Today's Posts

You can get a ferry from Chora Skafion to Agai Roumeli, which is at the end of the gorge. We've stayed there a couple of times, it's very pleasant. The number of people coming down the gorge and straight onto the ferry is astounding. They're nose to tail. I quite fancied walking it but after seeing that I'm not so keen. If I was to do it it'd have to be early in the morning or out of season.

Mine has a 14 inch bar which feels just about perfectly balanced for a 50ish cc saw. 20 inch is 70ish territory for me, especially with oak. I’ll cut pretty much up to 2 foot with it, which is ideal for 90% of the work I do. well done. The 261 is a powerful thing that seems to start well and is easy to work on.

my old man was a machine operator for a while and later prison officer, they were buying nice houses in their mid to late twenties on average incomes, you didnt need planning because there were affordable older houses with big gardens. Unlike today where building plots are .25 acre and the finished build with postage stamp lawn is half a million. So many relying on bank of mum and dad, because immigrants pushed up housing costs. House price to income in seventies and eighties probably averaged four times, its about 8 now

I'll let Mick do it. He's thinking of it too.

S-i-L has had several problems in a different business, he makes wooden garden buildings. He explains that the building requires a solid base or sub base and can provide them or the client can sort that BUT it must be level and straight and the correct size. People still have non - , level, straight or correct sized bases and expect doors and windows to open and close. This is pointed out verbally and in the small print but he still has problems with clients and has had to take down the building and either build the base or take away the building because they are idiots and think he's in the wrong. Not my business but I would close that door and if it was arb work I wouldn't take it on (not an arb but business is business).

I'd be keen to hear your feed back should you ever demo/buy one

Plenty sites here https://arbtalk.co.uk/recycling/?nearby=20&lat=51.312059&lon=0.032802&category=0&country=0&state=0&specialization=

I can't see it being an issue. Only if, by some unlikely coincidence, you decided to stack the recently felled limbs on the ground, next to one of your trees, in poor health, for several months. So hardly likely?

I had this quandary a while ago. Makita battery was the preferred option, ( I have lots of batteries ) but they weren't cheap for what you got, and didn't look value for money, to me at least. Toolstation/Screwfix offerings were considered next, either petrol or battery. Nothing leapt out at me, and reviews are mixed. So, once more I bit the bullet, and once more, after I had done so, a better option appeared. I got a Stihl 82 R with the heavy duty gearbox, and it's a beast, cuts through stuff you would think beyond it. I can't fault it, except for the one thing I can't get round- starting a petrol tool at the top of a ladder. Once I'd bought that, and also lots of AP batteries for my newly acquired battery chainsaw, Stihl decided to bring out a battery equivalent, the 140 R. Thanks Stihl. Sounds like neither option would suit you, hope you find something that does, good luck.

They'll put him out to pasture. He'll be unfit to stand trial on anything when the time comes. All the useful idiots who voted for "The Donald", handed America to JD Vance and his chums.

Ha! It was 10 regal king size, box of matches, and a pack of polos. Which clearly helped... 97p.

I'm getting there.

Because I'm only in it for the money , .I also turned down the chance to fly around the world with trant civil engineers doing airport surfaces ,but I didnt have enough info to make that a viable option either..hate to do it then get stung with a huge tax bill. If it doesn't pay enough I'm not interested to be honest . To be also straight -I'm not keen on Oz,new zealand, usa or Canada.

Inonotus hispidus?

Finally someone who can sharpen a saw properly!

Here are your opportunities to upgrade your approach to tree risk with VALID in 2025. https://validtreerisk.help/Tree-Risk-Training Because of demand from NZ, AU, and USA, it looks like we won't run more workshops in the UK until June 2026. VT = Validator Training VU = Validator Update

This question comes up frequently on social media, so we've put these resources together to help you. Risk Assessment Review https://validtreerisk.help/Tree-Risk-Assessment-Review Peter Gray's 2020 article in Arboriculture Australia's The Bark looks at the strengths and weaknesses of TRAQ, QTRA, and VALID. The post in the link addresses some points Peter raises about VALID. Western Springs Pines, Auckland, NZ https://validtreerisk.help/Western-Springs-Pines This high profile dispute ended up in the Environment Court. It's the only case we know where TRAQ, QTRA, and VALID risk assessments were carried out on the same trees. You can download the reports. If you want a geeky deep dive into what's going on with the wildly different risk ratings, have a look at Andrew Benson's report. Tasmanian Government QTRA to VALID https://validtreerisk.help/Tas-Gov-QTRA-to-VALID Tasmanian Department of State Growth (DSG) - State Roads has customised and adopted VALID's Government Tree Risk-Benefit Management Strategy. They did this after a Coroner's Inquest into Brendon Smith's tragic death when a tree fell on his ute whilst he was driving on a state road during a storm. When putting together the Strategy, DSG upgraded their approach to tree risk from QTRA to VALID. The head of the DSG's tree risk framework review asked us to put together a briefing note for the General Manager State Roads, to explain why they were moving from QTRA to VALID. We thought this note was confidential, but as DSG is a Government organisation, anyone can access it with Freedom of Information request. Several times people asked whether we could make it public because there is valuable technical information in it about tree risk assessment.

I hate the bastards . Get someone in with a night scope and a decent air rifle .

Wordle 1,529 6/6 ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟩⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Had to walk away twice. Heroic save (imo)

We are hosting a TRAQ Course delivered by Guy Watson - 2 days with a half day assessment, delivered in person in the beautiful setting of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh's Inverleith gardens. Arboricultural Association - Course Detail TREES.ORG.UK Professional training courses and workshops for Tree Surgeons, arborists and consultants. A wide range of Tree Surgeon Courses and Tree Surgeon Training available with either online...

a tripod ladder isn't essential - same as it isn't essential to change from using a family car to provide a hedge cutting service. A 12ft tripod goes inside the roof of a LWB Transit, or strapped on any pick up/ tipper. But a dedicated vehicle is a serious investment. Especially if you can't have an older one due to LEZ.

Hopefully makes the difference.. I got about 8miles from home and had to ring for a fire extinguisher as I thought it was going to burst in to flames !! Local Valtra mechanic said straight off it’s the brake servo.

Royalties can be paid directly to our PayPal account thanks. That applies to Mr WD40 too.

Love it! I’ve recently got a 79 series - will hopefully see me out! 😂