Welshwoodsman

Sounds like my virually brand new MS291- only brought is as i thought i had killed my ms250- but a good tube of chemical metal fixed the hole in the body that was letting the oil pump suck in air- so 291 has sat with only 2 hours use in the container in yard since april. Went to use it, fresh fuel- wont run. Will start on choke, and actually run- but once revved, dies instantly. After a bit of faff with it- come to the conclusion that new saws are crap, the old neglected battered abused 250 always starts- but i just ripped the rear handle clean off it- hence wanting to ply the 291 into service- so persevere, tale back to dealer, or chuck it in the canal? Sent by smoke signal from my teepee.

Yes- We have morso dove, with boiler- feeding into a heatstore. Flash coil for hot water, and water in heatstore is shared with central heating. Couple of hours of running stove, and heatstore is at 95 C. In winter- will run 18 rads with the stove barely struggling- and do endless hot water. Great system. Was about 4k to put in incl stove, boiler, chinmey lining and heatstore and 30mm pipework to loft. Sent by smoke signal from my teepee.

Yup, after i watched that at christmas- made a mental note to -always wear me chainsaw trousers- when cutting~ that brings it home nicely. As a landowning, no ticket holding, been using a chainsaw since i was 11 merchant, with nerve damage all down 1 leg, sooner or later my 9 lives will run out- but not today.😃 Sent by smoke signal from my teepee.

I was recommended to plough- or weedkiller the whole lot, then rotovate it! If my little tractor was actually up to collecting the grass, then i might get somewhere. Patience was never a strong point for me- and 9 hours chugging, when i should be cuttin trees and makin tracks in the wood is not my idea of good time management. I was thinking, combine harvester- like a finger bar mower on steroids. Should be done in 5 mins. I have come to the conclusion that grazing by geese, sheep, goats or cows, or horses or pigs MUST be a better investment of time- even if the grazing is free to the stock owner. Down this way, kent wildlife trust is grazing with sheep, ponies or highland cattle on all their flower meadows. Sent by smoke signal from my teepee.

Just trying this myself- i have 3 acres, its quite wet/damp and a 4x4 tractor is essential. I can't find a farmer for love or money who will top the field- so doing it myself. I got a flail mower, with a collector. That would be the answer, but my tractor isnt big enough, or the grass is too big. These 3 acres took 9 hours- so looking for a solution that is quicker. The wildlife trusts etc would remove the turf from any areas they were seeding, before sowing wildflower mix. Sent by smoke signal from my teepee.

Where we are on holiday in south wales, trees have been cleared to the extent that the landscape will never look the same in my lifetime. Felling is going on everywhere- but there is still public access throughout. Bark, branches, needles are strewn far and wide- and timber lorries are everywhere. The welsh govt announced earlier in the year that they were halting all attempts to contain the disease. Its only in the larch here- but dead trees are growing right next to seemingly healthy ones- and i am beginning to question if the trees ever actually caught it, or if its a massive opportunity for the FC in wales to bank the cash from 30,000 hectares odd of trees, clearfell absolutely everything, and walk away! Thankfully i have norway and hemlock in my wood- but i am waiting for the news that PR has jumped to Spruce, Sent by smoke signal from my teepee.

That is absolutely outstandingly awesome. How much would one if those set me back? Sent by smoke signal from my teepee.

Not on the Hinxhill estate? Is that you working in the wood just below the william harvey? Forwarder parked up on farm on weds night? Sent by smoke signal from my teepee.

I had mine through couple of months ago- IMO a total waste if my time. Grants don't start until 2016- but the contract is valid from jan 14, so once signed, you are tied in- but cant do anything until the claim year that work is scheduled for (after jan 2016). Another sting in the tail is, unlike BWW, where work was agreed, and grants agreed- if you didnt complete the work, just didnt claim the grants, Glastir is different- you are signing to pledge that the work will be done, and then grant claimed. If you don't/ can't do the work in time, you are in breach of contract- and they can prosecute you, even if you didnt try and claim the grant. Total rubbish- with the weather I have had in the wood, i couldnt definitely say that any work would be completed on schedule☔️. So chucked the contracts and management plan On the fire. Will do it in my Own time, and pay myself. Have already written my own management plan. Sent by smoke signal from my teepee.

Larch is going to the mill at £42/tonne, or £42/ cu metre on a very good day in south wales. With PR, and the millions of trees the FC have cut- there is a glut. Always be worth more for firewood IMO- should be able to get double that for seasoned logs. Sent by smoke signal from my teepee.

Interesting read. Good advice for wet climates, split, split, split n then cover.

If you have room in the fireplace, a rayburn will do hot water and 9 rads- plus give u an oven for slow cooking. I wish i had put one in our mini inhlenook instead of the morso and boiler we have- then could do slow roasts etc as well, with same heating/hot water as we have now. 30 cube a year here, and thats with solar thermal to top it up.

I have got a lot of spruce stumps in abergavenny- but they are heavy- you wouldnt get more than 8 or so on a 3500kgs trailer before it was overoaded. These are 2 ft, 3 ft across, so big trees, well they were when they were upright!

No details about condition- It might not have a rotator or grab, the hises might be shot, tyres illegal, all pins and bushes in meed of replacement, so that lot could add upto 4k. Really needs to be an eyes on job. Lots of people were absolutely sure that an ebay seller selling 'used' stihl chainsaws that appeared to be new, must be dodgy- so I bought a couple of them just because i like a deal, and i wanted to prove my instincts right. The saws all check out, and are not new- they have been very lightly used- but they all work and have been very well looked after. They are both 2004 saws though- and look like ex demo machines. Without seeing said trailer and crane, its impossible to say, but lots of forestry stuff gets a real hammering and ends up needing repairs really quickly- so on that basis alone, i wukd want to see it before bidding, and i would want to collect in person. If its delivered, then it will presumably have to be paid for before delivery- which is where the money will dissapear, with no delivery!

Well for christs sake dont say that- surely the keys were in his jacket, hot day, took jacket off and hung it on a post while working??

Well if you dont want it for 4k delivered- i would gave it myself!

Grabbed a very similar one for 5k on ebay 2 years ago- brand new, forestry co going bust. Both axles braked, never been used. I have seen some of the small ones not even make 2.5k at plant auctions.

What price? With brakes on one axle, its not road legal, i would pay 4k for it- but i would be collecting in person and paying cash!

Back to my original post- Its quite possible to make a lot of money on site value alone- but not if you pay far too much in the beginning. I paid 45k for 30 acres in a national park, and a unesco world heritage site- with a very idyllic canal along the bottom. I know there will be substantial financial gain in the land- but in relation to 4 acres or so for 45k i got a bargain! Small plots are very unlikely to be worth 10's of thousands more than purchase price. Although attractive, and i looked at everything they had jn wales and kent, your best bet is local estate agents, john clegg and Raymond Barker in builth wells.

Meant to say that too- Red flesh is not poisonous, but all the rest is. Yup, leave the tree, fence it off from the kids, and educate them very early that yew trees along with other poisonous trees should be avoided- worked with me!

If its any help, my mother was in the same situation when i was a toddler. She wrote to the chief researcher at Kew and asked them for their advise and how toxic a Yew tree actually is. She has still got the reply letter from them in her filing- "Berries, bark, and leaves are all poisonous and the effect of ingesting any part of the tree is death" Now my mother is a very sensible, university type and very laid back- but that was enough to make her seriously worried. Heard a gardening expert on the radio the other week suggesting to a school that they plant yew trees in the playground of a nursery and infant school- total complete madness! Phone Kew and ask them for an uptodate response- i am now 39, so its a while ago- but even leaves dropped into an animal water bowl can be fatal to dogs , cats and sheep as the toxins leach out into the water. Hope that helps a bit!

There will always be money in the timber- its just a question of how much. Depends on the tree species, and what grade they are. Whether you would go for Standing sale Felling and extracting Felling and rideside sale Woudl depend on who was interested in the timber. If its a nice easy wood, with easy road access, and room for an artic to load up, then there is definite value. If its John Clegg, then its quite possible the Commission selling on a small wood ( contrary to popular belief, the FC has always bought and sold woods continually, just to have ready cash and produce a balanced portfolio) I would give this wood a serious look. You could potentially make back a good chunk of the purchase price, and get grant funding to replant, and then nurture your own trees If its still on their website, I tried to buy "Banc y Llan" several years ago, and chased it through several agents- i made them a serious offer, which was turned down, 12 months later, they moved agents to John Clegg, and put it on the market for 20k less than I offered them -?

Well I can give you some advice. I was in a position to invest several years ago, and thought about property, but then what I really wanted was a woodland of my own- somewhere to grow trees, do some camping, be self sufficient in firewood for the forseable future. 3 years ago I bought a 30 acre woodland in south wales. For the amount of land, it was extremely cheap. Its a mountainside woodland, ranging from moderately steep, to almost vertical, and it was planted in 1960 by the FC with norway spruce and western hemlock. The wood has never been thinned, and has had no maintenance since 1960, despite having been through 3 owners in this time, two of them landed estates. Trees are all very close together, never thinnned, and the trees are some of the best yield class in wales today, 80ft high and 2,3,4,5 ft diameter- so big trees! There is minimal internal access, although I am working on this and making rides and tracks- the access out of the wood is down a tiny parish road, very steep, and over a Grade II listed canal bridge with a 7 tonne limit. The standing timber is valued at approx 150, 000, yes that is £150,000 - but there is a catch, well there always is isnt there- because of the site characteristics, the cost of felling and extraction of the timber is estimated to cost anout what the timber is worth- SO, i am sitting on a fortune, but can't actually get it, unless i do all the work myself. Not realistically going to happen- So,i just potter about, cut trees and make logs, dig some dirt and extend a few rides - and do some camping, and just enjoy my own haven. I have gifted the woodland to my 8 year old daughter, so she has her own woodland, and it will certainly increase in value as she grown, and will be a nice nest egg for her. To give a rough idea, since 1960, its gone from £150 when the FC bought it, to 12,000 in 1975 when the FC sold it, to 20,000 when the next owner sold it in 1985 and then the owner before us paid 35,000 for it in 2006, so there is value, but it depends on your outlook. Insurance is minimal, and if i just left it and did nothing, i am sure it would be soon worth 75k within 10 years, so its a good family investment, and my daughters friends at school think its well cool that she owns her own wood- but its costing me money at the moment, not making it, with fencing, new chainsaw toys, big shiny equipment etc etc. Conifer woodlands are always cheaper than broadleaf, but you can fell and replant with broadleafs, so if you have had a look on the two big sites selling woodlands, you will know what they sell for- buy one of them, and you are very unlikely to make money. Check local estate agents, or John clegg and co (who sell all the FC woodlands) Or Raymond Braker & Co.

Yeah we had our 1000 litre thermal store up to 63 degrees off the solar thermal as well. Just lit the stove at 5 pm to top up the radiators once they came on. Must have gone through at least 30 cube this year.

Lovely. I like it, as i am sitting on at least 10000cu m of softwood, that is just waiting to be felled, once access is available, i am rubbing my hands with glee at that suggestion. Its true of course, all the best stoves come from scandinavia and they all burn softwood, as does switzerland, and austria most of the time, that is how they get those lovely tidy wood stacks under the eaves of their chalets. Anyone want softwood in abergavenny then. Access a nightmare, offroad driving skills definitely an advantage, all trees growing far too close together, 7o years old, and at least 89 ft high. Some over 4 ft across at the bottom. I like that suggestion very much