spuddog0507

Windblown or storm damage is not for the faint hearted, i think all sizes of trees if windblown fall under the windblown umbrella, as the post above says site requirements to do the accessment require several trees over 300mm and up to 560mm or there abouts, a tree that is uprooted, particialy uprooted, snapped top and hanging tops are all in the windblown category but as with all trees every site is different and what is required on paper for a accessment will be different to what is on site, its not about doing what is on paper its about doing the job safely, we do a fair amount of windblown clearance of all types, some fresh and some that has been down for years they all react very differently, photos below show fresh windblown and some that was down for about 3 years, we have several sites at present that we are going to clear due to the recent storms, good luck but be very very careful if it goes wrong it will hurt or worse,

I think the price tells us all we need to know about them ??? they cant be up to much for £50 each, might last till brew time then get the other one out,,

Just quarter them with a saw, Stand the ring up and cut with the grain, it wont take long with a sharp saw, then on to your small splitter ,,

I once went there 😂😂

I have read the above posts and get what you want as u went through this about 10/12yrs ago and to be honest it was a nightmare making the decision, I looked at new Siromer, Shire and Kioto tractors and i could see faults with all of them with regards to working with timber, I did my homework and came up with a few problems regarding the spare parts avilabilaty, some quoted 4-6 wks for the likes of a starter motor or hydraulic pump and that aint no good to any one, the spares is a massive problem with the Asian built tractors as compared to the Japanese built tractors that have been here in the UK since the 70s, Asian v Japanese I have worked with the Japanese tractors since the early 80s and i cant remember any thing really going wrong with them that could not be fixed in a hour or 2, one company i did a bit of subbying to had a fleet of about 20 compact tractors most where Kubota with a few Yanmars and Isekis, most of them had either deck mowers on or flails on them along with many other implements for grounds care, the company in question got a good deal on 5 Ford 1920s ok at the time a very nice tractor and good to drive but unfortunatly they didnt have them for that long and moved them on, When i was looking i narrowed it down to 2 Kubota and Iseki as Yanmar didnt do one that suited our needs, in the end i made my mind up and plumbed for a Kubota, several reasons for this 1, was the time i spent driving one back in the 80s with no issues and it was not nursed at all, 2, Kubota have stood the test of time and are known for there reliabiaty and being robust, 3, full UK net work of dealers and a good parts back up, In the end i went and bought a Kubota L3250 40hp 4WD it came off a golf course with about 2500 hrs so it had not worked hard at all, i have had it 10/12 years now and its been used and abused but has been trouble free and now has 5500 hrs on it, It starts first flick of the key in all weathers no matter how cold it is, we work it in forestry work which is about the hardest enviroment to put machinery in to but it has stood up to it well, we run a forwarding trailer behind it and a 4.2 tonne winch on it, it is cheap to run and might use about 4/5 gallon of diesel doing a 12hr shift extracting timber, and so far there has been no issues at all with it, So my advise to you would be think very careful about what you buy and dont listen to the bull the salesman is telling you as you have to remember he will be getting a cut out of what he sells you!! Resale value is another thing to think off as well, a tractor is a very versatile piece of machinery that you can add many implaments do and broaden your work scope, one guy i know does tree work all winter and a lot of grass cutting during the summer months with 2 kubota,s, and the best thing i can say is you need to remember is, buy cheap buy twice as i am sure the Siromer i looked at was nice, new and shinny but i am sure it would of not been with us know !!,

Some one above said that stainless dont take a edge, i tend to differ on that one, i have a stainless fileting knife and that does take a edge very well and if i use a stone on it after a steal it is razor sharp, but it dont hold it for very long as its all ways in contact with bone but 5 or 6 stokes with a steal and its back, i would not like to catch my self with it,

Should you be carrying a stool in your condition 😂 😂

I know how you feel its shit, the days drag by so slowly, when i had mine done a few years back i striped and rebuilt a few fishing rods, cleaned all my guns and even stiped a old hammer gun back to its bare bones and refurbed it from all metal work to the wood work, i tried to keep myself as occupied as possible to combat the bordam, But look on the bright side there is no Jeremy Kyle to watch today, you just have Lorrain, Homes under the hammer, Cash in the attic, Antiques road trip and Flog it, Enjoy, but on a serious note be very careful and do what your told to do All the best to you,,

All timbers will mill at different speeds weather fresh felled or been stacked a while, but any timber that is fresh felled will mill fare quick than any that has been sacked for several months, If we do a wind blown clearance job and we send the timber in to a mill we have to be careful what we send, if we was to send timber in that has been over for several months that was quite dry we would be getting a phone call from the mill saying we cant mill all the timber due to a low moisture content, then we get a reduction in payment, Ok the mill is getting a greater volume of timber per truck load if dry but it causes several problems with in the mill that costs far more in lost time than the difference between fresh felled at 40% moisture compared some wind blown at 20-25%,, i will admit i have had very little to do with DF over the years, some timbers will hold there moisture better than others and you have put a good example of that up with saying the Oak was far quicker to mill than the DF, i have some rough lengths of beech about 28" diameter in the yard that we have been cutting for firewood and that has gone rock hard, wont even cut straight cross cutting it and is a nightmare to split,

Yep just over 50 is to young to be on owt pain relief related, I know how you feel as i have something going on in the top of my left arm, tendon/muscle related some how but i dont know how it has come about, i had a fall last feb when i got my foot wedged under a big rock and i kept going, hence hit the deck hard and broke 3 toes in my left foot, or it could be possibly from drop starting saws for 40 yrs ? Now under the MSK team ( Muscler and Skelatal team ) went for a MRI scan last sat 8th (worst 25mins of my life) not a nice sensation but at least things are moving forward now at last after many many months of waiting, but once out of the hands of my GP things have flown and progress is now being made, i think we have got to that age now where we have to be a bit more careful than we was when we was younger, we have all done some stupid things in the past and now we are past the half century things dont heal the same as they did 20/30 years ago,,,

Quite aware of that Sherlock. Have you got all the MOT certificates for it from its first one in 2004 ? 2004 showed 18k 2005 showed 24k 2006 showed 26k 2007 showed 63k 2008 showed 46k 2009 showed 29k So what went wrong ? well i will tell you the original speedo went knackered so a replacment was fitted from a older truck, that didnt work proper as it was slow i,e doing 30 on the clock but nearer 40 hence 3pts and £60 at the time for previous owner, so another clock the same as original was borrowed out of a truck that was awaiting insurance clearance after being in a RTA, the original clock was repaired and refitted to the truck with its original mileage on it, but if you really want to be picky add 4700 miles to mileage it is now showing that is 78103, i Hope this helps you out with your investigation ,,

Personally i think finding a pick up that does the job today trouble free is near on a impossible task, all cars, vans, pick ups and trucks just seem to be full of electric this n that which all adds to problems, a lad i work with has a Ford Ranger that is approx 2yr old now and that has been back in god knows how many times now with several problems and all bar one have been electricail and the other is add blue related, I think the best pick ups where mid 90s - mid 2000s, they had sorted body n power issues out from the 80s and they where very limited with electrics back then, out of several vans and pick ups over the years by far the best one i have ever owned is a Cabstar bought it 12 yr ago and still have it and been very little trouble over the years till now as it has developed a elecrical short some where but it will get sorted, its 3ltr and pulls like a train and it has been used heavily but then its been looked after as well,

I think the outside diameter of ram is 70/80 mm and rod will be 30mm, i looked at one some one had bought from a proper manufacturer with bigger ram and longer stoke with auto return so you allways had to wait for it, and it was either piped to a tractor or a bobcat,i thought both there power supplies where a bit on the expensive side, compared to £80 for my engine and £65 for pump and coupling,

I have a log splitter that is powered by a single cylinder petter diesel engine about 5hp, it runs for 7/8hrs and it wont use a gallon of diesel, OK its not supper powerful but does 98% of what i ask of it and is quicker than most, 12" stroke and 5 seconds from rest back to rest, when i built it about 12yr ago it was designed with production in mind,

Thats more like it 😂

Country file Calendar 😂 Thank God John Craven has only got a few left and once they are gone we wont hear anything about it for about 8 month then it will be every week again till the next newyear,😂😂

As mentioned above the FC did run 4x4 berlingos and they where pretty good, i know a few cutters in the Lakes who purchased them off the FC, all so know a stalker with one and he swears by it, I know 2 lads with Jimneys and they are happy with them, I managed for many years with a 2,0 ltr Peugeot 406 estate and i cant say owt bad about that either, reliable, good mpg at 44mpg, and got us to where we needed to get, then got the chance of a very cheap L200, ran it for 4 yrs and first thing i noticed was there was a big difference in the weekly fuel bill as compared to the peugeot, L200s are ok but lack speed and seem to be reving there arse off at 70mph and thats where the fuel goes, got shut of L200 and now run a LWB Shogun, 3,2ltr good off road and its much better on fuel than the L200 and when you put your right foot down the Shogun picks its feet up well as compared to the L200 where 0-60 you need a calendar, towing a 10ft ifor tipper with a couple of tonne on the l200 was doing 17-19 mpg the Shogun is doing 25-26mpg so a bit of a difference there, I think most of the small 4x4s are all about the same my Dad has a Toyota Rav 4 on a 04 plate he has had it just over 12 years now and its hardly had a penny spent on it and its been a very good car in my eyes, i think its a 1,8 petrol quite nippy and he gets about 36mpg, my mother had a Jimny from new on a Y plate up untill about 12 mth ago and that was pretty good as well, one thing with any off road 4x4 is tyres, decent off road tyres are worth there money if its something you are going to use to your advantage on a regular basis,,

A few years ago my helmet fell out of the back of the tractor and then i reversed over it and the helmet was not damaged as much as what yours is, Ok it had a dent in it that just knocked out but no cracks or chunks missing, New helmet bought morning after regards of cost, The dessision is yours but it depends on how much you value your head ? For what they do they are not expensive and as for the helmet i mentioned above it sure made me think how tough they are, Just bin it and get another one ,

Dont know what sort of quantity your after ? but you will find that most trees from a garden will carry a quantity of metal !! it would pay in the long run to buy forest grown timber for your job, there is plenty of estates out you way that will be taking timber out on a regular basis,,

Personally i think we will see a big increase in road side checks, i think the trap is all ready set and it will be a very easy income for Borris to pay some of the money back that he paid out to all his mates in the covid epidemic, !!,,

Yes i lad i know using a unimog for arb work and running on red is on with a on going court case and its been going on now over 3 yrs, as he said it all started with some one running in the back of the Mog when it was parked roadside at a job and we where having our dinner round the back of the house we where working at, the women driving the car called the Police as she said the mog was reversing ? CCTV footage from a set of nearby traffic lights confirmed no one in Mog and had not been for 20mins, every thing snow balled from there, Greater manchester police, DVLA, Custom & excise etc so far its cost him about 30k and it aint finished yet,

Most will have it nearly all the way through thats why they got left soaking for so long, but one thing you must remember Andy is back when these sleepers where laid and like many many other things in that era is they where made to last unlike the shite we have today, cut one and then cut a piece of it and take it in your own house near the stove and just see what happens ??

From past ventures with sleepers, i can tell you that before they where laid on any rail way they where treated just like telegraph poles and that was being soaked in large vats of creosote for up to 3 years depending on timber species, and thats before they had decades of oil spilt over them from all the old steam trains, if they where cut and went in to any property the smell of oil and creosote would be present and would vastly increase as the temp rose when the stove was lit, Going back a few years when i worked in a sawmill we cut some 12ft 10"x10" larch that we delivered to a BT or Telecom depot as it would of been called in the early 80s, these lengths of larch where unloaded and dumped it do a very large covered tank of creosote for 2 years before they went to be erected for a trial of a new style telegraph pole,, if i was you Andy i would stay well clear of the reclaimed sleepers and just go and buy new oak sleepers and cut then up far safer as i can just see the old ones being a massive headache for you.

Horticulture the growing of ornimentle trees, So whats Arboriculture then ??

There is talk of a third coloured diesel possibly green for construction site work that will be taxed more than red but not as much as white,