Allt Cefnpwll-hen

[Furby]

No snow?

[SwampDonkey]

Probably ain't been much persistent snow in Wales since the 70's.  I read somewhere that the trend of the Jet stream is to move north in winter and south in summer. It has changed the weather there. Of course my memory is foggy at times.

[sprucebunny]

Great video ! Thanks 

It looks very steep. Is that a problem for the machines ???

[SwampDonkey]

I see them on similar ground here. I don 't know that I would enjoy working on steep ground, but anything beats dragging a skidder line I suppose.

[jph]

We don't get much snow, perhap a couple of light falls each winter. Rain is another matter about 66 inches anually. :'( :'(

The track in the video is very steep and the forwarder has to work fairly hard with a full load to get up  to the landing.

The harvester is clearing what it can get to  before the tractor/ winch arrives for the really steep areas.

John

[Gary_C]

John, thats a nice job. Who is the manufacturer of that harvester and forwarder?

[SwampDonkey]

66 isn't all that much really, we average 40 inches here. We have some short dry spells but we don't need irrigation, although some use it in Northern Maine and up near GrandFalls. I couldn't see any sense in it.

[jph]

I spoke to our Forrester today and he gave me an update . He said all the felling was done and another week should see all the timber removed from the hillside.
A 360  excavator will then clear the brash into rows so that 1600 trees per hectare  can be planted.   The trees are at present in cold storage.  Spring here is approaching fast but our Forrester assures us there is enough time to get them all planted.

The end of the month means I should be getting a nice cheque in the post soon. 8) 8) 8) 8) I will of course be reinvesting it in the business.
I thought a Ford 2120 or a Kubota L4150 with a loader would be useful.  Any thoughts?



This is the tractor and winch the loggers used for the land that was too steep for the harvester. It is a County Ford conversion 4x4

Gary  I am not sure on the make of harvester/ forwarder. Both machines have "Logset" on them.

I have asked the logger to leave me about 20 tons of the larger diameter larch for me to mill on the lt40 once they have left the site. 8) 8)

John

[jph]

Hre is some of the timber on the landing awaiting collection.

[Ron Scott]

Looks like they are sorting products.

[Dave Shepard]

Looks like a nice neat operation, I hate messy logging headers. I've put a lot of time on a Kubota L3750, which is just a little smaller than the L4150. It has been a great machine, and is still in limited service, having been replaced by an L35 Kubota with backhoe. You have some neat tractors over there.


Dave

[moosehunter]

jph,
Look into the "M" series Kubota, the bigger front tires are better in the woods. I have an L4330 and the tiny front tires are my only complaint with it.
mh

[jph]

The forwarder has now gone, but there is still plenty of logs on the landing. The local mills are full so it could take a few weeks to clear it all.
Replanting started last Wednesday  and should be all finnished by tomorrow.

[jph]

I  am  just back from a few days in the woods.
I met  our Forrester at Cefnpwll-hen to see how the newly planted trees are doing.
Unfortunatley alot of them are dying back, the ash are doing OK but alot of the oak  and other species
are dead or dying.
On close examination the Forrester found that they were being attacked   by a small weevel that was eating any new bark and leaves.
He has advised spraying each individual tree to control the weevil.  He thought the fact that we had used shelters round each tree had probably made  matters worse.
I hope to hear more as to the cost of spraying in the next few days. :'( :'( :'(


John

[SwampDonkey]

Weevils in the hardwoods? I wonder what species. Seedling debarking weevil maybe? Didn't know they were a problem in hardwood.

Always something: insects, deer, moose  : vandals. Just about like a kick in the guts.

[WDH]

John,

I hate to hear that you have insect problems with the oak seedlings.  Spraying individual trees will be tedious.

[WildDog]

Great country side John, thanks for sharing, hope you can clean up the weavils economically.