Paul in France

We live in a village called Lagarde Hachan - very small - closest towns are Masseube and Mirande. We are about 40 minutes from Auch. Yes, it's very very peaceful. Suits us down to the ground but would drive some of my mates back in the UK nuts - no pub!!! People are superb - so friendly and they put up with my rubbish French and help out with it. Never had a bad time with anyone yet - we arrived first in Feb last year and moved into the house on December 1. We have an Efel woodburner on one side of the house and an 'insert' on the other so, as the floorboards in the bedrooms are the ceilings of the rooms below, so far they have kept us warm. Need them on every night during the winter - and to remember to keep the shutters closed when the sun goes down. Where abouts are your folks?

Sorry not from an Arb viewpoint but I was heavily involved in IIP a few years ago in local government. IMO very bureaucratic with not a great deal coming out of it. Also once you're into it you're on the treadmill -who wants to be the employer who pulled out of IIP? I was a senior manager and middle management and staff thought it was a pain. Could have improved I suppose.....

I think people who work a lot on their own can find they focus too much on their problems and it overwhelms them - apparantly farmers have one of the highest suicide rates of the professions

Been there myself several years ago so know what it's like. If you regard it like a any other illness and get proper treatment you'll get better. Many GPs don't have a clue and just throw Prozac or something like it at you. That's the short-term fix but you also need to address what the root causes are - sometimes bad relationships as well as money or other deep-seated worries. You'll make it John - accepting you have a problem is the first big step. Best of luck

Chillington metal for about £30. Pretty robust and easy to handle:thumbup1:

The Road to Perdition with Tom Hanks in it acting as I've not seen him before. Good story good action -he's a hit man for the mob and falls out with them big style

JJ Cook have website and an ebay shop - they are based in Leicestershire if I recall correctly and have a good range of Jap mini tractors at about £5k fully recon'd and going down in price from there - haven't used them personally yet - just done the research.

Had some really wet weather for the last couple of weeks that has limited my production but encouraged by the reaction of fellow forum members to my hand sawing attempt at providing my own firewood- I thought that if you couldn't juggle 3 chainsaws at a time you might be thought a wuzz How's it going with you...

Much appreciated mate - I reckon I'll have plenty of questions and have never minded if other folks think it's stupid - you can always learn from the experience of others and it can save a lot of grief, expense and pain. When you're in a new country on top of making a new type of life, a site like this is a Godsend.

Cheers - understand now - reckon that Stihl France are the biggest winners though Yes I'm considering doing the same with Fr Jones and have my order written up - only trouble is finding the £800 I need for the saw, a brush-cutter and the safety gear - probably be nearer 1500 euros here though

Sound advice . Got the lid visor etc - just as well had a branch land on my bonce yesterday. Have been cutting the trunks into managable lengths. Have tried cutting into 0.5m logs and barrowing out but it's more tiring to my mind. I'm concentrating on small areas at a time. Go in get it clear of all the crap so I'm not falling over myself and then take out 2 or 3 and haul them out then have a cuppa or a beer later on in the day. Used a tracked barrow in Spain - excellent bit of kit - trying to persuade my mate to bring it here as he's not using it. Could be just the job here.

Hi I'm just getting used to using an Efel here that is good but I think they're expensive to buy new. I need a new grate for it 39 cm x 49 cm of mild steel I think with 27 holes drilled in it. Only place I could trace replacement parts was a UK website quoting cost over £200 excluding delivery. Made one with a piece of steel I found lying around with a grinder

Yes it is warmer. They reckon about 300 days of sunshine but during the winter it does still get cold when the sun goes down. We have 2 wood burners that so far have kept the house nice and warm with no other heating except occasional use of an electric rad in the bathroom. I don't really know how much wood I'll use in a year yet. Talking to others it can be as little as 5 steres (5 cubic metres) but someone else uses about 17 steres. A stere costs about 60 euros for good seasoned oak here. I'm interested in what you say about electric chain saws - are they really up to it. I've considered a Sthil MS 181 with a 14" bar as recommended by one of the dealers on this Forum. I'd welcome the opinion of others on this model. The price even delivered here to France is quite reasonable as they are about twice the price to buy here. Thanks to everyone - I can't believe how helpful this site is

I feel much encouraged by your comments guys. We have 3 Ha of woodland but a lot of it is on slopes that make extraction nigh on impossible. The previous owner has driven in wide pathways - wide enough for a tractor which helps a great deal. I'm 59 pretty fit and getting fitter by the day. I'm early-retired so I'm priviledged that I don't have to do a "proper" job anymore The weather here generally does make the work more enjoyable, although the last week or so has been a bit rubbish and very wet. Of course sooner or later my body will give up on me but until then as has been said I'm in a green gym. Apart from providing us with 'free' firewood I'm checking out the woodland management aspects of the Forum so I improve the woods as I go.

This is probably a heretical post for some on this forum but I'll risk it anyway cos you folks are so friendly. I've been here living in my new old place in the south of France for over a month. I've been felling fairly small trees (french oak) up to a max of about 8" diameter with a bow saw and hauling them out of the wood by hand. This is mainly because I don't have any machinery to do it, but also from previous advice on this forum I haven'y wanted to commit myself to a lot of expenditure on machinery if it's not going to pay for itself. For example to buy a decent mini tractor I'd have to pay about 5k and that would buy me a lot of firewood here without me having to do the work. I think I've been doing pretty well so far. So here's my question do you think it's sustainable for me to produce enough logs using only hand tools? Apart from the expense of buying in machinery there's the safety aspect that people have kindly brought high up on my agenda, and also it's nice and quiet without using chain saws. All views will be received with interest particularly from anyone who has managed to do it - or who has tried to do it albeit unsuccessfully Cheers guys - hope you don't think I'm crazy

I'm only cutting trees about 6" diameter so they don't need splitting. The logs here are a standard half meter length to fit the wood burners. So do you think I should saw them into logs sooner rather than later:confused1:

I've just started felling a few easy smallish trees on my place here in France. The last owner left a lot of firewood that is in various stages of seasoning and I hope that will keep us going for 1-2 years. I have been stacking the felled trees to season before cutting into logs on the assumption they will be easier to cut then. But I thought I'd ask for opinions from the experts on here as I'm new to this. All advice will be much appreciated.

I wanted what you are after and opted for a notebook. It's aan HP Pavillion dm1 and does all you have spec'd. It's compact 11" wide, light and easy to carry. Cost about £300 though so more than you said you wanted to pay. Also you will need a dongle to use it if you don't have a handy wi fi connection

Will post photos when I get there............moving today........

Could be something to think about arnie - don't know about this summer as we have a fair amount on with getting the house sorted the way we want it. Ill speak to 'the boss' and PM you if there's mileage in it.

I'm sure you're right about why there was the lack of interest. Fortunately it isn't something that will make or break us financially - more an interesting sideline but only where safe. The previous owner has kept himself self-sufficient and has left us 2 years worth of wood so I don't have to drive myself into the ground (literally)

Thanks alex - that's what we thought - my daughter thinks it's a ruin I think, although she's not exactly said that - but she lives in a new house on a housing estate .....each to his own I suppose

Thanks Ty. Good points. I wondered about permits. Very secluded but you never know. I thought about the outlay and don't want to go mad straight off. I need a big grass cutter and the ride ons are very expensive here new and the used ones look shagged so I thought a compact tractor could be a jack of all trades. I'll give what you say some serious thought. Cheers

Just PM me if you want any information - only been here since August so far from an expert but you may be able to learn from our experiences and I'd be happy to help if I can