The common denominator between experienced and learning is the starting point can potentially be the same.

I made an attempt to moved some oversized sequoia today and failed. Quite dramatically too.

I’m not comfortable in forcing a machine I’m unfamiliar with accompanied by ...a novice skill set.

Plan B - bring the mill to the sticks.

Failure isn’t the interesting part. The interesting part is documenting this and watching how people respond.

I’ve had such a great response from those with a huge amounts of experience - they are encouraging and sharing decades of knowledge.

Others are questioning why I’m documenting this in the first place and to be honest, I’m unsure too. I’ve failed at documenting various things on the farm, it’s just nice to have something to reference back on.

What’s been amazing is there are those that are cultivating the next generation of technical forestry.

There are also those who measure others against themselves.

I will likely make more mistakes.
I will continue asking questions.
I will most likely continue sharing both.

Forestry beyond those who only want to flirt with the academic side know it’s skilled, it’s challenging and knowledge has to travel further than the person who earned it in the first place. That is how things evolve.

The apprenticeship continues.

How do you measure progress?

To date I’ve roughly moved 30 tonnes of timber with the valmet. An experienced operator would’ve certainly moved more.

Faster.

With fewer mistakes.

That’s the difference experience makes.
Comparing myself to someone ...who’s spent decades behind these controls isn’t how I measure progress.

A few weeks ago, I didn’t know the controls.

Today, it felt more natural and familiar.

Every mistake is teaching me something.

Every load is building my confidence.

Every hour behind the controls brings me one step forward.

That’s enough for me.

The challenge isn’t over though…

We’ve just had some enormous sequoia stems delivered to the yard and they’re likely heavier than this crane was designed to lift in a conventional way.

I’ve got an idea.

Whether it’s a good one or not… we’ll find out this weekend.

The apprenticeship continues.

#forestry #valmet860 #sequoia #progress #learnbydoing

@nationalsawmillsuk

Lesson 5 : assumption.

I thought I had an idea of what the warning noise was trying to tell me. I’d filled my Valmet with diesel the day before, so I immediately ruled that out.

My mind went straight to hydraulic oil.

I’m plagued with leaks at the moment.

... Turns out… I’d simply run it dry.

It’s funny how assumption can replace curiosity. The machine doesn’t care what I think I know. It only responds to what true.

Thankfully, another lesson of humility as I’ve only just embarrassed myself.

I suspect it won’t be the last mistake.

If you’ve ever been convinced you knew that the problem was - only the discover it was something much simpler - I’d love to hear your story.

The apprenticeship continues.

#forestry #valmet860 #forwarder #forestrymachinery #britishforestry

@nationalsawmillsuk

Lesson 4 - Machines that teach countless apprentices.

It’s easy to look at a 30 year old Valmet and only see the wear.

Every scratch tells the story of someone who sat in that seat.

Some were experienced, some were complete beginners.
None of them climbed into ...that cab knowing everything.

Yet each individual contributed something to forestry.

Now it’s my turn to be taught by the valmet and it’s Kieran’s turn to be taught by the Peterson.

Kieran has invested in a Peterson swing blade to produce timber from his own woodland so he can build timber framed structures.

That’s more exciting than the sale. These skills don’t survive on their own. They are passed from one person to the next.

If we’re serious about producing more timber locally, we need more people willing to start where every forester once started: knowing a little and learning daily.

If you’d like to see a Peterson sawmill in action, meet existing owners and understand what’s possible with your own timber, join us at our Devon pop up demonstration on the 5th of September.

We’d love to see you there.

Nobody starts as an expert.

The apprenticeship continues…

@petersonsawmills @nationalsawmillsuk @twowaterstimber

#valmet860 #legacy #forestry #woodlandmanagement
#learnbydoing

Lesson 3: Stewardship

When I bought this 30 year old Valmet, I expected to spend my time searching for parts.

I didn’t expect to find people.

After struggling to locate an operators manual, John Wilson got in touch and pointed me towards Stephen Caldow and the team at... JAS P Wilson. Within 24 hours, printed manual and details of second hand parts were on their way.

To most, it’s just a manual.

To someone trying to restore a machine that’s spent 3 decades in the woods, that’s invaluable.

This was a reminder to me that stewardship isn’t only about managing woodlands.

Preservation of knowledge.
Sharing experiences.
Helping the next person solve a problem.

That’s how you keep old machines working, that’s how you keep an industry ticking along.

A genuine thank you to John, Stephen and the team as JAS P Wilson for taking the time to help.

If you’re interested in why restoring machinery like this matters to local timber production, have a look at the case studies on the National Sawmills website. They show what becomes possible when the right people, machinery and knowledge come together.

The apprenticeship continues…

#forestry #stewardship #forwarder #valmet860 #britishforestry

@nationalsawmillsuk @jaspwilson @petersonsawmills

Am I doing this wrong?
Most are here for the valmet but few notice the Peterson.
That’s exactly my point.

Every machine has a job in the farm. Together they create a system.

The exciting bit! - we’re giving someone the chance to win a Peterson JP portable sawmills ...through our raffle for only £5 per ticket!

Head to National sawmills bio and contact via the website so you can exclusively earn extra tickets with your email signup when the raffle goes live!

If you did spot me doing something wrong - drop it in the comments and let me know 😉

@nationalsawmillsuk @petersonsawmills

#farm #arborist #arboriculture #forestrymachinery #ruralbusiness

Time for you to win yourself a JP sawmill!

For those that guessed to make this happen, one person in particular got the correct number -

@spicolimate

It’s time to run the raffle!

Here’s how it will work -
Hosted by https://raffall.com/en independent ...of National sawmills & Peterson sawmills they will hold ticket sales.

If the number of ticket sales is not met 50% of the sales will go the winner.

5% of ticket sales will go to @mattscarvings to support his terrible yard fire via gofundme.

For extra tickets YOU NEED TO SIGN UP via the Peterson sawmills website. - https://petersonsawmills.com/contact-peterson-sawmills/

Head to the bottom of the page! That will exclusively notify you of the start of the raffle and also exclusive tickets with your ticket purchase!

To those that have participated already to make this happen are

@connor_deacon
@o.s.wooddesign
@raith_tyler_noon
@mesashomesteadalentejo
@the_ginger_wood_worker
@the_handlebarred_turner
@_heathenchemistry
@grounded_roots_galway
@jdethick
@1angust
@welsh_thomas__
@axe_man_dean
@mhortraining
@bikercymru
@jayodonoghue96
@cai_milsom
@hugo_britz262
@johnlamport
@lightball01
@phoebe.yellop
@mathew_bigwood1234
@maytw15
@farmerwra
@perry_trees

Facebook entries

Winny Winchester
Adam Penkala
Kerris Browne
Chris Browne
Jessica Nuthall
Nick Upstream
Josiah Sulc

@nationalsawmillsuk @petersonsawmills

Lesson 2.
A few days ago many of you helped me make a £15000 decision. Today I started finding out what I actually bought.

Pipes that lead to nowhere. More leaks on the crane.
Thirty years of modifications and honestly? It’s to be expected!

This machine probably cost... over £150,000 when it was new, it’s spent 3 decades doing exactly what it was built to do.

I’m not disappointed. I’m intrigued.

Repairs tell a story and modifications teach us something. I’ve decided I’m not just going to use this forwarder…

I’m going to restore her!

Not because I want a showroom machine, I want to understand every part before asking for another 30 years of hard work.

If you’re wondering why I’d invest this much time in an old machines, head over to national sawmills website and read our case studies. It shows what’s possible when you can extract and process timber where it actually grows.

The apprenticeship continues.

#valmet860 #woodlandmanagement #britishforestry #petersonsawmills #ruralbusiness

@nationalsawmillsuk

Fifteen years ago I started the practical side of arboriculture and forestry.

Ten years ago I bought my first sawmill.

With my valmet, I’m a student all over again.

Frustrating? Absolutely. Unexpected? Not at all.

I’ve realised that ever meaningful step in ...my career has started the same way. I admit I haven’t got all the answers but I’ve always had a willingness to learn.

Chainsaws taught me how to work with trees.
Sawmill taught me how to convert timber.
Now it’s time for the valmet 860 to teach me the next chapter.

If we’re serious about producing timber locally we need more than machinery.
We need people to become beginners again.

This is only lesson one.

#forestry #valmet860 #lessonstobelearned #timber #learningthehardway