IronMike

HAIX Protector Light 2.0 review WWW.FORESTRYJOURNAL.CO.UK Mike Tyson of Low Impact Forestry, in York, offers his thoughts on the new Protector Light 2.0 forestry boot from HAIX... (Shameless promotion of a review I did! ) 😂😂

I'm a Haix man too. Had about 5 different pairs, never had a problem. Unfortunately all waterproof boots are let down by one major design flaw..... The great big hole in the top where your foot goes! 😂

I have 6mm boards (I think) and the Logbullet and tractor pass over them fine. The thicker it is, the heavier it is as mentioned, and harder to manoeuvre about by hand. I copied my good friend John and cut some handles into mine with an angle grinder! Makes life a bit easier when moving them. They can be a tad slippery when off camber so be warned!

I've been looking for a second trailer for my alpine and winch. The prices of used ones have become laughable! Well, to the buyer anyway, great time to be selling I suppose. I sincerely hope they start to level off a bit. As mentioned, the price of used has got so silly that buying new is more sensible overall.

I use my Logbullet pretty much 5 days a week now. The golden rule for me has been not work on tonnage, and stick to day rate. I could waffle on for days about low impact forestry 😂 The main thing has been getting folks to understand the process. Doing first thinnings by hand cutting and small machines is not a money maker. If it breaks even, it’s done well. But….. you’re making something of a waste product traditionally, be it as chip for biomass or firewood. And you’re managing the woods as well and making the future works that much easier and the remaing stock that much better. The landowner makes the money back down the line. If they’re not driven purely by the bottom line, they’ll see the benefits of the low impact approach.

Ketamine for alcoholics trial goes to next stage WWW.BBC.CO.UK The £2.4m trial led by the University of Exeter will be available at seven NHS sites around the UK. Seems legit 🤣

We just paid £55 for a 6ft tree from a local place. It’s a massive operation, lots of staff everywhere, shop selling rip off tat like baubles etc, get your gingerbread latte from the coffee trailer etc. Absolutely coining it in. I have to pay through gritted teeth, as what I’m buying is usually the waste product from thinning work. I’d normally put a saw through it and leave it to rot in the woods! Kids enjoy the hunt though, even if like yesterday we ended up buying the first one I picked out. We’d only looked at 6538 other ones before coming back it 🤦🏻‍♂️

I met my now good friend @Gray gitthrough Arbtalk, and also followed @Big Jand his exploits with his Logbullet which has ultimately led me to where I am now. Plus I got my saws ported by @crocky 👍🏼😎 So yes, I'd say my life has been changed a bit by Arbtalk. Cheers Steve lad!

First proper day in the woods with the AGT850 and Igland winch. Fair to say I've had lots of fun! Only issue I'm finding is being able to confidentially position the tractor, and bury the winch. When I lower it down on the linkage, it just floats on the surface. Sure, once I've pulled a but it'll dig in a small amount, but I've had to resort to parking up against stumps for the most part. Now that's not easy when your cutters keep things nice and low 😂 Could it be worth checking hydraulic fluid etc? Any ideas folks?

As a stalwart Husqvarna man, I found it tricky to admit how good the Stihl 400 is. But, I'll openly admit it is fantastic. I have a Mk2 550XPG and run it on an 18inch bar with zero issues. It was bloody excellent stock, but I've since had it fettled by @Crockyand it's even better now. I also have an old 555 that is a great saw, if a little hefty. Local dealer support can often be a deal breaker. No good buying a saw if there is no dealer local.

I prefer to say I've been economical with the truth 😂

Amazing mate, nice one! New career path sounds great, did you keep the Logbullet just to remind you of what it’s like owning a small machine and why you changed!?😂😂

What you doing now fella?

You won’t be disappointed if Crocky has messaged you! He pimped my 550 & 572, lovely work 👌🏼

I left school at 16 with some GCSES but very little academic interests. Tried college, tried 6th form, didn't enjoy either. So I got a job working in retail, and spent the next 13 years doing various roles in that sector. I was managing a clothing shop in Carlisle earning a good wage (on paper, if you worked out the hourly rate I was on buttons as was doing about 70 hours a week) when I decided I'd had enough of slogging my guts out for someone else. So I packed my career in, and moved back in with my parents on their farm in the Lakes. I set up on my own doing drytone walling and fencing. But one day I got asked to help out a mate who ran an arb firm in Keswick. Well, I was hooked! Sacked off the walling and, managed to get a grant to do my cross cutting and maintenance, and small trees ticket plus a chainsaw and PPE. Spent a good few years as a subby groundsman in Keswick, then moved to North Yorkshire and carried on the same with new firms here. I got the opportunity to start my own business in Foresty nearly 4 years ago and haven't looked back since! I like many on here I'd imagine do this job for the love of it. I didn't get into forestry to be rich! But I'm lucky as I go to work every day with a smile on my face (mostly!) and get paid to do something I enjoy.

I couldn't tell you meterage unfortunately. We just work on day rate, regardless of site or spec. The top end of the pay is for my experienced cutters, who I know will produce day in day out. They're as fast and efficient as possible on the sites we have. The lower end is for the newer starters who haven't got that speed and efficiency yet.

I pay my cutters between £120-160 a day I'd say. That's them providing their owne saw and fuel plus all the trimmings. I tend to get quite a few new lads and lasses, so clearly they start towards the lower end but given the world we live in, I think it's not too bad a wage. The main differences I find are as others have mentioned.... Presentation and standards. The top whack cutters lay it down all day, and everything is stacked in decent heaps and graded off to make my life easier for forwarding. The newer cutters I try to instill confidence in, and tell them in the beginning to remember "low, and slow"!. I'm taking about stumps here when I say low, and slow as in their saw usage. What I really mean is steady, not slow, but it doesnt ryhme as well! I'm trying to teach them to get good at their craft first, then get quick. You can't get super quick and efficient straight out the box. I'd rather someone was working at a steadier rate, but doing everything well than have someone flying like a bat out of hell and leaving the timber converted in pegs or worse, unsnedded on one side! This literally makes my piss boil as a forwarder driver, having to get out the machine to finish their job off. I could waffle on for days really. But I'd say anyone looking to get a decent wage and lots of work should strive for the following: Turn up on time, sharpened and ready to go. Look presentable and not like you've slept in the brash pile! Keep phone in pocket til break time! Work quickly and efficiently, stacking where you can without hurting your back. Process well with accurate hand cutting. LOW STUMPS!!!!!

@Crockyported my MK2 550 and my 572. The results are superb! So much so, he is getting my 555 and 390 to tinker with in December. All I’ll say is he is a victim of his own success….. his waiting list is long! 🤣💪🏻

Only one man for the job! @Crocky

Just need to cut the PTO to length, but winch looks really well on the tractor I reckon.

The price made me gasp mate I must admit. But, we live in a mental world unfortunately 🙈

I'll keep an eye on things mate, fear ye not!

After cruising around the APF with my main aim being checking out all the winches on offer, I opted for a 4.2t winch from Igland to go on the back of my 50hp alpine. The main reason was the pto input being centralised, which matched the tractor perfectly. All the other offerings (Uniforest, Krpan, Tajfun etc) had it offset to one side and I don’t fancy running it with the pto on a queer angle. Plus it was was very simple from a mechanical point of view, looked easy to work and well made also. Finally, it matched the colour of the tractor 👌🏼🤣 which is mega important as we all know! Jas P Wilson had 4 in stock too I think which is another major consideration. £3165+vat+delivery.

I've officially written the past 3 weeks off as a total sh*t show! Back on site today, first load of the day infact, and the pin for the outer on one site sheared. Got it repaired fairly quickly, but sacked the rest of the day off! Onwards to the APF tomorrow!

My poorly Logbullet is back together after 2 rather stressful days! Turns out we did such a good job of repairing it last time we changed the stubs, that undoing our handy work this time round was rather tricky! 🤣