drinksloe

I would imagine u'd probably be easier going via any other forestry company or even landowner rather than the FC, so much red tape and hoops to jump throu Even have a word with the harvesting company they could probably sort it all out

With the GL u don't have to apply for it, its there just to use as long as u have read and understood them and ur work conforms to the conditions. U get licences for all sorts of things the main 3 used are Environmental Health, Conservation or Crop protection and that specfic GL will list the species u can control and how u are allowed to do it. For tree work it in reality could be a grey area, ie by rights u couldn't destroy a nest so u can work. But anyone protecting crops/conservation could shoot a nest of crows/pigeons wether young in it or not. I know of someone on a big utility job came accross some crow nests, by rights it should of stopped the job, but he spoke to the local farmer who shot all the nests out for crop protection and the job continued as normal

I'm sure u could work it either way if ur handy with a welder or decent agri engineers around u. Either weld the box to a normal winch blade or adapt it to suit ur needs Or strengthen the box frame/chasis to do wot u want. I think i would mibbee look at welding a ball hitch on the box so it could tow a trailer or a log arch if dealing with bigger timber. Just wot works for u.

It will be like most things then depends if it suits ur needs. I would imagine it not being able to pull trees over will really limit its demand as only really doing half the job. Also the fact it uses ropes i imagine the working loads aren't that high? Could be a handy tool for some but quite limited as a serious forestry winch Horses for courses

Wot are the jacks limitations?? Could they push a tree over that would be impossible with wedges? Have had odd big outsiders that ur trying to fell in/along te fence and ur battering away with sedges and hi lift and not getting very far

I take it its not designed for pulling trees over?? If u let go of the rope the tension will drop?

I think sadly it is only a matter of time, esp with the commission so many desk jockeys with nothing to do but create paper work to keep themselves in jobs. Gives job creation an entirely different meaning. I'd imgine it will come throu in tenders/method statements that u have to provide it, wether all foresters even in the FC really enforce it might be a different story, with smaller forestry companies it will be far easier to turn a blind eye and not enforce it. Can't ever see it finding its way into private estates, i know 1 forester who still managerd to bend the rules for his main hard wood cutter to go on with absolutley no PPE or training (but still the best cutter in my area) Wether it actually effects anyone, god knows? Even big clearfell sites often only have 2 machines working so might come below needig facilities (and often boys live on site in caravans) or main contractors leave a battered caravan on site for show. Even a worse case scenerio if ur a squad of cutters that should have a toilet, u buy a cheap 1 on ebay and leave it on an old trailer on site, no one would ever cjhoose to use it but u've ticked the box Can't see it ever affected arb squads, very worst case scenerio u put a clause in contract u can use the householders bog, again ticks the box even if never used.

I hope u are correct above avant, but i sadly doubt it. No doubt it will come at some stage dunno when thou. As for enforcement it just takes the FC to decide it is a good thing and demand it in the method statement and before u know it all the forestry companies will be following suit as usual. With the FC they just love shuffling paper and inventing stupid rules and i'm sure some of the foresters would enforce it, with ur private companies no doubt many would turn a blind eye. I'm sure u could get round it by simply dragging a heap of crap caravan on site, or say u'll use 1 of the operators caravans, but in reality no one is ever going to use it no matter wot u provide I'm sure in construction? there is a minimum number of folk on site before it kicks in? I thought it was 4, so less than 4 ur fine. Wot happens on the railways now with de veg crews, we often worked a 4 man crew miles away from sites and railways are always keen on rules like this

With the welfare stuff does there not need to be a minimum number of people on the job/site anyway before it all kicks in?? Most harvest sites unless massive/rush on will only really be 2 men + possibly cutters coming and going as needed Also in my area a lot of the machine boys live in caravans up on/near site so that might count as the welfare aspect covered. If they use it or not is a diffeent thing That could be the next must have forest item grab tank/tool cupboard with added sh*t box welded on the side I'm sure clarks are working on the design now

Must admit i've always wondered why some of the americians/canadians do seem to use those cuts all the time (althou on some 'reality' programmes they do use normal uk cuts) Never understood how it saves timber, as surely u loose the same ammount of timber no matter which way the gub is put in? I can see it saving them 'bucking' the log as with the upside down gub ur bottom of the timber should be relatively flat and not with a 1ft+ triangle/gub piece missing. While on about different cuts is there a cut which 100% guarantees the hinge to break off? Esp in small soft woods. Ive tried all sorts when cutting for a skyline some with varied success but have seen cutting a very shallow gub and seen the tree just hang in mid air supported by the hinge/gub. Been a good few years since i've done it now thou. Must admit never tried a humbolt, in the days before reality tv shows and never ever seen it till on dodgy chainsaw shows, definately never seen anyon in uk really use it (apart from from when climbing)

Absolutely no idea but ur probably right as fisa came in 5ish yrs ago. I know mine was up in the back end. Best speak to ur local trainers and get the craic, mibee depends on ur job too no point paying extra for tickets u'll never need. I was lucky managed just to do the assesmant +tiny bit of training for a new ticket, think it was assisted fell as it used to be part of med trees anyway so nothing new

Aye then 5 years do another ticket Is the fisa not a 2 day course?

They're right, seemingly called upskilling That's wot i just done, really is no point in doing a refresher unless u have all the tickets, unless its a lot cheaper. But even then ur always better with a new ticket as long as semi relevant With them changing all the names etc i have a couple more to do now

U'd be wrong then. Wether some are worth the extra money may be debateable thou. Really really like my X27, and to be honest before it didn't believe the hype and had a view similar to above but it really does make a massive diference. Possibly one of the best 40 quid i've spent Like night and day to the old splitting mual i have. Reminds me of when i first swung a fibreglass shafted fencing mel, just a dream to work with every day even compared to hickory shafted. I sed to spend a lot of time on the mel Much as i like my X27 might bring some cash down to APF and see wot other heavier axes are available, i find my x27 struggles more in beech but i am cutting decent rings about 18"+ thick so big logs. But my heavier roughneck mual struggles even more so simply having a heavier axe isn't always the answer

From wot i was hearing last nighr and recently they brain locker will be the most important thing. Seems to be used by all the head bosses to do with FCS, who are no longer forestry based but ran by those numpties at Holyrood. A complete joke. Going down the tube very quickly in scotland and if this new tender becomes the norm they'll struggle to find folk either willing to do the work or clever enouhgh to fill the forms in. Seemingly with the new tenders any SE subbies have to be vetted by FC first in the tender (which includes the tax man,dss) A lot of planting squads might struggle if thats the case

Can u even get ROPS for a quad? Never seen 1 yet, i know i've had a windscreen/roof combo and it massively alters how the quad handles and makes u roling it far more likely. The lad who services it has almost rolled it a few times just in his yard turning it too quick that u could do no probs with a normal quad Also know a couple of folk with 8x8 argo's who push them to the extreme, they take the factory fitted rops off, as they say makes it far more likely to roll as more wieght up top, they also say if it rolls it will keep on rolling till it gets to the bottom of the hill as u have made a tube shape. Personally i'm not that brave on a quad but u can go a long way before it rolls on u, like many things learn gradually where u can take it untill u get the feel for it. As long as u have flat ground at top of banking u could winch/pull any trees up the slope with a block to redirect. Quads are generally poor pulling loads up steep hills even if it can go down it safely

Must admit personally i really don't rate those utv things at all. But it may well be the answer for the OP. I reckon they really sit in a niche between a pick up and a quad but really not doing either thing very well. Most of the farms/estates/shoots i know with them still have quads for stoc work going over wet ground, and in many cases have done away with a workers pick up for them t buzz about feeding stock. A lot of farms in my area have done away with them and went back to quads as just to deer to run and making too much mess in the wet fields I think there too heavy for the tyre size, too easy to overload (making them heavier) quite numb things to drive on rough ground, throu trees etc, most brands have a few mechanical glitches and just generally deer to maintain/fix. Also if u get 1 stuck its a proper winch/tractor job, wih a quad 9/10 times can lift/digg/pull/push it out urself, which is a big thing. Down south on drier ground i could see them being a better tool thou

To be honest it really depends wot he's wanting to do with it at the other end? Just ferry tools about and pull the odd load of firewood out? Or possibly a bit more where u might need a PTO/hydralics or more wieght/power. Quads are great wee tools and can usually stand a lot of work/abuse. I wouldn't bother with a roll cage, it will make quad more likely to roll as make it top heavy and as has been said will get caught on branches etc also prob towing it to site might be a better option if possible (or even build a shed on site and leave it locked there if relatively out the way) I used to keep my old quafd hidden under some windblow, cut a track in so it fitted snuggly and covered with a tarp, u'd be doing well to find it. Insuring a quad can be a problem sometimes as very few companis will do it ()adrain flux does) but likes of NFU etc often want ur car/house ins too and won't insure quad on its own. Ur best bet is going into a quad showroom and getting the craic from them about it prices, road registeriing(can be a pain esp on 2nd hand bikes) and mibee try to get a demo bike or hire 1 off them see if it does wot it needs too

Yhats a pretty impressive load for a quad!! I'd second wot a few folk have already said if a quad will fot probably be a more handy tool. But i doubt quad would pull a 750kg chipper either (althou mibee depend on ground conditions) wether dumper or quad i'd weld a trailer (or if dumper a modified abor trolley on steriods) with big detachable greedy pins so u can get big piles of brash and move the brash to the chipper. Lee's is a good idea to cut and stack and extract at a later date. Or depending where u are hire Big J in with his mini forwarder he'd likely do it in a day and no heavy lifting/hand balling.

It doesn't look like reed canary gras anyway. is the whole field planted with it or just the strip next to the woodland?? If its only the strip it could be some kind of game/conservation crop for shooting or some stewardship scheme

Must admit i think when ur having to brrow the money for it too. Fair enough if u have enough cash lying about and ur business, equipment, house, workshop are all in a position that u don't need to spend the cash on. As a newer business (which i think the op is) olenty of other ways to spend borrowed money I also have to admit nowadays i have have np onterest in motors as long as looks reasonble and starts when u need it. Plus if for work it as to work, while i do try to look after tools/motors its still for work so if it gets a bash or scratch ur gutted but only for a few mins. Worked for a fella last year with fancy pick ups on lease hire and we couldnae put our dogs in the back, no good that (this was a gamekeepers motor and using it for picking up, think we had 12-15 dogs out with us that day but had to leave some behind as couldn't get them all in the trailer) Its just getting the comprimise between a tidy work motor and a bashed heap of crap

Fair point But why work hard just to pay for deprecation? Buy a similar spec'd motor a few years older and spend the rest on a holiday if that floats ur boat I think its just motors and esp specc'd like that will lose money faster than u can make it. And nowadays ()apart from LR's which are still horrible to sit in) even bobby basic pick ups or vans are really quite comfortable and fairly well epuiped inside But each to there own

Are those top end Rangers not heavy so have a lower speed limit than some other pick ups?? ie classed as light goods instead of dual purpose. While turning up at jobs in decent motors does look good i think u can also look too flashy and folk think think u must be charging them too much if u can afford a motor like that. Or atleast that can be the case locally I could never buy something like that, not because it doesn't look smart but the thought off going to trade it in and it's lost god knows how much. My bro has just had that pain and that was just with a 65 plate L200, offering him peanuts for it Wit u should be doingis buying urself a LR, not a LR lover but the ammount of money there making the mow is absolutley bonkers (mate with a special edition 06, still being offered 15k for it he only paid 18 for it 12 years ago, tyhats cheap motoring)

Is he doing the bob graham or wot ever u call it? a mate managed it a few years ago just about killed him, think he had 6 mins to spare

Must admit that does look a quality set up Josh, amazing the wieght the bottom drawer must take. I'm far more ruff and ready, but it works and generally made from scrap timber i had lying about. In the past i generaly make frame out of 2x2 timber and put some timber across the wheel arches, u usually have a frame up the middle and 2 either side just inside the wheel arches which gives u 2 long cubby holes and 2 wee short 1's up to the arch. The first time i just used scraps of ply i had lying about, the next time i used chipboard flooring, both worked quite well. Still gives u quite a bit off room on top too For the cubby's i either cut a piece of ply that fitted tight and simply srewed some 2x2 to end/sides so when u pulled it out all the stuff came with it, a poor mans drawer really. The last 1 i refined it a bit and bought plastic boxes with lids that were exact fits for the space, for the back box u either drilled a hole in it and attached a rope or more proffesionally i bent a piece of metal to slide in the grooze of the load liner and bent up behind the box so u could pull it to pull box out. Worked quite well really and u could store a hell of a junk in the back too. Really like having ur gear in the lidded plastic boxes. For custom made versions if u look on some dog websites like TransK9 or Lintran have some cracking shelf/drawer systems but not cheap.