flatyre

Thanks folks, will try to mill up stuff small enough to avoid using the full bar, very good advice for future milling projects:thumbup:

been asked to provide some milled timber for mantle pieces, small stuff about four and a half foot by 8 inches by four inches. Am going to use the 560xp so welded up a small Alaskan mill for the job, i'm running an 18" bar and want to use as much of it as possible. How close to the nose sprocket can I clamp to without trapping or straining the sprocket?

seen this on yahoo news, sorry to hear it, that's why I never hold a saw above chest level. I'm only an amateur but it seems it can happen to anyone.

Thanks for the advice folks, there are a lot of small scale one and two man tree surgery outfits in my area but don't see any of them selling logs. Also the full time log sellers all seem to be driving very nice pickups and shiny new ifor Williams trailers, so there must be some money in it? At the end of the day if I sell a few trailer loads here and there well and good, if not, its not like I just remortgaged the house to buy a processor. Would rather not buy in kiln dried logs from Latvia or wherever but rather pay a bit more to support local suppliers, and as for commercial milling, unfortunately a friend just up the road already does that, though I am hoping to get the 070 finished and do a bit of small scale hobby milling for people now and then, mantle pieces etc.

thanks for the advice folks, I already have saws, a hydraulic splitter, and van and trailer. Not even thinking about large scale at the moment. will contact the bigger local tree firms and see what they have regarding arb waste. there are a number of large estates in my area, would it be worth contacting them regarding some sort of forestry maintenance program whereby I can harvest any windblown, fallen trees for free?

Basically I want to drop the grass cutting side of the business and substitute it with wood processing, as currently i'm working stupid hours during the summer and doing a lot of sitting around in winter. I'm looking at a small scale operation that will eventually bring in a couple of hundred a week. Just trying to work out what the return v's investment is like in the logs business? I don't have expensive tastes or expect to get rich off it, just give me a few quid in the winter and seeing as I get a weird sense of enjoyment and satisfaction from chopping wood, why not give it a go? I understand if you don't want to make public the knitty gritty of your business but any help would be appreciated:thumbup1:

Going to wait until after Christmas and if the Frontera is still there then i'll take it. In the meanwhile I'm seriously thinking of going back to petrol for the family run around. I have a Laguna Dci Sports tourer, lovely car but the engine feels like its about to give up the ghost with only 102,000 easy miles on the clock. A mate just bought a new motor because his diesel Zafira s**t the bed with under 70,000 on the clock. Also seen a TDCI Mondeo go the same way with only 54,000. Seems in order to get these new super diesels down on emissions and up on mpg's they have become so weak they can't handle the miles. I have a 2004 1.8 LX Mondeo that I got roped into buying purely to sell on, 120,000 miles and drives like a new car (wife doesn't want a saloon though). But its made me seriously consider trading it in for another petrol motor:confused1:

Bit late to do anything this year but was just curious if anyone on the forum sells Christmas trees? Bought the last three trees from Ikea, £25 and you get a £20 gift voucher to spend in January, decent deal as the last tree I bought before going to Ikea was £37, that was four years ago so I imagine they've gone up in price since then. Just wondering what sort of profit margin is in harvesting and transporting them?

maybe the car owner is blind, maybe he's hoping it comes down and he gets a new car, all I know is joe public are idiots, was doing traffic watch on a job the other week, two guys reducing the crowns on mature ash overhanging a road, and me on the ground stopping traffic when a chunk was being dropped. You'd think if you saw a guy in full chainsaw gear and high viz vest standing in the middle of the road giving a clear 'stop' hand signal and two more guys up trees with chainsaws you'd think "better stop here a moment", but no, the amount of times people drove round me, sometimes over a big chunk of brash which fell and they got to it before me:confused1:

'next big thing'? I have a contract up at the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum (176 acres), big firms like HSBC, Citi Group etc. pay the museum to send their top brass there to work along side us groundsmen for the day on team building exercises. Basically they turn up in their finest North Face jackets, cargo pants, and shiny new work (style) boots, and designer stubble for a days hard graft with the men, lambs to the slaughter:thumbup:

Glad you like it, that's just the base recipe, you can give it some spicy twists!

I like the idea of a tarp and tube frame as it can be rolled up for storing away, but also I can use the tarp to collect cuttings from hedges, and lay it out over fancy paving etc, when repeatedly wheel barrowing over it. Very versatile bit of kit is the old tarpaulin. But is the woven type strong enough or do I need to go for the heavier stuff? Was using a Toro STX26 today, great little machine and with the rubber skirt round the head, it kept the chip from flying everywhere, but i'll probably end up with a smaller manual one which throws chip for miles.

have a number of customers lined up for a bit of stump grinding next Friday, it'll be a push to get them all done in a day so need to improvise a screen to make tidying up quicker, am thinking of fabricating some poles about a meter high that can be pushed into the ground when suitable, or with removable feet if on concrete etc, then a strong tarp cut and stitched to form a curtain. But in the meantime i'd like to see what quick fixes you have used?

hey folks was on the phone with a nice old fella from Dunoon today who bought my 1106 contra off me, he wanted it for old times sake as he used one back when they were new. Great guy and very knowledgeable, he's retired but still likes to work with saws, ports and mods them, anyway he is looking for an original 365 or 372 carb, has anyone got one and would they sell it? Would like to help Ian out.

about 600g of roughly chopped parsnips, a chopped leek, about an inch cube of ginger chopped, cook them in a little butter to soften them, then add about 1.3l of vegetable stock and a cup of white wine (optional), some pepper and let it gently simmer for twenty minutes then blend it.

nice parsnip! found out recently that Tesco are now selling 'imperfect parsnips' for 30p a bag, parsnip and ginger soup has become a staple in our house now.

sounds right up my street, i'd trade a few mpg for a good glug of old school simplicity any day.

tried this one, didn't end well for me either:blushing: http://9bytz.com/leaf-blower-chair/ and this... [ame] [/ame]

Hey folks my L200 arbtruck project is going to take much longer than predicted so I need something to act as a back up vehicle in case the van needs to come off the road, I also need something that can be used as a family wagon as the wife hates our laguna estate and is trading it in for a Modus which is fine for running the kids to play group etc, but we need something bigger for weekly shopping trips and days out. I have always had a soft spot for the older Frontera but never owned one. They are getting quite rare round here and the few that crop up for sale are usually petrol engined swb rust buckets. By chance I found a cracking 2003 four door 2.2 diesel in amazing condition parked at the back of a mechanics shed for two years as it needs a new drive shaft. Looks like it has been waxoiled a number of times in its life, immaculate half leather interior, four brand new tyres, perfect bodywork, solid chassis, sills and inner guards. Owner is a retired teacher who downsized to a fiesta when the cv joint went. Have him down to £400 but although its a really clean motor is it any good? Won't be doing any major off roading, just need something I can occasionally throw some saws into and tow my 10x6 trailer.

hey folks have an old 1106 contra which runs no problem when I pour fuel down the bore, but even after checking the fuel filter and carb, it just won't draw fuel up the pipe. its an old Tillotson carb, pretty simple and robust compared to a modern carb, took it apart, and the diaphragm and rubbers looked ok, anyone have any knowledge of these older carbs?

yeah you really need to know more before you can price these kind of jobs, its hard enough when joe public doesn't have a clue! I've been asked to split and stack wood for customers who thought they had a "few hours work", turned out to be three days splitting so far and the pile of rings doesn't look that much smaller, on the other side I've had customers ask me to "fell" and process trees that were six feet high and no thicker than my wrist, was almost embarrassed to charge them.

I had a berlingo but it was too small, then had a mwb transit, it was too big, now I have a vivaro and its great, carries loads of kit, tows fairly well, and drives like a car:thumbup:

fish boxes.

That's what some firms are paying round here, maybe if they were better they'd get a better wage, or maybe if they got a better wage they might be better? who knows, i'm not a climber:blushing:

not to stir up the old climbers wages debate but whats required of a climber? honesty, trustworthyness, clued in, physically fit, prepared to work their socks off every day, operate dangerous equipment (at dangerous heights)that can kill and maim, short career prospects, high risk of repetitive strain issues in later life etc. for as little as £80 a day. Hmmmmm sign me up:thumbup: