Forestry & British Timber articles from March 2002

Forestry & British Timber archives from March 2002

HOME-GROWN SOLUTIONS.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 4, 2002... It would appear that we here on page two are caught between that proverbial rock and a hard place. Offer some optimism, for example that grant-aided planting - albeit not in the commercially-viable sense (but then what is?) - is possible for...

Promising new year for APF/TGA merger.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... Following much preparatory work in December, the recently merged APF and TGA (as Association of Timber Growers and Forestry Professionals) got straight down to business in the New Year. First and foremost the `new representative body for...

Planting boost in Cumbria.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... For every tree that has been harvested, the Forestry Commission, as part of its long-term management plans for the north west, will plant three in its place. As a result, nearly half a million trees will be planted throughout Cumbria over the...

WoodFair set for another record breaker.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... With record numbers of visitors attending last year's WoodFair in East Sussex, the organisers of `the leading forestry management and wood- use' show are predicting even stronger demand from businesses for space this coming September. Last...

Plantation perfection.
March 4, 2002... Welcome back to the `Royal Show' woodlands and plantations competition! Cancelled last year on account of FMD, it has returned for 2002, spanning the counties of Hants, Glos, Wilts and the Isle of Wight, as did the planned 2001 event. ...

Welsh woods for all.
March 4, 2002... Just a few months into its life, `the most radical woodland-related grant programme ever run in Wales' - `Cydcoed - woods for all' - already boasts 130+ possible schemes in the pipeline. Currently making a major impact in the West Glamorgan...

From Cheviot to Chase.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... `This delivery marks a major milestone in our work to bring new community woodlands to the people of Thames Chase'. That was how Joe Watts, Forest Enterprise's project leader for the community forest east of London, described the arrival of 107...

Show goes private.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... A private company has taken the Chilterns Wood Fair* another step forward. In charge of planning this year's event at the Chilterns open- air museum at Chalfont St Giles, Bucks - over the June 1-4 Whitsun and Queen's Jubilee holiday weekend -...

Best practice practiced.(Building Research Establishment and Timber Research and Development Association )
March 4, 2002... A seminar on `Timber best practice - enhancing your performance' is being jointly hosted by the Building Research Establishment and Timber Research and Development Association on March 14. The event, postponed from December, takes place at...

Brighter outlook in Scotland.
March 4, 2002... Scotland's `tremendous potential' for fuelwood was enthusiastically expounded by at least one speaker at a Scottish Forest Industries Cluster (SFIC) seminar at New Lanark in January. Staged to highlight the market opportunity for wood as a...

Eoin Cox MBE - enterprise honoured.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... For the last 22 years, Eoin Cox has been working to enhance the potential of the Scottish Borders' timber resource. In tandem with the late Tim Stead MBE, he helped to establish the region's community woodland as the first of its type in...

Living history.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... The future's medieval for two woods near Silverstone, Northants. As part of its ancient woodland project (AWP), the Forestry Commission is re-creating 16th-century earthbank boundaries in Bucknall and Hazelborough woods which marked out areas...

Marches go to market.(Marches Woodland Initiative's online store)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... Craftsman-made hardwood doors, windows, flooring and framing are all now available on the Internet via the Marches Woodland Initiative's (MWI) `virtual timber yard' - www.mwi.org.uk `All the businesses we support', said MWI project officer...

Social awareness.(Northern Research Agency's Max Hislop speaks on government's social forestry policy, United Kingdom)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... This is not a good time in forestry - writes Don Kennedy - to lobby for more money for a new project. Both Forestry Commission and Forest Research (FR) funding have been generally reduced - except for social forestry which our rulers have...

Forexpo 2002 - meeting the challenge.(European forestry trade fair )(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... Coming some two and a half years after the storm which ruined a large part of the Aquitaine woodland, it is fitting that this year's Forexpo European forestry trade fair for silviculture and logging (June 5-6) will act as `a showcase for the...

Duddon develops.(Forestry Commission plants trees and shrubs in Lake District's Duddon Valley, England)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... The Forestry Commission is planting some 6000 native trees and shrubs on part of a 40-hectare area of rough fell land in the Lake District's Duddon Valley, near Broughton-in-Furness. Known as `Grassguards', the rest of the site will be left to...

Avon calling for greater forestry awareness.(Forest of Avon wants young people interested in forestry)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... `I strongly believe we should be educating, encouraging and enthusing young people to consider a career in forestry and land management'. Speaker is Mark Durk, director of The Forest of Avon. His comment is backed by the fact that the first day...

Waste not, want not.(recycling timbers)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... How to recycle preservative-treated timbers such as railway sleepers and telegraph poles is a challenge posed in a new funding initiative. Announced in January, it is one of the first of 21 research and development technology projects included...

Letter: Don't shoot the messenger!
March 4, 2002... From R.G. Hingley `Sir, I have read with interest the letters you have received from Messrs Yorke (Jan p9) and Chantler (Feb p14). In blaming Peter Chantler and the round timber industry for the decline of the UK's broadleaf woodland, Mr...

Letter: Response.
March 4, 2002... From Peter J. Chantler, `Sir, May I, in self-defence, be given the opportunity to respond to Mark Yorke's letter, in which he cites "the activities of certain timber buyers" as the root cause for the "steady decline" of the UK's broadleaf...

Letter: What about FORESTRY?
March 4, 2002... From Stephen Arnold `Sir, What a wonderful world we live in. Your editorial (Feb p2) says that there are grants for farmers for this and grants for farmers for that: grants for putting hedges back that they have already been paid to pull...

Single frame body.(UK Timber Frame Association formed)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... The UK Timber Frame Association has been officially launched following the merger of the Timber Frame Industry Association and Timber and Brick Information Council. The organisation has 120 members, including timber frame component...

EU may restrict CCA use.(European Union may make rules for preservative)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... The British Wood Preserving and Damp-proofing Association (BWPDA) is co- ordinating the UK timber industry response to a proposal for a new EU rule which would seriously curtail use of CCA preservative. According to one interpretation of...

New pallet business.(A&J Scott opens factory)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... Northumberland sawmiller A&J Scott has opened a softwood pallet and packaging factory and timber product sales outlet in North Shields. The new unit covers 8000ft2 and will eventually grow to 14000ft2. As well as producing timber packaging...

Decking dispute service.(Timber Decking Association)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... The Timber Decking Association is launching a dispute resolutions service. The organisation says that it will arbitrate between decking suppliers and consumers in the event of complaints. It maintains that the service is aimed at...

Focus on education.(UK Timber Frame Association)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... The new UK Timber Frame Association (see above) is making training and education a priority. The organisation, which formed from the merger of the Timber Frame Industry Association and the Timber and Brick Information Council, has...

Merchant/builder alliance.(Howarth Timber, Southdale (Homes) Ltd.)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... Merchant and distributor Howarth Timber has formed an informal collaborative partnership with housebuilder Southdale (Homes) Ltd. The arrangement involves co-operation to `foster good practice, improve quality, efficiency and project...

The view from the sharp end.(forestry at Woodwise Forestry)(Statistical Data Included)
March 4, 2002... In which our monthly contracting contributor Nick Hilton of Woodwise Forestry* flies round the M25 with Mick and mobile to tackle a very special job at Heathrow. Yesterday we at Woodwise finally finished a contract scrub clearing on the...

Bureaucrats' dreamworld - managers' nightmare? that's C&I.(criteria and indicators in forestry)(Statistical Data Included)
March 4, 2002... The number of `criteria and indicators' (C&I) schemes have soared in recent years. They are meant to guide and then monitor manager's attempts to carry out `sustainable forest management' (SFM). Unfortunately, the aims of the latter have often...

Prioritising: Rhododendron ponticum (L) control in woodlands -.(Statistical Data Included)
March 4, 2002... Woodland managers are often faced with the task of eradicating areas of invasive Rhododendron ponticum, but few consider the order in which bushes should be tackled. Colin Edwards, of the Forestry Commission's Forest Research Agency*,...

Growers - - join the club!(The Walnut Club)
March 4, 2002... The Walnut Club* has, by its first birthday, become well-rooted, firmly established and showing good signs of growth - just like the tree which it celebrates and has been formed to promote, as Suzanne Kelsey reports. The Walnut Club came...

Using Brash for Deer Fences.(RTS Ltd.'s novel approach to brash management)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... A novel approach to brash management is proposed by Perthshire-based woodland managers and consultants RTS Ltd*. With timber returns at depressing low levels and likely to remain that way for some years to come, the cost of restocking has...

Better blades benefit Balcas.(Balcas Timber Ltd.)
March 4, 2002... It's now more than a year since production started up at the #15m state- of-the-art sawmill built by Balcas Timber Ltd adjacent to its existing mills at Enniskillen. Playing a key role in ensuring the company maintains high volume, high quality...

Good case for timber handling.(Balcas Timber Ltd., timber products)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 4, 2002... While the hydraulic excavator is probably the most versatile machine in the construction industry, the Case* 1188P wheeled machine, recently supplied to Balcas Timber's Enniskillen sawmill is so specialised in application that it will never...

APF 2002 Diary.
March 4, 2002... APF Exhibition secretary Ian Millward continues his countdown to this year's forestry show of shows - APF 2002 at Lockerbie (Sept 25-28). Well time is marching on and we are only eight months away from the big event. We are taking...

A life of stump and grind.(Kingwell Holdings' Justin Kingwell describes timber industry)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... Justin Kingwell of Kingwell Holdings* who knows more about stumps and their removal than most and has single-handedly changed the face of land clearance, offers his unique perspective on a life spent armed to the teeth on the front line... ...

All colourful on the Carlton front.(Forest Stumps uses Carlton 2500-4)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... When David Goude and Tom Wesley left the army after long and distinguished careers they looked around for a job that they could do together and which would also be enjoyable. Seeing a gap in the market in their part of Norfolk they decided to...

Eight days in central London.(Practicality Brown Ltd. takes out 270 trees in London)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... Within a mere eight days last December, forestry and landscape clearance specialists Practicality Brown Ltd* (PBL) of Iver, Bucks completed a `no-burning' contract involving the taking out of 270 trees in London. The programme had been...

High-speed stump transfer.(Danequip offers stump-grinders)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... Two engine options come with Danequip's* new self-propelled pedestrian stump-grinder - 20 or 25hp Kohler V twin Command. Fitted as standard are electric start, low oil pressure shutdown and industrial air filter to extend engine life which...

More Samurai power.(advertisement)
March 4, 2002... Saxon's* Samurai riding brushcutter has been supersed by a new model with increased engine capacity. The SRM 850 (pictured) boasts an uprated 16hp engine which should add further to the company's claim that it will cut through anything....

Four new models from `the stumpcutter people'.(Rayco range of stumpcutters)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... UK and European dealers for the Rayco range of stumpcutters Westcon Equipment (UK) Ltd* are offering four new editions for the new season. Rayco, who offer `the most complete and comprehensive range in the world from 9hp - 275 hp, produce a...

Most powerful in Europe.(Ahwi UK Ltd. offers shredders, mulchers, and stumpgrinders)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... Ahwi UK Ltd* offer the full range of these mulchers, shredders and stumpgrinders in the UK. Mulchers are available for tractor mounting, fitting to excavator and crane booms or as a complete package with purpose-built carriers, either track- or...

Italian supermodels.(Lamberhurst distributes Berti and Seppi M range of mowers and mulchers)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... Lamberhurst* distribute the Berti range of mowing and mulching equipment and the Seppi M range of fixed hammer mulchers. The former are suitable for all applications involving grass, heather, bracken and gorse to lop and top and standing...

Extensive and versatile range.(FAE offers forestry mulchers)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... FAE produce the largest range of forestry mulchers with swinging hammer or fixed tooth version, according to John Stevens of distributor JPS & Sons*. `The range is huge with standard models FML, FMM plus UML, UMM and UMH', said John. `Add...

Puts weed to the blade.(Etesia offers Attila series of pedestrian brushcutters)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... Etesia's* Attila ride-on and pedestrian brushcutters are offering a cost-effective and less labour-intensive option to weed control. The latest addition to the Attila range is the narrow (85cm wide) AK85 which is ideal for inter-row work...

Husqvarna pros.(offers trimmers and brushcutters)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... `Like all Husqvarna* tools, its trimmers and brushcutters are built to do your job more efficiently, with less effort and in as short a time as possible', the company's Tim Coleridge told FBT. `All models are lightweight, strong and...

Resounding performance.(Countax Ltd. offers brushcutters)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... Since their addition to the range, the latest Echo heavy-duty brushcutters from Countax* are proving their worth in tough and demanding conditions. The Echo SRM4000 (43cc) and the SRM5000 (52cc) offer 2-stroke durability and high...

Stihl clearing the way.(introduces new products)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... With a comprehensive range of over 30 models, from lightweight grass trimmers, through hard-working brushcutters to low vibration, heavy- duty clearing saws, Stihl has much to offer when it comes to ground clearance. New additions to the...

`The magnificent seven'.(Kawasaki Commercial Products Group, range of brushcutters)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... Only four years on the power products scene, Kawasaki Commercial Products Group* already offer a seven-unit range of brushcutters `demonstrating a real commitment to the market. An immediate user- benefit has been achieved', it stated recently,...

Stump removal with ease.(GreenMech Ltd's new products)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... GreenMech Ltd*, known for its manufacture of professional woodchippers and green waste shredders has added to its stumpgrinding (StumpMaster) range with the new STM25-500. This complements the existing range and is powered by a 25hp Kohler...

The Future NOW!(advertisement)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... Pictured is the new `Future' muff/visor unit for brushcutter work, available from Severnside Safety Ltd.* Features: lightweight 3001 ear defender conforming to EN352-1; SNR (Single Number Rating - a simple guide to attenuation properties)...

Design update is buyer's chance.(Mercedes-Benz Unimog ATV range)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2002... This month (March), production of the traditional Mercedes-Benz Unimog ATV range will switch to a more modern design - models U300, U400 and the new U500. This means that the more traditional machines - from the compact U90 and U100 to the...