Malus

Lopping the top off a hedge with a tree shear should be a criminal offence. If possible it's far better to lay it, if that's not possible then coppice it to get some decent, healthy regrowth. I've seen some horrendous jobs done over the last few years since tree shears got popular. I was looking at getting a tree shear for my mini at the start of the summer but decided against it for the time being. Mostly for coppicing hedgerows before tidying up the stumps with a saw. Just a heads up to give Evans and Reid a call, down in Neath. They make a small shear up to 150mm from memory and was quoted a bit over 2k plus vat earlier in the year. Was the cheapest by far out of all the ones I had prices for. Would be interested to know what it's like.

Yeah that's a good point. I guess most of the stresses are taken by the tipping link pins? Maybe that's a nudge for me to think about renewing the bushes and pins 🙄 No, just the tilt hitch pinned to the end of the dipper. To be fair the extra length of tilt hitch really does give the pins and bushes a harder life, especially when the corner of the grading bucket snags a hidden rock etc. I'm not sure how much the weight of the knocker will affect things, once it's on a post and knocking most of the weight and stress goes directly through the post.

Just realised I never updated the thread. I ended up mounting it as suggested and it's been brilliant for everything I've used if for so far. The hitch plate is sandwiching the big box section using 4 long M16 with a little bit of room to spare, distance between the bolt is about 5mm lager than the size of the box. I found that the hitch would twist a bit until that slack was taken up and I wasn't particularly happy about it, so just welded a couple of strips of square bar onto the box to hold the hitch plate square. Was dreamy knocking these 5x3" posts in up on a bank. Was dreading doing it by hand because the bank is made up mostly of rock and topsoil.

Digger is now set up a bit better for "arb" - enough to join the thread anyway. Got an intermercato grab and rotator - drags brash a lot quicker than by hand and came in handy clearing some overstood hedging growing up through power lines. Doesn't feel nice to use under the tilting hitch so better to pin it direct to dipper, bit of a pain to change bit not too bad. Also pretty handy for holding logs to be cut of for firewood back at the yard. When I get some time in the new year I'm planning on making a little log trailer to pull along with the digger, anyone got one? Pros and cons? Picked up a used femac flail for it too. I've used a flail head in the past so knew what to expect in terms of cutting capacity etc. This one's got boot flails which I think are preferable to the hammer flails I've used in the past. The boots seem to cope a bit better when you hit rocks or metal, and every now and then a hammer would get stuck folded back on itself and put the rotor out of balance. How are you all protecting the cab when using grabs/flails? I doubt I'll be getting marguard but was thinking of making a removable bar guard for the windscreen.

It's up at Glentress forest near Peebles, Scottish Borders. They just opened to the public a couple of weeks ago so should be reasonably fresh still if you're up that way. Always good to hear of people digging trails, there's nothing better than riding something you've built!

It wouldn't take much to make a set of legs for it but it would probably be more hassle than it's worth. I need to be able to take it on and off easily and load it onto a trailer etc to get to sites. You've all convinced me that they work well facing away from the cab. I'm in the same boat you were in back then. My tennis elbow flares up just from thinking about fencing by hand these days 🤣

Ace, thanks for the tips. I had a play around with the hitch mounting tonight and got it to a position I'm happy with for now. As you say it's offset but kept it as minimal as possible. I'm not sure if I'll be able to make up an online hitch without the arm hitting the dipper so I'll use it as is for now. All apart again and first coat of paint went on tonight. I just looked up the vectors again and noticed in one of the photos they have a stand to dismount the driver. I guess that's how they get around the issue of it being awkward if not impossible pick up with the weight facing the cab. https://www.daviesimplementsltd.co.uk/product/agricultural/post-knockers/model-6-mini-excavator-post-knocker/

Nice one, thanks for those photos. I like the design of those keyfab one, the vector ones I've seen use a similar principle. I was a bit concerned about whether the oil would exit the ram free enough to not slow the weight as it drops. Obviously the manufacturers have it sussed but it's a bit hit and miss when you're doing it yourself! I think the ratio on mine is something like 8:1 weight/ram travel. I'd be interested to see how you get on with a heavier weight. I wanted to go heavier but was a bit paranoid it would be too heavy with the extra weight of the tilt hitch already on there. I've got some awkward bits to fence on some steep slopes so wanted to keep it fairly manoeuvrable.

That's a good point. To be honest I thought it was more about keeping everything visible but it makes sense that the manufacturers have no control over what machine it will be mounted to. I guess it's the way everything has gone.. I had a price for a few different machines and the protech p18 was cheapest at I think £3200+vat but extra for a rock spike. Definitely don't do enough fencing to justify the cost.

I'll let you know when I've had a few 100 stakes in with it. The weight on this one is a bit over 150kg so not light, but obvs not close to the big tractor mounted units.

Thanks for the idea but no need! It's a hydraulic hitch. Spent too many years using a powertilt with a semi hitch so I made sure to have a hydraulic one when I got my own machine. There must be a better system out there though to avoid such a bit build height.

Nice one, thanks @doobin Sounds daft but it hadn't crossed my mind to mount it inline with the dipper... I guess I got blinded by the fact all the commercial ones I've seen are off set. I'll make up a mount and give it a go. It's not so much that I can't lift it over a post, more that when it's set up as in the photo above with the weight facing the cab, the geometry means it's impossible to keep the mast vertical when you lift it high. I think I'll stick with it facing out since you both have made some good points. Tell me about it. I had been looking for a used one for about three months but I didn't find anything within a reasonable distance from home until I found a second hand p18 at auction. Got outbid and I think it sold close to £2.5k so that tipped me over the edge to make one. Optimistically thought it would take a day or two to build but probably more like five after doing all the fiddly bits. Althought it was all done in the evenings after work etc. Total cost under 1k Inc vat so happy enough and certainly learnt a thing or two.

Ok thanks, some good points. I noticed you've got a chain to lift the post cap up with the weight. Do you find you need two people on a fencing job or does one man hop in and out of the machine? I've not added a chain here but instead a chain from the post cap to the bottom of the mast, so the weight of the mast and the dipper rest on the post. I was hoping I would be able to spike in a few posts at a time and drive them in one after another without having to get out of the machine. Trouble is with this arrangement is you have to lift the bottom of the mast to the height of the top of the post. Although I can't imagine that would be a problem in an 8t machine it might be a stretch for a 3t.

Looking for some advice from anyone who's got or has used a post driver on a small digger. I've made up a post knocker but after initial testing I'm not sure about the headstock mounting position. I looked at as many knockers as I could find before starting but settled on a design that's much like the protect p18. My question is, when you have the knocker mounted does the weight and post cap face the cab or away from the cab? To me it would make sense to have it face the cab for slightly better visibility but in this configuration I haven't got enough crowd to keep the mast vertical when lifting it high up to start driving a post. If I change the headstock angle by 45° or 90° it makes it a nightmare to pick up/drop off. Alternatively with the weight and post cap facing away from the cab, it's easy to pick up and put down. Has a good range of workability from a tall post right down to ground level. Slight compromise in visibility. Do I just need to get used to it like this? I've seen protech ones mounted in both directions. I'd like to get it sorted asap so I can get some paint on it and put it to work.

Thanks mate that's really helpful, I'll have a look for him. I'm not far from Crosshands at all. Tbh access to my yard is too tight/steep for a wagon so a tractor and trailer would be ideal. On my grandad's farm access isn't great but space can be made for a wagon to turn around if I spent a day or two moving mountains of rusty crap that have accumulated. As @trigger_andy says a wagon load of nice saw logs @ £50/t (presumably + vat?) does sound quite appealing.

Ok great. I've not had time to get up there and have a proper look but will make time over the next week or two. The way I see it is that they probably won't see it as worthwhile unless there's a reasonable amount of cash in it for them, which is fair enough. So I'll see what's what in the woods and see what they think. How do people source and buy in saw logs? Does anyone do it on a small scale? @trigger_andy would that be £50/ton for a rigid wagon?

@Squaredy thanks, they're some good points. @Muddy42 no public liability issues really but I'm sure fences will eventually start to get flattened. Trouble is I can afford to buy the whole forest!! As for firewood, well the neighbours used to supply my dad with all of his so they've probably got plenty. I did consider part payment in milled boards etc but probably not worth the hassle for such a small amount. @openspaceman8" seems awfully small as a sawlog. I guess you might just get a 6x6" post out of it? By "£10/m3 on out turn" do you mean you would buy the timber for that price or charge that price to fell and extract? When I winched out the Douglas last year the forester told me the main contractor would charge him £10/ton to extract to roadside which sounded quite low to me, but I don't know anything. If the dead larch is no good I can likely just fell a couple of the live trees and leave the dead ones standing. Trouble with offering £200 for the lot is that it's not exactly appealing for the hassle involved etc etc Thanks for all the help, has given me some things to think about. @[email protected]

Fitted a boom offset circuit diverter valve and extra aux circuit to my Kubota kx61-3 on the weekend with a view to using various attachments on the tilt hitch. Would like a rotating grapple but Christ they're not cheap! Does anyone use a tree shear on a small digger, i.e. 2.5-3t? How do you get on with it and what jobs do you end up doing with it? Was thinking it could be handy for coppicing hedges that are too gnarly or overgrown to lay. Won't compete with a big machine though so maybe too much of a niche.

@Whoppa Choppa it's on a reasonably steep bank below the farm. I assume there's a track down there but again I've not been to have a good look. Not too worried about winching, I've got a little tractor with a winch. But tbh with a small volume I was hoping to cherry pick some decent trees that are easy to get down and out. By RS do you mean resale? If so it's not really relevant, so long as I get the logs at a price that is a fair bit lower than the cost of having an 8 wheeler load delivered to the farm. @Squaredy I like your thinking but I doubt I'll get any money out of the neighbours!! I doubt NRW have issued a notice but I guess they would if they came to have a look at it, I'd rather not open that can of worms because I don't think the neighbours actually have any plans for the woods and wouldn't appreciate it. So at £75/ton for larch sawlogs roadside would £50 a ton standing sound reasonable for something worth milling? I don't have much experience of buying timber tbh but last year I bought some windblown Douglas and spruce for £40/ton and was able to pick the trees/sections I wanted, some nice logs. Out of interest what's the minimum dia larch log you would consider worth milling for cladding? Ideally I'm after 8x1 or 6x1.

Hi I've been in brief discussion with the farm next door to my grandad's about buying some standing larch they have. I've only seen it from a distance as I've not had time to go and take a proper look/take measurements. My thoughts were to initially buy approx 5-10t and see how things go. I would be taking it to my grandad's farm next door to mill into dimensional timber and cladding for use on the farm. It might be that it's all too small and no good for me but I won't know until I've been to have a proper look. One concern I have is that a lot of the stand is dead, I assume it's phytophtora. I know there are regs to follow but seeing as the logs will be moved about 300m I'm not too bothered. But are the logs going to be worth felling and milling? Has anyone milled any standing dead larch? What would be a fair price to offer for the standing wood? Thanks for the help Sam

I wonder if there's a difference in idler/roller design between brands that's better or worse. The little Kubotas are usually pretty good until the tracks get a bit stretchy. Have had issues with the Kubota u48 though, that used to throw off brand new tracks with no noticeable wear on the idler. Also had issues with the check valve on the track tensioner on a u48 so it wouldn't let grease in after putting the track back on.. may have lost a grease gun or two in a similar fashion to you 😂 I'm not the best at taking photos but here are a few from this job

@doobin that's interesting mate. Don't see many 3 tonners on steel tracks these days. How do they compare weight wise? Still under the towing limit? I spoke to Evans and Reid probably five years ago about getting steels. I think it was for a Kubota kx61-3 back then and I'm pretty sure they said I'd have to replace all of the bottom rollers as they needed to be a different profile. I think I'll look into it again. I wish I had steels on for the job I've been on the last five months.. lots of really sharp rocks in the ground and when you think you've got them all covered one will stick out and put a fresh slice in the tracks. Fairly steep ground too and because I'm building mountain bike trails you can't always dog a nice level bench to sit on. Had a track snap on a bank a couple of months ago after being damaged on said rocks. No big drama but there was plenty of life left in it and it had to go when I was on a steep bit. As usual photos don't really show how steep it is. Had to roll the track a few hundred metres down the trail to the digger though. It's well worth keeping a socket set and a 1m 1t strop with the digger. If a track pops off it pretty much always comes off on the idler end first. Let the grease out, blade all the way down, use the strop to pull the track back into place. Every digger should have a grease gun in it!!

That's a big old trailer @spuddog0507 must have been a handful loading with the little digger! Pretty impressive. Thanks for the tips @doobin I was planning on putting a T in to the offset anyway to run the tilt, then I can use the main aux with high flow for flail mower etc.

That grab looks handy spud. What's it like for stacking logs in a pile or loading a trailer? I've got a tilt hitch which I don't think would work with a grab like that. If I was gonna bother to take the hitch off I would probably rather put on a rotating grab but they are a lot more expensive and more to break. Hadn't thought about sharing a crab with a crane, could work.. think a rigid rather than floppy grab would be better for brash etc though

Brilliant, thanks for all the replies. Certainly a lot to think about. Good to know plenty of people are making a living from doing woodland management on a smaller scale. From experience day rate can work well when quality of work is appreciated by the customer, there's less pressure to get the job finished and move on and more time to keep everything tidy as you go. I'll get some prices for cranes on their own and see if making my own trailer is a more affordable option.