codlasher

I can't see the 'fell every tree' scenario, as we still have Elm that has grown up from the root systems, that remain active and very much alive, in the hedge bottoms. These still reach the crinkly bark age and then die aged 15ish years, standing some 30' tall. How come, with all the advances in human medicine, there has not been any advance in finding a cure for this one? I know the stand at Westonbirt as I visited 25 years ago. These are still going strong, as far as I know (and hope:biggrin:) codlasher.

My 2p's for all it's worth! My dear old Dad spent quite a lot of time in the 1970's with cutting, milling and selling vast amounts of Elm (all from those enormous old hedgerow trees, now forgotten, except in pictures). Ercol's made many pieces of fine furniture from this timber having perfected the '3 ply' method of manufacture. There aren't many pubs within a 50 mile radius of High Wycombe without at least one Ercol piece. The '87 & '90 gales kick started the timber industry again with masses of cheap hardwood available and much also came in from Europe complete with the pin hole beetle:thumbdown: I am optimistic, although sad about the potential landscape changing loss this latest infection will have on us. Optimistic as it will make folk much more aware of the dangers of plant infection and also there will be a positive outcome as with all disasters, although it's too early to speculate yet. The spring bloom will perhaps be the most depressing time. Looking round today at the Ash near to me I really can't tell yet if the infection is rife. This is mainly due to the majority of trees having lost their leaves some ten days ago....No sign of any die-back either, but I'm probably too early. codlasher

We had a week of daytime road-closures so the pressure to get the job moved on at the end of each day was considerable. There were three sorting tasks after the felling. Haul the bigger timber away to a suitable place, pick up and remove all the stacks 2.0m cordwood (anything down to 1 1/2" top) and clear the brash. If the site allowed, the tractor simply pushed up a pile onto the road edge and beyond. If not the little petrol driven Timberwolf 125 was called upon and did a superb job. It did not need to be towed once on site as it was light and nimble. :biggrin:I was impressed with its ability to cope with most things that were fed into it. As has been pointed out anything at 4" is a firewood log and, in my opinion, should not be wasted. codlasher.

I was involved in milling one some years ago. It was a fine piece if timber with knots evenly spaced. It went to make kitchen cupboards and other similar items. If you can find a miller and the storage space, consider turning it into 12' x 8" x 7/8" planks. As good as money in the bank and something lovely to look at. codlasher.

skyhuck, That's exactly what I thought! My heart was racing! Codlasher.

From what I can see in your pictures you will be able to do this with a set of lights. Not being cocky or foolish. There are TM companies who will advise on signage and will supply the equipment. They will not advise on the tree work, simply the TM part, mind. I can help as I'm a fully qualified TM and have much experience with this type of thing. No wind up! I have just finished some 75 miles of roadside tree work. The 'organising' and 'seeing job through to the end' part. (And 30+ years in the business) Please PM me for an informal chat and proof of my qualifications if you like. Currently based in North Sunny Suffolk. Codlasher

How about the best 'timber tree' to plant on softwood clear-fell sites in England. There will be a time in the not too distant future when this will have to be addressed. I always put in a fair proportion of Douglas wherever I could as I regard this as my personal favourite along with Wild service. My old boss had a sense of humour and put in the occasional Sequoia and other unusual types....I used to warn the harvester drivers not to cut these as I want to see them when I'm older. Where I used to work (and planted some 35 years ago) there are stands of larch and other species that will be in the clear fell agenda. These are also original Beech stands. Crop rotation was the key then and I'm sure it is the key still. Just longer term than a farmers crop! Codlasher

Reading this post and trying to answer the OP. I'm assuming you are looking at the newer orange and green machine which has a few modifications from the original blue and white one. Little improvements to the orange and green made quite a difference. These were; Better bearings & carriage for the blade. This enabled harsher treatment was absorbed into the metal. The belt adjuster was improved too. A hydraulic ram was fitted to the splitter and this speeded up adjustment as and when the size of billet changed. The return bar became solid instead of hollow. This stopped it bending. The original frame remains the same and is well proven after 25+ years of production. These were designed for cordwood and I understand the frustrations with arb type wood with the bends and size restrictions. Perhaps a chain-saw machine would better suit but these have their own issues! I am a Posch fan and have had good service from mine and have provided many tons of cordwood over the years to the newer machine that a colleague operates. I have only seen the latest 350 at the APF and was impressed by its capability but £20k is a lot of money:biggrin: I think the handling/supply side is much overlooked. Yes, by all means cut a piece of cord in half to feed the saw, but this is not really maximising the capabilities of your processor....The whole idea is to work this machine at or near its capacity producing firewood, and this is where a log handling system comes in. Just getting your produce up to the hight of the in-feed hopper is a start. Having an hours or 1/2 a days stored at that level is even better. You are then just processing firewood not messing about with a chain-saw or lifting heavy objects! This maximising of productivity also justifies the initial monetary outlay. The storage of the end product is a personal choice so I won't look too closely at that. I agree with the 'getting used to your machine' comment. Again this is down to research of the most suitable type. What I have noticed over the years of going to the APF, and I've only missed one, is the increase in; 1, firewood processors and; 2, log handling equipment to feed, store, convey and hold. Who would have imagined these fantastic net bags ten years ago:thumbup1: Resale is a big consideration too. Posch is up at the top of the list in second -hand values too which is often a big decider. I hope this helps you with your decision. Codlasher.

DEFRA may help with this. Is there a SBI number and a Holding number? If so then you can then do just about anything! Grow ragwort, keep masses of rabbits and have rusty machinery in your nettles. To be honest I don't think it really makes any difference to your business except from the grant side. The Woodland Trust are offering a 60% grant towards Farm woodland schemes to help with shelter belt establishment and similar. Minimum planting area is one acre, good news there! I'd go with the 'buy and enjoy' if you can afford it. Can't help with mortgage though except to say that a watertight business plan will help :-) Good luck. Codlasher.

I was sent to bonnie Scotland some ten + years ago to do a course on 'Harvesting and the Environment'. The main reason was that we were moving from motor manual towards mechanisation. This course covered all the aspects of mechanical harvesting and extraction with a good section on 'elf and safety. Brash matting (a no damage policy) and oil spills featured high on the agenda. Ex oil rig pipes were also a handy addition to the tool box as these enabled crossings over watercourses to be made quickly and efficiently. This was a five day course culminating in a very informative visit to one of the James Jones sawmills where the produce was being hauled to. There was a good selection of people including machine operators and forestors so the course covered all aspects of the job from the cab to the the overview. FC Scotland were the hosts although I can't remember the name of the person who organised it. Worth looking into if it is still run.... Codlasher.

I'm sorry to hear your situation. Perhaps you could take a year out? Countryside jobs on line may have some seasonable vacancies in your area to tide you over. There are farmers looking to employ keen reliable drivers for their harvest time and your mechanical skills may well prove very favorable. Personally I would not completely give up on the mechanical side as this WILL stand you in good stead in the future.

I'm not a fan of eucalyptus plantations in the UK having seen the results of bush fires in Tasmania. The timber is good although that would not change my mind, plus there are no benefits to uk wildlife as has been mentioned. They use the contour method similar to mounding and some of their species is frost tolerant so these are the ones planted in the UK. Yes they do produce good firewood but is that all you want from your stand? I think, in all honesty, an Ash stand would provide a better cash return. This seems to be a little like the 1970's rush to find 'alternatives' like Southern Beech. Useless, always blowing over and worthless for anything! I am always surprised when folk quote 'massive growth potential' of a foreign species. Well planted British natives will nearly always out perform outsiders when situated in their best environment. That is then 'Good Forestry Practice'! Codlasher.

I was always told by my old friend that dropping a big lump of Oak onto a portable mill would cause problems......unless it was well sited on concrete. This was in the days when Forestor was probably the only portable mill around. I am interested to hear that W-M are having problems. I'm quite out of the milling loop now as my old friend has passed on and his mill has been shut now for more than a decade. There are Stenner 48" band-mills advertised for scrap value. Why not consider something like that. They can't have all dissappeared! They will soon though as the price of scrap is making the castings very valuable which is not good for your quest. Guilliet is another one to look for, v similar to Stenner, although these were mainly 36". If you can find an old Stenner they will be able to provide you with the base plan for the pit, where the bottom wheel will go. With a Guilliet.....you will have to be inventive. Robinson were good too but I don't have any experience with them. The APF this year will no doubt have many portables to look at. Well worth a visit:001_smile: codlasher.

The longest cut that I have done to date, using a chainsaw-mill, was 53'x 9"x9". I was asked to provide the blank for a larch topmast. It looks good rigged on the vessel:thumbup1: Getting it out of the woods on our old pole trailer was interesting too, It just cleared the gate post on its swing. If the trailer bolsters had been any lower we would have been in trouble. It went away on an extending articulated low loader with about 8' still hanging out the back. codlasher.

Hello to all you firewood folk out there. My first post! I have an older Posch 300 (Ford blue and white model) It's now some 25 years old and underwent a major rebuild during the last summer. When dealing with the supply of spares the answer from JP Wilson was always 'nae bother' and the parts were on my doorstep within 24 hours. There is a big plus for good spares availability and this is a plug for Wilsons coz they're always helpful. There were some minor upgrades that I'd copied from the 3000 (J Deere green and orange model) These were simple to add or remove, depending on what I was looking to improve. Two more adjustable brackets were added to the bearing carriage base and the removal of the coil sprung shock absorber which, in theory was a good idea, but made for more effort to move the saw pivot. A friend and colleague has the 3000 hence my enhancements to what is in all honesty, an unchanged machine after 25+ years of service. The changes are to the saw blade bearing carriage and the mouth of the hopper at the point where the produce drops onto the conveyor. His machine is now 15 years old and I remember it new.......It replaced a model similar to mine except that it was offered with a much longer conveyor belt which enabled a 16 ton grain trailor to be filled daily. Other changes are to the splitter knifes, this is hydraulically movable as opposed to the manual screw-me up/down crank. So to sum up on a personal preference I like my Posch, I think that the 350 is a little big for me as I certainly could not lift a piece of cord to fill the entrance. This would involve a jump to mechanical handling and related costs. As others have been mentioning, visit the Posch stand at the APF before you make your decision on which model to purchase......There's no choice of name though! (in my opinion:001_smile:) Tipped blades too, a pair, one at the saw doctors and one working. In a perfect world......I only have the one, it's sharpened and the odd tip replaced in the summer-time I hope this summary helps towards you making an informed decision. Codlasher.