Andrew L

Bear with me: no tractor expert but the PTO lever had a 540 or 1000 option and it was set for the latter, so it seems weird that it had to work so hard to spin up the chipper?!

Attended a chipper training course today, mainly to tick the H&S box. We were training on a brand new TP 200 which was attached to a Valtra forestry tractor '07 plate but I don't know what model, apologies. In the practical session, the chipper was very impressive, dealing very easily with the supplied brash and blowing it 2 or 3 times further than my TP155 could manage. But then I was asked to go into the cab and set the TPO etc. After engaging the soft start TPO, I upped the engine revs to get the TPO spinning to ~1020 rpm as instructed and saw the engine tacho get to ~2400: almost maxed out! There was a lot of engine noise and I asked about fuel consumption and was told it was very poor. The TP counter was showing 1040 rpm. I know very little about tractors but TP says the TP200 should be attached to a tractor with an output of 40-85hp. I think I was told the Valtra makes 150hp. I was thinking of maybe getting one of these chippers maybe in the future but now I am confused by what I saw ie was the impressive performance because the tractor used was massively overpowering the chipper? Can anyone enlighten me? Cheers A

+ TP 175 ??

I am no expert but my landlord has a 67 plate transit flatbed with 9k showing now. Bloody thing is too fast, if you ask me. Even loaded up with timber it still pulls like a train: dangerous in the wrong hands I think but it is a lovely drive. You've got 14 days to discover if there is anything amiss: I don't think you will find anything. Truck looks v cool. Enjoy.

Roses are red Violets are blue My woodpile is bigger than yours All hardwood too! 😜🤣😘

And his poor brother was there to witness it all as well: Jeez

Very nice : looks like this lot was stacked "05/20" from chalk on log on extreme left hand bay? I keep meaning to date mine, get distracted and then cannot remember when I got them under cover. Chalk on log is a great idea. A

I am going to confess, right now, that I am relatively new to this, so I will happily bow to more experienced operators: will try and upload pics of wood store tomorrow and take moisture measurements of logs of differing seasonings. Our Scandinavian colleagues seem to be making their wood piles about now for use in the following winter,,, I am also going to stick my neck out and suggest that maybe, those of us in southern, windier climes might be at a slight advantage? A

I'd second that. I have a lot of (H) battery tools (1 groundsaw, 2 top handles and a hedge cutter) but have been sticking with the Stihl (yup, I know) multitool with blower attachment. It blows at 80 mph, and will shift a lot of crap. Look at the speed output readings for 2 stroke over battery powered blowers on the Husky catalogue: none of the battery blowers can get anywhere near the 2 stroke ones. Hope this helps A

Yes, cover to protect from worst of rain and raise off the deck but leave airflow so the logs can dry out. It sounds as if you are planning to heat your place only with logs? If so, I can highly recommend this book (£4.99 digital or about 3x that if getting the old fashioned version,,,) NB FYI apparently Scandinavian women judged prospective suitors on the size and artistic merit of their woodpiles!!! (gives the traditional "mine's bigger than yours" nonsense a whole new viewpoint!). You could also invest in a moisture metre (£13.00 or so) but not strictly necessary. But as Lars will tell you, you really need to have too much dry wood rather than not enough, for obvious reasons, particularly if you get hit by a hard winter. I reckon 6 months to season freshly felled timber, but only once cut and split and if in ideal drying conditions (oak probably longer). In terms of how much? I provide firewood for my landlords woodburner. He didn't start burning anything until December and he has got through ~5m3 so far. However, his is a large burner with a water heater and he keeps it going 24/7 (damps it down overnight) ie if you are planning to heat your house only with stoves x4, you are probably looking at ~20+m3 for the season but as Lars says, best to have 25m3, just in case. Bear in mind, if the wood is not properly seasoned, you won't get much heat from it because the fire has to evaporate the water in it before it will burn, so you will end up getting through more, which in turn means you'll need to get all that cut, split and under cover by March, in order to be ready for Sept/October. Hope this helps Andrew

,,,especially at the same time

I have one as well and have been having the same issue, particularly if used in the cold. I suppose because there is no nice hot "ICE" (!?) to warm up the oil, it stays thick and difficult for the oiler to deal with. I am fairly sure I read in the manual that the oil tank takes ~4x 5.2A/hr battery re-cycles to empty, so it is much bigger than an ICE one. I have been wondering about using a thinner oil,,, has anyone tried anything? A

Yes you will be able to do that. I already have to for my KTM 690 Duke m/c but its something like £1.35/litre and not everywhere has it.

Quite possibly: it definitely seems to have a detrimental effect on humans from what I witnessed during my time in A&E,,,

Morning all, Just heard that govt has announced E10 fuel to be sold from the summer. E10 petrol explained - GOV.UK WWW.GOV.UK Learn about the benefits of E10 petrol and use our E10 compatibility checker to confirm whether your vehicle is... Essentially it means that the pump fuel will have a 10% ethanol mix rather than the current 5%, which may have an impact on engine power, running and longevity. Does anyone know if Stihl/Husqv/Echo etc have made any recommendations in regards to their 2 stroke equipment? Maybe this is the nudge I need to go down the Aspen route,,, A

There you go. My landlord got a massive load of advertising boarding as a freebie. Don't know what's under the snow, maybe sand? A

Yup Got something like that right here outside my office but given the snow and time of day, I will try and send a photo tomorrow. So what has been done here is to put an old surplus advertising board inside the ton bag before filling it up which means the bag retains its shape and doesn't sag.

Jas P Wilson do a fork rotator thingamajig which might help your problem,,, Botex Box Rotator - Rotating Pallet Forks with loader bracket - Jas P Wilson WWW.JASPWILSON.CO.UK The Botex Box Rotator is built in our UK factory which produce our heavy-duty Forestry Loaders and Trailers. This robust... Doesn't look like its going to be cheap but,,,

Just a thought. Problem: 2 new machines suddenly not running, no obvs reason why? Have you pissed off an employee recently? Maybe enough for him/her to deliberately sabotage your kit to get back at you? My ex was a copper,,,,, I have unfortunately learned that some people are just nasty. A

Try Starling Bank: they have been amazing for me. Moved to them from Lloyds business account. Highly recommended. A

Whilst it may well be true that I am on my phone a fair bit, given that I will be 54 years of age if I am still alive in April 2021, I can say it is been quite a while since anyone referred to me as a youth: so thanks, even if I am apparently "clueless".

Right: "follow-up" it is then. My problem here and now is that whether the Assistant Tree Officer is actually right or wrong is purely an academic question. I have neither the time nor is it my interest as a very small company to actively get on the wrong side of my local tree officers on what is not, IMO, "the hill to die on". I can assure you in my various NHS roles I have most definitely put my neck on the line because I was doing so in my patient's best interests. Right now I have another TPO issue with the same council which my client is very anxious to get permission granted. It is not all that unlikely that the ATO will pick up on this thread either because he reads it or one of his mates does and points it out to him. Therefore I can and will do nothing further about the "ivy" TPO issue until such time as it actually becomes a real issue with a real tree and a real client. I hope this makes sense.

I am hesitating to add this to the mix in anticipation of the comments it might generate but here is the response to my query about climbing plants, from the Assistant Arb Officer: " Dear Mr ******, Thank you for the recent clarification which resonates with what I believed to be the case. However, could I ask you to please review the final sentence of your advice: "Consent would be required before removing any climbing plants from the canopy or the main stem." This goes against everything I thought I had learned during my HND course at Merrist Wood (which was admittedly, a very long time ago?!)." His response (yesterday): "The removal of climbing plants is not listed within the list of exemptions as laid down by HM Government. The removal of climbing plants could result in damage to the main stem or major limbs. Therefore, consent would be required before proceeding with these works." Confess, I am beginning to wish I had not opened this can of worms,,, A

Agreed. I have written back to the "assistant arb officer" to seek clarification. I suspect it was a typo and he neglected to write "not' (there were a number of other typos and he wrote it late on Friday afternoon,,,,). We shall see.

And isn't this the main problem here? We are arb professionals are trying to work legally and so ask for guidance from the local council regarding specific TPO'd (or CA'd) trees. But although there is a national tree protection legal framework, it is apparently interpreted by each council differently, increasing confusion to both the tree owners and us?