JonnoR

Same experience for me, further south. I gave up trying to get French distributors of two-wheeled tractors to quote me - beyond some dodgy guy who obviously works for the French distributor but seemed to be trying to sell me his demo model - 'we don't usually sell direct to customers, but in this instance etc etc'. The Dutch are way more proactive

Hi Big J Thanks so much for chiming in! Really interesting observations, as were the other contributions 👍. The Lennartsfors should be really useful in my random, quite densely planted hardwood forestry (especially for the first major (overdue) thinning exercise - so for my own use, I doubt I'd need to expand my kit to the next level in terms of productivity, expense etc. I had considered that as it could be so easily loaded, it might earn some money for similar use cases as my own - and sufficiently retard proof to allow for standard equipment rental. The forwarders like the log bullet look great for sure but they are quite expensive and to my brain seem to occupy an awkward middle ground in terms of expense and utility that I can't quite fit with my own thinking. Spending incrementally more on the next step up, in terms of capability, does not seem to compromise much with regards to lower impact operability, while opening up more demanding higher volumet work. With regards to expanding my plant to the point where I can earn money from an owner/operator model, I had considered spider excavators setup for skyline, and then in the summer using the equipment on building, drilling and other non-forestry work. With an 18t dumper and the spider, I can see some potential for longer term contracts, but I'm still looking about to survey the market in these other sectors. In any case, I really appreciate the advice and observations - it really helps to clarify things! Jonno

Ah, another man of culture I see!

Out of all the people in the world who I'd like to see punched in the face by Tyson, Jake is up there. I've been shot at a few times, and those buggers are nowhere near that wanker.

You make really valid points. For my personal use I think the Logbullet poses issues of access and storage, but I did take a hard look at one, before settling on something with a smaller footprint. Adding a tipper bucket or auger expands the functionality beyond purely forwarding use, and helps me out with other tasks. I nearly pushed the button on their remote control 'Essence' model, which lets you attach a mulching mower, but that's silly bloody money. Thanks for the feedback!

In that case, I've not spent as much time studying as I thought!

You make a compelling argument! I actually studied Swedish at uni, as a second language on my course - despite having never been there and my only exposure to the language was grainy VHS videos 😄

I'm not moving to Sweden to explore this idea 😄

Hi All, This might not be the right section at all for this question, because it involves equipment that is by definition not 'Large equipment'! I finally pushed the button on a Lennartsfors Ironhorse (the flex2), plus trailer, crane arm etc. I'm tiring of hand hauling lumber up a sodding hill in my woodland, but it also got me thinking that other smaller scale woodland owners might also be feeling like me. In the view of the great and good on here, do you think there could be a niche for a smaller scale equipment rental enterprise, to support limited scope thinning operations for the group of lower scale private landowners trying to manage their stands? I'm thinking of one of the smaller Menzi Muck machines (probably rented out on a plant+operator basis when I'm not using it), a low impact small forwarder like the lennartsfors with hydraulically equipped trailer/crane, or even some sort of compact skyline setup to help rip out thinnings in smaller forestry parcels. I think it should be super easy to trailer to hard to reach sites, and with additions like augers and dump buckets it could be useful beyond the forestry work I envisage. One of the things I'm assessing is whether there's a 'Goldilocks' midrange of potential customers, who probably don't have the tonnage of lumber to justify higher costs associated with renting and moving heavier machinery (HGV costs, higher personnel hours to run more complex plant etc.,) but might also require an efficient way of extracting timber for personal use or smallscale firewood production. Might there be sufficient business to be made to at least offset ownership costs for my own use? I'm looking at some additional bits of land in France and the UK, so would likely need some proper equipment mysefl, as I manage more land. Speaking with Mick D he suggested that maybe @Big J might be someone who could expand on the utility of smaller plant to support sensitive site extraction. Grateful to all for feedback! Jonno

That's great. I guarantee I won't be sorted by then, so I'll be in touch!

Your collection is scarily similar to mine! Yes, those narrow tall bodies seem to match my own. When I have them in front of me I can check, but I put money on those dimensions matching my own. Thanks for taking the trouble to post the pics mate.

They don't have enough meat on them to fully fill the head vertically, sadly!

I've got Sager Chemical, Tru Temper, Collins and a load of others - either proper felling axes, or the cruiser style. They have a very high, deep but narrow holes (I'm sure I've misdescribed that and murdered the terminology - apologies). Once I've got myself sorted I'll send some pics. I've got a whole pile of NOS SA Wetterlings in various patterns too. Basically a forest worth of handle needs!!!!

Thanks! I'll check them out and post pics once I get these axes ready for hanging!

They're great yeah, but sadly they didn't have anything to suit my deep axe heads. The search continues, and thanks for the replies gents!