Hand Tools
Arwyn Morgan assures us that hand tools have not been consigned to the history books. You could easily be forgiven for believing that hand tools were no longer of any importance to forestry.





Would you choose a Makita chainsaw?
Sad to say I tend to have racist tendencies towards chainsaws. That is to say that, unless they are orange, or orange and white, I tend to look at them with some disdain. Likewise, for many years, I never bothered with small saws, as most of what we cut was sawlog size hardwoods.




Firewood Processors
With the ever increasing price of oil heating fuel, it seems that more and more people are installing woodburning stoves. The demand for firewood seems to be on an upward spiral, which has no end in sight. In keeping with this, the machinery to produce firewood has progressed over the years, increased and easier production being the way to go

Chainsaws
It is almost painful to watch the skidder driver passing the fuel store day after day without stopping when everything else on site seems to stop there at least once a day. Is it time to look seriously at slimming the operation down and going back to high-value low-volume production? Just why is red diesel suddenly so expensive? Compared to the rise in road fuel prices, the increase is out of all proportion and it is threatening the margins of contractors everywhere.



Shredders
For anyone looking to reduce volume or recycle contaminated wood, green wood, pallets, poles, stumps, Christmas trees, hedge clippings, potted plants or ‘inorganic’ waste such as polystyrene and paper, a shredder may be the ideal machine.

Stihl MS 650
It isn’t really possible to talk about the MS 650 without at least briefly mentioning its predecessors, the now discontinued 064 and the evergreen 066 (now replaced by the MS 660).




Chippers - Market Round Up
Woodchippers vary in size, from machines that can chip large diameter roundwood with outputs of over 100 tonnes per hour, to the small, hand-fed chipper for dealing with arboricultutal waste. Chipping can be carried out at any stage – on site or at a fixed location, but there are many features to consider before buying.

Protective Footwear - High technology for keeping your feet safe.
As the twentieth century reached the end of its first decade, one German shoe manufacturer, Johann van Elten, introduced a major step forward for safety footwear. Traditionally made of wood, protective footwear was unwieldy, ill fitting and rarely watertight

Top Handled Chainsaws
Times have moved on a bit since I started working for a tree surgeon in the 1970s. Although for the bigger cuts to be made aloft we used the Husqvarna chainsaws that also saw service on the ground and in the forest, most of the cutting in the crowns was done with the little Poulans.

4x4 Market Update
2007 was an interesting year for 4x4 vehicle sales in the UK. Whilst the general market for off-roaders remained static at its current high level, the sales of pick-ups dropped by 5%. Land Rover continue to dominate the 4x4 market, accounting for 25% of all sales (excluding the pick-up sector).



Brushcutters
This year’s milder winter, followed by an early start to spring, are the ideal conditions for encouraging weeds, saplings and other unwanted plants to grow strong and lush. On many occasions there will be environmental, financial or manpower arguments behind a decision to let a previously tended area grow wild, or perhaps a change of use or landscape style has required a ‘more natural’ look.

Mewps
The role of the mewp is by no means limited to aerial tree work. The general demand for access solutions has led to a proliferation of suppliers, both in the sales and in the hiring sectors. In such a vibrant market the options are extremely flexible.

Trailers & Cranes - Versatile extraction equipment
Increasingly manufacturers are supplying a basic block from which the contractor can create a purposebuilt machine. Also noticeable is that almost every manufacturer is now catering for a whole range of uses – from heavyweight, full-on forestry use to the solutions for the smaller contractor, engaged in lighter tasks.

Talking Harvester Heads - A roundup of what’s available.
The stroke processor may be uncommon now in these islands but they are still the favoured option for some contractors in other parts – Scandinavia and Canada to name a couple. There are even some new stroke heads coming onto the market, but, with the huge range of ‘conventional’ heads available, it is probably in order to deal with the stroke harvesters separately at a later date.