why he is in such demand.
Year round, he also carries out ground
preparation work using his Ford LB 1 10
wheeled digger. Peak work during June
and July revolves around silage production
and hay baling, but Thomas finds that it’s
during this period that he starts getting fully
involved in firewood sales and production.
From September onwards, firewood becomes
the focus, with production and delivery
ongoing until the end of the year, although he
still carries out some contracting work.
The fact that Thomas has all his chainsaw
certificates also means that he gets some
forestry related jobs on local estates, and
the local farm ring link service, tidying
up woodlands or small-scale felling. After
graduating from Writtle College with a
National Diploma in Agriculture (NDA),
agriculture has always been the main focus
but he also studied at the Forestry School
in Inverness in 1996, leaving with a Scottish
Vocational Qualification (SVQ) in Forestry.
It was here that his love affair with
Husqvarna chainsaws first started, when
he discovered the 25 4XP saw. “It was at
Highland Industrial Supplies in Inverness
that I first laid eyes on this model. There was
a pallet load of these saws for sale there,
I picked one up, and I was immediately
impressed. I bought one and started to use it
on odd jobs – 22 years later I am still using it.
It may be a bit heavy compared to the newer
saws, but I have found it extremely reliable
and robust; it is a great saw to work with. I
also have a 365 with a 22-inch bar for dealing
with big bits of wood, and a 435 which,
while it is a great lightweight saw for the
processing work I do, is not as robust as my
old faithful 25 4XP.”
I joined Thomas on a tour of his farm to see
how the firewood operation worked at first
hand. Thomas showed me the wood stack
underneath the tarpaulin covers, along with
the other stockpiles of wood in the yard. In
one corner stood the Massey Ferguson 6 480
tractor and the Botex timber trailer.
Thomas jumped into his Ford LB 1 10
wheeled digger, with pallet fork attachment
that allows wood to be moved from the log
stack to the log deck in a relatively quick and
cheap process. The cone splitter could be
seen attached to the back arm of the digger.
After filling the log deck, Thomas then
moved to fire up the P-registered Massey
Ferguson 8130 tractor, which he purchased
on a whim in Devon but which is still
going strong. It drives the Posch firewood
processor via the PTO. He was soon passing
wood from the deck through the processor
and up the chute, directly loading it into the
Ifor Williams trailer that was sitting next to
the processor attached to his Toyota pickup.
While Thomas is pleased with the
performance of the Posch processor, there
are some things that would help him process
30 MAY 20 18 FORESTRYJOURNAL.CO.UK
wood more efficiently. “I would love it if
the processor had a hydraulic adjustable
automatic log stop, as I find myself having to
stop regularly to adjust this by unscrewing
the bolts so I can move it to cope with the
different lengths of wood. For me, if the throat
input size could be made bigger on the same
model, maybe with a bigger circular or
indeed a chainsaw, that would help with the
bigger bits of wood we have up here. It would
also be great if the processor had space on
it for a tool box to save me having to keep
going to the tractor to get them.”
Thomas gets his blades sharpened at
Macgregor Industrial Supplies in Inverness.
Currently, a blade will last four to six months
before requiring sharpening, unless he hits
a nail or some wire. He also finds that belts
can slip or break if used aggressively or too
quickly, and he needs to be watchful of this.
Having worked with machinery all his
life, Thomas is able to carry out a lot of the
routine maintenance work on his various
pieces of kit and has the facilities on his farm
to do so. “With some of the costs that comewith repairs to machinery and tractors, I’ve
found that being able to do a lot myself keeps
the costs down and minimises down time. I
carry a wide array of spares!”
For the future, Thomas has been thinking
about kindling production, but the cost of a
machine capable of doing this would have to
be considered against the likely additional
income generated from it, although, as he
pointed out, a lot of kindling is currently
being imported, so there is certainly demand.
On the contracting side, he is considering
buying a hedge cutter to allow him to carry
out hedgecutting work for estates in the area.
Firewood production has given Thomas
another income stream to add to his
agricultural contracting work at Netherton
Farm. He is happy, for the moment, to keep
doing this. Given the location, right in the
heart of some of the biggest woodland areas
in Scotland, he doesn’t see the supply of
wood being an issue. He was honest enough
to say that, as he approaches his half-century
in life, in the coming years it could be his
body that determines the future of things!FIREWOOD
The log deck has made a big
difference to the firewood operation.Thomas with his Ifor
Williams trailer.