ESS

Upholstery grade was never big money, 80p/hoppus delivered in when I was buying for the mill, but better than the alternative which was mining timber/refinery poles. There was a market in those days for sycamore thinnings for the turnery market , as there was birch and alder. Winter felled clean white butts were a different story , £3, + even back then exceptional rippled logs name your own price virtually.

I knew Gavin. My knowledge comes from buying for an upholstery mill when I was 18, all air dried and cut all year round. It was accepted that any exceptional butts that had to be cut with sap up because of contract time restraints would be destined for the same market. Parcels of exceptional quality were winter felled, and were rounded up to stop sap run if there was a possibility of time running away. Quality Oak and Ash used to be treat the same, the company I started with would have fallers rounding Oak stands in winter if they had to be summer felled. There is still a strong export market for white quality butts .

It very much depends on the year, I have seen Sycamore dripping in the first week of January. After leaf drop was usually the norm, through to February. Second grade was never a problem and could be cut all year round and air dried as the bulk of it was used for upholstery work,....settee and chair frames so colouring and stain not an issue, nearly all air dried. I have never come across a UK mill that end stacks Sycamore plank, I have however seen high quality butts that have been cut with sap up stood on end but with little success. Most of the higher grade gets shipped now.

Its sap that causes the problems. The planks get a black fleck running through them as they dry. Top grade Sycamore is winter felled when the sap has dropped to avoid the problem.

So what people are saying is they would be happy to pay the prices they are quoting on the full measure of this log considering the sapwood rot, butt rot and the problems from rot running into and down the stem from the rotten branches , holes etc at the top of the tree ? Makes it look expensive to me considering the probable recovery rate from this log.

If you were to join the timber tractors and lorries group on F B my bet is someone on there will tell you exactly where it is.

From memory there is a backing plate on these saws that you would have to remove to change the tensioner.Pretty sure that on some Stihls you had to remove the bar studs to remove the backing plate. If that is the case have you made sure that both studs have been fully tightened into the crankcase when replacing, if not one of them could be undoing itself a little when you slacken the bar nuts and the bar not seating properly .

Keep an eye on Cheffins prices at Cambridge. I could see it making that. I brought a lot of beech and Yew tree off there in around 90/91 and there was a 1200 working at the top of the lane where we went in. Think it was the old gallops alongside the block we were in. Perhaps that was you ?

Did you ever do work at Box hill with the 1200 ?

What do you see the value of them as ?

It helps , but with wheeled machines not as much as you would hope.I had a small one built years ago for skidding large conifer to keep them cleaner, I only had a smallish skidder at the time. The front end still lifted at times, and because I was dragging an extra set of wheels through mud it made things heavier going . Tbh I was a bit disappointed with it. Behind cats, which they were really designed for they were a great idea. Have you got your front wheels ballasted, that makes a big difference?

For sure. Tbh a lot of lorry cranes would struggle to lift butt end of a 150 lump, its a big ask of a crane on the back of a machine.

Sorry , no what I was trying to say was the machine will pull 150 comfortably as a skidder, but I couldn't comment on how efficient the crane would be with that weight.There were only trees up to 70 on this site. Lifting 150 tip first on longer trees would probably be ok, but butt first not so sure. I know exactly where you are coming from with the 2 machine operation,we used to fell a lot of Oak,and looked at all the options, in the end we just used a skidder and subbied the crown wood forwarding out, it worked for us and we weren't paying finance on a crane trailer or forwarder that was stood watching us whilst we felled/extracted butts. If I was to go down that route again I would probably use grapple/cable skidder and still subby the forwarding out. £6- 8 /t gets a lot of forwarding done. To buy a forwarder that you could afford to sit for these sites would be buying someone elses scrap and it just wouldn't stack up financially.

Its easy to forget how far back they went,particularly when they are still used. Always liked the shape of the 1164, and they sounded sweet. They always seem to find a home when they come up for sale, whatever condition. Some seem to find their way to the vintage sales at Cambridge. Thanks for that, brings back memories.

What models ?

Oh ok, well Counties have become collectable now . They stood us well down the years, You still have your kit?

I had an 1124 for a number of years, pull like a train. We actually field tested the first boughton double drum, hell of a winch. Took it off that and fit it to a 1454 that got stolen. Last county I had was 1184 with 8000 mounted remote, she could pull. We got a 300 + lump of chestnut out with it. Tbh purpose built skidders are more affordable now aren't they ?

That particular machine would be skidding 150 + but not in one lump. A county with mounted igland 8000s would, then crane trailer to go on butt plate.I have run several, and they will handle 150 comfortably. Finding one would be a different matter. We ran cat 955 with fork on , had a big crane trailer built for that that would carry 300 cube., with 4 sets of bolsters on. Hyster winch on cat. The HSM was sold to Essex and replaced with new. They would let you have a look at it. That one had a head to go with it too. Grapple skidder with trailer was a shit suggestion, grapple would snag headboard etc.

I have worked alongside HSM , crane with d/d winches rated @around 17t from memory. Very capable machine on the winches and crane, 150 might be a bit savage to skid with crane alone, although they do have a grip on the butt plate, pricey though. When you say tops do you mean in shortwood ? I would have thought it simple enough to plumb a trailer to a grapple skidder.

Far better idea. I thought the Japa was far too light in construction for what was expected of it. Hope you get it sorted , sounds like the fillet would be a good investment.

Oh, that surprises me, would have thought 3/8s as a minimum. I had a Japa many years ago, bought it new and was glad to see the back of it. Seemed to spend as much time changing belts as we did cutting.

Ah ok, what pitch chain do they run on 3/8 or .404 ?

Ok, fair enough, as I say I am not familiar ,only used processors with circs. Out of interest what is the fillet, is` it a rubbing plate or backing plate of some description ?

There were a couple of JD tractors stolen a few years ago from a Sussex dealer that turned up in Cyprus. It came to light through the serial number being used when parts were ordered.

Not familiar with processor bars/chains , but.. has it run a chain that has had rakers lower at one side? that would kick the chain over.