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The tree is only a problem if it is a risk. Or offensive to the eye. Otherwise it is and will incresingly be good habitat for bug and birds. A good topping mught leave it safe for a few years, but will accelerate its decline, even if it appears to reinvigrate it temporarily. It might then be possible to leave it to disintegrate slowly and safely. Might be an idea to plant a replacement (I suggest Claret Ash) behind it to get it established for the future.

I bought a fairly expensive battery jump pack (fairly large Noco one). Doesn't work. Smart shit is mostly shit.

Good post @kram. It's a bit like smart chargers for a car battery won't work if the battery is profoundly flat so you have to kickstart it with another good battery across the terminals. There is a good reason for this and that is the electrolyte in a lithium cobalt battery is flammable, if there is a fault in the circuit the charging current heats a cell up until it ignites the electrolyte. I recover batteries that have been left too long by opening them up and using a usb charger attaching it with small magnets one cell at a time.

Was the battery left outside or very cold by any chance? Maybe try bringing into the warmth for a while before charging.

Good chance this overpopulated islnd will not find food to import in the next 50 years

I was going to be a little more optimistic and say that we don't need to fight for more than three days. We'd run out of food after that.

I ordered (Karona) direct from Swazi NZ and it arrived in 4 days. I did get shafted with import tax though, which made it £40 more than the UK price!

we need to consider the unthinkable - build more shelters, get our people in secretly under cover of darkness, then launch a pre-emptive strike.

We would if it was about territory like in the Ukraine, but if it was about neutralising us then no, a few grenade launchers shot at a nuclear warhead will do next to nothing. And if we are defending alone against an actual invasion, we are pretty fcked anyway, with France and Germany probably already overrun and the US abandoning us. So rearming is all about defending others, which I believe we are doing with giving some things to the Ukraine - our kit, their people.

Is a skirt really suitable for tree work rich😆

there is a film out 'House of Dynamite' or something - a nuke is spotted in the Pacific coming for Chicago, multiple attempts to shoot it down fail. One actor has the line ' it's like trying to shoot a bullet with a bullet' we don't need to be able to fight more than 20 minutes if there's a real war next time

Thanks for info. I will try to take in what you suggested, electrics are not my thing but I'll have a go.

When i think back 21 year's ago when we had the twins I was knackered all the time as I had my son and the wife had my daughter in seperate bedrooms so they didn't keep waking each other up. Mr daughter had a cry like someone scrapped a blackboard with their nails, gives me the shivers now 😆

Assuming the battery has no warranty, batteries can usually be recovered. Lithium cells like to burn if not used properly so this takes some care. Do it in a fireproof, dry place. AP200 is a 20 cell, 10 series 2 parallel battery, 10x 2.5Ah cells in series to get 36v, two rows of 10 in parallel to get 5Ah. The first check is using a multimeter on the + and - tabs, what is the overall battery voltage? Chargers usually refuse to charge cells that have dropped below about 1.5v. With the battery opened up, the next check is how well it is balanced - check each pair and note it down. If any are below 1.5v they need to be charged slow, at 100mA or so. Buy a cheap RC charger - few go up to 10 cells so you will have to individually charge every pair, or you could charge 5 pairs at a time with balance leads. Once its recovered it should charge normally on the stihl charger.

blue Skys here then passing heavy showers, boys have a dead wood job in a sheltered woodland with coffee and warmth every 1.5 hours. needs must! I was a zombie yesterday but back feeling energised today.

Why not get the Swazi Karona? karona has the hi vis and skirt.

I’m tipping honey fungus. Something looked different though. I’ll check for the bootstraps

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Birthday Bruce Bonus.

No expert of course, but looks a lot like honey fungus. Previosly topped lombardies are usually rotten and hollow after a short while anyway.

Can anyone identify the species growing at the base of height reduced Lombardy Poplars please?

If you really want to make as sure as you can be that the decay is as bad as it looks find a consultant with some decay detection equipment such as a Resistograph or even better sonic tomography such as a Picus. The consultant can then write a tree report and recommend a course of action which may involve felling, or pollarding or retention of a spar for habitat, neither of which look "ugly" imho. From the photos you've posted it doesn't look great, but if you're willing to spend ~£500 for a detailed report you will have the best information available. The last thing you want is to condemn it only to find with the last few cuts that it was viable for a good few years more.

I have a Stihl MSA200c cordless chainsaw, was used 6 months ago and charged up fine no issues. Had a couple of jobs to do which required a cordless saw, battery showed no lights even though battery, a AP200, was left with approx 75% charge when put away. On connecting the charger (AL101) lights up solid green for 3 seconds or so then goes quickly to red, then al lights go out. The Stihl service info I've read does not mention this code situation. Any ideas? New batteries are horrendous cost so trying to recover this one. I have many saws so not stuck for an alternative but find this one very useful for jobs it's designed for. @mark-skyland?

It's normally in the track motor, the feed only goes to half the pistons in high speed, so doubling the rpm and halving the torque. The trouble with increasing the pump capacity is that everything downstream has to be capable of taking the extra flow, pipes, spools and motors, else the oil gets too hot. and of course the motor and spools have to be rated for the increased flow. I had this problem to deal with on a machine my predecessor had had built and he had just added an oil cooler which didn't solve anything really. I found the spool valves for tracking the Forst too coarse and sudden compared with the Jensen and Greenmech tracked machines but we had the first two tr6s I think.