john k
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Everything posted by john k
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I've used Speedshift a couple of times and they've done a good job at a competitive price http://www.speedshift.co.uk
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I use a tree jack a fair bit. It's a heavy old lump to lug around the woods but it does come in very handy. I wouldn't say it's by any means idiot proof though, and it will provide an idiot with a multitude of new ways to get himself into even more trouble. Particularly on soft ground!
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Give Andy Wright at English Woodlands Forestry a call (01825 890381). They manage a lot of privately owned woodlands in Kent and Sussex and can help with as much or as little of your timber operation as you need. They are part of English Woodlands Timber and are very knowledgeable about the local timber markets. Do you have approved management plans in place for your woods? They can help with that too, and have plenty of experience of working with farm woodlands and understand the grant implications. Good luck. It sounds like a great opportunity to get a lot of woodland back into production.
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Ancient woodland management
john k replied to Wildviking's topic in Forestry and Woodland management
Have you had a look at the FC Practice Guide on Managing ancient and native woodland? http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/FCPG201.pdf/$file/FCPG201.pdf It should give you some good ideas. -
That's correct, although it will roam onto any network so you may get through even if your phone appears to have no signal. 999 and 112 are identical in the UK by the way, there's nothing special about 112 except it's a universal emergency number used across Europe.
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Only if you don't have a lock on your phone. Most people with smart phones have them set to auto lock so any would be rescuer won't be able to access the contacts. On the iPhone there's a medical app which allows you to add emergency info that can be seen even when the phone is locked.
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Grand Vitara if you want something a bit more road-friendly than a Jimny.
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When I went into my local (Stihl) dealers to pick up half a dozen cans of Aspen they told me that they were now recommending Motomix instead as it is much more pure than Aspen. I reckon that's a load of guff and they are just pushing the Stihl product. Anyone else one across this? As far as I know the two are as similar as makes no difference. God knows, Aspen is expensive enough and there's no chance of me paying even more for Stihl's branded version. I'd did get a free litre bottle to try though, so can't complain too much
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I'm very impressed with the amount of effort he has put into creating something so useless!
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There are, but they don't really mean much. As with anything it's worth precisely what someone will pay for it, not a penny more and not a penny less. Most arb businesses don't really have any value apart from some assets and maybe a nominal amount for goodwill and a list of past clients. Maybe a bit more if they have guaranteed long term contracts. If you do buy or sell a business it's well worth investing in a good solicitor to write your contract, especially if there are any stage payments or ongoing involvement of the seller. It will cost a bit, but in my experience it's money well spent.
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The sticker on a recent 550XP that I used a couple of weeks ago said no decomp and fast idle for hot start. It wasn't particularly clear though and took a bit of decoding!
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Try Speedshift http://www.speedshift.co.uk/
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There's absolutely no reason to kill off the coppice. Any young growth is equally susceptible to Chalara. The advice about not coppicing came about because more mature trees don't get affected so easily, so in the short term were best left uncut. All you can do now is wait it out and see what happens. Depending on how quickly the disease spreads westward you might even get another rotation out of your coppice.
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I used plastic "skin fittings" from a chandlers. I've had them for 5 or 6 years so far with no problems.
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Those are the saws that I have too. I tend to only really use the 346 if I'm cutting understorey or small coppice these days. I know someone who runs a 550 with an 18" bar cutting hardwood though, so it will definitely punch above its weight if it needs to.
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+1 I was using a "problem" 550 last week and found that using the decomp on warm starts was a bad idea. However putting it on half throttle (flip choke on then off) and not using the decomp meant it started easily every time.
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I would say that 2, 3, 5 and 6 are "conditions that might affect a tree" rather than "periods in the life of a tree". I might be over thinking things though...
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I would have thought that you're on the money with your first one (throw in "biotic" and "abiotic" for bonus points), and that the obvious other period is late in the tree's life when it starts to decline and lose vigour.
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The mods don't have any authority over our thinking, but they absolutely do have authority over what we post. Like it or not, we all take part here by invitation and not by right. If you have a genuine complaint then a PM to an admin is probably a better bet than washing your dirty laundry in public. If that doesn't get the result you want then you have the choice of either going with it, or going somewhere else. It's not a democracy and publicly arguing the toss on any forum is rarely likely to get a good result. Arbtalk does seem to have an unusually good track record of people wising up rather than flouncing off though, which I think is a great credit to the forum.
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560XP mostly on 18" these days, sometimes on 15". 346XP on 15".
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FC web site with more details here: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/gallwasp
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I was at a FC briefing about this today and it sounds like they've been responding very quickly. In the space of two weeks they have done a survey of the entire wood, felling sample trees to check for galls, and found out which area is currently affected. They have also got contractors in to machine harvest the 14ha where they have found galls, and will be burning all lop and top hoping to get it done before the wasps emerge. The timber isn't affected and there are no movement restrictions, but it isn't being harvested as tidily as you'd normally see due to the rush. They are also carrying out surveys in the surrounding area, and have asked everyone to keep a look out and to report it if you find any.
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The preferred common name is still Chalara though. The FC refer to it as "Chalara dieback of ash".
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I've been using WeatherPro on iOS for a few years now and it has been pretty reliable.
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OK that makes sense. I can see the distinction there. I agree that the way you operate makes it less likely that any problems will arise, but supposing someone does end up with a sneaky customer who doesn't do what they are meant to and contracts for you to carry out unauthorised work? How about this scenario: a customer who wants a tree removed in a CA, but doesn't want to involve the LPA for any of a number of nefarious reasons. He reckons that the chances of a prosecution are low enough to be worth the risk of felling the tree without notification, but signs your contract saying he'll do the paperwork and assume responsibility. You're clearly confident that you're covered, but has this ever been tested in court? Is there not a danger that as the professional expert in the situation there is a higher duty on you to make sure that the work you carry out is within the law?
