R Mac

like this? [ame] [/ame]

There's nothing wrong with it from a felling point of view, but without knowing the situation and looking at it from a textbook standard (which is about all anyone can do based on a pic) I thought the back cut looked a fair bit higher than the base of the face cut. A fault of mine TBH, was told never under but not much more than 1-2" above. It it was my hinge I'd be happy with it

+1 for wedges that get used

7/10? Face cut looks a bit deep. Did you make a high back-cut to get the jack in place?

I wear Oregon Yukon when on the ground which is probably 75% of the time, mainly forestry they're surprisingly hard wearing, light and quite loose fitting so great mobility (although the smallest size they do is bigger than what I'd normally wear) Surprisingly I have more damage on my Stein Kreiger climbing trousers, the only damage on the Oregons is a small hole worn in one pocket where I was carrying a penknife. £65 Here, Yates Garden Machinery, ebay

Sod that, Pulse Jet is the way to go [ame] [/ame]

They might be fine then, I've mainly been in spruce plantation dealing with windblown, brambles as you'd guess, exposed roots, holes full of peaty water etc, not a walk in the park either

I wouldn't doubt that for a second, the Waldlaufer/Woodwalker look just like Meindl's hiking boots, I'd have a pair but I don't think they're quite stiff enough for the terrain I spent most time in. look like a very good all rounder though

Strange, although they aren't chainsaw boots, I have a pair of Meindl Borneo hiking boots and 2 pairs of Haix German army issue, hiking type and combat type and don't find any difference comfort or fit wise. My chainsaw boots are Stihl Advance, not a climbing boot really as they have a very bulky toe box although they're great on spikes, most of my time is on the ground or spikes so not a problem. They're really tough, waterproof and breathable thanks to Gore-Tex but definitely one to try before you buy as they run about half a size on the large side IMO. If I had to guess I'd say they were actually made by Meindl. Personally I like my boots to be all leather with as few pieces as possible to make the upper, may try the Pfanners when the Stihls need replaced.

Agree with you there, I feel that getting the stuff up to the chipper is the easy part, it'll take some time to cut it down for a chipper unless there's a good sized chipper on site, either way chipping it all will be slow and unless there's a fairly large chip truck it'll be quite a few runs to dump chip. There might not be much room for 2 trucks/trailers so if there's only one I'd drag a load up 1st, reduce, chip and take the 1st load away, while the 1st load is being dumped drag up and start to reduce down a 2nd load ready for when the transport returns. Hired in cranes/tractors/quads are only going to be sat around waiting between loads and the meter will still be running so to speak. Without having had a look in person I'd say minimum is 2 trailers, one vehicle towing, a good sized chipper, say 8" and a winch either portable or truck mounted to get the stuff up to the chipper in as large a piece as possible. I reckon 2 days minimum if there isn't room for a large squad to actually work without getting under each others feet or being stood around too much. IMO it'll come down to how quickly you can chip a load, dump it and get back on site. I'd go for smallish scale and slow and put the cost in time rather than large scale equipment that has to be hired in, time doesn't appear to be an issue if the house is going to be empty for 8 months or so.

Aye sure, give me a minute or two Ok here you go. The big one is 120l and measures 19" across, the small one is 60l and measures 15" across, works better with the hole for the choker off-set like the small one.

Petrol engined portable winch, e.g. PCW5000 or similar. How many trees in total? Do you intend chipping and if so where? garden or driveway. You say they're 14' wide and the gates are under 3' wide, do you intend snedding the branches off in the garden then dragging the stems and brash up separately? It's obviously possible but not easy to suggest a method without a bit more info. Obviously if you could get the entire tree up to a driveway or yard in one go that would be the quickest, then decide where you go from there.

IMO £180 is way overpriced for the skidding cone, looking at some of the videos on Youtube half time it's getting dragged along beside the log due to the hole for the choker being central and the choker is running off center which pulls the cone out of position. What's the maximum diameter of the logs you working with?

I have one, not much to say apart from get yourself some pulleys and slings to double line, re-direct and as lifters etc. I use the ISC 70kN ones and 3t strops from Handy Straps, also get some steel rigging carabiners or bow shackles to match. I've used mine extracting windblown from a spruce plantation with no vehicle access, on a double line it'll pull an 18 meter length of what was probably 20 - 24 meter Spruce before I took the top off. Anything you can do to reduce friction will help, if you don't have a skidding cone you can make them out of blue plastic barrels, one thing I found was that if you make a skidding cone cut the hole for the choker near the edge on the end rather than the center, if you cut it in the center as the line tightens the choker tends to pull the cone out of position. Apart from that they're a fantastic bit of kit.

Definitely, and bring a load of kit as it always looks impressive even if it doesn't get used

Apart from when it's a Leylandii hedge, previously topped then neglected so it need's 7+ foot off it to get it back where it was. Gardenguy can't do it as his Halfords trailer (if he even has one) or the owners wheelie bin is too small and the cord on his hedge clipper won't stretch from the owners power socket to the top of the hedge. I hate doing them but usually easy money as the owner sees it as a one-off (having failed to learn from his mistake 1st time round)

I'll have to come up with something as physically I can pull the chipper onto the trailer (which surprised me) the only problem is holding it while I get up on the trailer. I had been pulling it on using 2 pulleys while my wife guided/supported it, not ideal as a. she's only 5' tall and b. sometimes she's too busy (or so she claims )

Healing up nicely after getting my head bit off last week (or was it the week before) by someone for some reason

Don't be absurd, this is an internet forum, it can only be right or wrong

The problem I see with a winch (or pulleys/ropes like I had been using) is that the chipper only has a single axle so it actually needs supported as it goes up the ramps. A full width ramp/tailgate is a different kettle of fish but I think to work properly you'd need a jockey wheel on the chipper (like some of the Jo Beau mini chippers)

Not if said engine is designed to run 20:1, I only mentioned I'd heard it. Yeah I understand what running lean is and what the result will be.