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

Time to be an apprentice again!
A few days ago I asked if it was sensible (under no illusion that it was mainly a rhetorical question) to buy a 30 year old forestry forwarder.

Here it is!

Most people see an old machine, I see another piece of the puzzle.

Forestry ...doesn’t begin and end with a sawmill. Before a tree can become usable timber, someone has to access it, extract it responsibly and move with without destroying the woodland beneath.

That’s exactly what this valmet 860 was built to do.

It now sits alongside our Peterson portable sawmill, giving us the ability to extract and convert timber as close to the source as possible.

I’m under no illusion, I have plenty to learn.

So if you’ve ever wanted to see what it’s like learning to operate a forestry forwarder, you’re in the right place.

What would you like to see first? Crane, the cab, or its first load of timber?

#valmet860 #forestry #lowimpactforestry #timber #oldschoolmachines

A farm was never meant to survive on one enterprise.

We’re going to put that to the test.

🐷 Two mangalitsa gilts due to farrow.
If someone guesses the total of number of piglets, Peterson and I will launch a competition to win a JP sawmill.

The competition ...will be hosted independently through Raffall, with full terms published before entries open.

Now the important part -
I’ve chosen a total of 6 piglets. So you can’t pick 6.

👇comment your guess for the total number of piglets from both girls combined.

One guess per person.

Let’s see if the house wins!

#farming #forestry #agroforestry #resilience

@nationalsawmillsuk @petersonsawmills

A reflection of today is slight embarrassment mixed with joy. We’ve typically brought 20’ shipping containers into the UK and we’ve secured our first 40’ container.

My milestone this year was 16 additional people producing timber for themselves and their communities and that goal ...is becoming likely.

Year on year we will aim to make sure that local timber is no longer an afterthought.

#timber #localsupply #localtimber #ukforestry

£15,000 later we now have a forestry forwarder.
Designed to access difficult spaces and used widely within the forestry industry on the continent.

This machine was nestled in a disused train station surrounded in trees.

Now let’s talk about the beechings report - ...accessing markets is the difference between a dream and reality but historically quite a lot of the logistical infrastructure was removed in 1963. It made our production ability reliant on our road infrastructure and it also locked pockets of land out of market therefore now no longer in management.

Trees need management in order to thrive and timber producers need markets in order to plant more trees.

The removal of this lifeline propelled centralised systems.

I could write a thesis about this. If you want to read more on my findings the visit the national sawmills website.

Otherwise just go ahead and enjoy a complete novice learn how to operate a 30 year old piece of machinery with the interest of combining it with a new sawmill.

@nationalsawmillsuk @petersonsawmills

#forestryforwarder #valmet860 #valmet #forestry #forestryequipment