codlasher

Like! A friend has his old Nissan Terrano doing similar. He chopped it in half, behind the drivers & passenger seats and bolted the remainder to a concrete block wall . The rear drive shaft continues through the wall and drives a 90 degree gearbox (off an old topper) which in turn drives two other machines. This saves using a tractor at all and uses a good Jap engine from a rubbish rusty old body. codlasher

I would have liked to have been a 'Timber cruiser' codlasher

I wonder if you could get the trees down in big enough lumps to chain-saw mill? There are people in the barn/boaty world who like Elm. Ercol perfected Elm laminating in the 1970's with all the DED trees, for miles around, being taken into their Latimer saw-mills. As weather-boards it has no competitor except perhaps Larch for price/availability which is its closest modern counterpart. From what I remember it mills well but it does move about considerably afterwards. You may find with your dead specimens you will have less warping....It does have a lovely grain too. I always think to jump into the 'burn it' immediately mind-set is a little premature. I understand this train of thought as I only use timber as my primary heat source but other options should be looked at first! codlasher.

I used to think I was doing well when I had hauled 7 loads out with my County and trailer. With a new Botex fitted on the roof it was a little quicker as it became a 'two lever' machine and the crane had a bit more reach. So I hauled 35 ton in the day if it was a good 'un!. As to the cutting, yes I've done some but I am a better machine person and always have respect for good hardwood cutters where skill is king and they make a difficult job easier with just that, their skill. I was lucky enough to work with the late Jim Crawford whom some will remember as the oldest pole climber not that long ago. We spent ten years working together in the Chilterns. A man rich in experience, and a pleasure to work alongside. As to planting, in my opinion it is all down to site preparation. I started planting at 15 and this was way before those wonderful and powerful mulching machines. I remember struggling over ruts, brash and general horrors! My last planting job went extra well as I put a tracked mulcher onto both sites piror to the arrival of the young trees. Presto a lovely clear run, Happy planters and well planted young stock, easily paid for as there will be little or no beating up! I struggle now to walk far with knackered knees so the days of carefree saw swinging are long gone! Oh for a new body. Shame about the crap money! Finally I think there is room for hand cutters but only within a good team as you are then part of a whole. Thats where the money can be earned. Putting a team together is not so easy as this takes time. All but two of my old mates are now dead. codlasher

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2011 thinning. Mechanised harvesting and extraction.

I use four pieces of tower scaffold. It's important to tie the loops to the top with light line though then you can undo them and then move the tower pieces to the next bag position. I can just fill four m3 bags this way with the conveyor at its limit in either direction. codlasher

Put your hourly rate up & dump anyone who can't see beyond the front door. It's not a one way street! codlasher

Never ever. I totally disagree with the use of the chain brake as suggested. It is a safety feature for kick-back. You will need it then. If you are walking why are you holding the throttle? You carry the machine with one hand without your other hand being anywhere near the throttle. If you fall you can use your other hand to break your fall. If in doubt switch the saw off. codlasher.

The pulp mills were still cutting first growth Eucalypts in Tasmania up until recently. Many of a similar size shown in the pictures! Much to peoples dismay. Thing there is that it is a political issue with regards to work and keeping the wood-pulp companies in business. The North West of the island is now in the grips of expression as the timber industry has collapsed. The knock-on is affecting whole communities. codlasher.

I understand exactly what you mean Craig! This is one of the problems with using stop/go boards and drivers of vehicles. You have to pay particular attention to what the car driver sees beyond the first STOP board. This is IMPORTANT as they see the GO further up the road and push on through......straight under a falling stem...... Irrespective of what the car driver did, and I have had this happen on several occasions whilst working within this system. Your operative should not have reacted in this way! From an overview you have a perfect right to shut the road provided you have all the correct signage out. I took advice on the extra signs and had courtesy signs made for just this occasion, these worked well until stolen and had two bigger items made to replace them. (***Estate are conducting essential tree safety work. Sorry for any delay. Please be patient. Estate Office contact number; 01999 099988) I always reported incidents such as this to the police with the vehicle registration. Your operative should have had better training and there should have been a 12D operative on site to supervise the situation/advise, this is where you have gone wrong..... I was always glad to have my traffic light system operating as this ensured that you rarely had to get within 20 metres of angry/late/daft drivers. Put this down to your learning experience and consider how to adjust your working system to help avoid this type of incident in the future. It's never pleasant. codlasher (12D operative!)

Try this for an idea in stone. You can then carve your piece of timber. There's plenty to choose from! Carnac stones - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia codlasher

My old boss had a motorised sharpener and we hated it as it cooked the teeth and this made them difficult to sharpen in the field. His theory was that he couldn't have three chaps scraping files over saws in the morning when there was work to be done! As my eyes have got worse I find sharpening more and more difficult without a strong pair of glasses. I now have a thing that the file sits in that helps. A mate has bought a motorised sharpener off ebay. Any opinions on these would be welcome codlasher.

I worked in the Chilterns as a young lad to semi retirement. A 'fall' of Beech is 50 trees. That was the way. The trees were marked with the biggest being left for a later clear fell, whenever that may have been. The trees were all marked and an extraction route planned, using the slope (down hill as and where possible) This was usually obvious as the trees had always been thinned in the past so there was usually signs of a track. The felling usually started with the easiest first then you would have a hole in which to put the others. We tried to get the tops into one area so several trees would be dropped into the debris of others. This also meant less breakages too but you had to walk over the brash! The plus was in the burn up as there was less to push up. Accurate felling was important, this stopped the hangers, using the wind as an aid helped but could be a bu**er sometimes! An County tractor with a front loader helped if there was a 'push' needed. There was a winch but this was used mainly for skidding the sticks out. This machine could cope with 90 cube in 33' but 100 cube was too much. Average was around 70. All cord was cut to 6' this seemed to work well with manual handling and all brash was cut to 3' so it laid flat. Extraction of the firewood was by another County with a Wartsila roof crane and trailer. 30,000 cube per annum, mainly to Ercol. @ £1.00 per cube. There was mining timber too and firewood was very much a side-line! If there was a clear-fell no more than 5 acres was taken as this was the area that could be cleared, tidied, re planted and hand weeded using slashers and a vinyard tractor with a cut down swipe in one season. I remember catching dormice in summer time and occasionally these were put in co-workers piece bags:lol: codlasher.

Classic week-end. Danish fishing boat mid 1930's

I'm sorry that I can't offer any advice on the perfect truck. I will wish you the very best though in your future venture. codlasher.

I was staying at a hotel in Stone, Staffordshire whilst at the last but one APF. Whilst riding my bike over the bridge there I watched some folk do some of the slalom course that seems to be a permanent set-up on this stretch of river. Coming from a dinghy back ground I went down to the rivers edge and stood for quite a while watching......A completely different skill set and what fun! Close up too. Me, I spend my water time at the bottom of the London river & upwards as far as Ipswich. Often scraping the sand banks and mud in the river estuaries with the bottom of my dinghy. I've been to Southend on many occasions but only for chips at the end of the pier, never the town......too far away at over a mile:001_rolleyes: I'd like to learn kayaking but feel perhaps this skill set is a little too late? codlasher

I remember, about ten possibly more, years ago, the first of the new generation wood-chip boilers being fitted to certain farm houses. Great, everyone said. Clever contraption, burns rubbish, or what was perceived as rubbish.... Those in the know were correct in predicting the steady rise in costs for all the wood-fuels that cluster together in this area, straight firewood, C30 & C50 chip and the vast range of pellets. Now some of these were produced as a by product of another process which was good as it meant that all forest produce was utilised. What has happened in fact, is the fuel side has started to dominate the market. In my opinion no bad thing because this has made woodland owners able to pay to have their trees attended to. In this case, as an example, the steady rise in firewood prices is very clear. Forest managers have an alternative market for the tree tops/rejects that would have cost to haul long distances to the chip companies. That is also a plus. To be able to get an easy loan and up-grade your existing boiler to something probably 50% more efficient is commendable and I support this idea. To change it to a wood-butning machine be it on any available fuel is really another ball game. Perhaps this is why nothing has been set firm.....yet. Another opinion is that you can have the best & most efficient boiler fitted, but if you can't keep the heat inside of the property itself, you are wasting your money. Insulation is probably just as important as the new boiler, whatever it burns. Good insulation is not cheap either, although what is currently available today far exceeds in volume over performance what was available not too many years ago. codlasher.

Truffles? codlasher

A suggestion, Stihlben, if you are serious about selling in the future..... You may be talking to Mr Channer anyways. To maximise your value I would sort the timber into 'processor' sizes for haulage. So cut to 2.4's and max log diameter of 300mm (1' in old money) The 2.4 will ensure a self loader is able to use all their bays efficiently. The remainder can be dealt with in any way you choose. codlasher

I can not see what the problem is.........Sunday, Monday, they are just days. You are alive, fit & healthy. Take them a bag/truck load of logs. Be glad your 'phone is ringing and you can earn some money! If you chose to be a log seller you have to have these terrible inconveniences! What's all the fuss? Most of all be polite. codlasher

They look like Sitka but the best way is the 'clutch and curse' test. Clutch the branch and if you curse they are Sitka! If not they are Spruce:biggrin: codlasher

Great post. Good on you Deeco! Here's luck in your travels! codlasher

To be honest in the majority of cases that I have had with regards to bats, I have found that they prefer roofs. To the point where they have become incredibly messy. I have known an entire colony move, in one instance, to a 'better roost' in a warmer roof-space when a boiler was fitted into an attic space. A whole colony of Pipistrelles moved from a very comfortable large out building to a small confined attic and proceeded to cover the boiler in excrement! I understood their preference as it was a much warmer spot but remedial work to ensure the above mentioned boiler, was not buried, took some time:001_rolleyes: The pic shows a transient colony of long eared bats enjoying a summer roost for one week in another roof:biggrin: I love my Magenta 4 bat detector and am still learning heaps! In an area where the vast squirrel population has resulted in the prediction that any future Oak and Beech trees will never reach maturity in a form that will provide quality timber. The resulting bat roosts need to be in houses to survive! Thanks Typsey for the info. codlasher

Simples....I'm assuming the chimney is lined with a clay liner not a steel item. If it is a steel liner do not attempt item 2. So for steel liner; Lower the rods again or a weight on a rope. Attach a small grapnel and pull it back up the chimney. This way you will not have to get the bristles to bend the other way again. If it is clay lined or simply a 9x9 square, borrow a 12 bore shotgun and providing the chimney is straight and you can point the gun up the flue, let go with both barells & this will most certainly dislodge the object. If not wait for the debris to clear and go again. This will also ensure your chimney is swept for the next 12 months. You need to be out of the way pretty quick in light of falling debris! Option 3 is have a good fire and burn/melt the bristles on the brush. Good luck. codlasher.