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MCW

Somebody's talking crap here & it ain't the tree!
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Sep 10, 2008
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Riverland, South Australia
I'll tell you this. The only guys that down the 7900, are the guys that haven't ran one.:cheers:
I agree 100%.

If was to pick any faults they would be;

1) Filtration a bit average but manageable - hopefully fixed with HD setup.
2) Chain tensioner "looks" a bit weak but haven't broken it so...
3) Spikes look pretty and generally work well but have a tendency to lose grip on really hard, dead wood.

Thats about it. Very smooth and powerful saws. It's amazing how many Australian guys under 50 years of age that use saws have never even heard of Dolmar as a brand.
 
tdi-rick

tdi-rick

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Nations Capital....seriously
[snip]
It's amazing how many Australian guys under 50 years of age that use saws have never even heard of Dolmar as a brand.

Good point, I think Dolmar had much more of a presence here pre Makita's ownership.

My mate that introduced me to the brand and has run them for over twenty five years is 60 now. (but still carries on as if he's 21 and single, but that's another story :laugh:)
 

MCW

Somebody's talking crap here & it ain't the tree!
Joined
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Messages
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Location
Riverland, South Australia
Good point, I think Dolmar had much more of a presence here pre Makita's ownership.

My mate that introduced me to the brand and has run them for over twenty five years is 60 now. (but still carries on as if he's 21 and single, but that's another story :laugh:)

I brought this point up at both of the chainsaw courses I did recently and when I said that Makita saws are German made and the same as my Dolmar they were all amazed.
They're used to relatively dodgey Chinese type tools from Makita.
Not one of them would have even associated Makita with German quality.
If I was running Makita marketing in Australia things would definately change.
 
blsnelling
Joined
Nov 8, 2006
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Franklin, OH
Yeah he was worried about being seen ordering one with the new HD setup after saying quite openly how ugly it was.
I can picture him continously telling everyone "Its not for me, honest. It isn't. Honest" :)

What are you guys talking about? I don't know anything about no stinkin' ugly 7900 with a HD filter setup;):hmm3grin2orange: I guess I could always put a bag over its head when using it, lol!
 
JJuday

JJuday

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Basically my job ends with getting them on the ground but the main aim is to kill them ASAP as they are sucking valuable moisture out of the orchards. These windbreaks haven't been irrigated for about 18 months but are still quite happy as their roots are into the orchard's Avocadoes, Citrus, and winegrapes.
The manager was spraying the stumps behind me with Glyphosate to limit regrowth and in the future they'll probably push the stumps out with a dozer.
Today was basically a trial to determine the viability of felling these trees with a chainsaw as the mechanical harvester owner from the Adelaide hills said he can drop 80 trees an hour for $240/hour. The chainsaw guys who said they could do 30 trees an hour for $60/hour were from the same company.
Had to be pretty careful as there are a lot of fruit pickers burning around that can't speak, and don't understand English. I had to have eyes in the back of my head although I didn't have any come near me.

Nice job! You just made quite the hardwood graveyard and stumps for gravestones! I take it you mean Aborigines? I hate Sticky fingered people. Nice pics! JJ
 

MCW

Somebody's talking crap here & it ain't the tree!
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Is Meth as big a problem in OZ as it is in the U.S.?

Generally our backpackers from overseas are pretty good. They're not wanting to stay long term and are more often than not just young couples on a working holiday. Every now and then you do get one that is just a downright criminal - it shows up pretty quick in small towns like ours (7000 odd people) and the police are onto them pretty smartly.
I don't think drugs are as big of a problem in Australia as it may be in the US and the hard stuff like Meth seems to be a larger problem in our cities. There is a fair bit of Marijuana getting around in the country though and would be one of the biggest mental health concerns in our area. My cousin and sister-in-law both work in different country regions with the Mental Health System and both say that marijuana is the biggest issue in regard to Schizophrenia and depression.
 
kevin j

kevin j

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I think he said they were too big for the harverstors so he got the job.
So it is one of the rare times when the man with skill can do what the machine can't. Like a climbing artists vs. the bucket truck trimmers. Production per dollar, buckets all the way. Watching a climb job is seeing art and skill, but drives the accountants batty.

I'm not downplaying technology or mechanization. The john henry story/poem was someone doomed to fail against mechanization, but gave his bet shot.
After the toll on the body from doing this with saw, yeah there is great reason for harvestors.

I just find it nice to see a man using his experience and skill to beat the big boys and big toys, especially on a big corporate plantation. There is something 'david and goliath' about that and I like to see the little guys succeed.
 
AUSSIE1

AUSSIE1

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Yeah I agree, Matt has done a great job.
Like he says, he's made a good dollar and he's thinking long term (good thinking).
By harvester, the job would be done very quickly.
By the photo's, there doesn't seem to be alot oversize for a 22" harvester.
Even if there was say 10%, the machine would be way out front.
If I was the owner of the property, I would not hesitate to contract Matt.
Trying to get the gist of what the Logging contractor was thinking makes me think he was pricing accordingly to justify the job.
30 trees an hour for supposedly experienced operators?
I guess he has greater overheads than Matt.
You don't see many larger companies take on small jobs like this unless it's worth their while.
Congtrats to Matt for a great job.
 
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MCW

Somebody's talking crap here & it ain't the tree!
Joined
Sep 10, 2008
Messages
13,351
Location
Riverland, South Australia
Yeah I agree, Matt has done a great job.
Like he says, he's made a good dollar and he's thinking long term (good thinking).
By harvester, the job would be done very quickly.
By the photo's, there doesn't seem to be alot oversize for a 22" harvester.
Even if there was say 10%, the machine would be way out front.
If I was the owner of the property, I would not hesitate to contract Matt.
Trying to get the gist of what the Logging contractor was thinking makes me think he was pricing accordingly to justify the job.
30 trees an hour for supposedly experienced operators?
I guess he has greater overheads than Matt.
You don't see many larger companies take on small jobs like this unless it's worth their while.
Congtrats to Matt for a great job.

Thanks for talking me up mate ;)
It basically all came down to cost. The harvester was AUD$240 an hour plus AUD$1400 to get it there. The harvester came with the saw guys, the saw guys came with the harvester. It was all of them or nothing so therefore a total of AUD$360 an hour for an estimated 140 trees an hour. In between many of the trees that I'm dropping there are PVC irrigation valves which the property manager was worried about (I had a tree roll when it landed and snap a 2" bleed valve off buggar it!).
I also used to work there in the mid '90s so know the guys too which also helped.
I'll get some photos of some of the bigger trees this weekend and may even drop a couple as well if not too windy.
Aussie old son, do buttress type roots upset harvesters? The Casuarinas on the property aren't technically "buttress" type but do have some interesting trunk shapes. Not sure how well the heads clamp on when the trees are out of round?
I'm with you still on this one though, there's something not right about the way this guy quoted - myself versus his chainsaw guys fair enough, but 80 trees an hour in relatively easy conditions never made sense to me for a harvester. I have a funny feeling that the guy and his team may be short of work and downplayed the speed at which they could drop trees to drag it out and make more money. Big call on my part but...
Made me look good though :)
There is probably another 10,000 trees to go on this property alone, maybe more?
 
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