Conor Wright

Nothing to do with me!

13 hours ago, huskykev said:

Seen it on DoneDeal recently, why did you get rid of it? 

Long story. Wish I hadn't now as the thing that i was to replace it with was sold to someone else under my nose despite me having paid the deposit. Annoying, but such is life.

If you're interested in the details dm me. if you bought it, delete my number! I joke, it wasn't perfect but it was a good example of its type.

It still had a couple of niggles but it was a good buy for someone. 

Gtm, jansen, cobra, hyundai etc all make decent enough wee chippers for occasional use. I'd go jeau beau or greenmech for constant use, peruzzo make a good machine capable of regular use too, but don't say that to the greenmech guys. 

Don't go for the smallest offerings. Minimum 13hp in a honda or 15 in a loncin would be OK, any smaller is just too slow and have tiny intakes. 

I've a gtm 1300 gts and it's a great little machine as long as its kept razor sharp. Bit of a struggle going up trailer ramps on your own with it but it'll fit anywhere a wheelbarrow will. Could do with 3 or 4 more hp but it does the job.

Just my two cents.

There's a company in co. Cavan in Ireland that make rims. They were able to make a set for a compact tractor for a mate of mine at a good price, they're agents for bkt tyres too so they can send them out ready to roll. 

Nice.

1 hour ago, irish surgeon said:

It's funny over the years we had so many guys that would have done that job with their eyes closed and a smile on their face, but nowadays those guys don't really exist. Its a case of very high end jobs and more specifically no workforce to fall in, hence most guys have given up and moved on to other things.

I might know a man that does this kind of work, he works mostly around the tullamore portlaoise area. If you're not too far from there I can pm you his details. 

19 minutes ago, waterbuoy said:

That has to be either a Ford or a LandRover

Lancia? Nice restoration project for someone.

2 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Oh yeah, saw that as well.

No idea what went on there. 

A **************** up.

Just looked like the cutter thought it would go the other way, but I wasn't there and the video doesn't give the whole story. 

Could have been a lot worse, no one hurt and relatively minor damage. 

It'll be expensive but hey, everyone went home with all their bits intact.

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4 hours ago, Mick Dempsey said:

There is a rope on it, from the truck. 
 

 

We're talking about different videos. I was referring to the one here in Ireland. I tried to upload it but couldn't. Tree went wrong way and landed on a defender in someone's driveway. No rope visible, to me at least.

4 hours ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Saw the new angle on FB (what I presume you tried to post)

Saw trapped quite early into the back cut.
Maybe a hollow centre? he started the other side too close to the hinge and when he got to this side it was all that was holding it. 
looked like a fair bit of back/side lean. 

I was trying to post the doorbell footage. It shows the tree landing dead centre between the piers of the driveway. Would have been stunt fell material if the defender wasn't there! 

Yeah, trees didn't look too good, no excuse though. Mewp onsite, should have had a rope on.

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1 hour ago, scbk said:

Does it matter though? It's like a choice between the 3 monkeys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the vote is to be made by snp members so we don't get a say anyway, no point in the media being there

An old neighbour where i grew up used to refer to those three monkeys as hear all, see all and say **************** all. 

Always gives me a smile when I see them.

If I had to pick I'd go with say **************** all, at least ya wouldn't have tae listen to 'im!

Love that old gear! Shame to see it scrapped. Is the rip saw running?

As mick said, hard to go wrong with a 560.  stihl 261 if you're thinking of changing brand.

For occasional use the makita/dolmar offerings are well regarded but not sure about availability anymore. Echo make good saws, 501 would be comparable to 550. anti vibe isn't as good as stihl or husqvarna but I've found my few to be reliable saws. A step down from the big two but not bad machines.

If you want to cheap out and take a chance on chinesium the holzforma brand copy some of the older saws, mate of mine has the stihl 660 copy and it's a good grunty saw for occasional use, maybe they do a 254 copy?

Sounds like you're limited to a stroke head then, theres a few offerings with no computer. You will struggle to get a hire machine with the oil flow and auxiliary hydraulics, make sure you know the base machine's abilities before you buy a head. 

Maybe a hypro processor for the back of a tractor would work? You still have to fell, but it delimbs and cuts to length. Expensive though.

4 hours ago, coppice cutter said:

Well I do always say that there's a big difference between asking and getting so I can easily accept that as being the case.

 

It does make buying harder though as you need to find a seller that's either desperate or realistic.

 

 

Has the subject changed from tractors to marriage?!

4 minutes ago, Zaman said:

I know it may sound strange but are alpacas agricultural animal? 

Can't speak for the UK but in Ireland, yes.

50c to €1 per meter with a tractor mounted circular saw and two lads on rolling stop go and one more with a polesaw and hook. Around here anyway.

Cut the line and its on you.  

Tight margins but it can be profitable.

Get alpacas instead, less hassle than sheep, waay less hassle than goats (never again),the fleece has a value, they can be halter trained and offspring have a higher value. They will need some similar maintenance to sheep but not as intensive. 

They can be kept back with 3 or even 2 strands of electric fence. Plus they look cool and are good guardian animals for poultry as they fend off foxes and some dogs. Bigger dogs or packs of dogs may well just see them as big sheep with more neck to bite.

Just now, monkeybusiness said:

Nope. Money isn’t an issue here. 
I’ve been taking trees down for 20 plus years and have never removed yew of this size and quality before.
The comical ‘price per tonne’ figures bandied about are irrelevant. 

Knock em, bring them home and mill them/cut turning blanks, stack n strap them and forget it for a year or two. It'll be worth well over 1k per cubic meter.

Unplaned yew here is about €2k per cube. Even if you sell half you're on a winner. 

Talking firewood prices, small, crappy, forked and chalara infected ash I helped knock late last year sold at €110 per ton roadside. 

Dirty oversize stuff is getting 50-60 quid alright because a lot of processors can't take it so there's less competition for it as a result.

Personally if I got decent yew there's no way I'd take "common wood" tonnage prices for it. 

If it was viable for you to debark them I'd consider importing a load. There's always someone asking for yew and I never have any.

5 minutes ago, trigger_andy said:

Thanks for that! I’ll pass the borax solution suggestion over to the log owner. 
 

It certainly looks close to mush/rotting but surprisingly still bloody hard. The white was a good give away it was damn close but could not get a fingernail into it. 

If you're going to do ot for yourself, make sure when you're mixing the solution that the water is about 70°c to fully dissolve the borax, otherwise the little crystals left behind will eat planer blades later on. Speaking from experience.

More important to have it level across its width so you have 90° angles on your cuts. A small forward slope, as long as its across the same plane should be OK. Better to have it level though. Makes everything easier, like levelling the band when setting up. 

First time I set up the woodmizer it was on an uneven floor and it was a bastard. Any bit of movement caused by loading it threw it off and gave wonky boards as a result. Second time around I spent a day getting it level and bolted it down. 

It's been moved again since and I'm not looking forward to setting it all up again.

I still got wonky boards but that's more to do with band set or knots, dirt, wire etc.

It's addictive though. You'll enjoy the results, even if the process can be tricky at times.

5 hours ago, Mark Bolam said:

Oh no, imagine having to take a tree down in sections. Nightmare.

 

I think I’ve got the same picture in my head as everyone else of the ‘Tree Surgeon’ passing sections down to his ‘assistants’.

3 men with distinctive accents, a polesaw and two stolen ladders strapped together with lidl bungie ties?

If you do cut it down, don't forget to plant three more poplars in its place.

The next generation will need work too.