Malus

Yes the banks here do tend to be a bit lower than down there, but we should have some tall ones too. This one's got a bit of clawdd too, stone faced earth bank much like Devon hedges? It's in pretty poor condition though and no grant towards restoration on this hedge.

How do you find the shear on the 2.6 tonner? Been thinking about getting one but keep questioning how much better it will be than a guy on the saw and one in the digger with a grab. Got and pics of it in action?

I feel your pain! I've sharpened my way through a brand new chain in a day. This stretch under the oaks had 4 fences in various states of decay and an almighty amount of blackthorn tangled up in it all. Those brash piles are pretty much all blackthorn from that 30m, tried to retain and lay all the hazel. It's a bit thin under the two oaks. Not in Devon but west Wales, not really sure of the finer details of the Carmarthenshire style but this is what I'm up to.

I agree with a lot of the above. RAMS stands for risk assessment and method statement. I generally incorporate theses into the Construction Phase Plan (CPP) - not sure if that applies to arb but it's a good blanket document to cover the plan for larger jobs including information on site access maps, emergency services access point, work schedule etc etc. Method statement can be as simple as a list of bullet points of what you're going to do and in what order. Assess the risk of each step/ tasks of above. It might be a good idea to break risk down into severity and likelihood of incident, and score 1-3 for each. Multiply severity by likelihood to get a risk score. Score 1-3 is low risk, 4-6 is medium and 7-9 is high risk. If any stage of you method statement is high risk then you need to change the method statement accordingly. You should try to introduce different methods for medium risk where practicable. I have a list of tasks specific risk assessments, i.e. tree felling or loading plant onto a trailer. I refer to these in the Construction Phase Plan but don't include the whole risk assessment. I never really have to modify them. Then for each new job/site I'll do a risk assessment that is specific to that site, and include that in the CPP. Hope that helps

Don't tell anyone but I stole a load of oak boards last week. Quercus robber.

I was down the local paint shop yesterday when a delivery came in. I thought to myself "wow, they really do have a full pallet of colours".

Looks like you're gonna get a good amount of nice timber out of those logs. When I've quarter sawn large logs I've found a different pattern to be more efficient. I'm not sure it results in more true quarter sawn boards but it's certainly quicker and less hassle for me. I've done a quick sketch but only have a small scrap of paper and a pencil on me so hopefully you can see it. Cuts 1 and 2 depends on the extent of the pith and any check, and a multiple of target board thickness. Then cuts 3 and 4 box out the heart and can either form a post or make firewood. In each "semi circle" shaped can't I tend to cut a rift cut post from each corner and then boards which are pretty well quarter sawn. The boards cut from the remainder two sections are also good quarter sawn. A few of the boards will end up quarter sawn towards the pith and rift sawn towards the bark side. Speaking in terms of how a woodworker would look at the boards, not a true quarter sawn process. Looking forward to seeing pictures of the boards you end up with.

The beach boys walk into a bar. Round? Round? Get a round? I'll get a round.

One of my dairy herd stepped on my foot this morning, now I lactose.

For anyone who's keeping up with the news. Israeli Cannibals trying to decide how to prepare their latest victim: "Who's sayin' Salami?"

Oh I just saw the other replies. My flail doesn't run at all when the circuit is set to dual acting, it's a femac. If you add a return to tank I think the retuning oil wants to go back in to the tank below the oil level. If it sprays through the air I think you'll end up with loads of cavitation and frothy oil coming out the top of the tank

Maybe a stupid question but are you sure it's piped for double acting? If you dead head the actuator in one way and then the other does it strain the engine in both directions? I would have thought it was more likely to be piped single acting only, unless it's a retrofit kit someone has added for a specific use

I'm sure you've probably sorted it by now but on the 61-3 it's under the floor, right near the door. Silver handle, turn it 90° 👍 never used the -2 so not sure if it's the same

I looked into this about ten years ago when I wasn't happy with the pay we were getting for travelling. It might have changed but back then you legally didn't have to be paid anything for travel time so long as your pay divided by weekly hours including travel time meets minimum wage. Obviously if you want happy productive staff then paying them their usual rate is the way to go, if the job can absorb the cost. Worth considering how much travel either side of a work day is sensible, if there was an accident on site or a car crash on the way home because of fatigue from long days. We used to be offered accommodation on any site more than an hour from home.

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?