Today's Posts

I always used Vcoil from Volkel helicoil taps, good value but decent quality. Those Chinese cheap ones are....cheap but not cheerful in my experience. You would need what is referred to as a "tapered tap" as the tapered part screws in to the remains of the tap and leads the main larger tap to ream and tap the hole to the larger size to take the new helicoil. You get one chance to get it right and the taper gives you a decent chance of getting the new thread pretty square with the old one. It is a bit of a skilled job, may be one for the local old fella engineer type that just gets on with it rather than tweeting about how great he is👍

That was a while ago, saw him playing with Squeeze at "The Stables" Wavendon a few years back and he...they were fantastic.

As Mark says, not as energy dense as a hard wood like oak, but it burns reasonably well - got some in the pile for this season, pretty good if you need to revive a fire that you have left too long without fuelling it. Worth taking if it is free, but I wouldn't pay top dollar for it. Splits reasonably but can have hundreds of side shoots that might slow you down a little.

What Paddy says, above ! Let us know what you decide to do? And please make sure you have a very functional tracker/insurance cover on your chipper (and anything else of reasonable value), that you might leave there, overnight... I've noticed that when I am weighing up/anticipate a bad outcome -and still do something anyway, I'm often positively surprised by the result ( reverse psychology+planning = works well ! ). It's actually making me wonder again, about mounting an advertising sign, on our own rural roadside gateway.. We do have the (minor) benefits of a heavy steel vehicle barrier, plus gates adorned with razor wire, in addition to other er, more transient security measures... 🤫

Hi all I’m just seen if anyone is running a ST8p with the Kubota petrol engine and what there views We are running at st6p 40hp at the moment and thinking of adding another petrol to the line up but would consider if running a st8d too Thanks Peter

Little update. The Willow is burning really hot (18 months seasoned) and is just as good as my Ash that im using. Although the Ash logs are smaller and not seasoned as long. So glad I kept it

Still no excuse for being late on parade though. Seem to remember a phrase that starts pot calling the………😂

Little update on the logs that may be Willow. They have been burning beautifully! Seasoned about 18 months and going great. Burning as hot as the ash logs in fact lol, my Ash logs are smaller though

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Ferret, stoat, same MO. Often they'll kill then just take a gland or some other offal that contains nutrients they need. Fox more likely to chow down on the muscle meat I reckon.

Trumps Christmas day message to his cult on Twatter, the traditional peace and harmony to all message from all other world leaders? Looking forward to the new year? Perhaps some kind of religious message from a religious man who flogs his own brand of bibles? No, it was this: "Merry Christmas to all, including the many Sleazebags who loved Jeffrey Epstein, gave him bundles of money, went to his Island, attended his parties, and thought he was the greatest guy on earth, only to ‘drop him like a dog’ when things got too HOT, falsely claimed they had nothing to do with him, didn’t know him, said he was a disgusting person, and then blame, of course, President Donald J. Trump, who was actually the only one who did drop Epstein, and long before it became fashionable to do so" Wonder if something is playing on his mind first thing Christmas morning? Lets break this down a little: Gave him bundles of money: Yup - if you remember the oversized check Trump was pictured giving him Attended his parties: Yup, see the many photos of them together at parties Thought he was the greatest guy on earth: Yup, they were best friends and the messages show they thought a lot of each other Only to ‘drop him like a dog’ when things got too HOT: Trump didn't 'drop him' for poaching staff but remained in contact for many years after and until his first stint at president.. when he was arrested for a second time for raping children Falsely claimed they had nothing to do with him: Yup... see the line above Sleeping well I wonder Mr Trump if this is your first thought on Christmas Morning, the day celebrated to spend with the family, and to celebrate your religious feelings.

Well they didn't get it right with the 150, half the chipper has to come apart to get the flywheel out and then the piddy bearings off!

Love to know the price of that

Thats mad... Robots quoting work against us now! Rise of the machines! That being said, an AI program to manage TPO applications wouldn't go a miss

Late Christmas presentsspalted beech with added wood worm

Not sure if this is the best place either, but honestly that sounds like a really solid service call. Hihi

Yes, true, though I will drive it in reverse for the most part which will limit that and can open the infeed to lower the weight on the drawbar. Jockey is due for replacement anyway so I might look at fatter model. The original one fell apart very quickly and the current one is a design that folds up as you wind it. Bit close to the truck and the winder has been hit a few times. I'm sceptical about the longevity of the control box given heat and vibrations.

Ridgeline soaks up the water in the outer material like a sponge. Have a had a Hoggs smock which was fairly decent but couldn't go all day.

the "jimi Hendrix" style of chainsaw operation, wait until he uses his teeth! and then lights it on fire.

Well first try of my initial foray into cider making. Not as dry as I thought it was going to be, maybe dry/medium, very drinkable.

Dogging in is getting birds back into your cover strip using a spaniel usually ( but not exclusively ) some time before you do the drive . In a nutshell cover strips should be on higher ground ( unless they are going to be blanked into higher ground before the drive comences ) Pens should be the oposite ground to the cover strips . ( birds will usually fly from cover back to the reliece pen they were reared in ) . Feeding can be by hoppers or you can hand feed by whistleing the bird and feeding on a straw ride . You want the feeders in the cover strips . This is very baisic . There are other subtlties .

petroleum coke is tempting and some smaller suppliers do sell it by the ton(around 400 euros) but the quality is debateable as is sulphur content... It's not the same as from big suppliers who actually make it in their own refinery like Rompetrol... Although at 8.7 to 9.8 Kwh per kg ,its more than enough for a small stove 😂 See for yourself Packaging is 13kg or 20 kg bags. Burn time (their statement/word) 10-12 hours... Better than coal briquettes, nevermind oak or wood briquettes...

Crank up the big diesel server, Steve. This bandwidth’s about to get busy.