drinksloe

Which would be illegal unless very well fenced and u have a licence. Also if surrounding by arable land very irresponsible and unfair to ur neighbouring landowners. Boar can cause a massive ammount of damage to farmland

If u haven't got all ur saw tickets i'd just do another 1. (Think they call it Up skilling) Or if u know ur stuff just do the assement (some of the new tickets used to be part of the old tickets anyway so are nothing new really) I was told fisa is now a 2 day course. Also may be different down there doing esp coppicing work but locally u mast have windblow (so 32 aswell) to get on FC ground even just for brashing softwoods. To be honest the fc tend to just be a pita fullstop to work for, if u don't do much on fc ground and have enough work elsewhere i'd probably not even bother doing the course. If its just a 1 off and a few days the courses/tickets will cost more than ur pay.

I'm sure i done my 32 with a tiny saw, think it was a stihl 021? or something only saw i had at the time (doing more railway work in those days so done the job fine). As long as ur saw can run a 15" it won't really matter (that saw of mine really struggled with the 15") its not like ur cutting for production, ur there to learn the techniques so if ur saw is a litle slower not the end of the world I also must admit not sure wot size ur saws are (never really understood stihls labelling/model numbers, despite having quite a few) if ur saws 50-60cc it should handle up to an 18" bar, which will do most things (at a push). Dunno if anywhere round about u hires bigger saws out?? Got a couple of places near me that hirs them and not that dear if u only need it -2 times a year ur probably as well hiring 1 as and when. Just more to store/get nicked or then not start when u actually need it as been sat so long.

Think dan has solved it. I can just about see the point with a back pack blower but as been said spay, tape or tie a viz vest onto it could easy solve it. I can't see how they could claim the saw about a chain saw, its not obstructing any hi viz clothing, atleast u can see the blower is cover most of the hi viz top. The only issue i can see esp with council work is it then becoming a 'trip hazard' as no doubt will spend most of its life sitting on the ground doing nowt ?

Guessing the why will be money for the training providers, get them in and they pay for a load of stuff they might not ever need/use. I wonder in the past how many folk ever done 32 or windblow? U look on the job sections here and very few folk do seem to have 32, with loads having 31 and climbing tickets 38,39. I managed for years without 32 and even longer afore i got told to do windblow ticket Plus many no longer seem to care wot they churn out as long as they can tick a few boxes. I'm guessing the when would be about 06?ish, i think thats when i done my windblow. Knew the trainer so only done a 1 day training (been doing it for years) sort of piggy backing on the end of a 32 course, ended up 'helping' the trainer as i've never seen such poor cutters ever, only picked up a saw the previous week, hadn't a clue where the bar tip was pointing when inside the tree. Bloody dangerous as some were cuting right throu hinges from all sorts of angles and on decent sized timber 2-21/2 ft+ butts with plenty wieght behind them That was the 1st time i knew u could do them al in a 1er. Dunno if climbing ever had a time delay on it? But its another thing that having a bit of experience and time on the saw makes a massive difference, so when ur up a tree u shouldn't be making as many rookie mistakes as a far more dangerous environemt to make them

I was going to same the exact same as others on here, seen me cutting smaller stuff for skylines and u could almost be finished the 2nd tree and even on the the 3rd if it was clinging on the way smaller SS/NS can do when not got the wieght u top. Treating every tree the same is just a nonsense anyway, with a normal fell there is absolutely no need to be more than a few steps away, but its when u know ur working with a dodgyier tree u should make the effort to be further away. To be honest 1/2 the problem is modern training, in the past u weren't allowed to do ur 32 untill u had ur 31 for 2 years to get experience, which is a good thing. letting some numpty whos never lifted a saw before go straight from nothing to 32 in a few weeks is just asking for trouble n the real world. 10m might not be far on a flat car park but in a forestry environment it can seem a long way if ur up/down across a step banking (and good chance it could be otherwise the harvester would of got them) I'd actually say walking 10m away for every tree could actually be more dangerous as by end of day u'll be too knackered to run if needed, and i know its often the last tree of the day i f**k up which is when u ant some spring in ur legs. I'd also be very interested in where these stats came from?? If not uk based are they even relevant? Do yhey have the same HSE or ppe or cutting a similar type of timber Ljke avant said i thought Fisa had cured everything!! The jobs hard enough without adding 20m to every tree I bet there not 15 000 forestry workers in the uk never mnd get injured every year

If u walked 10m away from every tree u felled u'd spend half ur day walking rather than cutting. Another thing from training that doesnae really translate into practical forestry aplications Yes have a clear exit route and stand back from the tree as it falls watching it, If u take the above example of 500 trees u;d have walked about 10km extra just walked back and forward to the trees (500x 20m (10 away and 10 back))

Bramble and blackthorn are native species and provide cracking wildlife habitat for many species. A lot will depend on wot u actually want to encourage on the woodland floor/understory and that will depend on wot is planted/growing above it. Possibly u could enlarge rides/glades to encourage/plant wild flowers for butterflies? Be loads of different ways to do things and loads of different thing u could do to encourage different wildlife. To knock the cover down u'd be as easy just with a small saw or clearing saw/heavy strimmer or simply knocking a tree down on top of brambles soon flattens them (even drag it with a chain/quad to a clearer area which will flatten more for ur next tree) U don't want to be flailing the whole wood, cover is good for most wildlife. I have a small hard woodland and my father is terrible for going out a flattening areas of cover so it looks 'tidier' I wouldn't go too crazy at the start as ur ideas might change and envolve as u workin the wood ans see wot works for ur soil conditions/climate

Cheers difflock. Glad its not just me then. Some of the machines aren't really that old but just not a very common size or got tracks on. U'd think u could just put the make and model and figures would come up somewhere esp when ur on the makers own websites.

Cheers both of u i did come across that site, which is the exact sort of thing i'm looking for althou typically doesnae list the 1's i was looking for. ? Cheers thou

Alright Been dodging the weather today and googling a few things, wish list if u won the lottery (and old scrappers i could afford) When u get to the smaller scale machines compact tractors/crawlers finding it really hard to find any info on models (HP, dimensions/wieght, and Hyd flow rate/pressure etc) A lot seem to be far more common on the continent too which doesnae help much Is there a site that is quite good at listing more bizzare models. Found some info on plant wiki but still quite hit and miss really Even when i have been on the manufacters offical site it tends just to list the more recent or current models and not so much the older 1's (and some the tractors are compeltely absent espite liting tracked dumpers etc) I will add my computer/internet skills are rubbish so possibly doing something wrong but tried Goog and yah and just seem to be getting the same old clips and pictures and loads of crap thats not even relevant (zapmat, supa savers etc all offering me the cheapest 1 nd usually not even similar) Would of thought it would be relatively easy to just type the make and model in and get all the stats and specs but doesnae seem to be working out that way for me Cheers

If it works for u thats all that matters. I bet i'll start noticing it now when i never have in the past. To be fair he still works the tools everyday and can swing a 16lb mel like a toffee hammer. Think he thinks u get a better top line with the mel and less sweetening it off, he is a bit of a perfectionist.

No i totally appreciate the difference between sledgeing wedges and swinging a fencing mel (usually with wedges ur swinging at a queer angle with feet at wrong level too and at times cock handed if u can't get in on ur good side) Do plenty of that too when needed but honestly have never felt anything other than knackered? I've done a lot of fencing by hand in the past 1 boss done a lot of differnet fencing so couldn't justify a tractor/chapper for the ammount we done, yet we'd still take on plenty of 1000+m stock jobs, just ld school and near retiring age Another ! of my old bosses still doesnae believe in chappers even thou he has 2 Suma's, only uses them for strainers everything else is done by hand. He thinks its a better job?? To be fair on good going ur almost as quick melling but bloody hard work in harder ground Can mind when fbre gla shafts 1st came out on mels was like night and day compared to old hickory shafted mel's, and only ever had fibre glass sledges so can't compare. Couldn't justify 100+ quid on 1 thou, and esp as i use steel wedges on bigger heavily leaning trees would probably not last too long

Wot type of shafts did ur od sledges have? Just when ur getting bothered so much by vibration/shock. I have done a lot of fencing by hand in past and they used to say u don't get vibration throu a hickory shaft compared to a cheaper timber shaft, but modern fibre glass shafts u never feel it. Must admit i've never really noticed much shock using a sledge with a fibreglass shaft (or not enough to really worry about)

Cheers for that link stere, they plastic sledges look ok, and cheap enough at that too, only 14 euro if i've read it right?? (is that only about a tenner?) I didn't think they'd do steel but seemingly thats wot they advise. Have u bought of that company before?

Wot sort of wieght is in ur alum mel?? I've not seen any light enough that i would want to carry on to a forestry site. Usually all 14lb+, dunno wot a sledge is 6 or 8?? I take it that fancy plastic sledge is the same as the smaller mallets that u can replace the nylon ends?? Never seen a big mallet like that either, but mibbee would have the wieght (and no doubt my steel wedges would knacker the nylon heads too)

Don't think i've ever snapped a hi lift but still get annoyed with myself if u don't catch it square on and giving it big licks it mushrooms/splits on 1 side down the grain, usually pretty well worn by then. By rights u should have ur sledge with a larger dia head than the wedge, (like a fencing mel) give u that touch more wiggle room and stop it mushrooming the same. Always thaght about welding a plate on my sledge for it but never go round to it (also not sure if u can weld onto a sledge head with an arc/mig welder??) If u have a load of softwoods to do the best/easiest/quickiest thing is a long felling bar (5ft odd) amazing the leverage u can get and surprising the trees u can get over with it. But u still need ur wedges too for either bigger or heavily leaning. I tend to carry a bag with wedges/sledge and leave it where i'm working and just take bar tree to tree untill i need the wedges again Must admit if its really sitting back i have some steel wedges i start it off with, in big timber there really isn't much of an issue with catching ur chain as u should have plenty of room. Aye cut homemade wedges or snedded a long 'pushing pole' to to get some trees over when i would of been stuck otherwise

The probelm with concrete is it really does not like salt/grit and it willl lift the top skin of it. Dunno if that is an issue down where u are if u get much frost/snow? Must admit i prefe concrete over tar for ease of washing and if turning/screwing wheels but the salt does make a right mess of it.. U can get water permable tar now but guessing the steepness of slope would make it a waste of time. I'd probably go with wot toad said tar plus an eco drain, just got to dig a soakway for ur drain

It might depend on wot u plan to do after the course which wedges would be most useful. Woteer u'll buy wil have a use, not like they go out of date or anything. But hi lift wedges are very handy, i'd buy 2 and double ring them. It might depend how big the trees actually are for the course thou, but really u could buy a set of Kw's and 2 hi lifts and u'll be covered for every thing (or buy 1/2 cheaper nylon wedges plus hi lifts if cash tight) Never priced those KW wedges Hi lifts are quite handy when u work 2 or more togther on bigger trees (if ur doubling up wedges which works fine but u might run out of wedges if u need 2/3 hi lifts)

But it's only rated at pulling 3/4T, even ur smallest tirfor will lift 800kg and probably pull twice that, so not a heavy duty machine. I take it they need to use 3 strand rope rather than ur normal braided lowering/bull type ropes? Quite a bit of money for something so lightwieght that would probably spend most of its life on a shelf but i could see it beinghandy occasionally (if it could handle normal rope)

Where you import from and how much. Looks the tits Was thinking the exact same!! Also be intrested in wot size of rope it can handle and can it handel more normal 'bull' rope rather than the stuff in the photo. Bet u must have arms like popeye thou first winching it up the banking and then cross cut/ringing it woth a bushman. Bugger that, i think any enjoyment/novelty factor would be lost after the 1st piece and the petrol engines would be coming out.

That would be the dangerous thing with it being so close, ur always going to beat the polis there, so u either have to sit and listen to them attempting to smash throu wot ever locks/detterants u've added Or u do wot most folk would probably do if some low life is stealing ur tools, confront them. Even if ur lucky enough to come off on the winning side, the chances are those sort of scumbags will turn up again and target u on purpose and really mob handed just to get back at u. Sadly u can never really win against scum like that who have little to loose and know where u live. Years ago a mate and another trucker who worked for same company in a layby for the nite heard someone at the wagon desiel tanks, phoned polis who told them to ignore it and trn radio up, the other lad phoned boss who said the same. My mate loved a good ruck and was itching to get after them but boss had to threaten to sack him if he did as didn't want all his haulage companies wagons targetted, could cost a fortune in long run if a few tyres got slashed, far more than a few tanks of desiel. Completely wrong but can understand the thinking

To be honest it would often vary from job to job depending if u need to put the post in at same centre's or not, soil conditions and ammount of concrete posts were put in with (seen posts put in with silly ammounts when done by the house builders labourers, usually in a bob crater shaped hole so doing no good either). With a digger ur best bet would be to leave ur post full hieght/high (same as with tree stumps) so u can get digger bucket over them and give them a good waggle 1st before lifting, As u don't really want to be digging round them if ur hoping to use the same hole. I'd hire a few diggers to see wot size copes best, ur always/usually better with as large a machine as u get get acces for. A breaker is a bloody handy tool as well, even a heavier electric breaker would do the job of breaking posts out, and used 1 many times for that job, still a bawache getting the concrete out at times even after u've got thhe post out. But a breaker is handy for many thing doing domestic work, we'd quite often use it for putting a fence up ontop/alongside a small garden wall so ur posts were on top of the founds, handy for breaking them away to get ur posts in tight to the wall. Not that dear now either, well for the cheaper makes, and if ur not using it very often a cheapo screwfix brand breaker might be all u need

Must admit i'm with mathew above, I wouldn't hang a gate with thoose type of hinges, esp not for a top hinge. Mibee be fine for a bottom crook (while i often do bottom crook upside down for security might be a waste of time with those as u'd just unscrew the screws holding it in) I'd be wanting a bore completely throu and fastenes with a nut/washer, over time swinging shut, idiot's climbing gates at nose ? and general wear and tear etc will soon loosen/slacken either drive in crooks or screw in like ur's. As has been said plenty of packing is always handy esp if on ur own, a lot of strainer 'points' off cuts always come in very handy for that as whole range of hieghts and can wedge gate from both sides if its trying to fall over on u.

Mibee depend wot u classify as 'forestry' work. If ur talking about putting 1 gallon of fuel throu it 5 days a week then definately not I bought a wee cheap 30-40cc saw just as a knock about saw and actually surprisingly good. Done some small scrub land clearance and felling/snedding some small hardwoods (up to 12-18") and done very well and worked hard al day, but was really just a back up/spare saw, wouldn't want to rely on it every day. But for a bit of respacing work occasionally it would do the job. The 1 problem i have found with mine is the rear handle has too much flex in it so if ur just slightly too late in pulling out of the compression cut and bar starts nipping the handle flexes and throttle cable gets stuck on full, but u just lightly tap the side of the handle which fixes it