Baldbloke

This was the third time I had this problem so I did claim on his insurance this time. I did get a payout covering my time for a couple of days work. I'm a little concerned with harrowing as we have heavy clay soils here and some of the green within the lawn is moss. The ground hasn't really dried out since last summer, so putting a large tractor over it is probably going to make matters worse. Thanks for the suggestions, and I'm thinking rolling it, followed by something that can pull some spikes and top dressing of coarse sand/grass seed

My local farmers cattle had a day out on my lawns last autumn and I've yet to repair the poaching. It was wet at the time and twenty X four hooves have made a right old mess of the ground as well as the grass actually now being longer than I'd like, because I was unwilling at the time to try to level it off with a mower. Some of the deeper indentations are around 9" deep. I'm tempted to wait until things dry up a little and run a roller over it, although mine is a little on the light side. I've about 2 acres to do. Any suggestions?

Is your hitch/towball positioned low down on the blade, midway, or nearer the top? My trailer runs on bigger wheels so I welded a strengthening bar to mount the hitch on the rear of the body so it ran level. However I'm thinking of getting/making a lighter trailer so am interested in a different solution.

Pmed you

Cheers! Looked in the classifieds but couldn't see the 084. Now notice that there's a specific milling forum.....

Hi all, I have access to sound standing dead elm and was considering trying to set up a chainsaw mill to make up roof trusses for an old farm building that needs re-roofed. My biggest saw is a Husky 365xp which I'm concerned might struggle. Should I start looking for something heftier, or would the 365 do the job in this hard wood? Up to now I've been using the wood as firewood which seems a bit of a waste. The trees are not too big in diameter with 16"/18" being about the average at the butt. The trees have grown within a wood so are straight. I'd be looking for a second hand saw if something bigger is required to keep costs reasonable. What would you recommend?

I'm sure it would be much handier and quicker than scrabbling about with the bucket. However, when I have been too greedy with dragging too many stems up a bank the bucket is handy for putting a tine through the strop, blade down and the arm will then pull the load up, whereas with towing it can just spin the tracks if you ask too much of it. Great clip Rowan Lee. I particularly like the way the operator just picks up the lightweight empty trailer rather than maneuvering it for the turn I do find that my two wheeled trailer is too weighty for that, and that if its full of wood it will fight reversing.

Plus possibly having to cut above head level?

I have thought about a small trailer but my present wood access is quite steep in places. I don't know that it would be too safe doing the hills with a heavy trailer behind. I've been fortunate in being able to open up a drag line that lets me bring up dead elm that's approximately a foot to perhaps 18" in girth at the base and maybe up to 50' long. I've left some sacrificial trees on the drag line route to ensure I don't debark or knacker the roots of the trees that are remaining. By lengthening or shortening the strops and chains in the tricky sections I can ensure that I'm only pulling heavy loads when the digger is relatively level. I'm probably only doing (to log stage) 6 trees a day as I'm getting on a bit

Funnily enough I've been looking on the 'Bay at these things this afternoon. Never knew they existed However the diameter trunks I'm collecting at the moment are large enough that they can be trapped by the bucket for logging prior to loading onto the trailer. I tend to log on site rather than creating saw chips at home. I also welded in a support to take a tow hitch to drag my logs.

Probably out of my price range, but looks good. My digger is a 25 year old 3k machine. Are the Compact loaders as able over wet clay slopes as a tracked machine?

Will do! Just joined so still navigating my way around the site. Will have to work out picture posting and include mine

Nowadays I'm just a homeowner getting firewood locally for a 60 kw biomass stove and cannot warrant purchasing all the toys I'd really like, like a forwarder. My machinery needs to multitask and earn its keep and even warrant it's secondhand purchase price. I do have a small 20 year old 25 hp 4WD Jap import tractor without a loader but find my 25 year old Yanmar 1.5 tonne mini digger is more versatile and proficient for log dragging up slippery woodland slopes to a trailer. Most of what I'm cutting is clean dry dead elm in thick woodland so the trunks are long and straight. They drag well. I can also use the digger to grade my dragline. I would love a grab (rather than just a bucket) and will maybe one day find one second hand. Plus I can log to size on site by picking up the trunks to a more comfortable height to save my back. I realise they're not the ideal machinery for the job, but does anyone else use mini diggers in woodland settings?

Which is exactly why I replaced Efco 147 with a MS 260 for regular use. Lighter and more maneuverable than my 365 XP

Just cut for our own use these days. Do about 30 - 40 cubes for a biomass heater. Unfortunately missed out on any subsidy payments as went in too early and was foiled by a retrospective consultation. Boiler supposedly being too large for domestic use and therefore payments........ Otherwise I would have had 15 saws rather than 3

Still have an Efco 147 45cc saw kept as a spare. Bought new for £270 about 10 years ago. Then about half the price of a Stihl. Still going strong but needed a plate repair to the plastic where the top handle goes underneath the saw towards the fuel tank. Did perhaps 90+ tons of firewood until I could afford a 70cc Husky and a smaller Stihl. One criticism is that the plastics are not the same quality as a Stihl/Husky, otherwise it has done extremely well for a smallish saw with a 16" bar. It even took down some 150 year old spruces that had stump rot, and were too near the house. They were a relatively cheap saw 10 years ago. Now they are nearly double that price and I think I'd now go for a new Husky or Stihl for the smaller difference in price.

Hi Guys, First post so please be kind. Hope post is in the most suitable forum? Main interest is chainsaws and tree felling for firewood these days, although in the past did a few years thinning and clearfell in Scotland. I have been lurking for a while and especially enjoy your chainsaw section. Just run a couple of saws at present, a 365XP and a MS260 as getting a bit long in the tooth and these seem to suit dropping and crosscutting dead elms for our biomass. Hope to be able to contribute some input even if its mainly in the joke section