Stihlmans Wood,Tree cutting ramblings...........

[Rudolf73]

What weight can the telehandler lift to, say, 2.5m?

Around the 3T mark depending on the size

 

[KiwiBro]

Around the 3T mark depending on the size

Thanks.
Would lift one of the poly bags full of rings over a table sloped towards the splitter. Once over the table, release bottom of bag to dump the lot on the table.
Slope means less need for infeed conveyor. Table means easy to break down for transport, bags mean light and easy to transport, bags also mean can stand on the ground to ring the logs and spread the bags out wider to catch the rings (ends of logs when picked up in grapple can spread a fair bit off axis if you get my drift).

 

[Stihlman441]

Got bored the other day so i went and cut a load of Redgum

.

 

[treesmith]

Ya got to love the 20 ltrs a day guys?? lmao....

Yeah, my 441c would do that before lunch limbing

 

[Stihl working hard]

Got bored the other day so i went and cut a load of Redgum

View attachment 384005 .

That really is a good setup Andrew

 

[Stihlman441]

Got a bit invested in the set up but im not getting any younger thats for sure,got to make it as easy as possible can get more done then.

 

[KiwiBro]

Got a bit invested in the set up but im not getting any younger thats for sure,got to make it as easy as possible can get more done then.

And then, if you were here in NZ, you'd get no end of moaners about the price or disrespectful ******** trying to beat you down on price because they somehow consider you, your investments, skillsets and hard work are not worth as much as their air-conditioned and largely unproductive careers. They'll refuse to see why they should pay for your ute, trailer, splitter, saws, tractor, conveyors, etc and would grumble at you even earning minimum wage for your time. They just want their damned firewood. Cheaply and to hell with anyone who takes the risk and is prepared to work hard to produce it, and they are far too sophisticated and important to do the work and take the risks themselves.

When they have finished bitching about the cost of your gear and services or product, they'll then bitch about the previous half a dozen "monkeys" and "cowboys" they got in to drop trees and who did a bad or incomplete job and who cut and run, leaving a mess, etc. Of course, they'll refuse to join any dots between their insistence the work should be done for less than they'd get out of bed for, and the people they eventually get in who give them exactly what they paid for - half to 3/4 of a good job.

Six more weeks before I can afford to buy another tractor. Still have my log forks, PTO winch etc. Hopefully the body holds together in the interim. Have spent the last 10 days trying to convince myself I'm still capable of doing what I used to be able to manually. Have needed today off to recover. Faaark, I'm getting old. Can barely lift myself out of the ute by the time I get home at the end of the day. Race is on to afford the gear that will remove the hardest of the manual work. It ain't no fun having to noodle gum rounds into six pieces to be able to manually handle them.

 

[KiwiBro]

If you had another $50k to throw at firewood/wood stuff, what would you spend it on?

 

[splitpost]

And then, if you were here in NZ, you'd get no end of moaners about the price or disrespectful ******** trying to beat you down on price because they somehow consider you, your investments, skillsets and hard work are not worth as much as their air-conditioned and largely unproductive careers. They'll refuse to see why they should pay for your ute, trailer, splitter, saws, tractor, conveyors, etc and would grumble at you even earning minimum wage for your time. They just want their damned firewood. Cheaply and to hell with anyone who takes the risk and is prepared to work hard to produce it, and they are far too sophisticated and important to do the work and take the risks themselves.

When they have finished bitching about the cost of your gear and services or product, they'll then ***** about the previous half a dozen "monkeys" and "cowboys" they got in to drop trees and who did a bad or incomplete job and who cut and run, leaving a mess, etc. Of course, they'll refuse to join any dots between their insistence the work should be done for less than they'd get out of bed for, and the people they eventually get in who give them exactly what they paid for - half to 3/4 of a good job.

Six more weeks before I can afford to buy another tractor. Still have my log forks, PTO winch etc. Hopefully the body holds together in the interim. Have spent the last 10 days trying to convince myself I'm still capable of doing what I used to be able to manually. Have needed today off to recover. Faaark, I'm getting old. Can barely lift myself out of the ute by the time I get home at the end of the day. Race is on to afford the gear that will remove the hardest of the manual work. It ain't no fun having to noodle gum rounds into six pieces to be able to manually handle them.

thats when you introduce the V W T (variable ****** tax)

Sent from my GT-S7500T using Tapatalk 2

 

[Stihlman441]

And then, if you were here in NZ, you'd get no end of moaners about the price or disrespectful ******** trying to beat you down on price because they somehow consider you, your investments, skillsets and hard work are not worth as much as their air-conditioned and largely unproductive careers. They'll refuse to see why they should pay for your ute, trailer, splitter, saws, tractor, conveyors, etc and would grumble at you even earning minimum wage for your time. They just want their damned firewood. Cheaply and to hell with anyone who takes the risk and is prepared to work hard to produce it, and they are far too sophisticated and important to do the work and take the risks themselves.

When they have finished bitching about the cost of your gear and services or product, they'll then ***** about the previous half a dozen "monkeys" and "cowboys" they got in to drop trees and who did a bad or incomplete job and who cut and run, leaving a mess, etc. Of course, they'll refuse to join any dots between their insistence the work should be done for less than they'd get out of bed for, and the people they eventually get in who give them exactly what they paid for - half to 3/4 of a good job.

Six more weeks before I can afford to buy another tractor. Still have my log forks, PTO winch etc. Hopefully the body holds together in the interim. Have spent the last 10 days trying to convince myself I'm still capable of doing what I used to be able to manually. Have needed today off to recover. Faaark, I'm getting old. Can barely lift myself out of the ute by the time I get home at the end of the day. Race is on to afford the gear that will remove the hardest of the manual work. It ain't no fun having to noodle gum rounds into six pieces to be able to manually handle them.

This all sound familiar,the way i look at the wingers with wood prices and so on if you dont like it go somewhere else,i bet they will be back.

 

[Stihlman441]

If you had another $50k to throw at firewood/wood stuff, what would you spend it on?

Bobcat and stump grubber.

 

[KiwiBro]

Would that bobcat be instead of or in addition to, a tractor?

One of the worst things from a job satisfaction viewpoint for me is clearing a hillside, processing all the wood, leaving nicely piled slash piles ready for burning when they dry out, but looking back over the hill and seeing all those stumps. There was a rural farming show here a while ago showing the huge bulldozers clearing hillsides with monster rakes. At least two would push down from the top side by side, and just keep on going until the hit the bottom. The piles of trees/stumps/roots and general debris rolling in front of them seemed to dwarf the bullies but they kept on rolling to the bottom, with a fair amount of the topsoil still left on the hillside behind them. Man they could clear some ground and some big trees thereon, really quick, ready for sowing straight after they'd done their thing.

Have been thinking about a digger so can rough out access if need be, lift to load trucks/trailers faster than a tractor, and with a small felling head so I can deal with the small-tree clearing jobs easy, then rip out the stumps and even rake if need be. But often the trees I'm dealing with are the ones the farmers don't want to mess with because they are too big or in crazy difficult terrain, and a little digger would just help me get in more trouble without being any more useful for those sorts of jobs.

 

[KiwiBro]

This all sound familiar,the way i look at the wingers with wood prices and so on if you dont like it go somewhere else,i bet they will be back.

A few years ago a farmer wanted me to clear out a heap of blackwoods that were growing over a large fenceline. He insisted I do it just for the firewood. I walked. He has asked me back to quote the job for the last two Summers (I'm working on nearby farms so see him often). I'm not even quoting it. Have had a gutsful of people thinking it's OK to disrespect anyone's right to earn a living and be paid a fair amount for their time/gear/skills/etc.

 

[Stihlman441]

A few years ago a farmer wanted me to clear out a heap of blackwoods that were growing over a large fenceline. He insisted I do it just for the firewood. I walked. He has asked me back to quote the job for the last two Summers (I'm working on nearby farms so see him often). I'm not even quoting it. Have had a gutsful of people thinking it's OK to disrespect anyone's right to earn a living and be paid a fair amount for their time/gear/skills/etc.

Quote him double your normal hr ly rate.

 

[Stihlman441]

Would that bobcat be instead of or in addition to, a tractor?

One of the worst things from a job satisfaction viewpoint for me is clearing a hillside, processing all the wood, leaving nicely piled slash piles ready for burning when they dry out, but looking back over the hill and seeing all those stumps. There was a rural farming show here a while ago showing the huge bulldozers clearing hillsides with monster rakes. At least two would push down from the top side by side, and just keep on going until the hit the bottom. The piles of trees/stumps/roots and general debris rolling in front of them seemed to dwarf the bullies but they kept on rolling to the bottom, with a fair amount of the topsoil still left on the hillside behind them. Man they could clear some ground and some big trees thereon, really quick, ready for sowing straight after they'd done their thing.

Have been thinking about a digger so can rough out access if need be, lift to load trucks/trailers faster than a tractor, and with a small felling head so I can deal with the small-tree clearing jobs easy, then rip out the stumps and even rake if need be. But often the trees I'm dealing with are the ones the farmers don't want to mess with because they are too big or in crazy difficult terrain, and a little digger would just help me get in more trouble without being any more useful for those sorts of jobs.

The bobcat would stay at my place for loading the wood into the tipper trailer when required (i dont stack) .
For me its about expanding types of work we can do plus making what we do easyer and safer as well.

 

[Rudolf73]

The bobcat would stay at my place for loading the wood into the tipper trailer when required (i dont stack) .
For me its about expanding types of work we can do plus making what we do easyer and safer as well.

Yes they are real handy, especially with a grapple on the front.

 

[KiwiBro]

Yes they are real handy, especially with a grapple on the front.

Have you guys ever used a 4in 1 bucket for loading firewood? I'm wondering if being able to take bites from above would keep more dirt and rubbish from the trailer. But I guess a grapple would do the same thing and be more useful.

 

[KiwiBro]

The bobcat would stay at my place for loading the wood into the tipper trailer when required (i dont stack) .
For me its about expanding types of work we can do plus making what we do easyer and safer as well.

How many trailers could you buy for the price of a bobcat?

 

[KiwiBro]

Quote him double your normal hr ly rate.

Have learned he isn't a good payer, so think two times zero still equals zero. I couldn't work out why there'd be a different mechanic fixing his tractors every time they needed work so I asked one of them who I had seen there before. He said he still hadn't been paid and wasn't going there again.

 

[Rudolf73]

Have you guys ever used a 4in 1 bucket for loading firewood? I'm wondering if being able to take bites from above would keep more dirt and rubbish from the trailer. But I guess a grapple would do the same thing and be more useful.

I haven't used a 4 in 1 on firewood in particular, but I have used it on small bits of timber branches etc. It's not idea because of the pinch points on the side and the bucket doesn't close far enough allowing all the small bits to full out. Pain in the rear, so for that reason I got a log/root grapple for timber work.

I think this type of grapple however would be ideal for firewood handling.