spandit

If you can find a suitable small trailer, could you not make something yourself? Maybe not from metal but plywood is pretty strong. An issue you might face is that you are limited by the wheel arches so removing the sides might not actually give you more capacity. Fitting greedy boards is easy enough for carrying logs, wood chip etc. A standard pin hitch on the tractor will be fine.

Interesting. The leaves don't seem to match black walnut now I've looked at pictures

May well be, I had no idea. You people are awesome! Thank you

Every mechanic I've spoken to has warned me off them. Handsome cars bit dodgy electrics, weak half shafts

I wonder how old they have to be before the twist becomes apparent?

Some sort of acer, I think but how glorious is the colour even taken on a crappy iPhone?

Any ideas? Growing in Surrey

Biggest one I've ever seen, at Hatchlands Park, near Guildford: I didn't know that was typical of the breed as they're normally coppiced so don't get that big

Only foreign wood...

I've just been using a 25 tonne machine that I hired for the week - it struggled on some really knotty pine but got through it in the end. For £84 I can just hand it back and let some other b*gger worry about looking after it for the other 51 weeks of the year. Once I've hopefully built up a good stock of wood again, I can just hire it in and process it all (especially now I've worked out how to modify the controls to make it far easier to use - still 2 handed but basically slipping long bars over both handles). It can split vertically too but a bit over your budget - I think they're about £1800 to buy http://www.mowdirect.co.uk/mtd-lawnflite-ls550-25-ton-log-splitter.html

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Doesn't help that I've given myself tendinitis and can barely move my left hand. I'm about 1/3 through my log pile but hopefully getting some help tomorrow as have some lime & horse chestnut that seem completely resistant to the maul.

Warms you once when you cut it, Again when you load it onto the trailer Once more when you split it Another time when you stack it Fifth time when you bring it indoors Sixth time when you burn it... Quite addictive this log splitting lark, however, seeing an otherwise unsplittable knotty horror succumb to the 25 tonne force from the blade, with water & sap spewing out, is very satisfying. However, I've now run out of space to put the split logs - all my 3 trailers are full, as are all of my wheelbarrows!

Some very kind members on here have, in the last few months, given me some logs in exchange for letting them dispose of chip and brash here. The logs weren't cut to length or split, obviously, but they've been mounting up in addition to some other chunks of lime and horse chestnut we were given. Anyway, hired a log splitter today to start dealing with them. It's an LS550 25 tonne petrol job and although it's really slow, it hasn't faltered on even the gnarliest stuff. The lovely straight grained sycamore barely needs to touch the blade before it splits but the apple has put up more resistance. Beginning to think, however, that although I now have a reasonable pile of split logs, the hire (and petrol) cost, combined with the considerable effort of manhandling everything, means that I probably would have been better off buying seasoned logs in the first place! You must be strong chaps, I could barely lift some of the pieces and they've been drying for quite a while

I used the pump up spray but put it on a camping stove to get it really hot & thin (highly flammable too!). It doesn't dry completely hard but will creep into places a brush won't reach. As said, disposable overall & eye protection

Anyone got any going spare in Sussex?

Thought that was the case. Will be splitting them to provide a flat surface for the children to paint on, then we'll lacquer/varnish them and stick in the ground to mark which trees they planted. Not expecting them to last for years and years but a few months should be OK

I'm looking to make some tree/plant markers from willow sticks. I don't want them to sprout but will peeling the bark off be sufficient? I'll try to dry them out a bit first too but in case we need more quickly (it's for a forest school) I might have to use green

Don't often see hawthorn that big, though. I've hauled some Scots pine up there - might have to replace it every year

My wife is starting a forest school and she'd like some stumps for children to sit on - what wood would be best (i.e. rot resistant etc.)? If you have any gnarly bits that are no good for firewood, we'd gladly take them off your hands

I'd love those but too far away for me. Sycamore splits really easily - have you tried just whacking them with a maul?

You can get free willow & poplar from me...

Got me down to a tee

Ah, wasn't actually asking you, I was enquiring about the OP (tonyOK)

Whereabouts in the country are you? I'd take the logs & brash