new guy!!!!

[gav0994]

Hi Folks,

Not sure if this is the right place, but thought I'd introduce myself!!  I am based in Ayrshire, Scotland.  My main job is as a Train Driver, but on my days off I help out my neighbour cutting firewood.  We generally cut hardwoods such as Oak and beech.   We use a Honda Foreman 400 ATV with a trailer to haul the timber from the woods as access is very restricted!  I use 3 Husqvarna saws, 350 for the bigger stuff and a 141 and 137 for the lighter stuff! 

Looking forward to learning plenty from you guys and will hopefully share pics of my new ATV Logging trailer that I will be fabricating in the new year!

Thanks for now

Gav

[JV]

Gav

Welcome, lots of folks here from all over the world.  I would love to visit Scotland, from the pictures I have seen, it is a beautiful country.  Do you run passenger or freight?  Back in my younger days before they closed the division I worked on, I worked my way up to Train Dispatcher.  I would have been required to make a major move so I left after 22 years.  Turned out great though.  Looking forward to the pictures.  Again, welcome.

[mad murdock]

Welcome gav, nice bunch on here, lots of good info as well.  You will enjoy it.  I have learnt a lot, and I thought i knew it all already ;)  I guess the older I get, the more I realize how little I know ???  Looking forward to seeing pics of your trailer build, when you get er done.

[Magicman]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum Gav.  I look forward to seeing pictures of your firewood operation as well as your trailer fabrication.   

[islandlogger]

Welcome into the Forestry Forum family and world, it's a good place here to learn and observe!!
Scotland eh? That perked my interest, my wife is British and family circumstances required I move to England for just over 3 years until we got some things sorted out. While I was there I exhausted myself trying to find work in Englands Timber Industry such as it is. I found plenty of operations and more harvesting action then I anticipated, however, I was disgusted with all the loop holes and twists and turns I would have had to take to even just pick up a chain saw! The NPTC (National Proficiency Test Council) that is required to run a saw (Health and Safety standard) was at the time going to cost me aprox 1,000 pound British Sterling which when I first moved there the exchange rate was over double so would have been $2,000 U.S.D. Even though I had been a professional timber faller for over fifteen years I couldnt find a loop hole out of that one. And then to top it off I found that the pay rate for guys running saw was pretty much minimum wage. I found England does NOT pay well in the trades.
At any rate, in my search I often stumbled upon alot of Scottish Timber Ops that looked pretty cool, always wanted to head up there and just check it out, see if the crew would let a Yank hang with them for a day to observe....would have been fun but never got the chance, we still visit family in the UK from time to time so maybe some day I'll get up there and see how you Scots drop timber!!
Look forward to future posts and pics

Luck

islandlogger

[Bill Gaiche]

gav0994 welcome to the FF. Hope you enjoy your stay. bg