Fisherman

I have actually done this. 9 years ago we planted 15 acres of the roughest land on the farm and yes we planted a lot of alder and birch. We also planted a lot of ash as we had a ready supply of sapplings from another block of woodland on the farm. The breakdown for us was probably 30% birch, 30% alder, 20% ash and the rest a mixture of oak, cherry, sweet/horse chestnut and one very wet patch with willow. All have grown very well except for the oak, however it does take longer to get going and some oak I planted 25 years ago are now good looking trees.

All our heating and hot water comes from wood during the winter and we have a laddomat between the boiler and the thermal store. Once the boiler is up to temp it slowly releases heat to the thermal store without droping the temp in the boiler, giving a good clean burn. Our 80Kw boiler takes about 6 hours to heat up the 4000 litre thermal store and services 28 radiators and 7 bathrooms. Works a treat with the laddomat.

Hello Rob, I've got one the same age with 160000 miles on the clock and going strong. Not the best drive on the road but very good off road. If the chassis is sound, I wouldn't worry too much about the wheel arches or boot. If you've got a welder or know someone that has, all the parts are readily available. New wheel arches on ebay are around £40 each. Check it selects all the gears easily as the selecters for 2nd and 3rd tend to go so if there is any crunch into gear you might want to think again. Good luck.

Hello Matt, I've got a 7245 and i've had it for 18 years. Good tractor and rarely lets me down but the brakes can sometimes be unreliable on older Zetors. Also, if it's old enough to have a column gear shift like a 5748 I used to have, they like to jump out of 3rd gear when going down hill. Having said that, I still wouldn't hesitate to get another Zetor.

I got a firm just down the road from me to do the welding. They welded plate inside, the length of bed and across the angles to give it more rigidity. Also, the flap that folds out on the end of the bed had a piece welded to the back of it to turn it into a box. Obviously, you have to be careful not to obstruct anything but its not too complicated. The hardest part for me was taking it apart. If you want pictures, let me know.

I have the wp36 pro although when I bought it, it was just the wp36. They've added the pro since. I find it an easy machine to use. You can set it up in 5 minutes and operation is straight forward. The chainsaw only operates when cutting, which saves wear and tear and the chain needs sharpening much less often than I expected. The log lift is very handy. the only problems I've had are: 1) On a hot day the oil can heat up and I have to stop to let it cool down. 2) The sliding bed the log sits on for processing bent. Although the machine is designed to cut up to 36cm diameter logs I'm not sure it is designed to take the weight. In order to use the log lift efficiently you need a log of 3-4 meters long and if it is 36cm in diameter it is a heavy log. If the log is shorter than this the log lift doesn't get it close enough to the bed and you still have to man handle it. I've since had the sliding bed re-enforced and all works well now. Although I still cut the larger diameter logs up with a chainsaw rather than struggle or risk bending it again. Overall, I like the machine.

It only had to come about 5 miles and I didn't have to negotiate. Having said that, I did have to wait for it as they first told me it was coming last autumn! Still, finished splitting it today ( hot work ). Most of it already crated up, the rest in a heap outside.

I only pay 5% on a wagon of wood as I am the end user. I had 50 tonne of oak about a month ago and that was £40 per tonne delivered to my yard, plus 5% vat. It was thinnings with nothing bigger than about 10 inches in diameter.

I've not put anything that big through mine. The chap at Riko thinks I've just been unlucky! Haven't had a definate price yet but looks like £4-500 for a new part, plus delivery. Had a guy from RJ Fukes, a Logset dealer just down the road from us, come and take a look today and they are going to give me a quote to straighten and re-enforce the bed. I've started to take it apart and so long as it can be straightened, it looks like it shouldn't be too difficult to strengthen it.

Hello Billy68, What type and size of wood do you put through your processor. As you say, the log lift is a great back saver and much cheaper than a log rack.

Thanks for your replies. Here are a couple of photos.

I bought a WP36 nine months ago. Have only done about 50-60 tonne so far and up until today it has worked very well. Today however the splitting ram bed bent and won't slide back and forth anymore. Has anybody else had this problem? I think it was the the bar that you attach to the bed for the log lift that did it as sometimes it catches the bed as it returns after splitting and the whole bed of the machine lifts. I'm a bit peeved as I've found it very easy and safe to use and not had any problems until today. Riko are going to get back to me with a price for a new part shortly.