drinksloe

Apologies if been done to death but a search never found much. T'is the season and I'm sick of raking leaves already. Wot is the best option's for leaf blowers? Not commercial use but quite a few paths/tracks throu hard woodland so will get a bit of use this time of year. Was thinking about a backpack and most likely a stihl but open to any reccommendations. Having a browse throu stihl site and see there is a new BR450 with an electric start on the handle, when u look at the spec's there doesn't seem an awful lt of difference in power or engine size to the 600. Thought the electric start would be a really handy thing. Is there any problems with that further down the line? Also it is still a 2mix engine whereas the 500-600's are on the new 4-mix system, the local stockist reckoned the older 2 mix engine are a better less complicated engine (or will take more stick). Does anyone know much about the 2 engine differences?

If ur boots are still comfy try looking at Yeti gaiters. That's why i originally bought a pair, my old harkilla (don'tbuy absolute rubbish) boots had big holes in the heel but with the yetis managed another 3 years of wear out of them only occasionally getting wet feet. The way there designd they fit completely over the whole boot withjust the grips sticking throu. Againu can get ex army gaiters for not a lot of cash. I managed to give myself trench foot while doing some walking in NZ, it was a cracking day, done about 25-30 miles the 1st day but stupidly never inspected why my feet were getting sore,as I had used the boots before. Took my boots of about 3pm and u'd of thought I had been in a bath for hours.Had decentnormal walking socks on. I blamed the double gore tex. Made the 2nd day a nightmare, and changing to dry socks didn't really help as damage was done

I've got a pair of meindl's dovre extreme (mid calf hieght) and there brilliant boots. Althou I reckon my next pair will be ex army, there now using either lowa's or altbergs and get them for about 70ish quid compared to 250for the meindls. Or i might try to find a pair of old fashioned leather unlined boots Just wondering wot everyones views are on modern boots all being goretext lined??? is it a good or a bad thing?? In the past with proper leather boots I always had them well dubbined and always had dry feet. I some times think now I end up with damp feet more due to sweat, esp if I have my yeti gaiters on top which is effectively 2layersof gore tex over the boot.

I would imagine that is the case, ur 130 is over 4ft and probably designed for far larger trees than I would of thought u'd be cutting for coppicing. Sharpening might help thou Plus the other down side with the 4ft breaking bars I find the metal is just that wee bit too thick for even a 3/8th's chain and have to bore a wee pocket for it. great tool for big trees with plenty of leverage but the smaller 3ft size is a better tool on smaller trees

Could u not just use a fencing/joiners pouch?? Personally I couldn't be bothered with 1, if ur ground and working the chipper is there not a chance of some brash pulling something out of it? Wot do u really need to carry anyway? Even spare chains/bars/plug keys/files are either on fuel can or in ur piece bag. Even when working in forestry u don't really need that much any nearer than fuel can

I use that above, works pretty well really, where u stand is where the tip will land. T he other old woodcutters trick is to look back at the tree from between ur legs (it must make a 45 degree angle) so again standing the same distance from the tree as it is high

Asking a local contractor will probably be the way to go, and if u have to contact NR he can point u to the more sensible/common sense folk. I used to cut and climb on the railways, was a while ago now. We cut some decent trees well back from the railways, althou I have to admit I have no idea who was paying wot. We just done it while doing the rest of the line (so guessing it was a freebie?) Might be similar with power lines too, will all depend on the surveyor u get. I asked the power boys to cut a few trees back slightly further back from the line, the didn't do the work (despite me telling them not to bother chipping any brash in return) yet they took a massive beech down for a mate that was well outwith the zone all for free too

If u have good access from 1 side would it be possible to use a more normal cherry picker and boom it across the hedge top, and even possibly down?

Wot I use if I have to hand ball it is a pinch with a 4" brick bolster welded to the bottom. When doing a lot of fencing it has been a godsend for getting posts in if u hit roots and need a post in that exact place. And if u hit any stones u can just give it a buff with the grinder or a wee buff before tackling any seriously thick roots Just recently I've had to dig some fairly hefty stumps/butts out and found an old axe with the chopping pinch is a pretty good combo

Cheers folks I'll mibee look into taking the beech down, althou it will be a pain with phone cables both sides pretty close by it. I rally don't have any option of re routing them away from the trees just the way things are and where the sceptic tank is, I will stick ducts in for future just incase I ever need to stick another cable up

It's actually a small stand of mibee 10-15 mid aged? hardwoods (roughly 12" dbh plus, oaks, beech or sycamore) The sewerage pipe runs along 1 side but runs almost directly under 1 beech, while the electric cables run throu the middle of the small stand but I'm hoping not very deep. but about 30m long Aye I have goggled air spades/picks but nothing local to me, for hiring and quite a lot of money to buy. That's wot gave me the idea of the pressure washer which is sort of working to a degree but still taking the surface coating/skin off the roots

I was just wondering is there an easy way to dig throu some tree roots? Unfortunately there is no other way I have an old sewerage pipe to move and a couple of electricity cables, they've probably only been in the ground about 30 yrs but its amazing how the tree roots have grown over them. The pipes/cable aren't massively deep so really right in the root zone. I want to cause as little damage as possible to the trees, I could just about get my digger into to area but i'm worried about the damage that would cause but even digging by hand won't be an awful lot better. I've just had a wee go there with my pressure washer which sort of works to a degree, but its stripping the outer layer of the roots esp the finer 1's. Will that cause much damage to them?

I think i'm with wot matty say's if u start another felling cut u generally have more room above it than below it, as there will be a good chance of the 2 cuts joining if too close Also when ur working the cut ur in a better position to watch it and clear out rather than bent over working a cut close to the deck

Loads of decent advice above for getting ur bar out, either ratchet strap/rope the stem and or finish the cut just slightly above. If i was going to re gub it i would go a good bit higher and angle it so its suiting both leans. Frm ur photos it looks like there is plenty of space around the bar on the saw side? If so does the tree lean towards the tip side? If so u could off done a partial cut on that side 1st (which i suppose is a bit like that daigram of the 'T' section) so when u bore in from the side u did u don't need to put ur saw as far across. But on small trees it's very hard as ur only taking 1/2" differences Or is the tree starting to split and barbers chair? Sometimes just before the trees split i think the back end pushes down and then out first before pivoting As has been said samll trees are a pain, usually in a small heavily leaning tree i put an oversived gub and just back cut but really depens on the tree and someties u stil get it wrong too.

Must admit i can't see wot difference it will make wether u put it above or below the back cut, ur still breaking the long strands and i'd imagining weakening the hinge by doing either or. And like lewis said above putting it above woud also spoil ur timber (but u could also argue that same timber has got a bloody great big gob cut out of it too) but i have sen the plits go a long way up the stem esp in spring time Must admit i can't quite see how the placement would effect catching the saw or how they would catch the saw at all? When i put them in they are put in just after i have cut the gub (sometimes even befre the gub is finished, to save my going back round that side of the tree) so can't really see how it would catch the saw. Must admit if the tree was a bit dodgy and i was trying to pull it over a long way with the hinge i wouldn't put the sap wood cuts in, atleast not on the side with all the pressure jut to make that side of the hinge as strong as possible

A few years ago i dislocated some fingers and my saws started cutting like a bannana as i couldn't really grip the file with 1 hand. It's a real pita when working with bigger timber when ur saw cuts don't match. It does sound like he's just took it to extreme's and the forcing won't help. Check if he's took the rakers down, amazing how many folk (esp farmers) have no idea about rakers. I usually tell novice's to give the chain a few extra rubs with there bad hand until they get used to doing it, s they get more experienced should only need the same ammount

I used to use nail varnish to seal my cuts and esp 'gegg's' used to sting like a b*****d thou but did often seal them up for a while

The 2 cuts i put at either side below hinge i thought were called sap wood cuts and i only usually put them in at spring time Stops the butt wood splitting right up the stem

Mibee it is more of a problem if u are acually working for free, possibly there insurance might cover u if they paid u a small wage/nomiinal fee so they can claim ur a temp employee? But possibly will depend on there insurance policy.

Never seen 1 come of the saw that direction before, dunno if it would be easier to handle or not. I dare say if u were up against a wall u could turn ur saw handle vertical ways

Always keeping ur auger bit looked after and sharp will help massively if using a battery drill. Be cheaper buying a few auger bits than new drills. My old boss had an ancient atom drill and as goaty says they're ideal for doing it long term or lots of posts. Must admit i found it a brute to work and get it lined up/level but then again i was still quite young, nervous and learning in those days. The previous boss to that we hand drilled them just like a big cork screw (bit and brace), as long as the bit was sharp it was surpising how u got throu them, still got a few lying about for emergancies althou hopefully i'll never be that desperate again Will really depend how often u use them

It will depend on size age etc, but took about 3-4 hrs althou a fair bit of bletheringin that time, and then a dawn/dusk survey. If they actually find any bats or evidence of them extra surveys bat licences etc all more cash. Managed to find a far cheaper boy in the end who done it for 250, but the 2 local well known companies were wanting 1200-1400 for a basic survey, roofers not wanting much more to strip and re-roof it. I also have niehbours who do have bats in there lofts, i'd hate to encourage ore into the area if it caused them problems in the future if they ever need to do work on therir roof's

To be honest the bat legislation needs changing. Its too much stick and no carrot. I have a small wood i'm doing a bit of work on it and turning into nature reserve, but the 1 thing i will not be encouraing is bats it just makes any future work more expensive as u have to deal with bat surveyors. 2 of the local robers wanted 1200/1400 quid plus vat to inspect my roof recently Personally i think anyone that volantarily puts a bat box up nowadays is off there head the ammount of red tape u've just got involved in. And i should/would like to encourage them as anyting that eats midges should be encouraged

Must admit most of the lads i know aren't admitting to making quite wot ur's are (doesn't mean they're not thou ) spuddog, but they are in that general ball park. Really good money, but long hours. But even if u get ur tickets and a job u will start of in an old scrapper machine with a lot of breakdowns, if ur not mechancially minded it can be very hard to make money intially, until u get onto better machines/jobs. 1 mate an ex cutter, went on to forwarder and then harvester but ended up bck on forwarder as he struggled to make money driving an older harvester whereas he was on a decent forwarder and generally less to go wrong/maintain.

U have never mentioned where u live? Or wot sort of work/life mix u want Might be easier toget into forestry if u live N eng/scotland I would disagree with some of the above posts. I know quite a few machine drivers and all are making substantially more than 23k, but they often live in stinking caravan in a midge infested wood 5 days a week, and generally do 12-15hr days Most machine men are SE but in reality u don't get much say in ur hours or days off as that machine has to be worked and meeting its targets every week I know 1 owner driver of a harvester and never understand the point in it, obviously i don't know his rates/wages, he's always moaning about rates and breakdowns (as he pays for breakdowns) but he is a very good operator and would make great money just working for his boss without the hassle of owning a machine As for tickets really doesn't matter wether arb or forestry as still a catch 22, u may have tickets but no experience and thats when u start learning. In my opinion the best/nicest harvester/forwarder operators are ex cutters as they tend to look out for there hand cutters more and give them a hand where possible as they realise how hard the job can be. I do think having felling exp does really help a harvester driver as u appreciate/asses wieghts/leans on trees more I dare say as a teacher u will get great hol's? Either try to get a casual job as a groundy for the summer/odd days or get a few bsic saw tickets which will come in handy wether arb or forestry