Crazy Cutter

When i started in 94 the trades were totally different. Now hand felling has fallen out of favour due to harvesters fallers have moved moved into tree surgery and the skills have been lost in even in the last ten years, it will return but it will be hard! The harvester woods will run out and we will be left with the difficult ones where the machine can't go! Trust me i'm in those woods now in flat! north norfolk.

The two are totally different but meet badly in the middle!

Thats because the assessor has a tree surgery background not forestry? How often do you see a thread on hear about work or pricing thats shows the difference between the tree surgery world and forestry? How many people local to me were assessed by Terry Pallant or cut nosed terry now thats someone you looked up to and admired his photos!

Those of us who are self-employed and fell every day do not need the threat of this extra expense! A refresher is a good idea but usually we have more experience than the instructor and just get left to do our own thing on the day, which i could have been in my own woods doing!

The Timberking does look a good start Big J but i would have thought the PEZZOLATO MINI PROFI 1000 on flea-bay was more your style? My only concern with all these smaller mills is the majority of the wood i want cut is oak and flexing of the blade ends up with a cupped board?

I do hope you said that after surgery!?!

Oak is the only one i struggle on with this problem and using this time of year. Is there a second flush of sap or has tannin anything to do with it? Its usually worse with the 385 with a bigger bar on 24 t0 28. But has been doing it with the 357 with 15 on. Oiler is up and i do grease the nose as its there! It usually happens when crosscutting and coming towards the end of the cut?

No not listed these are ten a penny in this village, so more lucky than you. We couldn't see any other way to do things than take the ceiling down. No one else was interested in buying the place so that must say something? My brother is a reed thatcher, done quite a few jobs with him when younger and they last when looked after. My job was always pointing brotches then i moved on to hazel cutting hence the interest in coppice and timber framed building.

It happens quite often with me when felling oak regardless of what saw and size. Usually its the bar nose that has jammed, bar off and free it then grease it. You should grease the nose everyday when felling, so every use if an occasional user?

I would hazard a guess that's why they used beech. I have two more rooms to go next year which each have a 17' pine tie beam so i would guess are going to be rotten at the walls but maybe a later addition. The floor joists are again all beech from what i can see but without deathwatch and maybe later as look far better (i can only see the ends!) The house was originally thatched with a steep pitch down to lower window height and then an upstairs added. Walls are thin compared to original but pine roof timbers all good so that's a bonus. When we removed the reed ceilings the original plastered ceiling was underneath, between and over the joists with lovely khaki colour as good as the day it went up and a pain to get down. There were three pine laths running between the joists to hold the plaster on and nailed to the floorboards. They were able to split scots pine over 6 to 8' down to 4 to 6mm thick! No problems with your thatched roof i hope. They become costly when others haven't done any upkeep.

All joists and rafters are 4 x 2 or thereabouts everyone being out and usually waney or bowed. Length joists 6 foot and rafters 10 but don,t need many of them mainly joists.

Pulled some more apart today. It is death watch beetle as has only attacked the beech and oak but has bored through pine board to pupate. All the beech and some of the oak is like dust. The walls have been damp in the past so it was ideal for it but haven't found any living beetles yet.

Thanks Alec for the reply. I must say your house sounds fantastic. We have lost so much skill compared to what they were able to do with not a lot. Too much waste in building today and too much treating wood as plastic. The house is late 18th century but was part of a large estate so would guess beech was being planted as the forestry era had started. Most other woods were still coppice, a lot of the houses here are elm or oak. We have opened the main fireplace stack (huge 9' by 8') which has a lovely curved beech lintel but axed to make it more curved and axed to square it. then the carpenter has sawn all the joists and main beam. I would have thought with their level of skill he would have axed the joists? The joists are soffited into the beam, so with movement and drying there is only an inch of every joist into the beam! Woodworm and a very large one at that (4-5mm exit hole) has eaten into everything beech and pine that end of the house. The fireplace lintel is fine though (charring)? I have a dead oak beam cut to match 17' by 8" by8" but was concerned about using a green beam due to movement etc on old norfolk brick walls. Trying to find an oak with a straight grain has been a nightmare. Have also now found some lovely un rotten oak gate posts in a barn so will be able to re-cut them with the small log mill for the joists. That will be it till next summer giving me time to cut new beams, joists etc and get them a bit drier. Will still require old oak if anyone comes across any as we have plenty more to do within this house!

Have removed the ceiling in the house and have found the main beam and rafters pretty much shot. House 250 years old and wood is all beech which was a surprise. Anyway has anyone got any dryish oak in the round in my area that i could cut for rafters? or old beams, fence posts to re-mill. Also has anyone got any info on using oak from standing dead trees. The moisture content is always the same the heartwood looks sound but does dead make any difference to strength to use as beams etc. Any help would be great.

Mine was fine chris 24 tonne chinese job very well built just the controls are mounted on top so log broke early and bust controls off top of ram. Another job haven't got round to doing!

I've split 250 tonnes over the last year cos my cheapo log splitter broke. Went to hospital today for a pre-op and they couldn't believe how fit i was!

I will sit tight cos there ain't a lot else on at the mo. I seem to have no end of people starting up on logs not realising the hassle involved. I only do it cos i enjoy the felling side. I must have 15 people/farms/ businesses doing logs now within 10 mile of me! Its not an easy buck as you know, and when you expand your customer base you still have to supply the quality product! How these people expect to find decent cord to season in time when they are inundated with calls is beyond me?

I went from 80 tonne a year to 250 tonne over a year but this year is slow! I'm down 50% on sales this year from april to july. Last july 60 split cube sold and this just 12. Cashflow gone to pot. I'm trying to find an excuse like the treasury do everytime the figures get worse!

The state of the EU will put an end to subsidy.

Fair there is nothing fair about agriculture in this country! My grandfather was a coal miner they weren't treated fair!

You are correct. Its farmers supplying processors who are protesting. The price of cream has dropped which is what the processor was making a profit on so passing a higher price onto the farmer for milk. The public are buying less cream and want less cream in their milk (health?) so there is a flood of cheap cream. Lets not forget the farmer doesn't have to farm. He would be able to retire comfortably on the sale of the farm as land prices are high. I have a friend who has done so in Dorset. Also the single payment scheme (subsidy) allows him to not to farm just top his grass a few times a year and still receive his subsidy cheque for not actually farming. And yes hodge is right the disco 4 is the vehicle of choice here in norfolk! but then farming in this county is a different kettle of fish.

Thanks for that! I do something other than driving for a living and then i deliver a trailer load of logs on the way home does that count?

My licence is B + E like most people i should think but it needs to be clarified by someone in the know!

Yes i thought that but other pages state any vehicle or combo over 3.5 tonne for reward. Just was hoping someone in the know would answer, without it turning into the slanging match we had over the trailer tacho!

Ive posted this under general as in theory could affect all of us? Can anyone ROG etc be able to explain whether we need it for business use. It would seem those driving anything over 3.5 tonnes, trailer etc for reward will need the ticket or are there forestry get outs etc. I would guess i will need it to deliver logs with the defender and trailer. There doesn't seem to be the exemptions like there was with the trailer tacho law. And i feel this time i can't stomach it, i'm bored of money making schemes when i ain't making much myself. I would much rather call it a day than have to sit through a five day course to tell me how to driver my land rover safely.