Big J

Best wood store you can make is 4 euro pallets, forming a box (one on the bottom, two sides and then a roof) and felt the top. Cost's about £4 if you can get the pallets for free, holds 0.9m cubed and they last for ever. I have 11 at home and they look fine

Don't beam the Yew! If it's of good size (18 inches plus), it's a very valuable log, both as a log and sawn. Slabbed and kilned it's worth up to £60 a cubic foot!

Apologies for not getting back to you previously regarding the Fir. Had to replace my truck which ate up my time and money. Jonathan

With you on that one. It's just shocking how seemingly harmless elements of society can just turn round and lamp you one when you least expect it. Just watched this now - strange and crazy stuff. I imagine for the family of the poor chap, not knowing the motivation or reason behind her actions is the worst part. Jonathan

Sweet jesus! And we thought that the 30ft sweet chestnut we had wash up at Queensferry earlier in the year was impressive!

Hi, The Corran Bunkhouse 6 miles south of Fort William is outstanding. All the rooms are private en suites, incredibly clean and stupidly cheap at £16 per person per night. Can't recommend it enough. It's also directly next door to a pub. Corran Bunkhouse, self catering hostel accommodation, Fort William, Scotland

Truly astounding. I would feel awkward and embarrassed pointing out to anyone that a ladder should be propped against the trunk, not the branch being pruned. People like that should forfeit their right to existence when suing their employers. Jonathan

I apologise for the confusion regarding whether we are contractors or subbies. I've always been employed prior to commencing self employment earlier this year, so getting my head around some of the terminology is taking a while! I do definitely see where you are coming from regarding combining the insurance policy. However, as we both still do separate stuff, we still have to be covered outside of the estate. I'm with the NFU and I have to say I have been very impressed with them. They were cheaper than all other quotes, covered much more, had lower excesses and don't charge for amendments to policies. Plus, I have the direct number of a charming lady in the Edinburgh office, should I ever have any issues. The point you bring up regarding one of us injuring the other is a valid one though - I need to clarify that with the NFU. I originally thought that I might be employing from time to time, so I already have employer liability on my policy for one employee. Regarding experience in preparation for the CS32, I'm up to about 2000 trees now I think. Chris White did our original training - top chap. I got a lot of the timber in my kiln from Cut Above too. Jonathan

Does he run a dehumidifier simultaneously to deal with the moisture?

I suppose strictly speaking we are contractors, rather than sub contractors, as we answer straight to the forester. It's a cracking gig - I realise Rupe that you might not think so, but I get to work all day long on a beautiful estate where I live, being paid by the hour so that the work isn't rushed (with it being parkland, they are very concious of appearance and best practice), doing a hugely varied job and with complete flexibility to choose my own hours. If it's pissing it down and I've had enough, I just pack up for the day and go potter building something at the workshop. My PL insurance is fairly comprehensive and costs me £600 per annum, and my overheads are small. The original point of the thread was to ascertain the value, both legally and practically of the CS32 certification. Legally speaking, it would appear it's down to the individual insurer, and practically it seems very worth while. My local arb trainer (Chris White of Treevolution) does CS32 for £370+vat though I think that excludes the assessment. Jonathan

I am curious as to why many of you think that what we are doing constitutes workplace exploitation...... The PL insurance I would have regardless owing to my other work activities, we are very well paid (for the thinning in particular), get to chose our own working hours, and the estate are delighted with all the work we have done, to the point where we have more than we can effectively manage. The estate is simply doing as most estates are doing - shifting from direct employees to sub contractors. By myself and my colleague using all our own kit, having our own insurances and dictating our own working hours, it makes life easier for them. I would not want to be in full employment with them either, as I have too many other things to do. Regarding the CS32, I'll get it booked asap Jonathan

We are indeed very happy with the arrangement. We are on an agreed hourly rate and we have an excellent variety of work, undertaking virtually every duty a forester would be required to do and then some weird and wonderful stuff on top of that (recently cleared a large garden at a property where the previous chap had decided to plant the entire garden with trees - 32 tipper loads of timber and brash!). Our foreman is very legality concious and doesn't want us to generally work over out legal limitation (if indeed it is a limitation, hence the original post). I am very keen to do the CS32 qualification, it's just in having recently become self employed, cash flow is a struggle at times. A question though - why would my colleagues and my PL insurance not pay out if we were to be injured due to the actions of the other? Jonathan

Rupe, funny you should ask regarding tickets as we actually met on the original CS30+31 course so our tickets are identical. I realise that it seems like a complicated set up but it's really not. For all intents and purposes we work together. We look out for one another and outwith of the estate undertake work together. Quite simply the estate want, for their books, for us to separately invoice. Unfortunately a separate invoice means separate (though identical) risk assessment. These are requirements stipulated by Scottish Woodlands, who now administer the forestry management on the estate. On a day to day basis, Iain and I are given various jobs by the foreman forester. Some are open ended (like tube maintenance, pruning or felling within a compartment within the felling licence period) and others have a time scale. We decide our working hours and so long as the work is done, the estate are happy. It's a bloody good arrangement and we are very happy with it. Thanks for the clarification regarding insurance Brushcutter. I'm insured with the NFU so I'll get in contact with them and see where we stand. Jonathan

Thanks for the replies! Thanks for the correction regarding CS32. Regarding differing techniques for felling, I am familiar with some of the different cuts as when doing the CS30+31, the group on the course was already familiar with chainsaw operation, so for days 4 and 5 we just did larger trees and winch take downs of hang ups. I have every intention of doing the larger trees ticket, as I will be doing a lot of felling in the coming years. The issue now is simply one of cost, and can it be postponed. 'We' are myself and my colleague. We are both self employed and sub contract for the estate we work on. However, we typically work an average of 3 days a week there. We both have our own PL insurance, both complete our own risk assessments and separately invoice. I suppose to all intents and purposes, we are employed as we have a theoretically limitless amount of work ahead of us. I'm just posing the original question to ascertain exactly where we stand regarding larger trees. I would imagine that the largest we would come across for thinning in the new compartments would be around 500mm/20 inches. Jonathan

Just a quick question regarding legality and the CS30+31 qualification. I work primarily in forestry on the estate I live on, and have three months of hardwood thinning under my belt since doing my chainsaw cert earlier in the year. We have plenty more thinning to do later in the year, though some of it may be larger than before. Previously most of the trees have been in the 8-12 inch range (ash, beech, sycamore and oak) with some up to 18 inches. I am obviously covered by my PL insurance, but what are the legal implications for felling trees in excess of 15 inches? As best I understand it, the certification of CS30+31 does not limit you to 380mm, but there are issues is something goes wrong and you are found to have been felling larger than that. I could be completely wrong though. The reason I ask is that I need to know whether I need to do the next cert up (CS38 is it?) in order to maximise my work over autumn and winter. Thankyou in advance for any help. Jonathan

Only have 088s for milling. I wouldn't use anything apart from that either. If I were starting again, I'd go with a new MS880 with 48 inch bar and mill. It covers almost all the bases and if requires I would perhaps get a 30 inch bar as well for the smaller stuff. I generally run a 36 inch bar for milling and it's just a bit too small. MS880 and 48 inch bar and mill for the win!!

Christ those Eglu cubes are expensive! Made a 4ft x 4ft chicken house for my neighbours from self milled cedar. It came out really nicely, though weighs an tonne! Might be due to the 1 inch walls and 2 inch floor. Required a forklift at both ends for uplift!

Good find - it's amazing how little time it takes for nature to reclaim it's place. There's a bridge over a small gorge in the neighbouring estate that is so overgrown that you struggle to see it as a bridge. It has trees growing from the top, complete with badger track. I'll have to get a picture next time I am along there. Jonathan

I just bought an old Mercedes 308D (1990 - 101k on clock and one owner) and I love it. There are some interesting Mercs on Ebay at present including: 7.5 tonne arb tipper: mercedes 814d / vario tipper woodchipper chipper truck on eBay (end time 01-Aug-10 09:40:47 BST) 6 tonne vario with 68k: MERCEDES 614 VARIO TIPPER DIRECT NORWEB ONLY 68K MILES on eBay (end time 17-Aug-10 22:37:25 BST) 2005 311D caged tipper: 2005/54 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 311 Cdi Mwb tipper on eBay (end time 26-Aug-10 09:42:29 BST) There's a good image associated with Mercedes - looks very professional and their quality, especially on the older trucks, is superb. Jonathan

Very good video. Hugely depressing regarding the Eastern Hemlock - does anyone on here have first hand experience seeing them?

Some beautiful timber there Rob. As I am sure that you already know Maverick, the issue with any slab is that you invariably have to take out the pith to minimise movement of the timber once in a piece of furniture. More often than not it's better to create a piece with smaller boards to give it a better chance of stability. Jonathan

Within the next couple of weeks I will be milling some very large oak for a cabinet maker I work with. It's somewhere in the region of 4ft and a bit wide and whatever length is specified. It won't be dried though - that is something you will have to sort yourself. Jonathan

Really sorry to hear that. She looks a beautiful dog and 13 is no age to go for a collie.

I've felled a lot of dead elms from the ground, though never climbed them. They always seem to rot from the bottom up in my experience, quite often being hollow. Jonathan

Wouldn't change we live short of a lottery win! Live on a country estate just outside Edinburgh - this is our back garden and view: The estate itself is about 2000 acres with about 20 houses on it. Very peaceful and secluded, even with the occasional tourist and walker.