Logan

I've only seen them with a simple plate and a couple of boxes near the axle. Do they guard them better if you ask them to? It's been on list for ages to get some plates made up to finish boxing in under the sides and a few places like the wires by the pto and lower links. Really is crap going over brash mats and hearing things tearing off under there and having to stop and lay under there with chainsaw and tools! Get your order in if they not finished yet! Full guarding, plus retro kits for all us mates! Think a 570 crane and frame etc cost about 20 or just over. Cheers, John.

I've only seen them with a simple plate and a couple of boxes near the axle. Do they guard them better if you ask them to? It's been on list for ages to get some plates made up to finish boxing in under the sides and a few places like the wires by the pto and lower links. Really is crap going over brash mats and hearing things tearing off under there and having to stop and lay under there with chainsaw and tools! Get your order in if they not finished yet! Full guarding, plus retro kits for all us mates! Cheers, John.

PS what is a processor configuration? Like a "+" and ">1<"? Need like a "¥" or "#" shape blade!

Hello there, we have a 4 way and a 6 way knife for the 30t horizontal splitter. It is approximately 140-150mm outside diameter so maybe 120-125mm inside diameter? Don't know. It's pump runs 84litres min at 240bar. Somewhere I read that it uses ~ 35 hp at the pto to acheive this. On chewy tough bits still in rounds, it can just about push the 1.1m log through the 4 way. If we have large rings however, we use a 20t vertical splitter which makes an easier job of it as the log stays in one place while the blade moves. Although we have a 4 way slide on blade for this machine, this 4way suits 150-200mm diameter rings best as it does it in one go and produces good logs. If we use the 4 way on a 12" 1/4 like you've got it turns out ugly looking large diamond pieces which need further work. So basically we tend to use the standard straight blade on this machine for the ugly stuff. It's roughly 110mm outside diameter ram (90 inside? How thick skinned are they??) The pump is 45.6litres/min. Would have to look up pressure,probably similar to the other one. It needs 18.7kw which is about 25hp(?) at pto so maybe a good size pump for your tractor? Not seen a 6 way on a 20 ton splitter like this though. And that's what I reckon! Cheers, John.

Hi Rowan, gotcha now, that would make sense. A friend of ours uses a 12t binderberger to cope with a fair volume of wood, though I think they ring up larger pieces in the wood owing to their low impact small alpine set up. As we seem to get a large volume of bigger diameters, I couldn't imagine using less than the 20t posch upright and 30t binderberger horizontal we're working with as even they stall out on the tougher bits. But then we like to work in 1.1m billets. For some reason. Cheers, John.

Hi there Eddie, that's useful that it can bite a good scoop out of 40mm stone. I suppose the grab truck boys get on well with them, but I wondered whether they could bite in well. Do you have any down pressure on the crane other than the weight of it? Cheers, John.

Hi there Rovers, yes, it would be useful info to have if you can. Sadly it's not reached top position on priority list yet, but if it does then it could help find one. Never having seen one go off a ride, my only concern is about whether it could cope with stumps, but as you say, could always use the winch. Cheers, John.

yes that's how I understand it too, probably not a massive amount of money?

Hi Tilio, Do you find your machine powerful enough, if you do then the idea of clipping a pto pump on sounds good and not expensive, and if you can figure the best flow you could get a good speed. We use a Posch 20t and it has that autospeed set up which gives pretty fast up and down at half power, then slows down to full power if it needs to, which is still fast enough. Been a good tool, as an all rounder. Think it's rated at about 23 pto hp, a grey Fergie must turn out around that? Probably be a good quiet set up. Cheers, John.

Hi Lee, Jon, Posch hydrocombi 20t was £3,150 basic machine plus vat, plus delivery, plus any extras, when we bought ours in 2010. So has price dropped, or did they see us coming!?:-) Cheers, John.

Glad you put this post Crobinson and the good replies. Have been seeing some great form young hardwoods peeled ragged like a banana in recent years by the gangs of greys that seem to move about. The FC recommended to me to try kania traps, but haven't tried yet. Air rifle pellets need to be very well aimed to kill them. Tough skinned critters. We've saved up a sack of sweet chestnuts and in the spring given them to our friend the shootist, and he's had a productive time at close range, actually sitting in a caravan with the window open and stove going. But as you've said, it's really another unpaid full time job. Now if there were a bounty on them?! Cheers, John. Have heard that 2 good shotguns and a third on a high pruning pole poking the drays works well in winter, but the only time I saw this done they didn't have much success. Drays were out of reach!

Looks like you get involved with some good jobs there Eddie. Those clams fit in the log grab? You guys fashion them up? Cheers, John.

Looks excellent Rovers. A good size. Good thing with them is they leave the rides in better condition than when you start. Flattens it out nicely. See yours is badged as Komatsu? Sadly I missed out on a 5 tonne yanmar last year, a friend offered it but the timing was wrong so he traded it back to cautrac. Have you rattled over many stumps yet?! Cheers, John.

Sounds like you're having a good go at it mate. As has been said, it can be incredibly frustrating to find you've introduced another handling stage into the process, especially with the sizes you're dealing with. And I agree that you might have overestimated the tonnage you can move as an average. With that distance and product the daily average might only be half what you've reckoned on. Then again, if all 6 of you show up full of beans for a few days, and run at it...! :-) All the best, John.

Good thread mate. If you can get all your cutters within 0.5mm and the depth gauges uniform and useful to the wood you're cutting and the saws power/bar length, and sharp, should be good to use. Also bar rails reasonably level and no burrs or wire edges. oiling a new bar before fitting a new chain is a nice touch. But if you've had a chain out of a oil bath, it'll slide round quietly enough until the chain oil gets there. More noticable on longer bars. For me, if I'm stump cutting or crosscutting dirty logs or whatever, 1.5mm difference probably suffices. If I'm felling all day, or doing a lot of bar nose work, then I'd look to be within 0.5mm. Aim high and on your off days it will still be good enough! With time and good eyesight, i think you'll not need the calipers so often. Use the force, Luke, especially when you're out in the woods and time is maybe getting on... And maybe it's raining... Cheers. John

what happened with long bar? Wouldn't turn chain when fully in the cut? Clutch heat up? How about if the depth gauges were left unfiled but cutters filed back a bit!? Still slow but cheaper than rarely used large saw. Even better would be a skip chain and the increased flow oiler, still cheaper than a whole new saw? Personally, I went for the bigger saw! But I do feel over equipped sometimes! Ha.

which did you decide on in the end!? Cheers, John.

now I'm in trouble. I like high output oilers! Seem to remember putting one on the 660. Only thing that gets me is been sticking to buying heated handles for a few years, now come to rely on them most winters. Seem to be hard to get on full or 3/4 wrap handlebars from what i can see. Got to take care of those hands!

Find a 660 an excellent saw for cutting the larger logs down in the yard. Use a 362 for the smaller stuff, and 660 for the >1ft dia logs, which are sorted out separate. Suppose a 461 must make a good all rounder, but there is satisfaction in cutting through a pile of 2" logs that little bit quicker. You can lean on it! Will have to try 461 now! 461R with the funky handle, that must be useful. Cheers, John.

must grease ours tomor... Just changed roller on our 570, didn't think to ask Ewan at EFM (w-----s) about wear spacers/guides, assumed from look of things that not in there. Available as a fix? (new dipper/extension sir, certainly...)

Apart from the fierce brakes that skid when empty, our 2010 botex euro 11000 has been a good strong trailer. 2 bays of 2.2m is easy, but 2.4's do go on it ok. Apart from a few welds on headboard, we've had no probs with pins or any other welds. Extendable section as you've mentioned above would be good if easy to adjust. Beyond 2.4's I'm not sure if the front wheels would stay down with roofmount! Cheers, John.

Looks good mate. Tidy tractor. One job off the list. Any grills?

Hello there Windthrow. All this rational talk and clear headed reasoning is all fine and good, but when it comes down to it, and i'm not biased, the 660 has to be the all time greatest saw in the history of the world, and I'm gutted that those confused people at HQ are pulling it, so yes, buy as many as you can, it will be an act you will always be glad of. Even if they do fill the air filter like a hoover bag.

Hi there, seems like nobody knows! From what I recall from one of those fc safety days a few years back, when looking at a valtra with a trailer crane, it was a very lightweight frame over the cab and it seemed to satisfy the clipboard guy. Rops is in tractor cab. Some marguard or a grill wherever you plan to sling logs to. That was for forwarder anyway. I need to guard up a cx75 excavator fitted with a grab, and gut feeling makes me reckon that 60x60x5mm box should offer fair protection against the size of stem it'll be fighting. We use a log trestle in the yard made of same and it hasn't bent yet!