Wood wasp

There's no denying the FC have completely lost the plot. However given the lack of clear direction and the immense lobbying power of the green movement it's no wonder we're in a shambles. Bear in mind this chaotic lack of vision and long term planning doesn't just apply to forestry. energy policy is short term and seems aimed solely at reducing co2 emissions and to hell with everything else, consequently we're spending billions yet still at risk at risk of lights out. Education is another which bounds from one reform to another and all the time standards keep dropping. If I had children I'd be seriously worried about UK

There was a group of Swedish foresters toured Central Scotland earlier this year and we met with them on couple of occasions to show our operations. It is no exaggeration to say they left the country in complete & utter astonishment at the UK forestry policy. Their aim is to maximise timber production in balance with overall amenity value, the FC/quango obsession with native woodland, bats, bugs etc above all else was simply incomprehensible. The best example was when they were being shown a local hotel which has invested heavily in biomass* - boiler, unimog, chipper etc. After showing his operation the hotel owner asked if he could buy timber from them as he struggled to source it in UK...... This conversation took place as we stood in hotel garden looking down onto the FC mulching up thousands of tons of Sitka to recreate a peat bog!!! The Swedes literally couldn't believe what they were seeing and hearing, it was like a cartoon moment as they rubbed their eyes in disbelief! They left the country thinking we're all completely insane. *They also simply could not understand why people are being paid to burn as much wood as possible to extent of turning up the boiler and open the windows.

Pretty horrific rates quoted there and I would say unsustainable for the contractor. Excluding the native woodlands there's not much planting going on in Scotland so I wouldn't look to here as saviour of forestry industry. FC themselves are now diversifying into farming (honestly!) amongst other things and they'll quote all sort of reasons why they're doing this. Can really be summed up as desperate case of trying to raise profile with the urban public in preparation for the next privatisation attempt. Unfortunately managing the nations forest estate for ongoing timber production still isn't on the list of priorities. The attitude towards growing commercial timber by FC and associated quangos/charities is a typical example of why this country is in such a debt ridden mess. Instead of creating industry which will generate it's own investment, along with substantial employment, the relentless cry is for more funding to take land out of production and basically go to waste with no end crop. The nation's national debt now increases at nearly £6,000 per second and we pay £1b (billion) on debt interest alone each week. From memory that's about the same as budgets for defence and education. Bit of a tangent from number of trees planted but ultimately everything is linked

I realised I forgot to add in delivery costs Interesting thread, average production would seem to be around 3m3 per hour give or take a cube or two given quality of timber. Very much agree that actual production isn't where the time goes

Our hydraulic log deck can hold 15m3 when fully loaded (though sometimes easier working not to heap it up so much) and it's coupled with a circular saw processor. Fill into tattie boxes to 1.2m3 level and swinging conveyor allows to fill 3 boxes without having to stop for changeover. We've never got anything like 10m3 per hour even doing nice girthy (and more to the point straight) softwood. And just think about what that volume and ratio of delivery actually is - one cubic metre bag filled every 6 mins, bag after bag after bag.. Ain't happening I'm afraid!! For that kind of volume you're into the very biggest American machines. Also bear in mind if you're bringing in another person to assist then you're adding cost, albeit there is gain in production also. On a side note I'd query investment needed for medium scale firewood production against return: Thousands £ stock Forwarder log deck processor tractor (or 3 phase supply) Forklift or telehandler Bulk bags or other storage method Associated running costs with machinery above I remember one member on here thinking that firewood suppliers who scale up production should lower their selling price - I nearly had heart attack with shock!

I would think you boys are getting carried away with your outputs!

I remember someone mentioning curtain trailer side covers from an artic trailer as being good

Some Girolles picked at weekend just West of Heathrow. Had some in a white wine sauce with chicken and finished the remainder as accompaniment to venison, both were lovely

There was a Nokka on ebay few months ago, I was tempted!

Hello Mix I've look at these a couple of times for cutting up dirty timber - does it make short work of a railway sleeper or is it a long process chewing through it?

I'm just changing some phones to EE from Vodafone: sim only, £10 p/m (plus VAT) for 1gb data, 1000mins calls, unlimited texts. I have an unlocked iphone4, backed everything up then reset it, then took it to local shop who unlocked it for £5. Took him seconds and now I can use any sim card on it. Also got an iPhone5 but signal is crap on it, consistently one bar less than on the 4 Edit: And one bar signal difference means a lot when out in the sticks!

Yes still available, I was looking for one so will pm you over prices. Were you after stroke system or roller? Which make does Logbaron have?

Reason for asking is I've got some jobs to extract over a field, some uphill and some down. As part of tractor/trailer query or 250 I was hoping could stick 250 in high for long hauls.. But think it unlikely unless downhill. Log, your issues are what putting me off purpose built, asked my fmg mate about it also and he said tractor/trailer. Electrics on 250 mentioned again and also transmission weakness which could lead to £8k repair.

Jon is right, handwinch or one of the winches that fits on chainsaw would be better bet. Welcome to Lewis Winch

Looking good Elf When it's loaded does it pull in high box or got to be in low?

Well to answer OP I don't know how much to change oil, filter etc. I was just making the point that irrespective of cost some dealers can't get the basics right. Other dealers of course go above and beyond

Really depends on the dealer also We have one local one who are old school mechanics and can repair (not just fit), we also have another dealer who took two goes at fixing a puncture. For a chipper I would service it myself but equally understand others who just leave it at trusted dealer and get on with other work jobs or family time

FC are hardly planting at all these days. Any major planting scheme announced by quango/charity is always for native woodland and it's not even for native woodland which will ultimately have commercial timber value.

If we actually had a coherent planting policy to replace the softwoods being harvested then things wouldn't be too bad. Instead we have the FC which is truly not fit for purpose and another multitude of quangos/"charities" obsessing with native woodland and planting hectares of useless rubbish. Incidentally, one of the reasons conifers get such a bad name is because the FC proved incapable of managing the nations forest estate, as a result we ended up with millions hectares of dense forest consisting of choked dying trees. "Self thin" was the term they conjured up to try cover up the mismanagement! A mature, well managed, thinned conifer plantation is a beautiful thing and host to a multitude of beasts and bugs

The big estate near Perth, forget it's name but covers Scone palace, hire in a processor from Fife

Great pics MD, makes me want to get out and travel again If you have time I'd love to see more, not just pretty girl ones but the landscapes also

Ok have done most of basic stuff above (haven't downloaded anything yet) and I'd say it's definitely running faster already. I remember blitzing start up programs before but I can't get rid of the two remaining, Blackberry stuff is all uninstalled. CPU usage is running about 10% split between 3% CPU/7% user Thanks for all help, very much appreciated

Salmond won't win a as long as the silent majority come out and vote. the worst thing (or second worst) will be if it's close and then it will just drag on and on

Thanks gents, some very good advice there. I'll go through your suggestions and see how get on. Machine did parallels installed on it and I've always had suspicion that was slowing it down also so I "removed" as much of parallels as I could in absence of uninstall facility, or at least I couldn't find it.

Thanks Elf, it's the extra payload on the 250 that appeals. Just a bit wary of buying a machine with dodgy electrics or transmission on way out... Hence why thinking of tractor trailer combo, albeit manoeuvrability is compromised.