A Hookeroon? By Jove Sir, I think I will.

There is a very substantial amount of timber lying on the forest floor within a few miles of Bridge of Balgie, Glenlyon. This timber was "felled to waste" or "felled to recycle" in Commissionese from about 1995 to 2005, as part of a special management grant to (amongst other things) improve the woodlands. There not being a lot of local interest in it as a firewood and it not being all that easy to extract, most of it is still lying there. I have carried out some moisture content (MC) measurements and at mostly between 30 to 40 % MC its well on its way to being dry enough for burning.

 This timber could perhaps provide enough fuelwood for the first years needs if people in the glen were to begin converting to wood-fuelled boilers. This could be a major advantage in getting the scheme off the ground, certainly in comparison to saying to potential woodfuel users " Ok you'll need 10 tons of chips for your boiler this year", we'll go and fell (or ringbark) the trees and get them drying, should have something for you this time next year".
To be able to use this timber, I need to work out the best way to extract it. I also need to work out approximately how much timber there is. One way to extract it is by using a forwarder, however a forwarders grab can only reach so far into the woods and as various forest sages have observed to me, the way the woods have been thinned does not lend itself to forwarder extraction.

                              A forwarder in action

Forwarders are expensive to hire and I do not want to waste time and money while the operator grubs about for logs. If however I could move the logs to within reach of the grab, we could probably extract them to the roadside pretty efficiently. The thing is moving logs by hand is not a good thing to do, its' slow, it can be dangerous and it hurts your back. I was discussing the matter with Bernd and he mentioned that in the Alps people, fairly effortlessly drag big logs about the place using a purpose made tool.

Intrigued I did some research and can now present to you - The Hookeroon.

This is a light hookeroon in the Tyrolean style and has an incredibly sharp point on it. You swing the point into the log you want to move and just start walking with it. I have been very surprised at how effective it is during my limited trials of it.

 In this picture it is being used by my helper Iain Visiblemann.

At Forestry School we were taught to move timber with Log Tongs and Pulphooks. The hookeroon leaves them standing, although to be fair they do have slightly different uses, being as much for lifting as for dragging

     The newest looking log tongs I have ever seen.
I will be looking for someone to assist me in carrying out some trials with the Hookeroon and tongs if anyone is interested (payment will be provided). 
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