lux

The blades are excellent quality. I used to change the blades on my Timberwolf every 5-10 days depending on volume of chipping. The bigger blades on the TR8 have been way better. Check weekly but have had the blades in 4-6 weeks before they needed a tickle up. Depending on what it’s been chipping. Stick with the manufacturer blades and also change the little grip washers each time. Forst will post you a bunch out.

Guys what is the difference between the lo-pro and protop bars ? Looking at getting a couple of new bars and just wondered what you guys prefer as your favourite for milling. I currently use a 36" lo pro GB 

It’s the brand. GB pro top.
The lopro bars sold by rob are GB pro top. The orange coloured bars.

42” lo pro for milling. Chain wants to be spot on.

I use 36” bar with skip , any bigger than that and for me it wants porting or up to the 880

Great saw the 660. Prefer it to the 661 although 661 probably edges it performance wise I’d guess.

The trouble with the deer is because of lockdown we have not been able to get the Dutch " clients " over for stalking ( read culling ),

Not enough people willing to pay for it in the UK or overseas clients are more profitable? No idea the cloggies came over here just to shoot deer.

I seen countless plantations where every single oak, sycamore, beech, maple and birch is knobbled. I've even seen ash stripped.

Hectares of completely pointless planting. They'll never amount to anything more scrub.

Not the only culprits though. Every plantation around here has high chairs in it for culling the deer that strip up recently planted stuff.

Out of interest so the FC have organised squirrel culls to protect plantations. I’ve no doubt they strip up young fresh trees. ?

You must not climb many trees.

Maybe you’re only climbing the small trees with thin soft bark they like to chew on and not up the big trees they generally don’t like. Who knows.

Honestly if you’re saying you fell or remove more trees / branches etc to squirrel damage than other fungi etc I’ll take your word for it but I’ll be surprised.

Hardly crime of the century is it?

No it’s not...
honestly don’t see why people get so bent out of shape about it. Sad that they have pushed out the red squirrels. But plenty is being done to re introduce them around the country.

As for damaging trees. You see very little damage from squirrels. The odd chewed branch that is no worse than some rubbing branches. I fell a lot more trees due to honey fungus than grey squirrels that’s for sure.

Norman Stanly Fletcher . You released a grey squirrel with no regard for the consequences . You are an habitual criminal and seem to take imprisonment in the same casual manor . I there fore feel constrained  to sentence you to the maximum   penalty for these offenses . You will go to prison for five years . [emoji26]

They might of caught fletch but they didn’t catch me [emoji23]

Why not?

Dawn redwood has opposite buds. The pictures show alternate

Yeah i know, not having a pop, just responding your question.  I think it is almost certainly Swamp Cypress or Dawn Redwood.  

Can’t be dawn redwood.

Swamp cypress more than likely. [emoji106]

But he has survived and now is part of the family who live next door so I see him everytime I pass and they k now that he must stay with them for maybe up to as much as 20 years in captivity! But he is very much loved.

They are great little characters. I raised 4 that came out of tree being reduced. For a while I used to be able to call them down with food after being released. Still see them occasionally in my woods.

Are the Tigergrip grabs worth the extra money. Any other makes on the market worth a look at.

Hard to say as it’s the only one I’ve used but the tigergrip is very very good.

Yale bluetongue is a great rope. It does sound like you might have a faulty one. Never experienced this with a zigzag
 
Ps, what are you doing still using a zz1?

Me either

And probably because it does just the same as a zz2 [emoji38]

Who lives here ? Appeared on a woodland path over the last few weeks where I walk the dogs each day. Hole goes pretty much straight down.

They’ll be hardly any greener than the softwood ones pumped out at most fencing suppliers.

There's a big demand for chestnut fencing products currently and short supply. However that is probably more down to a lack of people willing to do the splitting etc than a lack of supply of timber.

I know where to find some nice rails [emoji6]

Did this one during the week - first photo sent by customer so I gave a ball park figure. The reality was a bit different! Second pic shows what it was really like - turned out to not be too bad and was done and finished in 3 1/2 hours.
Nearly 3ft deep but was pretty soft - a pine of some kind but customer didn’t know what

Nice moat to push the grindings into. No excess grindings to take away for that stump I bet [emoji106]

Its hard to pick it up on camera but it's a translucent grain pattern. Not saw marks [emoji28]

Ah yes. They look very different in that picture. Nice unusual ripples.

Are they milling marks at 90 degrees to the grain ?

Each to their own. As I said, Id happily pop over if I was local and the log was sound. Regardless of the value being low til its dried you still have to put the same work in either at your yard or this customers, the only difference would be you'd get the log for free.
 
Yes, if the log is gonna  move if thats what it wants to do. But it seems like you're trying to say thats not gonna happen if you paid for the log and it was milled in your yard. [emoji3] 
 
 

Not at all. But at least you’ve made some money if it turns out to be no good by having a base cost on it. I’ve milled enough oaks in gardens not to be tempted for the free timber that turns into firewood [emoji23] as you say each to their own but it wouldn’t be for me on the free timber basis.

Or perhaps the Tree Surgeon in question thinks a bit of a shame to ring the tree up and thought he'd offer it up to someone local? Saves him Ringing it up and hauling it away if a Miller will do that for him. And the Customer is happy as they'll have a couple of Slabs that will sit in the Shed, warp, check, get Honeycomb then eventually get dumped at the recycling. [emoji3] 

More to the point it’s just easier to have the Miller remove it [emoji23]. I agree. For me I’d want to have a base rate cost for the milling that takes into account value of the timber. If its planks for interior use the value is low until they are suitably air dried or kiln dried.
I’ve had superb oak that I’ve air dried to all the good practices to find 3 years down the line it’s propellered right up and no good in long lengths. If it’s gonna move, it’ll move.
Maybe suit someone milling as a hobby in these circumstances.

Yes but why would it concern you the miller ? 

Because you’d want to know before you put a saw in it. If you take the deal for free wood / planks I wouldn’t want to be lumped with being responsible for removing it if it’s no good as milled timber only firewood or biomass. It’s a big stick to remove for free if it’s worth £ 40 in biomass.... I’d want the tree surgeon to be doing that and I wouldn’t want to see the client stuck with it because neither party assumes responsibility either way.

Customer knows its being milled so will be a mess of sawdust and if it were me i would only want the main stuff left that is suitable for planking. Anything else is between the tree surgeon and the customer to clear or remove. 

That’s the point. If it’s crap the customer has to call the tree surgeons back to do the extra work removing the stem. There’s a big difference in the amount of work for the tree surgeon felling it.

Chance you take really and its not costing you anything so just walk away.

That’s my point. Surely the tree surgeon would be adjust his price either way for less or more work
If it’s no good they have a big old pile of oak rings to cut up or if it’s good for milking they have an easy dismantle with half the waste. [emoji106]

So if someone milling it finds it’s no good , has shake or full of metal and stops after a couple of cuts who’s responsible for it. The Miller or the tree surgeon.........
I assume the dismantle has been reduced in price to account for less work but if it’s got to be ringed up the price goes back up to the customer ??