Spruce Pirate
-
Posts
1,080 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
1
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Classifieds
Tip Site Directory
Blogs
Articles
News
Arborist Reviews
Arbtalk Knot Guide
Gallery
Store
Freelancers directory
Everything posted by Spruce Pirate
-
I like Stihl wedges, varying sizes, a couple of each. Long lasting and durable. Hi-lifts have there place, but most of the time they're too bulky to carry about the place (might be different if you're in arb all the time and never that far from the van). They also taper too quickly if you need to get something heavy/leaning over, you're better off with a thinner taper to get it moving. If you need more lift as the tree goes up just stack a couple together with a bit of sawdust in between.
-
Rates for Self Employed Handcutters
Spruce Pirate replied to MattyBuist's topic in Forestry and Woodland management
I'd say minimum £120/day. Assuming you've got FISA refresher status and First Aid tickets too. And that you're working on a self-employed basis, putting in full shifts and capable of turning up and getting the job done. You might find that what you should be charging and what you can charge are two different things. -
Cut to length if we have to, only if the harvester has already moved site or is too far away to make it back to process a couple of trees. Most of the time fell and run out if needed until the machine can cope with the branches, knock a log or even two off if the trees are too big. How much processing depends on which harvester is on site. Carrying stuff in can be a job in itself, especially up hill, but if you get a kind operator with a big cab it can help. Often need to buy them some spray cleaner for the cab afterwards!
-
Agreed, the fibre pull was just a thought as it does seem to increase with a low back cut and a normal thickness in the hinge. Low back cut also gives better control over direction, particularly if there's a bit of a side lean. Luftwaffe, these trees were in groups, each seemed to block the other from felling across the racks. It was easier to fell them in with the jack and with the angle of the rack there were only a few branches on the timber the harvester had felled. The forwarder knew we were coming and could have cleaned it out the day before but didn't, so.......
-
Increased chance of fibre pull?
-
So long as I'm getting above 5 I'm happy enough!! Yes, back leaning and back weighted. Felled straight in to aid snedding. Round about two feet diameter on the hinge (just over), don't think the back cut is that high? Not sure why some pictures are the wrong way round.
-
Go on then. What do I get for this?
-
White emulsion on choke butterfly?
Spruce Pirate replied to TimberCutterDartmoor's topic in Chainsaws
Sorry to derail the thread, and I know the price has been discussed before, but how much is Aspen coming in at? Please feel free to PM me if you don't want to say on the public forum. -
Good learning experience for the young one there. Is that whole trees getting pulled over to simulate windblow? Is there not enough about the place already?
-
Thanks for the kind words guys. I've never minded the early starts - I must be a morning person! That said, last week's job was fifteen minutes from home so not so early for that as it's not light til about 8. I think the Humbolt and Swanson cuts both get the tree to jump from the stump better than a conventional cut which helps get it further down the hill to the harvester which can be the difference between winching a wee bit at the top or not. There's some debate about this, but I'm pretty sure they go further with the upside down cut. As said, the Swanson lets the butt touch down first which I think helps stop the stem from snapping which again lets the harvester get the whole stick rather than having to winch a load of butts down. Anything which saves having to drag a winch cable up the hill is a good thing.
-
Harvesters are good, and getting better, but they've still got their limitations. Was a excavator base winch pulling the roadsiders. Don't think I've got any decent pictures, but really good tools. Forestry is hard graft, but it has a few plus points too (see view in video of the sunny day). The money might not reflect the effort, especially if you start comparing the price of a cube of timber roadside to that leaving the mill or on the shop shelf, but that's life when you're supplying a raw material. You either deal with that or go and do something else. Good cutters, that's a subject for a whole new thread.
-
Another vote for Pfanner from me, like them, but to be fair haven't tried the Arbortec. Got my Pfanners from Clarkes.
-
It's probably about as close as you get these days, but not really proper contour felling. The line left was handy for catching a few, yes, but it was really as the trees you see standing were weighted more on the outside as they were by the side of a burn and it was more awkward to fell them out onto the rack that the rest were going onto. The standing trees were felled across the burn to another rack, but when it was filmed that rack was still full of timber waiting for the forwarder to lift it, so they lived to fight another day. Hope that makes sense?
-
Cheers, I like a swanson for big sticks downhill. There's a mix of felling cuts really, conventional, humbolt and swanson, probably a few snap cuts on some of the dead stems too. Wasn't really contour felling in the traditional sense, more just downhill. 6am isn't all it's cracked up to be. Sadly it wasn't all on the one day, but we did get some good weather on that job.
-
Thanks Andrew, think I even managed to get a couple of shots of the 7910 in there for you.
-
Thanks all. Yep, up at the bottom of The Rest, and good timber. A couple of the big ones were getting two 6.2's from the butt. Up at five, left at six. I liked that one too, was better live. Red light was from the GoPro, forgot to turn it off.
-
Short (??) video of a job we were on the other month. Felling the bankings, oversize and hairy trees to the harvester. Forestry, not arb, but might be interesting/entertaining for some. [ame= ] [/ame]
-
When we last needed net bags I think we got them from Ebay or Amazon, not sure which.
-
Have done a couple of badger sett fells. One was inactive, felled all trees away from the sett (as much as possible, bearing in mind the sett was in the middle of the wood), stumps left high so no machinery can get in and disturb the sett. Other one was an active site, license needed from SNH and paperwork had to be physically on site. Trees felled away from sett, all debris had to be cleared from entrance holes and runs on a daily basis. Couldn't fell before 8am or after 5pm, all work had to be completed within a timeframe too, but can't remember the exact details. Rules might be different for England. Neither job was difficult, just had to think a wee bit more as to where and how the trees were felled to avoid damage and minimise the clear up.
-
Evening Andrew, your post above gives a very good summary of the 6100. I liked the saw when I had it and certainly gave it a good work out. I'll be in touch soon as I'm needing a couple of bits for the 7910.
-
I've got to agree on this, at least as far as the 6100 is concerned. I had one on a long term demo from Shavey and I really liked it, a good all round saw and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it if you're looking for one saw to do all your work, likes of a farmer, fencer, cutting your own firewood etc. But it wasn't as nice to use as the 560 in flat out commercial cutting. More versatile, yes, capable of doing it, yes, but not as flat out good. I've had 2 560's and will be having a third, never had any problems with them. Will consider a 6100 if I'm replacing the 365, but not as a replacement for the 560. Would be interested in trying the 5105, heard good things about that one. As an aside, I've been running a 560 on 50:1 for two years now without issue. (Probably blow up tomorrow now )
-
I'll have a look in the spares box tomorrow, there might be one in there.... but then again, there might not be. You're welcome to it if there is.
-
I used to like the Poti-Putki for planting cell grown. Most of the limitations have already been mentioned - can't do bare root, can't do things that are too branchy, can't do plugs that are too big - the only other things I can think of is that they need cleaned out at the jaws every so often or residue from the soil and the plugs builds up and can stop the next plug dropping out. I used to wash it out in a puddle/drain whenever I passed one. They can also be pretty heavy on the thumb before you get used to them and they don't do well in stony ground. All that said, they are a good tool, efficient and pretty ergonomic in the right soils. I've a couple kicking about in the shed if anyone's interested in them drop me a PM and we could sort something out.
-
Is it not possible to get caulk boots from the US or Canada with chainsaw protection? I thought Husky did a set of wellies with caulks for the North American market. I'm pretty sure a Canadian forester has them over here, the only problem being they're not CE marked. They are still chainsaw protected boots though, so you'd have to be dealing with someone pretty pedantic for it to be a problem.
-
You have to have a good justification for using non-chainsaw gloves (poor fit, weather conditions). You can't Risk Assess gloves out completely, you still have to have some. Same with trousers, you have to be able to justify using type A over C, for example through experience and weather conditions such as heat. You can certainly apply these principals to boots, for example you can easily Risk Assess wellies out of climbing work. Possibly boots out of ground work if you're working in a really boggy area? I think you'd still have to have chainsaw boots though, much as with the trousers, you can Risk Assess the level of protection down from Type C to Type A, but you can't Risk Assess it down to a pair of shorts. Out of curiosity, why do you ask?
