Malus

Looks like "pallet wood" to me, would need to see a photo of the whole pallet to make a proper assessment though. In all seriousness that's surely a piece of oak?

Thanks, I'll try the library and failing that I'll keep an eye out for a second hand copy.

Hi all. Anyone got any good recommendations of books on ccf management and conversion? Ideally ones that are reasonably affordable. Thanks

I'll be getting a new tractor soon - 40hp conventional shape compact. I'm planning on fitting some lightweight guarding to it, probably a bit of belly protection and something around the top of the cab, steel cable branch deflectors from front to top of cab too. Has anyone got any photos of their guarding and how it's mounted?

I'm a big convert of the g coupler too. With a flexible hose it will get to most nipples that a normal one will. Got one from the local agri dealer, maybe a bit sad but it's been life-changing ha! Worth having a couple of grease guns, I use one for general lithium grease and another for molybdenum pin and bush grease. If anyone else uses your machines they will be far more likely to grease it with a g coupler. Don't know who first said it but "the only thing that won't wear out on a hire machine is the grease gun".

Nice one, thanks for the advice. Looks like you get a fair load on that trailer! It's holding up ok over the years then? Doubt I'll be loading the trailer up that high, I don't think the ergonomics of a grab on a digger is quite as good as a dedicated timber crane and I think loading high might be a little bit awkward. I think I'll have to play around with headboard height to get the balance right. I had a look at some of the ones Hywel Evans makes and his have a low headboard, probably for that reason.

Brilliant, thanks. I was planning on using a set of wheels from parnells, look decent enough and come with axles and a swivel hitch. Rated for 900kg, but will probably handle a bit more? What do you think? 22x11.00-8 Utility ATV Quad Trailer Kit P334 Wheels Axles & Swivel Hitch 900kgs WWW.EBAY.CO.UK 2 x Wheels, 22x11.00-8 4ply Wanda P334 Utility tyres on steel rim 4x100mm PCD. • 22x11.00-8 4ply Wanda P334 Utility tyres. For sale is 1 new 22x11.00-8 Utility ATV trailer kit with... They're cheaper on their ebay shop than their website. Ok good to know about the ladder frame. I've got some 70mm 5mm wall box section that I had contemplated using as a spine but thought it would probably be a bit on the skinny side, think I've got enough other box sections to make up a ladder frame. Not sure on how much weight I'll have on it but realistically it won't be much more than a ton, maybe one and a half. The digger can lift and move about half a ton when its got the grab and rotator on. The limit in larch is a 16' log up to 24" butt diameter I think I would consider buying one if I didn't have a load of steel left over from various projects that I'd like to clear up out of the way and put to use. Also if I can save a bit of money from buying kit it's easier to justify buying new tools for the workshop To start with I'll probably just bolt a 50mm ball hitch to the blade. In the longer term I think it would be better to weld on a drawbar receiver to the rear of the sub frame, with a pin on draw bar. My thinking is that then when on a slope you can keep the trailer uphill and the blade downhill as an anchor.

Planning on welding up a little forwarding trailer for my 3 tonner. Looking to use it for extracting logs for personal use on my mill, sometimes I buy windblows etc cheap where the forest owner wants them cleared without damage to other trees. Also hoping it will be handy for moving brash, but I'm not sure how it will compare to just dragging brash out with the grab. Does anyone here use one? Any tips on what works/doesn't work? I was thinking single axle with atv style floatation tyres, trying to keep it lightweight and also think it will turn better than two axles. Is it worth having a headboard or will it just get in the way? I think it would be handy for it to be extendable in length perhaps?

Could you just barrow in a lorry load of top soil to add to the lower spots? Then reseed or turf?

@tentman looking good but like you say looks a bit slow on the way down. Have you put it to use yet? I'd say a hydraulic ram arrangement will be better than the winch, the winch could be repurposed. Would make a really handy timber winch if it's strong enough. I guess you're planning on controlling it from inside the cab? It's a lot quicker than way and a lot quicker than a tractor knocker. I tend to run out a string line between strainers and then stab a good 10 stakes in, jump in the digger and drive them inm saves getting and out for each stake. The downside is it's difficult to get posts in absolutely vertically if you're working on your own. Just like a tractor knocker the posts often go in nice and plumb but as soon as you lift the post cap up the post springs off to one side, I guess that depends on what your ground is like.

Can you send me a couple of pics of the beech logs? Are they nice and clean?

In danger of repeating bollocks here but I was once to by an old boy at a farm auction that there were a load of excess ball pein hammers after ww2. They must have been made for a specific manufacturing purpose for the war effort. After the war they were repurposed and a lot were turned into hatchets. Might be complete crap but it's a nice story

I've used vinegar to remove rust in the past, just the cheap stuff. Soak the steel for as long as it needs. Important to thoroughly wash it after with water and then a coat of oil or something. Gotta be quick with this or you'll get flash rusting. Could possibly use bicarb or something in water to counter the acidic vinegar? I've not tried it.

Here are my two go to axes for splitting my wood. The elwell especially also gets used for hedge laying, it's a nice weight and handle length for it. Neither axe is much of a wedge shape so probably not the ideal splitting axes but hey ho. When splitting I usually use the elwell and I prefer to be on my knees with a low splitting block. Far less bending over and I make sure I've got a nice soft pile of sawdust to kneel on. With the nice light axe I find I can be pretty productive. The felling axe is one I found at the local scrap yard when I was dropping off a load of scrap. Couldn't believe my luck! Looks to me to be pretty old, blacksmith made with chiselled decoration on the pole. It was really pitted so I had to put it back in the forge to work the bit and then reharden and temper. I think it's wrought iron with a steel bit. Both handles are suffering from damage on the neck. It isn't from bad aim, honest! It's mostly from when the axe head gets buried into a log and as a result the handle hits the edge on the log before it splits. I guess it's a result of the narrow profile of the heads. I bought my dad a gransfors bruks splitting axe for his 60th and it's got a steel collar on the handle neck for this reason. I've not had a chance to try the axe out yet.

Bit late to the party but might be of use if you haven't sorted anything yet. I made up a lightweight set of pallet forks for my compact tractor. Like you I wanted to keep weight to a minimum to maximise the load of would lift. I used 80x40x3mm box which has done ok. The forks comfortably lift half a ton. I bent one tine when it wedged under a big root when I was picking up a log, couldn't the fork/root from the cab. With a bit of care something light like these should last a while. I can pick up both forks and frame on my own so can't be that heavy. One thing is I made the tines long for picking up bulky but light things, I'll have to make a short set when I get time - the long can be a pain at times. As mentioned above, get a big weight on the 3pl and maybe set your wheels as wide as they'll go. Could also balast the wheels by filling tyres with water. I ended up making a mount for the digger that uses the forks off the tractor. Pretty handy.