ashman

where you from and how far you looking to travel to collect ? Rob.

I have about 40t of oak rung and stacked ready, only another 60t to go !

Wish i had known sooner dan, me and pete have just done a day very near there today ! We could have combined it. Rob.

Had a similiar problem myself, local garage, does do a fair trade and always a tanker there filling up, so i reckoned it fairly fresh fuel. Went in with a brand new combi can, filled up, went in and paid, when i came out i put the can in the back of the motor, and thought i saw something in it, upon closer inspection there was about half an egg cupfull of rust, some big flakes as well. couldnt believe it, went back in and complained, the owner said "no way did it come from here" "we have a state of the art filtration system" No way was it in the can before hand, and if it was not for the fact it was a clear can i wonder if or when i would have seen it ! Got no where with garage, so what could i do. Since then i only ever put my fuel in clear cans. usually from a different garage though. Rob.

As brushcutter says, its all about contacts, i am well known round my local patch as "the guy who can". I try to have an idea in my head before i make an approach to a land owner, shoot as to what sort of deal will make them sit up and think ! i work in all different ways, sometimes hourly, sometimes day rates, sometimes a compromise day rate including timber and so on....... its about striking a deal that works for them and you. but at the end of the day you have to be able to do what you say and do it profesionally. Nowadays i mainly have people approach me through word of mouth, but out of my area i would be lost and need to put in some legwork. Not an easy thing to start out on your own with no previous contacts, and as a self employed thing it can be hard, i started doing it for no pay just wood, and gradually built a name as a good feller who works hard and handles most anything thrown at me, then i started getting calls for dangerous trees etc and it has grown from there. Good luck if you do go into it, most owners are either notoriously hard to deal with or dead tight untill you earn a name and some trust. Regards, Rob. Ps, any one with any forestry, either needing work doing, or looking to get someone in on a contract give me a bell

As above, could be burning oil, look out for a spare engine, piss easy to change on them and cheap as chips. Rob.

If you get a quiet day i will make one for you chap, aint rocket science, got all the kit in me workshop. Rob.

Yeah well said, i love my 460. Rob.

Blimey, you really dont do much do you lol, i go through at least a chain a week. On a serious note, your running to big a bar on that saw, making it work much harder than it should, losing power before you even start cutting, bit like driving with the handbrake on.

There is plenty of work if you can get it, as has been said lots of woodland has been neglected, i am lucky as i have a lot of contacts now, and i work hand in hand with keepers and owners. Lots of my work involves management for shoots, several large estates use my services now, but i couldnt rely on it alone. Am hoping to have a deal in the next few weeks that will involve HUGE amounts of timber, if i get that it will be two years work sorted for me. Rob.

I was pigeon shooting in some poplars last year when i heard one letting go, turned round to see the one behing me snap off about twenty foot from the base, was a big tree, almost 3ft at the point where it snapped, wasnt very windy either but it gave me the heebie jeebies and i got out them woods pdq.

Are you fixed for friday yet Dan ?

I charge £150 a day round here, shortage of good quality experienced cutters if you ask me. Rob.

I am in the process of building a splitter that will handle 36" rings, it will have a 16 way split on it (hopefully) Designed for splitting poplar, depending on how knotty it may split other hardwoods. As yet it is untested, but if it works as planned and all is good, it could be up for hire. Rob.

Looks very nice, what sort of money will those pieces fetch. A much better use for timber than logs. well done that man. Rob.

Well said, but getting everyone to charge the true value is nigh on impossible, always someone trying to make a quick cheap buck, one guy i supply was offered 1m3 bags of dry oak for 40 quid delivered, i told him best he buy it as i could not compete with that, may have lost a customer me thinks. found out it is a local lad that has taken a couple of dead oaks down, will the customer come back when this cheap supply runs out, i cant afford to lose customers but cant work for a loss either. Rob. Ps, i struggle to get £60 a cube round here for DRY oak.

Not read the whole thread so appologies if i have missed something but..... We get loads of bats in the woodland where i work, felling is a nightmare as it takes lots of legwork to make sure they are not inhabiting a tree due to come down, we only take down dead or dying trees and it seems these are the ones they like. Mainly oak, and usually there is a hole in the fork where they decide to reside. I have spent hours at dusk studying trees to see if anything is using them, as often they are very hard to see from a ground based survey. The guy who used to do the felling on one estate i work on said he felled 5 trees one day and each had bats in it. I guess if you are unlucky enough to drop one with bats resident, then a lot depends on the time of year how devastating it is, during summer i guess it would be easier for them to find a new home, however in the winter ...... Am pleased to say i have never dropped a tree and found any, reckon all those hours in the evening looking into the branches must pay off. Rob.

I am with the majority on here, £80 for a hilux load is good value. i would expect a load that size to be in the region of £100 I wish it would sell for £100 a cube round here, in my opinion it is worth it, but folk groan about the prices now, and when your nearest competitor is doing transit tipper loads for £100 it is hard to justify any more. I have noticed prices do seem to vary a lot around the country though Rob.

Hi. I guess yours is powered from the tractor hydraulics then. How well does it split ? you will be seeing a lot more familiar bits by the sound of things, however i can assure you it wont look like yours by the end lol. Regards, Rob.

Welcome to the mad house mate.

Yep i had the same thoughts myself, thats why i have strengthened it up, i have welded gusset plates in every 3 inches, and plated it all, i need to put a pic up, the beam is not as small as it looks, 8"x4" What spped is the travel on your ram ?

Yeah i was hoping it would be a bit more pressure than that, but i reckon it should be ok, poplar splits easily enough usually, as i said when it comes to splitting other hardwoods like ash and oak i am planning to have a changeable head, ie, a two or four way. If i am proven wrong then obviously the next step will be a bigger ram !

Decided to do some more strenghtening, as i reckon it still had the potential to twist, will get some more pics tomorrow.

In general i thought it was a cracking saw, had several of them, still got two in the shed as backups !!