codlasher

I'll put in an interest for one 50/50 mixed load, oak and sycamore. Easy on the 15'' stuff as neither my machine nor I can deal with too much over 12" one bay on an articulated wagon is ok but more would hurt! I'm also happy if there's silver birch in too. I can send a self loader arctic if there's good access. No more than £40 per ton if poss. I'm looking ahead for my house heating and I do not sell on so the VAT implications are 5% codlasher

As an aside to my above post; A friend who had a specialist sheet metal engineering business once had a long term contract with dear old British Airways making the galleys for certain aircraft. The two years he ran this contract was such a nightmare, with regards to payments from the company and keeping his very skilled work force paid, out weighed the supposed kudos of the contract so he terminated it. What makes me laugh was his story on the reaction of the contracts handler from BA. "But you can't not work for us, we're B A"! (you can interpret the BA bit in any way you like) Now this was twenty years ago, he never regretted the decision and his company is still going and is being run by his son and grand son. codlasher

Wow! I'm quite shocked at how a good number of you posting willingly accept more than a months delay in payments as a small business. Fine if you are a big company employing hundreds...Then you are on a salary and it really doesn't matter either way. I would happily bet that those in charge of the finances stipulating this waiting period do not get to the supermarket check-out and say 'Oops sorry, can I pay in four weeks time for these groceries!' I'd love to hear the reply!!! More fool you really for not stipulating payment on a fortnightly or even weekly basis. If more of the self-employed work-force stood their ground on this matter I believe business would work so much better. I pay on invoice and often hassle for this invoice as I hate being overdue for paying on anything. I often demand 50% up front too on new business. I also ask if the person I may be about to employ if they'd like this in reverse. I may have howls on this but I still have a very loyal work force/network of suppliers and even in semi retirement I can get things done quickly and professionally if asked. codlasher

I have spotted this for sale today. Lovely simple old machine! A little on the dear side for its age but if it is in good working order certainly worth looking at....Posch firewood processor | eBay I always wonder if the gearbox oil has been changed if ever. If the frame is rust free the parts are readily available. Certainly worth haggling.... They like a tipped blade too. codlasher

I am going to hazard it is formed by compressive forces as the tree grows, possibly on a wind-blown site, possibly a tree grown on the edge of a woodland. I knew it was sycamore as this ripple is fairly common and being almost a weed in certain situations, so they grow anywhere and this may have come up a little later that other trees in its vicinity and leaned as it tried to get to the available light. Resulting in rippling over many years. codlasher

My dad, his partner and I to some extent ran a commercial saw-mill until 1991. At one time employing 15 men there. One of the joys of milling was the unexpected. With some very interesting pieces of timber that came off the saws. Some certainly went to make lovely interior pieces and also to bespoke furniture makers in and around the High Wycombe area. To dispel the myth of the sloper-dooper money-making piece of timber......In my 35 years of involvement they never had pots of money! It always went on improving the set up or breakages or wages..... codlasher

Well, I have just looked at the Honda GXV manual download and it tells me that the timing belt should be looked at every 300 hours and probably changed if it looks in anyway worn. So, if it has broken I would imagine you have a lot of bent bits and bobs inside your present motor casing.......By the time this is stripped and all the parts are carefully checked over I would say you were two thirds of the way to the cost of new. By the time all the bent parts have been ordered, fitted and matched to the present block (providing this is serviceable) you would have exceeded the cost of a new replacement. So all in all the best thing to do would be to buy a new engine. The easy bit. Fit it to your existing Kanga. The rather more difficult bit. Sell the good bits of your old engine on eBay. The fun bit.... codlasher

There was a thread on here earlier today about wood burners and Morso was mentioned. Alcidion suggested looking on the Morso UK website. This holds the information you require for an exploded diagram of your stove. codlasher

It's a 056AV Super. Electronic quickstep. Yes with a chain brake. Not the actual saw but a fair picture of what it's like....; Thanks for the replies so far. codlasher

I have always gone with oak frame and larch cladding. I started using douglas for framing as it is slightly cheaper and lighter. Green oak is lovely to cut, just like butter. The larch I used was always cut to 7'' x 3/4 in 12' or 16' lengths to be used for the ship-lap and everything else including doors, facia boards etc. You can get bronze annular ring nails for just this job but I can go back to buildings that I was involved with 30 years ago and there's no fixing issues, at that time ordinary galvanised nails were used! There are no fixings except the pegs on a proper traditionally framed building if you are building it using mortice & tenon joints. There's no harm with larch on larch but you have to spray for wood-worm on the main framing. They only get in the sap wood but you don't want them there at all really. codlasher

I have been considering selling this saw for a while and putting the £'s raised into a modern 50cc saw. I started it up a month ago......as ever fourth pull saw it running, which was good. It's too heavy for me now and I could do with the money for the new purchase. It is a one owner saw bought by me new from our local dealer in about 1983! 24''rollomatic bar in good order. Any saw collectors out there have an idea of its value? I'm probably going to put it on ebay as this seems to be the best place for something like that or here on Arbtrader. Any advice would be happily received. codlasher

Perhaps this is not yet a normal train of thought, but why not consider staying out two nights a week? I used to stay in a static caravan for three nights and it saved travelling. I used to offer the contractors who came to do the thinning & forestry programmes a quiet, secure & 'facilitated' yard to stay in. The majority used to stay all the working week and go home on Friday around mid day. I know this would not be something you'd get in and around some forest sites in the far North but certainly worth thinking about. I had one pair of contractors who insisted on taking two, yes two 4x4 trucks back and forth to their base every day. A 90 mile one way trip so 180 miles return x 2 is 360 miles!!!! Each day. They did half the job and were so short on time, pleasantness and general attitude that I 'let them go'.......After 1000 tons. The new crew who came the following year to finish off the remaining 2000 tons had a lovely caravan and the job went smoothly. codlasher

I have a Morso 3610 which heats our whole house by an air cycle system. Love it. We had a 1970's Esse in our last house but the modern stoves have come a long way since those days! I'm looking at another stove to heat a separate building and have come across this co;Wood Burning and Multi-fuel Stoves from Dowling Stoves. These look interesting and may suit my ag based building. A friend has a Clearview stove in his old Somerset farmhouse and I was impressed with its operation. codlasher

Personally I hate landi hedges. Sterile and boring spring to mind. If it is your piece of ground just make the effort to plant a nice hedgerow with colour and using a broad typical hedgerow mix interspersed with some standards that can grow on to form a nice part of the skyline. In my opinion again you will not regret this effort as you will only have to do it once. codlasher

As above

I remember a length of monkey puzzle coming into the saw-mill to be planked. It was interesting timber with the knots evenly spaced. I would imagine it would make lovely cupboard doors or drawer fronts with the bold circles and their background. I have no idea what it would do for otherwise except to look good! codlasher

Mmmm, I spent nearly £600 on pipework to fit a rotator onto my 360 excavator so work back from that. I would think this would be fine for the odd lift. Stop tractor. Get out of the cab. Use crane. Get back into cab. Move tractor. Repeat this process many times. Bear in mind that you have no controls in your cab so any work will be very slow! codlasher

You'll have plenty to do! I wouldn't want to pay the asbestos disposal bill it the test, that you should do early on, says it is..... Good luck with this! You may start to see light at the end of the tunnel around year six. codlasher

I have heard that Stobart are giving £3 per ton. I'd not get too excited about that price! Still I used to think £0.50p a ton for chip wood was a good price ten years ago.... codlasher

A couple of pictures of anchor related stuff. A chart and the tide tables of where you are planning to launch would also be handy. Some slips are only useable at half tide and knowing when this is is useful. C

Re your engine Tom D. If you can find a 205 litre drum (in old money 45 gallions!) Make a mounting plate from a piece of timber and bolt this to the top. You can then bolt the Yamaha to this and run it for a good while watching how it behaves. Water should flow round the engine and come out of the right hole! There may be sacrificial anodes in odd places, an internet search may help but these are a useful thing to find as they will let you know the state of the rest of the innards. Running the engine this way will also find any faults/stoppages/cooling problems and save you a heap of hassle on your maiden voyage. Don't go without a spare and let the Coast Guard know your intentions/schedule. You never know! Lifejackets/kill switch, water, hand held VHF, a small set of flares (inshore pack), anchor, paddles, bailer, warps, torches (good quality waterproof) should be the minimum kit on board. I have sat and watched many folk, in a hurry to 'get on the water' launch their vessels without starting their motors before casting off, forgetting to put the bungs in, no life jackets & etc. The RNLI comes across these a lot more when at sea! An anchor ball can also be made from an old piece of plastic to let other people know you're stationary. I have been in a couple of near misses on the London river where supposedly 'professional' skippers of day fishing vessels haven't bothered to put them in view and when the tide is running they look like they are moving........But they aren't! As has been said a RYA Day Skippers course is a very good and interesting course to do. At least then you'll know the basic rules/signals/sounds in doing this. This little book is probably the best one to have to start with;[ame]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seamans-Guide-Rule-Road/dp/0948254580[/ame] Here's another useful book which will put you on the right track. The RYA has a good selection of well written, practical booklets; RYA Day Skipper Shorebased Notes | | Shop | RYA) Good luck!! codlasher

When I was doing tree safety I used Sun Traffic but the're a little far away from Suffolk. I saw this company operating in Buckinghamshire;TMO Highways I have also seen Lux quite often so they will be able to give you a quote too. Hope this helps. I'd jump in as a fully qualified & experienced 12D TM but I'm too tied up right now. codlasher.

I have the top cover from an arctic grain carrier that I picked up from the local tarp makers for £10. This covers 90% of my stack. I weigh it down with several pieces of oak as the wind gets quite strong in the winter time and I don't want it to blow away! It is very heavy and needs to be put in place on a still day. codlasher

I came across this mower being used by a local contractor. I stopped and had a chat as it looked 'handy'. Apart from this picture I know no more! I've just looked for some more info and this is what I have turned up.....ARIENS LM21SW PRO Petrol Mower 179Cc Kawasaki Engine 911397 ((Limited Special)) - Rotary Mowers Find Ariens Rough Cutting Mowers and Mulchers Buy UK These folk may be agents...R T Machinery - Welcome A Honda powered Etesia would be a good choice and I think Etesia may now have Kawasaki power. My old Briggs powered Etesia is still running 14 years on. Never any problems with the plastic, ever! codlasher

Well I looked for a small tractor early last year and even took a Ford 4000 home on a trailer with the vendor promising it was an ok machine. It wouldn't start the following morning even with 30 years experience of 'old Fords', so I took it back and hung around in the fellows yard all morning waiting until the money was back in my bank. I'd have hung around all week if that was needed and he could see that! I now have a little tractor but I will say that they are not so easy to find and you will have to trust to luck or at least get some kind of guarantee if you're not too mechanically minded. codlasher