously not paying! As has been mentioned, the dual controls are an option (£2000 if memory serves) but actually the 5 levers are starting to become fairly natural. They are a lot of money, but they seem to have their own market. There isn't really another forwarder that can fit on a 14ft trailer, extract 40 tonnes a day for £15 of petrol up insane slopes without doing damage to the ground. The base price is around £35,000 at present exchange rates. These woods are on an estate just west of Edinburgh. It's mostly sycamore around 40 years old. Nice stuff to work with, and some good trees left standing. We were quite heavy on the thinning, probably taking out 50% or so. Just working to the prescribed specification though.
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That's just wonderful - can't stop chuckling!
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I'm starting to train on the Alstor 8x8 forwarder with the woods we've thinned. It's great fun and very productive (though not with me at the helm as I can only manage 3 tonne an hour at the moment!). A few pictures: It's looks tiny with me sat on it. Jonathan
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I've always been a Stihl man (MS181, MS250, MS260, MS361 and still have my 088) but recently bought a 346xp as the easy chain tensioning system on the MS361 was driving me nuts. The 346xp is superb, but if I were you I'd wait a couple of weeks for the 560xp to come out and get that. It's superbly reviewed thus far, lighter than the MS341 and significantly more powerful. Unlikely to cost more either. Jonathan
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That is some outstanding strength level you have there sir! I did a bit of competition in 2007 (bit bigger then - 20 1/2 stone at 6ft 8) but I'm naturally a very skinny man. The 16 stone I carry now is only as a result of the manual work I do! I used to occasionally train with (and compete) against a guy called Kenneth Nowicki. Funnily enough, we met at what was our first ever strongman session. Anyway, he's doing exceptionally well now (aged 23 I think) - you'll met him at comps I'm sure. Magnus Samuelsson is great - like the fanboy I am, I have his training DVD! Regarding logs, I can make them to any spec, if you want a monster log for instance. The one in the pictures is 5ft in length, almost 18 inches in diameter and 105-110kg.
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The chap in question was Nathan Jones - a huge Aussie. He went on to do quite a lot of film work. If you've ever seen Troy, he is the barbarian that gets offed by Brad Pitt at the start. Regarding drug abuse, it's pretty much the same as any top level sport. Due to the requirement of having enormous strength (and therefore musculature) it's just more apparent. I'm not excusing it though. Jonathan
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Get it all through the processor now and stored somewhere with good airflow and sell for £80-100 a cubic metre in February when everyone else has run out. It's forecast to be a very hard winter again (speaking of, where the hell is Peckerwoo for our long range weather forecast?!) Jonathan
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I wasn't there myself, but my friend who runs strengthshop.co.uk was on his stall at the competition. If you are wanting to order one Yeti, you can get one through the website. I've made well over a hundred of them now. The first couple of batches were really poor compared to the current stock. You just get into a rhythm with them - they are hard work but worth it, especially when they get used in international competitions. Jonathan
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Seconded.
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I make weightlifting logs for a company that sponsored the Ultimate World's Strongest Man masters. I used to compete a bit a few years back and I'm really looking forward to seeing some of my old heroes competing again. Always a huge fan of Magnus Samuelsson (World's Strongest Man 1998). Here he is, chilling out sat on the log: And the ever legendary Odd Haugan, who aged 61 got 130kg over his head (on a log that's almost 18 inches in diameter): Any other strongman fans here?
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Navara problems - anyone else any experience with them?
Big J replied to Big J's topic in Arb-Trucks
Very much the same issue here. I'm often pulling 2.5 tonnes or more and reversing is very difficult due to the high gearing. It needs 2wd low range. Great idea Steve - I'll hold onto that one as a last resort! Good news everyone though - it's not broken down since last week at all! -
Navara problems - anyone else any experience with them?
Big J replied to Big J's topic in Arb-Trucks
Woodpicker - totally standard. It's worked damned hard (lots of off road work and lots of heavy towing) but driven gently throughout. Rob - tell me about it! The problem is that it's the only one that's really suitable for me as the Hilux is just a bit too small inside and the others aren't much better either. Jon - I reckon it was the work experience lad that made mine! -
Navara problems - anyone else any experience with them?
Big J replied to Big J's topic in Arb-Trucks
That's terrible - I'm sorry to hear that. I've found that when the frequency of occurrence of limp mode increases, it's about to go into limp permanently. In other news, it managed a 300 mile round trip to the Highlands, but not without the left hand VDU (visual display unit) freezing and crashing. For much of the return journey it was 9:90PM -
With three different operators using LT40s, milling various hardwoods at 1-2 inches thickness, the average seems to be about 200 cubic foot of boards for me. Works out at £1.50 to £2.50 a cubic foot depending on operator and charges. Jonathan
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It's a pretty simple choice in my opinion. Chainsaws are dangerous, and can inflict serious, and in some instances life threatening injuries. There is an enormous range of comfortable, practical and durable PPE that will significantly reduce the risk of chainsaw operation at minimal cost (when compared to lost earnings from injury). I'm not saying that I don't occasionally do the odd cross cut without ballistics, but to me the choice is pretty clear. Just because one's granddad has managed to escape injury without PPE, doesn't excuse one's choice to eschew it personally.
