We are one of the few contractors in the UK to own and operate a specialised fleet of plant and machinery that enables us to fully mechanise tree and vegetation management.
Our investment in this advanced technology brings many benefits, including significantly improved efficiencies and increased delivery output. Mechanisation also increases team safety and reduces our environmental impact, making our operations more sustainable.
The larger eight-toothed European spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) is considered a serious pest on spruce and was first discovered in the UK in Kent, in 2018. If left uncontrolled, it poses a serious threat to Britain's forestry industry.
Following ongoing surveillance further findings of Ips typographus have since been confirmed, resulting in a demarcated area covering much of the south East of England. Within the demarcated area strict restrictions are in place that prevent the felling and movement of spruce wood, bark and branches without authorisation.
Work is now being carried out in an effort to eradicate this beetle by removing spruce from areas at risk of infestation.
We are currently undertaking the proactive removal of spruce from within the demarcated area for private and public landowners, before the trees become infected, or if the landowner has received a Statutory Plant Health Notice (SPHN), which can adversely affect the value and restrict the timing of the operation.
Having well-established relationships with the Forestry Commission, as well as agreements in place with authorised processors, we are able offer a complete service that covers the felling, extraction and marketing of your spruce, ensuring that you receive the best commercial return possible.
We can also help with grant applications to reclaim some of the costs involved in felling and restocking your woodland.
After taking some details in regards to your woodland we will arrange a site visit to appraise the standing timber and site constraints and hazards. We will also notify the Forestry Commision and arrange a Plant Health inspection to determine the presence (or absence of) of the beetle.
We have arrangements in place with a number of authorised processors situated within the demarcated area, allowing us to offer your timber to multiple buyers and outlets.
We will submit a formal valuation offer based on the findings of the site visit, as well as the quantity and quality of timber.
If the offer is accepted then we will prepare the site for temporary or permanent access to allow for efficient harvesting.
We work with the aim of optimising the value of your timber, and will cut a range of products, subject to timber quality, size, volume and any SPHN requirements.
As part of our service, we will handle the dispatch of all harvested material to the authorised processors.
Following harvesting operations we will prepare the site and select suitable species to achieve a thriving healthy woodland that is suited to the landscape, soils and our changing climate.
Our team can assist you in creating, planning, and managing your woodland's future, leaving behind a woodland that is fit for purpose, and for the benefit of future generations.
We are one of the few contractors in the UK to own and operate a specialised fleet of plant and machinery that enables us to fully mechanise tree and vegetation management.
Our investment in this advanced technology brings many benefits, including significantly improved efficiencies and increased delivery output. Mechanisation also increases team safety and reduces our environmental impact, making our operations more sustainable.
We are one of the few contractors in the UK to own and operate a specialised fleet of plant and machinery that enables us to fully mechanise tree and vegetation management.
Our investment in this advanced technology brings many benefits, including significantly improved efficiencies and increased delivery output. Mechanisation also increases team safety and reduces our environmental impact, making our operations more sustainable.
We operate a growing fleet of modern, heavy lift, long-reach Road Rail Vehicles (RRVs), along with a range of specialist attachments, including forestry-grade grapple saws, stump grinders, log grabs and flails.
We've also designed and fabricated our own bespoke hydraulic long-reach booms, allowing us to tackle hard-to-reach trees and vegetation.
As one of the leading forestry contractors in the South of the UK, COOMBES Forestry runs an extensive fleet of specialist forestry Harvesters, Forwarders, and tractors with multiple attachments.
These machines are designed to quickly and precisely harvest and remove vast amounts of timber and arisings, making them perfect for large-scale vegetation clearance.
We have taken the best civil excavators and converted the hydraulics, allowing us to fit them with fixed rotating grapple saws. This allows us to safely and accurately hold and dismantle trees. As a result of the design, we can also handle timber, load lorries, and feed a chipper quickly and efficiently.
Our Harvester-fed Bruks and remotely tracked Bandit whole tree chippers give us the capacity to process full-length trees and logs up to a diameter of 50cm for softwood and up to a maximum diameter of 40cm for hardwood. This high-capacity equipment allows us to work quickly and efficiently with larger volumes of timber and arisings that require chipping on-site.
We are one of the few contractors in the UK to own and operate a specialised fleet of plant and machinery that enables us to fully mechanise tree and vegetation management.
Our investment in this advanced technology brings many benefits, including significantly improved efficiencies and increased delivery output. Mechanisation also increases team safety and reduces our environmental impact, making our operations more sustainable.