codlasher

Yup, ours is still going, we don't light it until the afternoon now but it does tick over all night as it is still frosty in the mornings. codlasher

I tend to be in agreement with Robert.S. I had a second hand van many, many years ago and I had to look far and hard for one in good order. If you are looking at the cheaper end of the spectrum beware that, unless you know the last owner, they have all been used hard and will often need more than simple cheap maintenance. You'll get more car for the same money and if you look at two door variants can black-out the rear windows for security & privacy. Do your research as some small diesel vans have non working & seized glow plug problems (Peugeot) that cost, in repairs, more than the vehicle is worth......You'll not know of the problem at this time of the year as it is warm now... This looked interesting though;RENUALT KANGOO DISABLED ACCESS 1,5 DIESEL LOW MILES!!! | eBay codlasher

An important and often missed out point is matching the trailer wheel space/width to that of the tractor pulling it. You will need considerably more power and make some horrible tram-lines when they don't run easily behind. codlasher

Thanks for finding this and posting too. Brings back memories of our now defunct mill. The buildings are still standing. The saw-pits and cariage tracks are still there but the site is now derelict. We weren't ever able to handle such sizes as there was never a call to mill anything over 30'' or longer than 33'. We did have a Stenner 'Double Slabber' which could cope with considerable softwood volume, and I think from memory, it could cut 30 m3 an hour. With various offshoots along the line to cope with the slabwood and other offcuts. The Guilliet bandrack ended its life as a film back drop for Midsomer murders. Stock List | H. Armstrong Limited - Sawmill Machinery Engineers Solutions Seach codlasher

Make a little wind-mill with a cam operated hammmer so it bangs on the side. The noise may be distracting.... codlasher

Like reading this post! Thanks Big J. codlasher

I used a punch bar that poked in a hole on the side of my tractor loader, with a circular disk of plywood to stop snags on the inside. Providing you drove in a straight line the reel stayed on the bar. This was using the wooden frames reels not the metal wire frame type. There used to be a wheel barrow chassis for carrying and un-reeling electric fence wire, perhaps this would help but you would have to allow the wire out between your legs as you walked along.......Mmmmm!! codlasher

As kimtree says, form it up. Then you can play with the final finish too. If you put shapes on the inside they will come out just like a jelly mold or sand blast the outer surface to expose the coloured aggregate you may consider using. Paint a mural. Ideas from VNA Magazine; verynearlyalmost.com codlasher

My oldest daughter is a nurse. She now lives in OZ as her lifestyle is just so much better than what she would have in the UK. Simple! She is paid properly too. When she has the opportunity to take time off, and as she likes the outdoor life, she hires a 4x4 'wagon' and goes with friends into the outback for days at a time. Taking her swag and tucker along and sleeping out under the stars. What more do you want? Imagine trying to do this right now.... No sir you can't park here......Noise......Rain.......Traffic just getting out of the city and then getting back for Monday... codlasher

Some great pictures there! Unless you have the time to haul other folks machinery I wouldn't go looking at low-loader trailers. You'll need a good tractor to haul an 8 tonner too. The excavator weight and the trailer itself must gross over 11 tons. In my opinion It is much easier, as others have said, to have a main haulier and a couple of stand-buys if your main man is busy. In all honesty in the scheme of the bigger machinery work I have found that most jobs are flexible by a week or so. If you need to be more accurate you then have to plan ahead more and then cope with the pressure of the finish-on-time situation! Remember a big machine makes so much more mess too and waiting until this time of year to do jobs when things are drying and the daylight is on your side really does help. A trailer will cost £5k+( a good one is more like £7k) and even then it will need care and attention to ensure the brakes, bed and lights remain in good order and that's a lot of money to have tied up and sat in your yard. codlasher

There's this;EFCO MT4100S 40CC Multi-Purpose Petrol Chainsaw (With Free Chainsaw Starter Kit) - Chainsaws Find Efco Chainsaws Buy UK Or this;ECHO CS-370ES 13 Petrol Chainsaw (Special Offer With Free Starter Kit) - Chainsaws Find Echo Chainsaws Buy UK Both ok saws and within your buget. This is the Stihl;Stihl MS 231 chainsaw (40.6cc) | F R Jones and Son All others jump by £150+. Personally I like the Efco & Echo as a starter saw and there's nowt wrong with either! codlasher

I have been chopping my own firewood for nearly a decade using my elderly Posch 300 processor. I had about 75 tons in store at any one time but I'm running this down now as I am going down the insulation and solar route and this will require much less physical input. This year I will probably only have 25 tons ahead so quite a considerable drop. It is hard work and I'm glad not to have to do so much. A friend and I have been working together to power his farmhouse and business using chip and I did quite a lot of the research from the forestry side as this is where the big machines lurk. I looked at chipper hire and timber availability and we did some experiments with dry and wet timber. The decision not to use wet timber was quite a leap of faith and four years on this was certainly the right decision. There were quite a lot of 'inventions' along the way but chipping wet and then drying has been more eeconomical in the long run. The other thing was to try and let others do the chipping hence my 'arb waste' comment. If you have a facility where this waste can be easily tipped your burning material really just arrives on your doorstep and only requires minimal input to process into a usable material. The two pictures show one machine I looked at to process the timber pile and the other was what we did eventually use and please note the biggest downside of this operation......The DUST! The poor operator had to wear BA to work and it covered everything plus it was hard work on the chipper even with 250HP! If you are still going down the billet route I'd look at self loading splitter, a tipped circular saw blade and how posch put their machines together. You won't need anything too big as the splitter will be doing the primary break down. I'd also look at some kind of ram feed into the fire-box to save using any wheeled machinery. codlasher

Found these today on a little job I'm doing. Female creat crestead newts. There's a lovely big pond nearby so they went back after posing for the camera. codlasher

This one thought he'd just go for a play. In one gap, driving all over the place, and was caught by the ditch coming out. Cost £25 for a tractor pull out as he had no phone signal so no mates to call to help. He wasn't rude just grateful. You were quite right to walk away from an abusive driver. codlasher

Wow! I remember that machine. Yes it was a great little tool in early softwood thinnings. Tillhill bought one to use in some of the stands where I was working at that time. It could drive backwards holding each stick which then fell nicely. No more hangers! codlasher

I'm just not a fan of batch burning or handling lumps of timber. Whatever and however you approach the matter it requires hard work and a plethora of specialised machinery all of which need attention/servicing/fixing. I only burn 14 tons per year and I tie up my 360, two tractors and a trailer. All the lumps can be chipped at the very beginning and fed into a chip boiler. Drying is the only process that requires attention and this is quite simple if you site the boiler in a big enough space and allow for 20Kw to be bled off. A little bit of sheet metal-work, gravity, a radiator, and an extractor fan makes a good drying box. The storage remains the same but only a loader is required for all operations. This also puts the considerable volumes of arb waste at your fingertips too:thumbup1: Hence my comment of going off in the wrong direction...... codlasher

There's an awful lot of folk out there advertising that they are 'hydraulic specialists'. When I was doing simple things to alter my 360 excavator some so called 'specialists' came out with bizzare quotes and then couldn't deliver either....grrrrr. It's an easy game to take someones money and £600 seems a huge sum for what you describe! Seeking second, third and fourth opinions would be my advice before parting with such a sum. Your chipper isn't rocket science! codlasher

Sounds like you have already gone off in the wrong direction........ codlasher

I think the old Bedford RL would look good in this situation! codlasher

Another injured & recovered chap here. Please continue to keep us up to date with your hospital treatment and stories of your recovery. I'm glad you're keeping positive and know that the hospital staff care greatly for you. codlasher

Yes. I welded a couple of putlog clips onto the trailer sides and have one long scaffold pole that clips to these and then a short upright with a base-plate that stands on the ground. Perfect for a 1.0m3 bag of firewood or anything else for that matter. codlasher

I bought similar from the 2012 APF but I think mine has a slightly higher lifting capacity and would suit you better. You will have to strengthen the base of your trailer to cater for considerable load stresses otherwise the floor will buckle. Here's a pic of a similar to mine and note the streghtening web on the dipper arm, that's the bit to look out for. Also you will have to remember not to leave the 'chromes' exposed as they are made in China and certainly NOT chromed! codlasher

I use this company;M Barnwell Services Ltd - The UK's leading distributor of Fluid Sealing Products for oil seals. It depends on the outlet/store if the man knows his stuff and stock. If they're a good store you'll get your little white nylon bitty even if it has to come from another branch... codlasher

I had a friend. Note the word 'had' as he no longer wants to speak/contact me. We were good mates and I had a lot of respect for his trade which was originally a farm manager. He ran a tight outfit and a profitable farm. He had a lovely girlfriend who became his wife and who was totally dedicated to helping him with his work. The owner of said farm decided to sell up so my friend had to move. No problem there as I'm talking the boom time 80's here. Setting up as a 'Specialist Tree Surgeon', gaining experience and the required blue book tickets wasn't too much of a problem. Work came in and he was good, so more work came in and his business expanded and machinery was needed so that was acquired. Unimog & etc. With all the work money wasn't a problem. Now the hard bit was running the staff who, in a 'high risk' business, just wasn't so easy. This meant his relax time, which involved cannabis crept into his work time and that was his eventual downfall. Poor staff management, poor organisation and some silly accidents resulted in insurance claims and then the renewals became too high and then there was an ever decreasing spiral of dope smoking versus poor work and finally the business and marriage failed and he now works in a service industry. In my opinion dope smoking and work really do not go together at all and those who say it does are simply kidding themselves. Just wait, and one day it will catch you unawares! If you're lucky it will result in a simple warning but you may be one of the unlucky ones who receive a nasty shock. Is it worth the risk? That's my 2p's worth. codlasher

I believe this is in the Suffolk coastal area so Martin Minta 01394 444241 [email protected] Their HQ is in Woodbridge if that helps too. codlasher