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Shouldn't go wrong with a telehandler - just got to choose whether you want a traditional side boom type, front arm or skidsteer depending on terrain and where you want to go. You can use a muck grab for most stuff and they're good for brash or you can get a grab for pallet forks which is better for big stuff like this (be aware the pallet forks often aren't included). http://www.riko-uk.com/product/timber-loader-grabs/pallet-fork-grab

There's quite a few ways, do you have a tractor or quad bike? Both of those could tow a small timber trailer with crane and grab. If you're buying a machine you have a variety of choices with pros and cons. Tractor and front end loader - loads about, can do other jobs. Telehandler, skidsteer etc with pallet forks or grab - better for moving stuff but limited for other tasks. Digger (360) - very maneuverable, good for stacking, slow to move. Quad and trailer - probably cheapest if you get a trailer with a hand winch but you won't move much, if you get a trailer with a crane it could be an option though.

You mean a powered infeed to the machine, not a log deck? I would say a definite yes, they make life much easier for 90% of logs and at worst you'll be in the same position as before for the awkward ones. Go for a conveyor not chains or rollers, you don't want to snag clothing or hands when you inevitably wedge it on to push a log in by hand.

No problem, 10 ton a day I would say is low for most machines with 2 people on softwood but they have to cover themselves - a few stubby branches on logs will slow you right down. It's a decent overall rate though. If you want to hire out I would go towards a chainsaw machine, you never know what's in other peoples wood and it's a lot quicker and cheaper to change a chain.

If it's a one off load, especially tidy softwood it's probably better to hire one in and get it cut in a week. I'm a fan of tajfun personally but palax are fine (no experience with farmi). Pto will be the cheapest option, some will require a plug for electrics on the tractor.

I got loads of dvds/blu rays and a nice new milwaukee drill to play with so I'm happy. And socks of course.

Happy Christmas everyone.

If you get a blade on the winch to dig into the ground you can put any power you want on, 100hp with pto will run it easily. You can pick up winches quite cheap, it's just a matter of which extras you want - remote control, twin drum etc.

Rhi has been reduced a lot but only stopped on drying logs if that's what you're thinking of. I would get someone else to do the registration, a lot of installers will do it for you.

I think you'll need to ask for amount by cubic metre or net for most wholesalers. Either way I'm a bit far in Wales

Within reason I like all of them. Once December comes it's nice to hear them again, I'll choose 'christmas wrapping' by the waitresses (I think that's right) and for a newer one 'Christmas time' by the darkness. Also this:

Weirdly I was looking at milwaukee saws just before seeing this. No intention of giving up the performance of petrol but now the batteries are up to 12ah it is tempting...

I think it depends if you consider £600 a week good pay, it's obviously more than the majority of people of people earn but if you're lucky enough to earn more good for you, I was just making a throwaway comment because no one I work with is on that sort of amount. I say hours are irrelevant because working more, or less, is a choice depending upon your work ethic, how much you want to earn etc. Not everyone minds working away either or has a young family and I don't see why pay would revolve around that (although your personal career should). If people are happy to work for that (as I would be, no intention of stopping my current work though) and the business is making a profit I don't see the problem.

Not really the point of this thread but it's well over minimum wage and more than most people I know earn. Hours are pretty irrelevant and time away from family I think is an individual choice so doesn't affect pay. There's better paying work, there's worse paying work, just do what you enjoy.

I'd be more than happy with that pay, seems like an interesting job to. For a short period at least. I wonder if anyone pays per tree, I wouldn't mind a contract like that. I reckon mini digger and tree shear is the way to go but some jobs will always be better by hand.

The new one is? I've only ever done one with a joint sorry. I'm guessing you have to take the motor out then but probably best talk to Kilworth.

Never did it on our tajfun but when I did it on another machine it's easiest to pull it round with the old one as you take it off.

Ryetecs probably your best bet then, we mostly do billets with our oversized so went for the short one and it's done well for us. You might be better hiring one for the cost though unless you have a lot of work for it.

Ryetec will probably build you one to spec, we've got their 40ton, 4ft length one but that's a big machine already for towing. Is it for big stuff or stakes? We've also got a 2.5m 10 ton posche which has a pushing and pulling ram to make it shorter.

Pretty boring and I'm 'only' 26 but I grew up on the family beef and sheep farm, got good grades in school (although could have tried harder) but just wanted to farm so left at 16 and started work at home while doing a few certificates and a livestock course. We've tried a lot of ideas over the years on the farm; going big into contract baling (still do some), growing wheat, barley, lupins and looking into daffodils as a cure for altzheimers and planting willow although neither of those panned out. Unfortunately the central farming business wasn't making enough to live off. We tried a pheasant shoot for a few years which I enjoyed but a combination of high costs and poaching meant we couldn't continue. More recently we host a few endurocross races, more as a hobby than a business, I only ride quads myself but they're good fun. Throughout all that we've sold firewood, my dad did a few odd loads from 96 onwards but it wasn't until we formed a separate partnership from the farm to get a loan that we started to quickly grow. In the past 8 years we've gone from 100 tons a year to 1800 to the point where we now kiln dry and cut nearly every day in the winter with a couple of extra staff at peak times. I'm quite business minded so hopefully despite some challenges coming up we can keep the firewood at the same level despite all the paperwork but I'm hoping to do more livestock work and maybe have a day off...

I always try to take between Christmas eve and new year off, except for a few hours a day to do livestock and essentials. I normally end up working more than I want to but I don't take any other holidays so it's nice to break the year up and reset if nothing else. Unfortunately firewood customers don't seem to listen to that.

We've sold more than ever in the year because of wholesale loads but our own sales seem down a bit for the time of year. Not sure if it's because we put prices up or just the weather. Still 300cube of logs last month so keeping us busy and we normally peak in January, February when suppliers who don't dry their logs run out.

Wage bills are much higher here and it tends to be in small blocks with poor access. Most contractors don't want to haul a load of machinery for a few acres as it's not cost effective. Add to that paperwork with felling licences, bat surveys, agents etc it makes more commercial sense to do massive blocks abroad than the small woodlands we have in this country. I would never import firewood of course, I don't think the disease risks and transport are worth it. To the original question; I think the minimum price will go up for biomass and customers like ours who only have wood heating but the occasional users who are willing to pay £100+ a cube will probably start to cut back before they pay anymore. A lot will depend on whether the oil/electric price keeps rising and if the government decide to tax imports or even wood burning in general which I think is the bigger risk.

Yes, it's on a ram. Unfortunately it's not quite long enough to double stack anything over 8ft but it's nice for longer pieces.

Few random thoughts; I think a steering drawbar is essential if you're using it in the woods, gives you a lot more flexibility. Go for the biggest trailer you can, with hardwood you'll normally only get half it's capacity on. Most larger trailers have hydraulic legs which will speed up all jobs over manual ones. Land drive is nice but pointless if you're primarily on tracks and takes another spool You need a return pipe or power beyond on top of the spools. Edit: pic of our farmi 14ton, very good trailer but build quality could be an issue after a few years.