Chainsaw review
Simon Bowes presents his annual chainsaw roundup
The annual chainsaw feature usually reports on new saws, old saws and minor technical developments, but for 2010 a major new innovation has hit the chainsaw dealerships.




Logsplitters
Our annual look at what’s available
A logsplitter of any size makes the job of reducing timber quicker, easier and more efficient, taking much less energy and physical strength compared to other more labourintensive
methods. Anyone with experience of back-breaking hours wielding a splitting axe, or worse a
sledgehammer and splitting wedge, will testify to that.

Mulcher Roundup
There are many reasons to mulch… and just as many solutions
Overgrown vegetation and unwanted trees. How do you deal with them efficiently? One way, which avoids the need to burn or haul the debris, is to use a mulching machine.




Wheeled Harvesters
Some new introductions among some old .favourites in our annual roundup.





South West Woodland Show
On 11 September at Longleat, the SWWS brought together 70 exhibitors, an increased
number of visitors, and stunning weather




Chainsaw Review
Simon Bowes takes his annual look at the chainsaw market

Staying on Track
Tracked harvesters, manufactured with forestry in mind

Echo Bounces Back
My first experience with Echo chainsaws was back in the mid 1990s when I was a landscape manager in Hong Kong. The managing director, in his pursuit for new contracts, had accepted a major contract, part of which was to crown reduce, or rather split in half, a large Figus or Banyan tree. Of course, none of the staff had any tree surgery experience apart from using bowsaws tied to long bamboo poles.

Keep the homes fires burning
Firewood processors come in all shapes and sizes. Which is the right one for you? Firewood processors can be used for both domestic and commercial operations depending on their size and power. They can quickly and efficiently create a large amount of firewood – far more rapidly than would be possible with manual systems.

Wheeled Harvesters
Most of the major manufacturers have introduced some form of refinement, if not entirely new models, over the last year. We take a look at what’s available.





Chips with that?
So many to choose from – where do you start?
Everywhere you look there seems to be a chipper – on railway embankments, motorways and canals; the world seems to have gone chipper mad. Some are chipping to reduce a waste product but more and more are chipping to produce fuel. Everyone has heard about climate change and wood is back in favour, representing good value for money through a renewable energy source.



Fencing & Post Drivers
Erecting or repairing a fence? Help is at hand. It’s in the winter months that we often take stock of the condition of our fences and have a little time to give them some attention. It doesn’t matter whether you are erecting post and rail, or post with high tensile wire/netting, it can be a back-breaking job trying to get posts, let alone strainers, into frozen ground.

Log Splitters.
Plenty to choose from. For a very limited amount of firewood, an axe will do to split it, especially in straight grained timber, but if you want to up production, and not invest in an expensive processor, a log splitter is the way to go.





Mobile Sawmills
Sales of mobile sawmills have been on the increase. Arwyn Morgan takes a look at what you can expect for your money.With the closure of so many small
country and estate mills, the relatively recent phenomenon of rapid sales of mobile sawmills has been dramatic.




Forwarder Roundup
Several manufacturers have brought out new models during 2008, and most have introduced some form of refinement to their existing models. John Deere launched their E-series in Finland earlier in the year including the 1270E, 1470E and 1570E, featuring rotating cabs; further models will be introduced at various times throughout 2009



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.