codlasher

Western Red Cedar or Thuja. Codlasher

I would treat this early enquiry cautiously and dig out the ROW agreement if it is in writing just to see whats what. I'm assuming this is a mechanised proposal not horses? Hauling anything will certainly make marks and if it is wet ground the ruts will simply get deeper. I wonder where the brash would come from if he is proposing just to fell hardwood? Brash matting is a brilliant way of making temporary access but it takes skill to put down AND remove afterwards! If theres none to start with I refer back to my earlier Q. The firewood is another matter and unless you are geared up to cope it's a hard job ringing up a timber tree to split it. It's a hard job just doing cordwood firewood! All timber extraction makes a mess! Unfortunately the best time to fell is in the winter as the sap is down, the leaves are off and the ground softer so less damage occurs to the timber tree. I used to have an old 3.0 meter power harrow to use on the ruts. This was a good way to make them disappear! I couldn't make the scabs on the roots of trees go away though. There's bound to be someone from your part of mid Devon who will be able to offer more advice too. codlasher

I've found this thread again to say thank you to whoever suggested using a tipping trailer as a log-deck. Having put the finishing touches to the grapple on my 360. I thought this set-up through recently and started to process my winter supply of firewood. Brilliant! No more heavy handling pieces of cord which was the worst part of this job as far as i was concerned. There are some finishing touches to do like fitting a set of rollers at the bottom of the trailer to make it easier to push them into the machine. Plus an extension piece of hydraulic pipe to tip the trailer more or less. All the bits can be put away for the winter as it isn't permanent. I even have a use for the sawdust. I can use my bag support frames in the trailer too, filling two bags at a time and a another pair on the ground, then move them into a covered area where the wind will continue the drying process. codlasher.

Good to see your products and saw folks! codlasher

I had a 407 for five years. Whilst it was a good car, comfortable, economical and reasonably rapid, it was always beeping at me! Each beep cost £30 plus the part and fitting. I couldn't simply drive it for say a month or two without some electronic fault. My parents have similar problems with their 407 pug too having moved up from a bullet proof 405 with 220,000 miles! I bought a small Skoda estate for a 'family' car but rarely see it as children have it far more than me...I will probably keep with this marque and avoid Peugeot in the future. I have to ask if they have checked the engine recently as it seems to be reliable. codlasher

Ha! My youngest daughter knitted the jacket for the teapot when I was working away from home and living in a caravan. It makes a big difference too. codlasher

Bedford MK? Looks a very useful piece of machinery. Off topic MK story...sorry..... I helped recover one with my old county winch tractor. He'd fell in a ditch trying to get to a Calor gas tanker that was squashing a LR Discovery (belonging to a lady friend who had called me for help) that had slipped into the same ditch.......in the snow of 2009/10. I could and did pull the MK out then the Disco but I could only pull the front wheels of the gas tanker out of the ditch as the Cooks was only rated at 10 tons. The MK driver and I managed to get a belay onto a big beech tree to pull his machine into position where he could finally deploy his powerful 30 ton winch and recover the gas tanker. Two other vehicles slid into us and the tanker as we were doing this job and blamed us for being there....I was impressed with the power of the MK winch. It was very slow but with that amount of pull to hand you can take your time and not pull the front off a wagon! codlasher PS. the belay was done using a purpose built snatch block that took two of us to lift!

This is the best room in the winter for us, drying wet clothes and wet dogs. The kettle is on all the time ready for making tea and hot drinks. codlasher

A spoonful of local honey in your tea is nice too! A real treat is Russian Caravan tea and ordinary. 50/50 mix. From the copper kettle that has just boiled on the wood burner of course! codlasher

Very nice indeed! codlasher

Well H-A. What a nice little tale and a good working saw after your repair work. I purchased my 020 in 1987 and rebuilt it about four years ago and still use it for all sorts of jobs. I would say it's a classic to keep as it is very handy! codlasher

How about a Rill? See these pics for ideas; https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Rill&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Q1svUtTHMs6I7Aazx4DIAQ&ved=0CD0QsAQ&biw=1828&bih=801 I went to a house with one of these. It was in a beautiful walled garden and the noise of the water running was very pleasant. It ended in a waterfall so you will get your aeration too. codlasher

@WillTimberlake Try here; Training Centre for Traffic Management Operatives Re the beacon, I have one that moves between which-ever vehicle that goes on the road. Mainly my tractor. codlasher

@Johnny Walker. I'm based in East Anglia. codlasher

My friend dries chip on concrete during the summer. He piles this semi dried into a dutch barn and builds a wall using Hesston straw bales. There are grain drying pipes with little extractor fans in their tops to keep the heat down just like in a grain store. Each batch is separate from the previous and they are used in turn when they are needed. 50% is from arb arisings as his wood chip boilers are not fussy The main boiler is 300Kw and happily burns this chip when it is called for. We tried chipping when dry......Not pleasant! The dust went everywhere. The machinery was fantastic to see in operation though and a good learning experience for the pair of us. codlasher

There was a patch of JKW that some thoughtful gardener had dumped beside the land-owners hedge-line. This had spread through the hedge into the field. It took five years to get under control with two doses of glyphosate annually. There's still a watching brief. The important thing was not to kill the hedge hence the cautious approach. I'd be very cautious dealing with this particularly as the potential customer wants to sell the property. I would consider the 'dig and remove' option as being the best, but I'm sure any mortgage company would want a twenty five year disclaimer so the insurance liability implications would be an interesting one.... To your benefit If you could pull this off in a business-like fashion you are half way to becoming a specialist in this area with the experience too! Seen from the 'specialist' angle you could set your rates to match those who operate from Harley Street or those who deal with Bat surveys. £600 per visit/consultation.... codlasher

I use one of these, a very useful piece of my equipment and handy in all areas when seeding is required. THE AERO BROADCASTER SEED SOWER FIDDLE DRILL | eBay codlasher

Looks handy! codlasher

Some ten years ago I was asked to supply a woodland environment/forestry site for Echo to do a photo shoot for their brochure. We spent a day with their photographer and played with the saws. One was a 5500 and the other was their little top handle unit which I filed away as a nice little saw. I was presented with the 5500 at the end of the day and I still use it as my all-round saw. codlasher

I had some problems last year with this site with a notice warning of 'malware' so I bet it happens quite often. More recently I was looking for quantities of a particular aggregate and one of the sites I looked at had been hacked to display sex toys and cheap viagra! codlasher

I already had the grapple from an older forestry crane but everything else is new. So, rough fag packet costs, £1700 without the grapple, which would probably cost £400 so all in £2100. The pipework and the associated BSP fittings alone were £400....Each were measured as a pair and bound in 'Spiralux' for protection. Plus my time thinking the project through and making the smaller bracketry needed for things like the diverter valves and mounting the Holmbury flush-fit couplings. Two were already fitted, as there is a pecker circuit that works the grapple itself, but I had to divert the bucket crowd ram circuit to operate the rotator. I have already done several little jobs just 'moving' equipment in a end of summer tidy up. This has given me a chance to try it out and get used to what to watch out for.....Don't get too close to the cab.......Which way the pecker operating lever releases the grapple. I've written that in permanent marker so I can see it in front of me, just as a reminder! codlasher

As Timbermcpherson rightly says, having one with a skilled operator is the best way. I've just finished fitting a timber grapple to my 360 machine and even with over 30 years experience on a County based forwarder I am being very cautious. Surrey is a very long way from me too! codlasher

Agreed! Particularly with No1. Keeping the heat IN the house and in winter a ROOM is paramount. codlasher

The KISS principal is very important with these pieces of machinery. @StephF is right too in injury, but there is also AGE too! Unless you have a huge yard, a loader to fill your hopper (see picture, excuse the dirty windscreen!)) for the next week and understand your boiler completely, avoid anything with too much 'tek' as you will have to pay the specialists considerable sums to 'fix' the silly niggling problems. A friend and I tried chipping dry arb arisings that had been stockpiled for 18 months and I wouldn't want to try that again! The poor chap operating the crane feeding the Heizohak couldn't see most of the time and he was wearing BA too. Arisings are the best way but you need quite an area of concrete in the summer and quite a storage area under cover to put the dried chip too with grain drying ventilators to keep the air moving through. I think the heat meter is the recognised way to claim any tariff but I'm not up to speed on that yet. codlasher