I get the same question every November, usually from someone’s wife or daughter standing at a show stand looking slightly lost.
“He’s out cutting timber every winter and I haven’t a notion what to get him.”
Fifteen years of making this equipment in County Meath and talking to the people who use it, so I have a fair idea by now what lands and what ends up in the back of the shed. This is what I tell them.
Why nobody gets this right
Have a look at any of the Christmas gift lists for farmers that go around every December. Boots, headphones, a hamper, a pen knife. All grand things, and none of them any use to the person who will be out in a yard with a chainsaw in January.
The lists are written by people who do not cut timber. That is the whole problem.
What actually works as a present for somebody who cuts their own firewood is anything that saves them their back, their time, or having to wait on a second pair of hands before they can start.
That last one comes up more than anything else. When a customer tells me the Timber Croc changed how he works, he is nearly never talking about the machine. He is talking about not having to ask anyone.
One fellow in Mayo was gifted one last Christmas. Nearly a year on he is still out cutting with it, which is a longer innings than most presents manage.
What to buy, depending on how much they cut
If they cut a bit of kindling and the odd round
Start with a log holder.
It holds the timber steady at cutting height so one person can work away on their own. Nobody holding the far end, no cutting on the ground, no bending double for an afternoon.
Ours has patented independent self adjusting teeth, which is a technical way of saying the grip closes around whatever you put into it. It takes anything from one inch up to eleven and a half inches across, so pallet slats and a proper round both sit in the same setup with nothing to change between cuts.
That range matters more than it sounds. Most saw horses handle the handy middle sizes and let you down at either end, which is how people end up with a heap of awkward timber in the corner of the yard until next year.
If they have a tractor
The three point mounted log holder goes straight on the back on Category 1 or Category 2 linkage.
The timber comes to them rather than the other way round. For anyone clearing a ditch or working through a fallen tree at the far end of a field, that is the difference between one job and three.
If they cut a winter’s worth every year
The logging trailer is the one that changes how the whole day runs.
The log holder mounts on it, so they cut where the timber sits and the pieces drop straight in behind them. No barrowing it across the yard after, no second trip.
The frame is galvanised rather than painted. For anyone who has watched a painted trailer go orange over two Irish winters, that is the detail worth knowing.
If they are shifting timber as much as cutting it
The electric dumper is the newest thing we make. Battery powered, tracked rather than wheeled, and it goes where a barrow will not.
How to buy this stuff for somebody else without getting it wrong
You don't need to know what chainsaw they have. None of it is chainsaw specific.
You don't need to measure anything. The log holder adjusts itself to whatever goes in.
Have a look at what is already in the yard. If they have a horse of some sort and their back is at them, the trailer or the three point mount is the step up. If they are still cutting on the ground, start with the log holder.
Buy it once. Everything we make is covered by a lifetime warranty rather than the usual two years. That is the whole argument against buying the cheap one twice.
Getting it here in time
Delivery is free within Ireland and NI, and we ship to the UK and Europe.
The trailers are the ones to order early. Get that in before mid November to be sure of having it.
There is more room on the log holders and saw horses, though the same thing happens every year. The last fortnight is the busiest, and nobody enjoys tracking a parcel on the 23rd.
Questions I get asked
Can one person use a log holder on their own?
Yes. That is the whole design. It holds the log securely at cutting height so there is no need for anyone on the other end.
What size timber does it take?
One inch up to eleven and a half inches in diameter, all in the same grip.
Will it rust if it is left out?
The frames are galvanised on our galvanised log holder, so they are made to live outdoors. No shed needed and no touching up every spring.
Is it any use on a smallholding rather than a farm?
Plenty of our customers are smallholders doing their own firewood rather than working at scale.
Does it need a tractor?
Only the three point mounted version. The standalone log holder works anywhere on its own.
Where is it made?
Grange, Enfield, Co. Meath. We have been at it fifteen years.
Have a look at the full range at timbercroc.com. Made in Ireland, lifetime warranty.
