henchard

Thanks all, now sorted

I've got a smallholding here near Carmarthen and probably buying another 30 acres of land. Hedges have not been cut for 3 years. Now getting out of hand and I will probably take the sides off with a hedge cutter but thinking of laying them after that in the winter. Probably 600m in total. Anyone local who might be interested in quoting drop me a message. Thanks

Thanks for the comments everyone, it is appreciated. If anyone has further ideas I'll be glad to hear them. For the benefit of clarification I'm not talking a plantation but agricultural land with a lot of very old trees(quite a few dead and fallen etc. or coming to the end of their lives) mostly oak, ash etc. Road access is very poor so so cannot get anything much bigger than a 20' 4 wheeler lorry here. Thanks again

I live in South Wales and currently have a smallholding with some mature woodland. I've negotiated (subject to contract) to purchase another 29 acres with a lot of mature (and fallen) trees as well. Now I'm too old (retired) for doing it myself but wondered if anyone had any experience of some sort of shared timber/log supply business. In essence I'm thinking a bit along the lines of share farming. Something like I provide the facilities and trees (i'm thinking of building a suitable agricultural shed) and another party provides the labour and distribution, probably sharing the costs of any onsite equipment and we share the profits. Appreciate that this might be fraught with issues and it might be better if I just pay someone for their time cutting and splitting for me. But just wondered if anyone had made something like this work. Thoughts? Based near Carmarthen BTW

Hi, I live on a smallholding near Nantgaredig in Carmarthenshire and am likely to have to undergo heart surgery soon thus unable to do it myself. So I am looking for someone to cut up two very large Cherry trees, that have come down over the winter and stack the brash for burning etc. There are also a few smaller fallen lengths that need cutting up as well. Access is quite good but you can't get a vehicle to them as they are on a hill. All on the ground so no climbing. In addition I need someone to strim (so that I can spray at a later date) some areas of newly planted woodland where brambles are starting to encroach. This will need a hefty strimmer probably with a metal blade. I'm happy for these to be done as a 'hospital jobs' i.e. to fit in around other work as long as it is done before the end of the spring. Cash on completion. If anyone is interested let me know. It would be best to look at the job first so local and passing by would be good. Due to my hospital clinic visits etc. replies may be a bit haphazard so feel free to email me john(at)imat(dot)co(dot)uk

Thanks to those who have messaged me. For those who asked for a photo. Tree has toppled from my existing would into the top of my new plantation. Access is fairly easy by walking up 80/100m from the flat at the bottom of the plantation. Cuttings and brash can just be piles up to rot/provide habitat. I can collect cut logs by backing my tractor/transport box up the rows of the new plantaion. Normally I'd do it myself; but too many other projects on the go!

Hi I've got a smallholding in Carmarthenshire (near Nantgaredig). Looking for someone to cut up a largeish fallen tree (winter storms) into logs etc. Access is quite good but not on the flat. Maybe other ongoing work from time to time. Drop me a message if anyone is interested. Your hourly inclusive rate would be useful.

You should be able to work most of it out if you read the blog This is part 3 showing some of the frame/roof construction Building a Pole Barn Part 3 | John and Liz Burton

Permitted development on my smallholding, I got it ok'd in writing from the Council first.

Not being a 'tree person' (I'm a retiree/smallholder) I don't post here very often but quite pleased with my log drying shed/barn for equipment that I self built. Started off with the idea of building a pole barn ended up with using a frame as it is on infilled land and needed good foundations. More of the build on our blog Building a Pole Barn Part 5 | John and Liz Burton

Thanks for the responses (and messages) so far. However, it looks like my original contractor has come back on the scene; so if he gets on with things I'm sorted!

You can get a tractor on most of it as long as it isn't too wet.

Looking for someone to erect around 360m of agricultural stock fence and a couple of gates on fairly steep land near Carmarthen. If any one knows someone who may be interested please tell them to get in touch. Usual story - enthusiastic local contractor turned up to estimate then never bothered to actually give me a quote despite repeated requests . Work must be completed in the next 4 weeks. Thanks

Many thanks.

Just got my grant approved to plant 2.26 hectares of Native Woodland (Biodiversity) on my smallholding in Wales. If anyone knows of any planting contractors and suppliers of trees within travelling distance of Carmarthen, who might be interested in giving me a quote, could you perhaps message me their contact details? Many thanks in advance

This thread on the British Farming Forum is a sticky that tracks red Diesel prices Fuel / Red Diesel - price tracker - Page 36 - British Farming Forum

Whilst I agree with the sentiment we would be in for a rude awakening if we got rid of The City. The City skims (steals) real value off real workers all over the world. This makes a lot of money and this generates a lot of tax, which helps us all get obese in the UK whilst pushing pointless bits of paper around under a government whose spending accounts for 50% of GDP. I don't think most people in the UK understand why our quality of life is so much higher than people in "lesser" countries. I think they just think we are smarter and work harder and that's that. I think other countries are getting wise to this but sadly the UK population has no idea. This model works well very well until it starts to break down. In the interim the population are obedient and watch Eastenders. No problematic questions etc. However, when it does start to break, the core, who were not told the rules of the game, stamp their feet because they cannot afford holidays or bigger TVs. This will make managing down expectations very difficult, perhaps causing unrest and the election of another unsustainable government. Unfortunately, we also tend to ignore the real value for oil. You think a litre of petrol is expensive? Then try this; fill your car/van/truck with one litre of fuel and drive it until it runs out. Then see how much you have to pay someone to push it back - that is the 'real value' of one litre of fuel. This is worth a watch (as is the whole course if you have time)

Moved address so got a form from the bank completed it and sent it back only to get a reply a couple of weeks later saying they couldn't change our address as the signatures didn't match those on record. The letter asked that we fill the forms out again and go to our nearest branch with ID. This we do (where the bank clerk can't understand it as our signatures on her computer look identical to those on her computer). Two weeks later get another letter saying they can't change our address as our signatures don't match those on record and can we complete another form and go to the bank with ID. Meanwhile they are happily sending statements to the wrong address. At this stage, risking being locked in this endless cycle I write a very strong letter to my branch calling them idiots. A week or so later I get reply that my complaint (I didn't complain just called them idiots) had been referred to their complaints department. This morning I get a letter saying that my complaint as been upheld and they will give me £100 compensation!

I used to use Quickbooks (I've now retired) and like someone else just kept using the old 2002 version (the only point of upgrading I could see was if you had a payroll to do). It won't, however, complete your tax return as it doesn't know all the other stuff you need like investments, allowances etc. I just used to print of several reports like profit/loss and general ledger(as instructed by my accountant) at the end of the year and give her the info with all the personal info she needed. She then did my tax return. Accountants tend to charge on time so if you have all the info in one place in the correct format it will be cheaper than when they have to keep chasing you for clarification/bits of paper. Quickbooks does, however, make doing your VAT return pretty painless (my return used to take about a minute including filing the form out!). The main thing, I think, is to become obsessive about using it; I used to enter everything daily (however busy I was) even if it was only a book of stamps bought on petty cash. That way for the sake of 5 or 10 minutes a day I never had to worry about scrabbling for bits of paper at the year end. The disadvantage is that it is not the industry standard (like Sage) and many accountants do not use it (if they do you can just give them your accounts in electronic form at the year end. Well worth it in my case as I never bought any updates and it's easy to use after a bit of initial 'head scratching.'

Margate Business | Small Business | New Business Start Up | Information & Advice Business Link Starting up | Business Link used to offer free start up course (not sure if they still do). Edit: Seems they still do http://online.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/eventDescription?itemId=5000845412〈=en&r.l1=1073858805&r.l2=1073859137&site=210&type=EVENTS however, watch out for the hard sell for subsequent courses.

I'm going on Wednesday if the weather is ok. I'm looking at Alpine tractors (or other solutions) for my smallholding.

I was a photographer until I retired. Similar questions used to get asked a lot. This guy has my answer. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj5IV23g-fE]YouTube - Harlan Ellison -- Pay the Writer[/ame]

+1 For my 50th birthday I trekked from Nepal to Tibet (got held up by Maoist rebels) did the sacred pilgrimage around Mount Kailash (32 miles round all above 4000m) then up to advanced base camp on Everest (6500) metres.

I suggest you watch this to see why oil is actually way too cheap

So sorry to hear this news. Condolences to you and your family.