mr_magicfingers

Great thanks, will try some on when buying the rest of the kit.

Yarnscombe, near Great Torrington, assuming the sale all goes through ok.

Good plan, thanks, also will keep phone in pocket and make sure girlfriend is somewhere nearby when I'm working. Wouldn't be felling trees alone though, just tidying up and logging previously felled stuff.

Now what's the difference between chainsaw boots and regular steelies please?

Duly noted, thanks.

A little research shows that sitka spruce is used for timber framing and, in Norway, for external cladding. Probably can't use it for the tent platforms but the office frame and cladding might be possible if the trees are suitable size and quality.

Thanks, thought that might be the case. No point buying the biggest most powerful thing out there when it's not needed 90% of the time. Felling of these trees and the milling will be a one time thing, after that it will be maintenance of the broadleaf woodland and firewood production. Thinking 15/16" bar will be plenty.

Definitely planning to do the courses before it all starts, yes. With the help I'm being offered I may well be able to do some of the felling myself along with the help of others, an idea that ties in with the self sufficiency thing, but only if I, and more experienced others, think it can be done safely.

Yep, already on the list of things to buy. Waiting to see what the previous owner is going to leave/sell, already agreed to buy his old massey 135 tractor, ride on mower and some other things. No mention of a chainsaw yet but that's to be checked out. He's moving to a house without a woodburner so might have more things he'll let got at a reasonable price as they're already here.

Thanks to everyone for the various replies. Lots to think about and continue researching. PPE. Yes, absolutely, full set will be bought before any chainsaw is started up. Found Chainsaws and chainsaw accessories, specialising in Husqvarna chainsaws - Chainsaw Specialists online today and noted that they do kits with all the required ppe, I'm sure most other places do too. Boots (not sure between regular steelies or husky type wellies yet), trousers or chaps (need to research that too) and helmet/mask/eardefender thing plus gloves. I'll research the various mentioned saws. I'm also thinking about a small alaskan type mill to mill the various trees, hence looking at the larger of the mentioned saws. If that's reasonable I could mill everything myself rather than hiring in someone with a woodmizer or similar, though I'm sure it would take a lot longer with a chainsaw mill. Something else to ponder. Looks like the two courses mentioned 30/31 should set me up with the basics of knowledge to proceed with caution, I've also had a couple of offers of knowledgable people to come and help fell the trees when the time comes, so I'll have the chance to work with supervision which makes me happier too. I'm sure there'll be plenty more questions I'll post around the site here, I'm on a pretty steep learning curve so far Cheers.

Alec, thanks, I was told larch by the current owner as we walked around the site this Monday just gone. If not larch, can anyone suggest what they might be from that photo? Thanks to everyone for the information on felling licenses, very useful. Cheers.

I'm in the process of buying a small farm to live on as a smallholding and open as a small campsite. Within our 23 acres we have 6 acres of broadleafed woodland that will be cared for and managed as part of that, offering bushcraft courses and other wildlife education. in another part of the site we have a stand of approximately 90 larch trees (I believe, I need to check this), photos shown below. We think they're 15-20 years old. They're in a part of the site that we'd like to clear for camping and to plant with some other more suitable native trees around the campsite spaces. They're tall and straight and seem ideal for our building plans. Would we need a license to fell them as they're not really a woodland as such, just a small stand of trees. Are there any penalties if we just fell them for our own on-site use? We plan to use them for tent/yurt platforms and, longer term, framing and cladding a site office/reception/shop building. Also, how would we best remove the roots after felling? Thanks for your help.

Hi Dan, thanks for the advice, I'll look into the lantra courses and that saw. This is the stand of trees that will need to come down.

We're at Yarnscombe, about 4 miles from Great Torrington, north Devon coast

My partner and I are in the process of buying a farm in Devon which has 6.5 acres of broadleaf woodland that we plan to manage as part of our proposed campsite. There are two woodburning stoves in the house and we plan to harvest wood for use in those, as the current owners do. I'm going to need a chainsaw obviously for log cutting and for management/maintenance of the woodland. We discovered this weekend that the land also includes a stand of larch trees(I think, but need to double check) mature (15-20 year old we believe) about 90 of them that we'll want to fell to clear that section of land. I'm not going attempt that myself, I plan to get the professionals in but would hope to help with things like snedding and logging of the trees once down, there'll be plenty of that work to occupy everyone I would think. The plan is to use them, if suitable, to build the decks for our bell tents and yurts, and also possibly to keep some as large timbers to frame the planned office/reception/shop to go on the site in a year or two and mill some of the trees to use as wany edged larch to clad the building. If we can do that it would have incredibly low inherent energy. Fell/mill/frame all on site. If they're not suitable for the framing then I'll have plenty of cladding boards and a lifetime's worth of firewood. I'm planning on getting trained on this as I have never used a chainsaw before but recognise that you can probably get into more trouble faster with one than with anything other than tequila and handguns. My plan is to do the two ncp courses on basic chainsaw maintenance and crosscutting then the felling trees up to 15" course. Cost will be about £5-600 as I don't need the certification as I won't be doing this professionally unless there are better ideas anyone can offer. Although expensive I see this as cheap insurance as I'm likely to be using a chainsaw moderately regularly for the next 20 years or so. I need to buy a chainsaw, and the appropriate safety equipment. I've never done anything like this before but I'm good with tools (do my own bike servicing etc) and I'm a hobby woodworker so have used table saws, routers etc and have a healthy respect for sharp things that go whizzzzzz. Would one chainsaw be suitable for all of the things I'm likely to need it for or do I need different sizes and if so, what? This is a tool that will be with me for many years to come and see regular use so I'm looking for professional grade kit. Could you offer suggestions of what sort of thing would be suitable. I've looked at some retail sites and there are just so many choices it's hard to figure out what's suitable without more knowledge. Feel free to add any advice as I'm a novice at this but always been handy with tools and diy and enjoy learning new things.

My partner and I are in the process of buying a farm in Devon which has 6.5 acres of broadleaf woodland that we plan to manage as part of our proposed campsite. There are two woodburning stoves in the house and we plan to harvest wood for use in those, as the current owners do. I'm going to need a chainsaw obviously for log cutting and for management/maintenance of the woodland. We discovered this weekend that the land also includes a stand of larch trees(I think, but need to double check) mature (15-20 year old we believe) about 90 of them that we'll want to fell to clear that section of land. I'm not going attempt that myself, I plan to get the professionals in but would hope to help with things like snedding and logging of the trees once down, there'll be plenty of that work to occupy everyone I would think. The plan is to use them, if suitable, to build the decks for our bell tents and yurts, and also possibly to keep some as large timbers to frame the planned office/reception/shop to go on the site in a year or two and mill some of the trees to use as wany edged larch to clad the building. If we can do that it would have incredibly low inherent energy. Fell/mill/frame all on site. If they're not suitable for the framing then I'll have plenty of cladding boards and a lifetime's worth of firewood. I'm planning on getting trained on this as I have never used a chainsaw before but recognise that you can probably get into more trouble faster with one than with anything other than tequila and handguns. My plan is to do the two ncp courses on basic chainsaw maintenance and crosscutting then the felling trees up to 15" course. Cost will be about £5-600 as I don't need the certification as I won't be doing this professionally unless there are better ideas anyone can offer. Although expensive I see this as cheap insurance as I'm likely to be using a chainsaw moderately regularly for the next 20 years or so. I'd like to get some training before we move down to Devon in May and I currently live in West London (Chorleywood). Could anyone suggest courses in the local area that run at weekends rather than during the week. Also, is it usually possible to take the courses and pay just for the training rather than training and certification? Many thanks, J.