Wood wasp

Spotted an outbreak of Fly Agaric at edge of beech wood where I feed the birds, counted more than 30 in an area 5m square

Been out in the Osa last couple days, had couple wee glitches with crane electrics but have been tidying them up as I go and crane now working a lot better. Will post pics once I put new tyres on it as currently running slicks on couple of wheels!

Did they really "make money" or just make a fair wage for the men and equipment required? How many people were on site for example? Someone has been out and quoted for job Travel time to job both ways, any arisings needing tipped? Insurances, equipment, certification, holiday pay, pensions etc etc etc So... They maybe did or maybe didn't make good money but there's always more than meets the eye. And for every one that maybe went well and good return made there's a job that goes the other way! Edit: The fabulously named Gray Git has covered this already

We've just got registered recently so interested in this too. I do remember receiving an email from registration people saying to keep records for something like 7 years.

Thanks for your post Openboater, great to see different options being deployed as and when required. I realise it's hard to cover all angles in one post on a forum but when I saw couple people posting about leaving trees in water my heart sunk... I very much feared another "native woodland" scenario was developing!

Got back to machine yesterday, it was a faulty ISP card that was throwing one ISP box out

No error lights, top two LEDs are green and tried swapping cards about too. From your experiences it sounds like something just needs reset...

It makes sense to have features in watercourses but couple rivers up here are heavily choked with fallen trees, once they're covered in debris they're more or less a series of dams. I'm no flood engineer, and there may be other reasons, but flooding upstream would certainly seem to have got worse over the years. Whatever impact other issues have on flooding I would think the fact that water can't get away doesn't help.

Interesting County, do you know what it is that needs reset either by switch on/off or a good kick?

Forwarder crane Yes had a poke around, will double check tomorrow and there's a coupling under floor of cab which I'll split and take reading from tomorrow, hopefully establish which section of loom has fault and from there hopefully be able to see pinch point

Drill sharpening device and lubricating spray arrived today Thanks again for all advice

Yes makes sense CTS, bit of patience with a meter tomorrow I think!

Today I had a fault with crane in that all functions from one lever are working flat out - there's no phasing them in. It was working fine till I went over a stump and came down with bit of a bang. A fellow contractor in the FCA (who's been an immense help to me as a new start) says the cab will have moved slightly and pinched wires resulting in a short. This I can understand but what I'm not exactly sure of (despite best efforts of FCA chap) is how every function on that lever can be affected? Something to do with a fault to earth? On one function I tested The voltage leaving the ISP control board connection and it was 9v but at solenoid connection on valve chest it was 24v - hence the all or nothing. So tomorrow I need to track down the fault in loom and repair, any tips on how best to trace fault? Thanks in advance W

I like with the tafjun that you stand next to the splitter so easier to straighten logs that land awry. That wasn't a cube he filled incidentally, bag wasn't totally full and once that's been moved couple times it'll look even less - anything from 2/3 to 3/4 full would be my guess.

I always thought circular saws were thinner than bar & chain, I guess the bigger blades need to be thicker but half an inch?

Zookeepers banned from using ladders to put out food for tigers - Telegraph

Yes fair points LGW. I think you either need to be large scale and main focus or just few loads getting rid of waste to actually make money at firewood. Anything else means lot of investment for kit which isn't worked hard enough to justify it.

Did you quote me and then edit said quote?

Do you really get decent enough return out of firewood to justify all the expensive gear needed to process it??

I didn't say manually. My understanding is that people are suggesting processing at forest into bulk trailers rather than hauling timber back to yard. If you can deliver from forest direct to customer then great you've cut out one stage of handling. If not direct to customer then I don't see any advantage. In fact as a bulk trailer holds less tonnage, has more airspace and is pulled by a slower vehicle (albeit reduced running costs) then it's arguably less efficient way of transporting timber.

I'm all for cutting down handling at every opportunity as firewood margins are far too low. However, there must surely be limited amount of local customers who can take delivery of a grain trailer full of logs?

Ok I'll give Dormer a try, thanks for advice. Are the Dewalt extreme bits any good? I don't want to buy cheap as been there done that, I want to buy tools that do the job. EDIT: now 3 votes for dormer so dormer it is, forget the Dewalt query Edit2: now 4 votes.. That's why I like Arbtalk, thanks all for advice

Hello I need to get some quality drill bits as fed up of crap that makes a dimple then are blunt. Typically need to drill holes 3mm to 10mm diameter in forestry machinery and could be anything from light body work to chassis. I don't mind spending reasonable cash to get quality kit but all the different classifications (cobalt coated, titanium coated etc etc) mean I'm unsure which are actually most suited to my needs. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance

Tractors speed up (slightly) - Telegraph

In my experience privately owned woodland is far better managed than FC. For example today I drove through a FC plantation, on one side of the road was mile after mile of forest planted circa 40 years ago and never been touched since. Result is a choked mass of stunted trees all competing for limited resources. On the other side of the road was hectare after hectare of bare ground which had been harvested years ago but still not replanted. Both situations are hardly the template for good forest management and although lack of management also occurs in privately owned land it is far rarer. Once home I picked up my local newspaper to read article in which the FC advise they're closing a path and clearing timber to replant with native woodland. What is this groupthink that has seized the FC and other relevant bodies? Why must all new planting be native woodland? Where is the balance, where will tomorrow's timber come from?