drinksloe

No idea how to do a sketch and get it on here. But generally in commercial forestry the trees will generally have a lean and heavy branches outside the wood and ur trying to fell them at an angle ideally so all branches land inside the boundary fence. So u usually have extra tension/pressure on the inside side off hinge. So wieght/pressures/stresses never equal across hinge. If the tree is a monster right on ur limit u obviously need to bore the centre equally, but a lot of trees are only slightly above, but still need bored So I'd bore to leave as much on inside as I could, so instead of boreing equally both sides from centre, I'd just bore from centre towards the outside/fenceline. With a bit off a diagonal poke towards the inside. If that makes sense, althou to be fair as I read this I could just put a narrow letter box in and have it equal would do the same. And if possible line my inside hinge up with a big buttress/toe. Usually with these trees u need as much strength on inside hinge to stop them breaking off on u and flattening fence

Surely if a forward leaner ud still be better with the smaller bar. As I'd still want to bore out gub even if I didn't need to to reduce chance of a barbers chair. Then bore in from both sides leaving a tag at back, or a version of a 'T' cut with bored gub. But u could do the same side bores with the big bar to achieve the same anyway so really wouldnae make much difference, just the ackwardness of precise boring cuts with big bar. If the tree is that large u will be have quite a lot of leeway on hinge size so I probably wouldn't be chasing it that much anyway Althou I never chase hinges that much, a tree that size ur probably jackng it over anyway. ( There always wieghted the wrong way, sods law) Althou every tree is different so saw choice could vary to suit, no right or wrong answer just wot ur comfy/confident with To be honest as long as u know wot ur trying to achieve it doesn't really matter if u get there with 2 or 3 cuts with small bar or 1 or 2 with larger, both work if u know wot ur doing

I'd choose the smaller saw almost every time. The only exceptions being wind blow or a tree with dodgy access, or on very steep ground so u can't really access it from both sides the way u need to with a smaller bar. Or too dangerous too access from 1 side for some reason. Horses for courses I doubt it will really take that much longer with a small bar either. I'd still be using a 70 or 80cc saw so chain would be flying. I should add I tend to work in forestry sites so will likely have to carry the saw a decent distance over crap ground and then sned and likely take a few logs off it too. Never sned with a silly big bar but wouldn't fancy it. Mibbee different if I could get pick up right on to jobs to pick the saw for the job and just fell and cross cut with the big saw. I find a 18 or 20" bar will handle most trees I come across in commercial forestry, althou always handy having a bigger bar in van just in case Occasionally I will carry 2 saws in if I know I can hide them at night but it is a baw ache carrying both out on the fri night Think it's more an arb thing using bars same size as butt, once u get hang of boring a really easy technique

Aye we all wish we were 2" bigger ?? Aye if in doubt bore it out. Always works for me, been caught out before thinking it will be ok. Bloody nuisence It's when u miss that wee sliver just behind where u bored and can't reach it from anywhere else.. Seen my having the odd 1 look like pencils Althou I tend never to take an inside toe off if near where I expect hinge to be, esp on heavy leaning trees if want hinge to hold pull it in. Never think u get much strength on a hinge if toed off and just on the heart wood. I generally will stick the gub in 1st before I toe off to make sure not rotten timber in butt, so I might need the sap wood in toes to hold it. Nothing worse when cut them off and then a load off butt rot in tree. I also tend to bore off centre too if tree not a real biggy, usually bore nearer the outside so leaving the inside hinge longer/bigger than outside.

I'm happy up to 4ft with a 20" bar fairly easily without much toeing off. Althou will depend on butt shape Must admit surprising the difference an 18" bar makes compared to the 20, been caught out odd times up a wood and only got the 18, it's a real pain if u go for it but can't quite reach and end up with a plug in the tree, makes wedging a good bit harder. Had a big Doug the other day I had to start hacking lumps off the back to try and get the last of the plugs. Was a bit of a pain really.

If u buy a tipper does it not make it high/steep for loading and a high load when transporting. Mibbee best to speak to ur local iffor dealer see wot he recommends and any price differences. A full ramp door is definately handy if loading plant on off often, but not so handy if u need to move a long load. But u quickly get tired of sliding ramps out from inbelow esp if ur doing a lot of muddy track work and there covered in mud.

When I read the pallet post I assumed the pallets were not actually used for splitting off but built like a table around a splitting log. If ur happy with ur 3 pallet hieght I'd cut a big solid chunky round the same hieght infact even actually 2 or 3" lower might work better. The slightly higher pallets will help keep the log 'shrapnel' in place. I would mibbee saw a hole in ur pallets so chopping log fits in them snuggly on 3 sides. Or if u cut it level just use ur pallets to hold ur tyre in place U could load the pallet worktop up with a load off rounds then split the lot without needing to bend down again Must admit I like splitting at waist hieght, would never dream of splitting on the deck, ur just going to knacker ur axe. I'd be surprised if a tyre would do any damage to an axe edge, usually the logs are sitting well proud off the tyre so shouldnae really hit it. And even if u do fair bit of give in a tyre and only thin wire be far better than hitting soil or a stone U really want a narrower tyre rather than some fat low profile job

A local fencing company i occasionally help out does a fair few footpaths for local council, often up steep hills. And the key like aspen says is stopping water getting on the track in 1st place and getting it off as quick as possible. Amazing how well they last considering how steep the hills are and the rainfall we get in this area Worth going a walk down ur track in the p**sing rain to see where the waters coming from and figure where to put it

Ur problem is water running down it. I've got some steepish tracks at mine and it's getting diagonal cundys/gullies in to get the water off really makes a massive difference If it's just for potholes I'd go for hardcore/type 1 over plantings I think they pack better. U can also mix a bit of cement into it and it sets quite good. I've just tried it for 1st time after ran out off tarmac, filled a big 4-6" deep pothole with hard core cement mix and it's doing well. Not ideal on a tarmac road but will chip it out in spring next time I have more hot tar. My dad's does it on the road in front of his house with dust and cement and the pot holes are very good and it gets a lot of use.

Seen them dug into the road daigonally to give u a cundy/channel to throw water off.. Work quite well as almost clean themselves out. Seen both the W and C profile ones used Meaning to dig a few into my tracks, at minute just got diagonal channels dug/picked out but amazing how often u have to keep cleaning silt out or else just fill up.

Another option might just be to carry on really as normal. I seen earlier in thread u had a grader beam guessing for a tractor. Seen farm roads stay in very good condition just with regular use of a grader. If potholes are already formed, in Oz and NZ where they have thousands and thousands of miles of public gravel roads in the bush. When I worked on farms out there a grader would drop his ripper teeth down to pot hole depth to loosen it al then a quick grade followed by big vibrating roller, job done. The worker used to drive his grader towing the vibrating roller towing often towing a tool/Daniel trailer then attached his pick up and caravan and he just drove from job to job totally self sufficient. Like a bloody road train at times he had that many things attached to grader. Dunno if u have some sort of toothed implement u could rip down to pot hole depth, put grader bar over it a few times then a good roll/whack. Should stop potholes reforming and saves u constantly buying more hard core/chippings Which never really works just filling potholes even when we'll rolled. If u ran the grader over it before potholes really developed might not take long at all and keep road fairly tidy for little money and not a lot of work. Like much maitence little and often before a big problem exists.

Wot ever u decide whichever surface the trick for it lasting is not too let water run down it. Wether u put speed ramps in at a diagonal, or trenches, crash barriers. Crash barriers can work well and easy to clean out the silt. Getting the water off and not letting it run down is the key.

I was just filling potholes in my communal drive the other week. £82 a tonn for 10mm car pave, priced it at a different new batching plant wanted 160. Dunno how tar weighs to the M3? Dunno if a better way to transport it but line my trailer with crappy ply and then cover with sand to stop it spoiling trailer floor. But I'm always disappointed with the wastage, only talking a wheel barrow or. 2 so not that bad out of 2 1/2 T when doing it al lmyself. For 450m u will be taking big money. Atleast split a few ways. Do the folk that set up the sanctuary just pay an even share of up keep? Wot does it say in title deeds? I magne if u kicked up a stink about it and it went to planning they may well have to pay for a larger share of road up keep. Depends if I want to fall out with niegybours Is drive straight? Usually u get more potholes where wheels turning so possibly tar corner sections. But if a proper company can come in a batter it out in 1 day probably as well saving up and doing that. Be a tidy job. But u do get machines that rotovate and mix it with cement to stabilise. Heard plantings and red desiel work well on a hot day

Or could u lay it on top of a brash matt? Heard of even tarmac roads being laid over birch brash matts Will u ever need the track again in the future? If u could re use it u mibbee could lay a timber road below it, not be worth it if only for 1 time use esp if not a big quantity of timber. Could u secondary extract the timber to somewhere else with easier hgv access? Tractor and votes or even forwarder with out band tracks and drive it down the road? Either way will no doubt mean double handling which is never ideal

Must admit not used both, only the X27. Before that was using a roughneck mual which is a lot heavier but the X27 seems to work because off the speed u get with it. It is almost effortless to swing, it's so light. When I 1st picked it up after buying it online I thought wot a waste of money, far too light and wrong shaped head. But very much surprised by it. Be interested wot others say about the husky

Must admit I quite enjoy splitting with an axe, and really really like the X27 split some stuff with it. I now have set up a splitting bench, with a sleeper laid about waist hieght in a banking, I find it a far nicer hieght for working and swinging an axe ( but spent a lot of time fencing swinging mels, so very familiar muscle memory at that hieght.) Before that just had a big log cut at that hieght for splitting. Rarely need to bend down at all, a tyre really works well Lucky I have a banking I tip logs on the top to cross cut/log them and they roll down towards my splitting bench. Letting gravity do as much work for me as possible My record is filling a 6T dumper skip in 45mins, was fairly easy splitting wood thou, usually takes around the hour mark. No idea wot tonnage/M3 fill a 6t skip thou

Most trees are just dumped on site in bags weeks or even months in advance, might not be best practice but seems to do them little harm at this time of year. I got about 10k hardwoods free this spring that had been left to rot in there bags due to C19, sitting in direct early spring sunlight for 1 month that I know off, possibly longer and almost all have grown fine. Just shucked into the ground for planting this year by a local community woodland.

Someone already mentioned plastic cover copper cable, but u also get thin ' tie' wire wether plastic coated or galv. If u went for thinner DIA wire u wouldn't even need pliers to wrap it. Again cheap. U can get some cable ties that are reusable, often get them on tree tubes, but u can buy them bit dearer than normal 1s, I like them and no idea how long u can get then. U could always join a short reusable 1 onto a long normal 1 of same thickness to save some money and reuse them every year. Might be easier stored than other things

How big do cable ties go? And I know u can join them together but trees of 70- 90 cm dai u'll be talking about 6ft+ cable ties.

Try looking up chain lock/Lok tree ties. Similar idea to cable ties, there rubber material with square holes in ( like a chain) and designed to pull the strap throu the hole and turn it sideways it locks up. Just as easy to take down and reuse too I use them for putting squirrel feeders and traps up works well. With bigger trees ( big hardwoods) when tying traps up myself I've found it easier to cut and attach 1 long bit on 1 side and a shorter piece on the other, that way u can hold trap up and ur fastening it near the front of tree rather than behind it if they were equal sizes

I'd just buy a wee van, cheap to run and fix. Althou might depend wot sort mileage u do, pick ups are dear to run if ur doing decent distances to work. Can buy them for peanuts too.

Like others have said u don't need a 41" bar to fell 41 trees. If u bored the gub u could almost fell it with a 15 or 16" bar althou not ring it. Are u taking the rings away with u? Can u lift a 41 ring into ur trailer? If u have to split/half the rings anyway u could saw them of the stem in blocks to suit ur bar. Be slow rhou and plenty saw dust to tidy

U can get those wee stihls pretty cheap 170s or 180s, most of the local fencers round here abuse the hell out of them and they keep on going. Be a bit small to run a 15" bar but runs 13 no probs, esp if just occasional use. I have a wee ms230 and it's a great wee felling saw for steep bankings and smaller timber, a fill lasts for ages

Never understood this, seen it on here a few times. Why would anyone pay u 20% more to cover something ur going to pay anyway?? It's not an extra cost to u. Just paying it in installments in advance. Once u get used to it not really a bad way of working, saves u needing to find money just after Christmas and just when u want to go on holidays. I was on it for years pipeline fencing, years ago when it 1st came out. Really not a problem and if u work in the construction industry will probably open up more doors for u if u need it. But u don't need to use it if u don't need to either. When it 1st came out it was also meant to stop folk working/subbing to the same employer for long periods when really should be on the books. Or atleast make it easier for them to check, dunno if much came about it. But his FT SE boys used to get paid of the farm sometimes too so it looked like a different employer. But that was years ago

Plus a tree about 1 ft dia can be buggers to fell against the lean/wieght as u don't have the room to put wedges in while saw in cut. By time I've cut gub and left hinge not a lot of room left for bar+ wedges. That's when they sit back and nip ur bar and u still don't have room to knock a wedge in to get saw free without hitting ur chain. Or if u left hinge to big for safety/**************** up and have knocked a wedge in but tree won't go over u can't put ur saw back in to take more off. A tree that size u can't even put u wedge in the proper way or it will hit hinge before it's lifted enough. Done all the above before and that's with proper training, althou usually cutting corners trying to save time thinking will be ok and ends up taking u way longer than doing it right in 1st place. I should add tree goes the right way just a pita to get it there. There are more advanced cuts for them but will vary from tree to tree. Give me a big tree any day, far easier if u have room to fell. Wee trees can just be a baw ache