john k

Fascinating stuff! Out of curiosity do you happen to have any details about the scientists and the tests they did?

I'm looking for something like a Log loc and wondered if you're still happy with it now you've had it a while? Any problems? How well does it cope with short stuff, can you get the last 8" log at the end of a length?

I was at Bedgebury Pinetum last week and they have half a polytunnel of them so obviously know a thing or two! Might be worth dropping them a line.

I gave up pretending to myself that I would do my own tax returns years ago. A couple of years ago I started using Kashflow though and can thoroughly recommend it. All our invoices are emailed directly from Kashflow and it's easy to keep on top of entering all our purchases. VAT returns now take about 30 seconds which is still pathetically pleasing!

Happy Christmas all. Have a great day!

You set the distance, so you need to have a reliable pace or a tape measure.

I see that you managed to get a prime slot at the top of today's RFS e-newsletter! That should get you some good responses.

Not sure where you get your tree from but the traditional tree is normally Norway Spruce not Sitka. Sainsburys are selling Serbian Spruce, but I can't remember seeing any Sitka anywhere. They would be a bit too spiky for my liking! I prefer a Nordmann Fir anyway.

I found a new tree ID app this week: IdentifyTree As far as I can tell it's basically a reformatted off-line version of the Wikipedia data for all the trees. It's pretty comprehensive though, and unlike TreeId it includes conifers for a few pence extra.

Stop talking to the insurance department, and definitely don't waste your time talking to their insurers. It's completely irrelevant and will only raise your blood pressure. Their insurance arrangements are of absolutely no interest to you whatsoever. I would also stop arguing the toss about their risk assessments and procedures. It's just a distraction. They have damaged your property and you hold them liable. You don't want a debate, you want your windscreen excess back. Put in writing and don't be fobbed off.

I'm paying more than that for a lockup garage!

As far as I can see it makes no difference what control measures the council had in place. In this instance they were demonstrably insufficient to avoid damage to your property. As for spouting nonsense about their insurance, that's a complete red herring. Whether or not the insurance company will pay out is between the council and their insurers. It is of no relevance to you. The council workers damaged your property, and the council has accepted that. In your position I would write a firm but non-ranty letter to the Chief Executive requesting that they reimburse you for the damage. If you don't get a good response from that, follow it up with a short letter giving them 14 days to pay after which time you will commence proceedings against them in the County Court. It's all on line at moneyclaim.gov.uk and it's simple to do. You do not need a solicitor.

Honestly? How many insurance companies or employers really require this? What's your definition of "in date" anyway?

Any thoughts on how you might reach owners of unmanaged woodland? Might be a lot of potential that gets missed in the survey.

If you have experience and know what you're doing then there is no need for you to do an expensive 5-day course that is really designed for novices. Have a look at the NPTC assessment schedules for CS30 and CS31. You can download them from the NPTC web site. They will tell you exactly what is required - you need to be able to answer all the questions, and demonstrate the things listed. If you reckon that you can pass, then you could just book the assessments. This will still cost you a couple of hundred quid, but there's no getting away from that. Alternatively you could look for an instructor who will do a day or two of pre-assessment preparation with you. It will cost, but shouldn't be as much as the full course.

It's not that unusual to tow 3.5 tonnes with a Defender is it?

All good questions, to which I don't have any hard and fast answers. But roughly speaking I'm using "small scale" to mean anything that doesn't involve full size forestry machines. I'm also thinking in terms of forwarding to roadside as well as purely extraction. Getting trees on the ground and cross cut doesn't seem to be a problem for most people, whether they do it themselves or get someone in. Road haulage is similarly easy to organise. However from what I have seen, and conversations I have had, getting the wood to roadside can be more of a challenge for small operations. There would appear to be a level of demand for a service that falls somewhere between horse logging and using a full size tractor or forwarder. This could be a standalone extraction service for owners or managers of small or sensitive areas of woodland, or as part of a wider management package. I reckon it needs to be road towable for easy and cost effective access to sites across a reasonable area. It also needs to have enough capacity to move a useful amount of timber. I don't know yet whether it can be made to work financially, but part of those sums is seeing what is available and what the costs would be. The other side of it is to look at the demand in more detail, particularly in the south east where I am, and to decide whether it's actually something I want to get into.

Did you come to any conclusions in the end? I'm looking at something similar, and had thought about the Riko fast tow forwarding trailer too. However it's expensive, and I don't really like the idea of taking a road trailer into the woods because when it gets trashed you're a bit stuck. Using it to move timber on the road isn't a priority for me. Jim at Riko reckons you can get an alpine tractor and a 3 tonne forwarding trailer onto a road trailer together. The forwarding trailer folds to do this, but I don't know how much of a PITA it is to set it up and take it down again.

£40 v £650 Apples v oranges?

Doubt it. Probably weighs almost that much unladen!

If he is determined to buy a non-existent chipper then I would happily sell him one for half what he's bidding on this one

Saw Hawthorn in flower last week and yesterday I saw a very pristine looking Red Admiral. Probably means it's going to snow tomorrow!

That does look good. Something for my Christmas list I think!

OK that would make sense. The old fuel has been duly binned! I'm going to give Aspen a try as I'm not using the saw regularly at the moment. I like the idea of Aspen anyway tbh, but still feel uncomfortable about the price.

The Tikka 2 is my top choice of headtorch too, although the OP might want something a bit more powerful. My top tip would be to make sure it has a flood or wide beam setting as some of the brighter ones are not really designed for close up work.