Acerforestry

On 02/12/2018 at 01:19, Coletti said:

Take a look at the 3l isuzu rodeo, anywhere from about 2004-2011 will be fine. Old enough not to have too much electrics and a very agricultural engine that's easy to maintain and work on. They aren't the fastest, but pull very well and can return 36mpg on a good run. I've had an 06 plate for around 50-60k miles and aside from usual wear and tear parts I've only had to replace one abs sensor which considering it's on 135k I don't think is bad (the abs sensor is the only thing aside from normal wear and tear parts it's ever had replaced) and many have gone 300k + with out much fuss so they are very reliable and to be honest, they are pretty cheap

I'll second that, I had an 04 Rodeo for about a year and only sold because the double cab buck wasn't quite enough. Engines and bodies are rugged and for the money only Hilux are comparable really

10 hours ago, Woodworks said:

So you are stacking the logs? 1 loose cube is around 0.8 cube when stacked. We sell for £115 for a loose cube but £100 should be doable in most areas if you have well dried logs I would have thought. So 80 stacked cube should raise 10K excluding all costs though. I would do plenty of shorter logs as stoves seem to be getting smaller and smaller in our experience so have plenty of logs at 9" . Our sales are 2/3 rds of the shorter logs.

My feeling exactly - 300mm logs will be too big for most people unless they have large stoves or open fires. 8 to ten inch is better generally

Yes I think that's a sensible call, will do

Yet again on here, I had a little hawthorn (I'm pretty sure) scratch on the wrist yesterday afternoon, minor irritation followed and a touch of swelling. Swiped the area with antiseptic and went to bed, and this am the left forearm is looking a bit cartoon-ish and a third of the size bigger than it should be, so far...is this likely to be going down any time soon or is it time for antibiotics or similar?

38 minutes ago, finchyo said:

I need hazel whips for hedgelaying in Lincolnshire but cant seem to get a hold of any ?

Have you given Woodlots a look?

Ernie, yes that's very useful info. I will have to discuss with the man at the weekend and see what he has in mind, but at the size this stuff is, I agree it's firewood.

I have had an enquiry locally about coppicing some 18 year old stands of hazel, but before I can come to any arrangement with the land owner as far as labour costs go - are there many buyers of hazel out there, realistically. Unlike demand for sweet chestnut for example, I only see occasional requests for hazel rods.

1 hour ago, Big J said:

I know it's not ideal for retailed firewood, but I really like the dross produced in processing. Ideal kindling and in a cube bag, how much space does it actually take up?

Fair comment, I supply dumpy bags of bark and smashed waste as substitute kindling

I haven't had time to go through all the posts, but the cynic in me is saying this is just another government move to clobber the little guy. "If you are a mass scale kiln dried, DEFRA approved set-up, do please continue...if you are trying to make a bit of holiday money from flogging off some arb waste, we are going to  put the kybosh on what you do"...it all makes me furious, dry is dry for Christ's sake and once out of the kiln it will simply take on ambient MOISTURE. The country is run by bloody idiots

On 24/10/2018 at 00:42, nepia said:

Eucalyptus even when wet can be a bastard because it grows in a spiral.  I've been trying to split some recently and have given up on anything longer than 12" as I'm more destroying the logs than splitting them.

 

I acquired some 20" dia hornbeam a couple of years ago that wasn't a problem at all recently (Oxdale 400 splitter) except for the fact that most of the rings had been cut at 30 degrees to the grain direction so had a habit of not staying where they were told.

I'll second that...eucalyptus is the worst I've tried, it actually seems to get easier with drying and cracking though, I found. It burns fantastic however, temp on a wood stove goes off the scale

Given that we all wave a long reach about some of the time with 2 stroke emissions blasting in the face, I'll be opting for battery powered next time - lets face it, can't do you any good really and I recall a few posts on here from blokes saying that unless they are on Aspen, you can feel a bit nauseous by the end of a long day's hedge cutting. Its the way forward

Hand cutter available for Kent and East Sussex, can ground on odd days at a push but mainly interested in forest work now.

2 hours ago, Rough Hewn said:

Cardio is the key to be able to finish a day in forestry.
Try walking in full ppe and rain gear, with a saw,combi can,belt+tape,felling lever and a rucksack with filing kit,lunch,2-3litres of water,bog roll etc
Up and down muddy slopes all day, dragging large logs and brash.
Bench?
I put my saws on a bench?
Tickets,
Very useful unless you want to work for cowboys.
I've met quite a few in forestry.
Get experience with saws and trees before upgrading to big toy tickets.
Doing your tickets in cross cutting and felling will in NO WAY prepare you for the real world of forestry.
It's just a key to the door.
Forestry is HARSH!
But you get the most amazing office in the world and a physique like a Greek statue.
Good luck

I'll second that..it's knackering when you are 25, but when near double that age you don't feel like doing  much when you get home, aside from a beer and sleeping

Yep would have been in the woods with that by Monday

Just missed the last one by minutes due to log in faffing, grrr

Once you have 30 / 31 to work as a self employed cutter you'll need suitable first aid course and basic forestry insurance. Occasionally private estates and the like will take people on with chainsaw tickets on the cards, but to be frank if the pay is anything like what is offered down here in Kent, you are better off S/E anyway. Put a post on the employment section on  here and also on Woodlots to see what scope there is in your area, as if you are serious about this and opportunities are rare around you, moving to find the work might be necessary. If you find yourself in the south east, let me know and I can probably put you on to someone, a fair bit of chestnut work around for starters, soon

An update...I've bought an ECV-5601 Tanaka, cracking saw for the money (it was fairly cheap admittedly), but not that surprised to find the pump is playing up. The more you look on the Yank arb sites, you realize the worm gears strip out. I can get a mate to machine one up if parts are scarce but clearly they are prone to going and are probably nothing to do with what the saw is run on really

5 hours ago, Joe Newton said:

 So you're saving about £15 per 25l, but you're having to replace oil pumps at £50 a pop. 

 

Seems false economy

No, I'm replacing one pump on personal use but have two saws purchased as spares or repairs, that coincidentally have clapped pumps- but not caused by me? I should have clarified that. So potentially they are a weakness, full stop, which is the gist of the thread... and in fact veg to most blokes on here might be around a quid a litre  but mine is bought used, filtered and dewatered, and reused at 35 pence a litre

4 hours ago, peatff said:

 

Unless you are just using supermarket oil because you are tight and not being environmental

 

If our chip pan is anything to go by ordinary veg oil of any kind plus a bit of heat will turn it into a rubbery substance which is impenetrable to most forms of solvent known to man and can only be removed by scraping with a sharp metal implement

Not the case if my old Hilux is anything to go by, its run just fine for two years on the stuff mixed with derv...and the prior trucks the same; I'm afraid that's just not always accurate. Yes I am frugal, and with regular chain oil 40 quid plus per 25 litres, veg oil around 1.10 per litre, plus a minimal squirt of some kind of thinner of whatever origin. If that ultimately causes the death of a pump, I guess I'll accept the cost occasionally, but I reckon a solvent will clean it out

I've just used regular generic veg, not specifically rapeseed - though it is useful to know that apparently doesn't cause the problems. I like the idea of thinning with a little diesel in cooler conditions, that certainly makes sense. the Tanaka pumps visually look like pretty simple worm gear arrangements, it is difficult to figure quite how they are going wrong other than blockages

Ah, its beginning to make sense now - I'm guilty of using veg for the bars and this may be the issue. though there has seldom been more than a week or two pass between the usage of the saw. I can see why this would happen, though that said I have bought two second hand ECV-4501's that have had knackered pumps too, maybe prior owners were doing the same. I think I'm going to try repeated flush through with petrol or similar, nothing to lose as these are 50 odd quid to replace too

I'm interested to know the frequency and on which particular makes / models bar oil pump failure occurs. I've recently got a bit of a thing about the Tanaka ECV range (I know, someone has to), but the pumps seem to play up to a ridiculous degree and are not cheap to replace. One bit of advice I've found that could make sense is that running a little fuel or alcohol through the chamber can free up a blockage and remedy any issues - when you consider a lot of the pumps are pretty basic you'd think that there would be little to go wrong, full stop. Thoughts on this please

Steve, give me a call please on 07808 738097 I'm not sure how i'm going to be fixed but worth a chat

On 09/08/2018 at 17:22, Pete Mctree said:

Sadly, having a qualified climber onsite guarantees nothing other than insurance.

There is a huge number of groundies who did there tickets & probably have not even put a harness on for 12 months, yet legally they are competent. It's a load of BS - you would bleed out whilst they remember which way round there spikes go on.

This is the way of modern business- as long as the boxes are ticked nobody cares about anything other than profit. There are always exceptions to this, but not enough.

Absolutely, I couldn't agree more and most climbers I have spoken to on this matter agree - if its a catastrophic bleed the quickest aerial rescue guy out there will be lucky to be able to do much by the time he is kitted up and in the crown. If it isn't that bad, chances are strong you can either get yourself down or wait a few minutes for professional emergency assist.  

I have a recently acquired Makita DCS520 which seems to be a cracking little saw, though I'd like to mod the exhaust and possibly tweak anything else possible to free up a little more power - anybody on here done any similar stuff with Makita / Dolmar? Cheers