Big J

Thanks mate! I should stress that those numbers were in very easy sycamore (only a total of 6 hangups over 2 days, and some big trees too). I try to avoid difficult woodland where possible as I can't get into a rhythm and find it tremendously frustrating. This is especially the case with very brashy trees, as I find the chaotic disorder flummoxing! I am open to the suggestion that I am quite likely to be on the Autistic Spectrum!

I would not expect timber cut in Autumn to have significantly seasoned at all. The air has so little capacity to carry moisture at a lower temperature, and when it does, it's often laden with water vapour carried in by the weather over winter. I reckon all firewood needs a full summer split, ideally speaking.

Well washing you hair just isn't an excuse for you or Iain, now is it? Or, it's a bit far to drive when you think about it, it's been raining quite a lot lately and the ground is quite muddy (used that one the other day! ) or it's rather a long walk to site, don't you think? Sorry for the derail Iain!

Only do hardwoods these days. On a 10inch DBH 55ft (17m) tree you would generally get 4x3.5m products. Rough calculations on volume are: 1st length, average 9 inch so 0.15 cubic meter. 2nd length average 6 inch so 0.07 cubic meter. 3rd length average 4 inch so 0.03 CM 4th length average 3 inch so 0.017CM Plus 0.07 guesstimate for additional branchwood product and secondary stems. Total 0.337CM per tree. In a reasonable stand with perhaps one in 10 trees creating more than a momentary hangup, I would do around 50 trees per 8 hour day, or 16.85 cubic metres. Last week I had a couple of days in easy 60-70ft, 12-14 inch DBH sycamore. Did 6.5hr days (excluding breaks) and felled around 22-25 cubic metres each day, cut to length and stacked where possible.

I see no mention in that contract of extenuating circumstances that might prevent a subcontractor (such as my good self) from working. For example, a lot of wind, not enough wind, too cold, too hot, trees too brashy, trees getting hung a bit more than is acceptable, trees too small, trees too big, too rainy, too sunny etc. All those blinking stipulations, and I still think I'm going to be felling on Friday!!

I find them to be cumbersome, uncomfortable, slippery when wet and with quite limited dexterity. They aren't required as part of any health and safety specification and I would never wear them, as they are completely obsolete. You can get a much better glove for half the price. Jonathan

MS880, no contest. Get it from FR Jones

I bought an old, and somewhat battered looking 088 for milling early last year and it's done hundreds and hundreds of hours of milling with no ill effect. I tend to mix my fuel just on the rich side of 50:1

Thanks for the continued info - very interesting!! If nothing else, I would at the very least have to let you quote me, what with such an excellent and trustworthy name and all Jonathan

I would imagine that it would actually - I believe that the tailgate on open top pickups is a major cause of aerodynamic drag. Got mine coming with a hardtop, so will be interesting to see how it fairs.

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Not especially, but lovely figure nevertheless. I'm quite economically priced too!

I have access to quite a wide variety of stuff if you want a pallet's worth. The pallet is only £60, so it's quite economical. At present I can get - Elm burr, Yew, laburnum, cherry and a few other bits and bobs too.

I'm not sure how it's possible for it to be cheaper than the price quoted to me. I worked out the payments versus the new cost of the vehicle and the end price, and the percentage interest over the 5 year period is so low it's laughable. Unfortunately, perhaps, the vehicle is already ordered though, so I think that any such alternative arrangements will have to wait until the next time

Strange that 6th gear screws things up - you would have thought that a lower RPM would improve the efficiency!

Beautiful work there mate - stunning lines on the legs, and very nice proportionally.

The quoted MPG, versus actual MPG are interesting. It seems that on all the car reviews, they give you the test MPG, and it's invariably much lower than the manufacturers figure. In my mind, the biggest factor determining MPG is driving style. I've been in many a vehicle with many a driver who accelerates hard, brakes late and doesn't know how to use a gearbox. Consequently, they pay at the pump. As anyone who knows me well enough will attest, I have a bit of an OCD for numbers, and find the calculations and figures regarding economy and speed fascinating. The reason why the Navara doesn't do too well on fuel is it's drag coefficient (0.46 - compared to 0.26 to 0.30 for many cars). It's heavy, but then so are most modern cars, and their efficiencies are much better. I've got a Navara coming at the end of the month, so it will be interesting to see what's possible to get out of it. Obviously, you have a period at the start where the economy is lower due to the engine 'bedding in', but I bet you all a groat I can get 40mpg out of it on a run! A roads are the best for general economy I find. Motorways are too quick, and the air resistance kills the economy. For instance, in an old Volvo 850 tdi I used to have, 60mph would get you 60mpg (shown on computer, but backed up at pump) but 90mph would get your 31mpg. Jonathan

I've just gone for a Nissan Navara on Lease Finance. These are the main bullet points, if you like: * Nissan Navara with added extras of canopy, load liner, all terrains, tow bar, reversing sensors for £293 a month plus VAT * Final balloon payment of £5600 at the end of the 5 year lease, which is comfortably less than 100k 5 year old examples are going for at present (with the extras, it's a £25k vehicle). * Three ways to sort the balloon payment out at the end. Either the lease company takes it back, and sells it (and you pick up the profit or shortfall), you sell it (and pickup the profit or shortfall) or you sell it to a third party who can then sell it back to you (same deal with profit or shortfall). * No mileage restriction, no clauses for condition of the vehicle in the end as it's in your interest, financially speaking, to look after the vehicle. * Fully qualifies for tax relief (for those who aren't VAT registered) and you can claim the VAT back each month if you are. * Ended up working out cheaper than running the old vehicles we've always had, especially when you factor in lost earnings due to repairs/MOTs etc. Truck will be delivered before the end of the month, and I must say that I am very excited! Jonathan

I was thinking that, and it is on my list of questions for Monday! Blaisey - no probs!

Having seen the Logosol M7 (my neighbour has one that I don't think he's ever used!), I was wondering how many folk here have experience of static chainsaw mills, and how they compare to Alaskan-style mills. I'm currently chatting to a chap at TCF engineering about this mill: Home - TCF Engineering I've been looking at it with passing interest for months on Ebay, and have been thinking more and more lately of the advantages that a chainsaw bar and chain has over smaller bandsaws: * completely flat and level cut * no degradation of finish when the chain starts to blunten * chain can easily be sharpened whilst on mill Obviously speed of cut and kerf are the main issues, but quality of board is very important to me. Alaskans cut superbly, except for if they skip or jump a little, in which case you can get scoring. If the bar is locked into a frame, it can't possibly do that. Chatting to Tim at TCF, he reckons he gets around twice the cutting speed with this mill as opposed to a freehand chainsaw mill, but the main difference is that he can mill all day without fatigue. I'm pretty able to mill about 50 cubic foot a day with the Alaskan, but reckon that would jump to close to 150 with this mill as I wouldn't need to take as many breaks. I'm not exactly sure what point I'm trying to make, but I suppose I was wanting to gauge opinion on it before going any further. I'm trying to change my supply of timber slightly to more predominantly forest grown stuff, so a fixed mill is ideal for the more uniform logs that I'll be getting. Jonathan

Get the 13!!!! I have an MS260, originally bought with a 15 inch bar. Fairly recently got myself a 13 inch bar and now feel that the 15 is cumbersome and slow. Honesty, you don't need any more than that for general thinning and forestry work. Thursday and Friday this week I was thinning 60-70ft sycamore with 12-18 inch DBH with the 13 inch bar and never felt the need for anything bigger. To anyone who would say that the short bar slows you down, I would counter with 41 tonnes of thinnings!

It's a digression, but I'm starting to feel the need for a mid sized saw and looking at the specs, there is nothing to choose between the MS441 and the 576XP. Not wanting to turn this into another Stihl versus Husqvarna debate, is there a clear choice? Additionally, does anyone have a good 70cc ish used saw they want to flog?

Thanks for that chaps! Brushcutter - I have come across those little green balls on occasion in cherry, but they don't seem to devalue the boards too badly. I hadn't expected to find any cherry at all, and when I stumbled across these two monsters in one corner on the site, I was delighted! Cherry seems to grow very well here - the estate I usually work on and know much better has dozens of huge specimens dotted around the woods. Adam - they were all the things I had considered might be issues for timber with sap in it. Wetter isn't too much of an issue - they will just be in the kiln for a touch longer. Mould should be OK too, as I treat my timber with an anti-fungal agent. It's staining that I'm most concerned about generally. Regarding ring barking - I've never been a fan actually, but I guess it does serve a purpose.

I work for a couple of different estates, and am paid by the hour. It is commercial forestry stands that we work in predominantly, though occasionally it is the shoot that funds our felling. I only work in hardwoods (IainArkle on here would call me a wuss - I would counter that I am sensible!) but really enjoy what I do. We tend to work in fairly unproductive stands, rarely able to fell enough to warrant a tonnage rate. That said, started doing a bit of work for a new estate today and they put me in a doddle of a sycamore stand. 6 1/2 hours later, 21 tonnes were down and sectioned so sometimes I do wish I wasn't on hourly! I don't work in forestry full time (I usually split my week 3 days forestry, 2 days sawmilling), but I have far more work that I can handle. Jonathan

Thanks for the continued help lads - David I might just give you a call when I've got my act together to sort the splitter project out. I've been run ragged by mental amounts of work lately, so non-essential projects have been put on hold for the time being. Jonathan