tomg

We use turntable trailers on our farm and think they are very good. However the biggest problem with them is that you get no weight transfer to the towing vehicle so you are relying solely on the vehicle weight for traction. That would probably be ok on nice flat dry roads but I wouldn't want to set off up or down a wet steep hill with one on a land rover. I have had a frightening experience with one coming to a junction at the bottom of a hill fully loaded, tried to stop the tractor which locked all wheels but the trailer just pushed the tractor out into the path of an oncoming bus! Fortunately it was a wide road so I jack knifed the tractor round and the bus swerved past. All our trailer brakes are checked regularly now! Yeah definitely wouldn't want one behind my land rover.

I would recommend Kawasaki, I've had a Klf 300 and a KVF 650. I used them for a paddock spraying business I had. Never had a problem with them. 650 was an incredible machine, loads of power but will be over your budget. The little 300 was very good but I would suggest if you're doing a lot of towing go for 4 wheel drive. Tom

My advice would be to not spend your full budget on the vehicle and keep some back for repairs. My mechanic who is a land rover specialist reckons your sometimes better buying cheaper and spend the rest of the cash putting it right. At least you know those problems are fixed and done with! I have a TD5 which I think is a far better engine and goes a lot better after chipping and hybrid turbo!

We have some of these sheets we salvaged when scrapping some old pig arcs if anyone is after some! Tom

Well thanks for all your advice. From what I have read I think the log job is a no go, to many local firms selling at £60/70/m3. Im not one for working for free! Best of luck to the rest of you, hopefully this cold weather will help boost your sales. Regards Tom

Thanks for your advice! Think I would struggle to sell logs at that price given the prices of the competition!! Its a shed we used to keep pigs in, Yorkshire boarded all round so good ventilation but maybe not enough air flow lower down where the logs would be. Could store it outside in summer but was hoping to keep the handling down to a minimum! Tom

Hello! From what I have researched so far, this forum is meant to be the best place for advice! We are farmers near York and recently due to a change in farming practice we have a shed stood empty and considering ideas of how to use it. We are considering the viability of going into the log trade but after reading many of your posts I'm a bit confused as to whether it would be a good venture. It would be by no means our main source of income, its just something to help bring in some extra cash over the winter months. We only have a small farm so no woods for us to go and raid, all the wood would have to be bought in. We have a few tractors and a couple of loaders free for the job we also already have a land rover and trailer, just short of a good saw and a spliter! We probably have enough room to store a few artic loads of wood under cover. Processed hardwood locally sells for £60-£80/m3 So is it worth a go in your opinion? Thank you in advance for any advice given. Tom p.s if you have any ideas where I can buy some hardwood from locally (Yorkshire) that would be appreciated!