Svts

51 minutes ago, lewiswood said:

And some pics of my Ford 6610 winch tractor. Done me well for a couple of years. But in the market for something bigger for skidding large sawlogs 

I keep meaning to ask you if he's used the little four pot Falstone (?) skidder yet? 

18 hours ago, openspaceman said:

Interesting and the chaps felling the ash knew where they were at; felling it flat on the fork to stop it splitting down the butt. It would have hammered over but they made the mistake of adding the tractor pulling for entertainment and they miscalculated  the rope length, it cost them a back window by the looks . I wonder if they reported a tree falling on tractor under RIDDOR.

 

It seemed strange they would skid logs out on that flat ground, even stranger to see a mill yard that muddy nowadays.

 

We only supplied beech to Smiths for Ercol but did attempt some woodmizered ash squares for another company that imported from the states

Indeed those chaps do know their stuff. His son is on here occasionally, he knows his stuff too. All a bit of a setup for the filming from what I gather. 

This is my mates Dacia Duster. Drove 300 yards up a ride like this, backed in and parked. Drove straight out with absolutely no drama.

I fully expected to be pulling him back out to the stone road with the winch tractor. A bit small in the back but stripped out it should be similar to the old Astravan I reckon. And a realistic price too. 

I've found the ms400 to be bullet proof. 18 months old now and has cut a couple of thousand plus meters without a hitch. I did give it a fresh sprocket etc a while back. Bit not because anything had failed I just thought I shod show it some love! My 462 purchased at the same time is still yet to give any trouble, although it's probably not cut as much as the 400 to date. 

And the 400/462 are possibly the best saws I've used in 30 years to boot. 

What sort of daily mileage will it be doing? The 4x4 pickup looks the part and is occasionally useful. But it takes a heavy toll on your wallet for the occasional benefit. 

A small van will half your fuel costs and make your insurance premium more paletable. Very rarely I put more than £60 a week in my van. But can easily put £120 a week in the 4x4.Personally I hate the cost of running a 4x4 just to save an occasional longer walk in. 

Most woodland roads will be driveable with 2wd ime. 

I've recently been impressed with the Dacia Dusters off road ability. Thinking of stripping the back out of one to use for work. 

On 19/10/2021 at 20:27, openspaceman said:

I'll sing you a story of my uncle Jim

Somebody threw a tomato at him

Tomatoes don't hurt you, I said with a grin,...

The Wild Rover! Blimey that's brought back some good memories of post match rugby singing that have lain undisturbed for 30 years. 

Does that still happen I wonder. 

On 01/09/2021 at 09:32, Woodworks said:

Some rather unhappy ash 

Here's a happier piece. 

1 hour ago, openspaceman said:

...and the customer is always right.

 

I'm with @doobin though, the woodlands have been felling big trees amongst smaller ones forever and we'll see more of it if continuous cover forestry takes hold and of course it has been the case with coppice with standards anyway.

 

Woodland continued to exist in the face of clearance for agriculture because it provided an economic output, since timber prices have declined in real terms for best part of a century they have been bought up by various entities whose failure to realise it was harvesting of timber and other produce that conserved them and management by green welly booted graduate ecowarriors is destroying what they wanted to preserve.

Spot on. They want theme parks now. Where the rosey cheeked children of their subscribers can run free on a Sunday morning. 

After driving there and parking in the new car park! 

There was a bloke looking for someone here recently. Scroll down a bit. Might not be your end of Somerset though. 👍

Looking for handcutter. Bath /Frome based. Regular estate based work. 

079002243572 will reach me cheers. 

Oregon red semi synthetic from new here. Although I always mix it a tad stronger than 50/1.

We've had two for the last 13 months. One full time cutting 5 days a week and one used a few days a week in between extracting. Neither has had any issues. 

Cracking saws with a 16/18 inch bar.  

Possibly a bit thirstier than a 560. 

I rarely pick up my 462 now. Will be getting another no question. 

20 minutes ago, swinny said:

Clip boards and pricks is aim D at the origin of the actual scheme and the AA....

 

Callum Duffy is obv a man who's made a system for its application which from above feedback seems good, but is a financial benefactor from impending scheme. (All the best to him)

I've no love of either organisation but neither are going away. And as I contract to at least one business that insists on fisa membership I have no choice. From what I remember fisa came about when the AFAG was disbanded and hse wanted an industry led body to take over. 

Indeed I'm sure the bloke that's developing it will see some financial return. Such is life. Although I believe its a monthly sub of a tenner to use it so not unaffordable. 

On 02/06/2021 at 14:33, swinny said:

In all fairness, who in ARB needs to actually look at this end information? Benefit of the customer? Employer? 

 

I just see it as another load of bollocks made by pricks with clipboards.

 

Those that can do, those that can't teach

From what I've seen of it it looks a great step forward from the silly nptc merry go round. Obviously it's aimed at forestry sites but a lot of the issues it addresses are common to both industries. 

As an employer you'll get a good record of potential employees experience. As an employee you'll get somewhere to record your skill set and log any skill progression. And no more yawning your way through refreshers. 

I believe its also possible to record loler/puwer and risk assessments etc. 

It seems a pretty complete package. And something that's industry specific rather than a construction led scheme that's been bent to fit. Or the aa thing that's just unrealistic/unaffordable to the average Joe. 

From what I know of the guy that's heading it up (Callum Duffy) any comments re clipboards and pricks are way off the mark! 

4 hours ago, youngsbury said:

As a 25year old rugby playing judo throwing scaffolder ( now 52 ) I jumped out of the lorry cab at the end of the day and twisted as I landed and felt a pssst. Gradually throughout the evening got twinges then woke up in the morning stood up and MY GOD literally fell to the floor. The shear pain was unbelievable I couldn’t do anything. Was living on my own and had to pee in a saucepan because I couldn’t even bend. 
Turned out I had ruptured my L5 and I was now flat and had compressed on nerves. Now 27years later still giving me grief occasionally but manageable with 10minutes light stretching in the morning without fail and generally keeping strong and healthy. I take a supplement of glucosamine and chondroitin which tbh don’t know if it helps or not but was recommended by my physio. 

I did take the recommended supplements for a few years but now consume a good share of the world's tinned mackerel supply in the hope its doing some good to my joints. 

I had a good back up until I ignored a rugby injury and ended up out of action for 6 weeks in my early 20s.

Almost ended up in hospital with horrendous sciatica. It took a few years to get over properly. 

Since then its been problematic if I've not kept it in good shape and or overdone it. 

Things I find help... 

Simple stretches if I feel it starting to tighten. Cycling seems to both strengthen and relax it. Nothing too full on just a good sustained rhythmic movement. 

Simple exercises to keep a good level of core strength. Such as crunches, deadlifts and pressups. Nothing too heavy just regular and trying to keep good form. 

Try and lift things without twisting. Using two tongs to lift and stack lengths rather than dragging lengths with one Tong. Try and flex at the hip while keeping my spine straight and not hunched over. Avoid over reaching with the saw. And trying hard not to push on and get a few more trees cut and stacked at the end of the day.  Fatigue will undo it all really quickly. 

The Kts 6.7m crane will lift a fair bit but not what the Botex will. I still prefer it as a more nimble all round trailer crane. I've put some good pieces on one end first then lift other end and seesaw it on. Not had to test Ryetecs dealer backup yet. Its six years old now and shifted a good amount. Its been reliable considering its in the budget end of the market. But a driven trailer would make life much easier. 

I know of one BMF that's owner operated and he's happy with it so far.  

It seems a good jump up in price to the Kronos/Kelsa stuff. 

Interested in what you decide on. Sounds like your needs are similar to mine. 

Happy with my Kts trailer/crane but could really do with a driven trailer. 

Had a roof mount and found it more of a hindrance in thinnings.

Agree with the Botex in small stuff, always seemed a bit numb. 

Are Corwen still the Farmi dealers? 

They were a pain to deal with when I had one years ago. 

Heard good things about BMF gear. 

Like most things in life there are different but equally valid solutions to a situation. Have a play and see what works for you. 

Here's a little vid I did last year to explain my preferred solution to someone else. It's quick, simple and minimal faff. 

30 minutes ago, Steve Bullman said:

So long as the bore cut and hinge are correct I’ve never been convinced that the method of release makes much difference at all!

Much like cranework, all the fancy cuts in the world make no difference if the slings aren’t set perfect 

Thats true to some extent. The flat cut release is just foolproof (useful for me) and quick. Essential attributes in low value high volume situations in my book. Horses for courses. 

Used to do the downward angle cut to release. But now make the release cut an inch ish below the back in the same plane. The draw back with the angled cut is very occasionally the tree will breakaway early. Then the saw is prone to getting getting caught in the kerf. Then it's a case of letting it go with the tree or staying put and try to get it free. 

With the flat cut slightly lower than the back cut if it goes early the saw stays in the stump out of harms way, not snagged in the falling tree. 

And cutting on piece rate its just quicker cutting  a shorter distance across the grain. If that makes sense. Never make a flat cut above the back cut. You will lose your saw eventually!  

Just to add regards boring straight out the back in one go. If you're using a buttress to hold at the back I find they have a tendancy to rip the root right out of the ground before you get through it. Again taking your saw with it. 

Conservation contractors Ltd, Wiltshire have one that goes out on hire from what I've been told. 

10 hours ago, Steve Bullman said:

Sawpod and  Art ropeguide. 2 must haves for any arborist!

This. 

I bought my first friction saver when they first became available over here. 

My old boss had no time for the new gear that was popping up. Still plugging on with 3 strand nylon and 3 knot system. Until I chokered it up in the top of a horrible grown out willow pollard without a decent anchor in the whole crown. 

When I finished and came down first thing he said was " hmm that would of been bloody hard work without that thing"

He generally left me alone to try out new ideas and gear after that. 

Sawpod for climbing. Always where it should be not flapping about out of reach when you're in an awkward position. Used the hand saw much more once they became available. 

Not everyone's cup of tea I know and they do look a bit "special forces". 

But a great patience preserver for the short tempered. 

Just now, The avantgardener said:

This has nothing to do with training and says everything about the individuals, no training can completely remove someone’s fear of heights or prepare them for hard graft, they can do it or they can’t.

Someone qualifies in arial rescue but doesn't like working at height flags up a big problem in my book. 

Yes from conversation with said trainer he has been involved with the writing of best practice etc. 

I'll dip out this now as you don't seem to  like any honest opinions formed over the last 30 plus years that differ from your own. Cheers