Quickthorn

It does seem that diesels are being demonised. Other things about petrol engines that the press don't touch upon include: petrol vapour is explosive, so there are the added hazards during handling and in RTAs; doesn't petrol contain benzene as an anti-knock agent to replace lead? That's carcinogenic, and appears in emissions, plus anyone handling the fuel is exposed; don't petrol engines emit more hydrocarbons than an equivalent diesel? I think they are linked to cancer, greenhouse effect and photo-chemical smog. Combining with carbon monoxide can produce ozone, which has similar effects to NOx (the pollutant that diesel engines get slated for); petrol engines emit more carbon monoxide, which is highly toxic. The cats that are fitted to convert this to carbon dioxide don't work until they are warmed up, which can take 10-15 minutes (they might never be effective on a short journey); although this wouldn't be captured in car tests, petrol evaporates much more readily than diesel, which puts hydrocarbons into the atmosphere. I'm actually thinking about buying a new car to commute into a city centre (looking at a diesel Skoda Fabia). Even though I only need a small car, I'd normally pick a diesel, but I'm having second thoughts now. It's not the emissions I'm worried about, it's more the turning in sentiment against diesels and the risk of future financial penalties aimed at diesel engines, and I'd be concerned in particular about initiatives from local politicians trying to boost their green credentials.

It was an auction, and 7 people joined in to get it to that price. I'd assume at least one was happy to pay the end price, so not ridiculous for him/her.

Same here. A licence is something that's handed out by some sort of authority to give you permission to do something you wouldn't be allowed to do otherwise (like a driving licence or felling licence). Neither NPTC or LANTRA have any authority over anything, as far as I know, so calling a CoC a "licence" is a bit sly, IMO.

Are they seriously calling CoCs "Licences to practice" now?

I've got some ash boards I milled a few years ago. They've been stickered and stacked outside under cover since they were milled. There are 10-12, and dimensions are typically 2" x 6-8" x 8-10 ft. There's a mixture, with some waney edged boards, and a few quarter sawn. Any ideas what the going rate would be? Thanks.

I'd like to know about this. Can someone post a link showing that we need a refresher course every 3 years? Woody, I'd suggest a course would be the best way to go, although it's not compulsory. The assessment schedules for the NPTC qualifications are here, and these tell you exactly what the assessments will consist of. As far as training goes, have you been in touch with your local greenkeepers' or groundsman's associations? You might be able to get in on the back of a course running nearby. These links might help: BIGGA IOG GTC

Half an inch here in North Notts., but due more later today. Anyone know what it's like Mansfield area?

Here is the guidance from HMRC Use of home From my reading of it, there is no fixed figure you can claim. You work out the cost of the space and the fraction of that cost you can attribute to business use. They've got some examples there. If you're using part of your property exclusively for business (especially if you've adapted it for that), there is the danger that the local authority will want business rates. I don't know if that's ever happened, though.

Yes, I'd agree with that. I think Leicester and Warwickshire patterns are similar. I just use a Morris Yorkshire for everything. A lot of people find these too heavy for single handed use, but I find the weight works for me. I've got a few older single handed ones of unknown make, but they don't seem to hold an edge that well. I'd never buy a Bulldog billhook, if they're still like the ones I've used in the past. They're not forged, but stamped out of plate steel. Once you've ground or filed them back to be useable, they never seem to hold an edge.

You might be able to treat the whole thing as Annual Investment Allowance. I think the limit is £25,000 at the moment. That means that the whole £5.5k could be offset against profits. I'm sure your brother's accountant will explain it better than I can.

That boat set sail 3 or 4 years ago. Sorry...

Well done. translated in to brit weights, you lost 4 stone 4 lb. That's a lot. Have you got a plan for keeping it off?

If it's as good as the one I've got, go for it. Mine still keeps my tea hot after over 15 years of service (and it got driven over by a 3.5 ton truck and survived). I just hope they haven't wrecked the quality by outsourcing them to China.

And they have possibly broken a local law, which prohibits broadcasting private conversations

That's quite an interesting comment. Rather than blame individual immigrants, or slate fellow workers, I've always been more interested in the UK Government's role in all of this. Before the 2007 crash, Government pretty much encouraged immigration from areas with lower wage costs. In a boom time, as it was at that time, the extra demand for labour would normally cause wages to rise, but this influx of cheap labour kept wages down (and corporate profits up, of course). In 2006, Jobcentre plus, in partnership with the Polish employment services, actually ran a jobs fair in Warsaw. Warsaw-job-centre-plus-job-fair I'm pretty sure that was at a time when we had our own unemployed, but rather than train those up, it was more profitable to rob another country of their workers. It's not that the UK government had no choice in this, either. At the time, only 3 EU member states out of 15 allowed uncontrolled immigration, and one of them was the UK. The other EU members held out and restricted immigration until 2011, when EU law compelled them to open their doors. Ok, so immigration has kept wages down for the benefit of companies who'd employ them, but to engineer this situation has been pretty reckless in my view. First of all, we've got the obvious social tensions. Secondly, East Europeans tend to export as much of their wages as they can, so that money never gets recycled into our own economy, whereas it would have if locals had done those jobs (There's also the issue of even more money being exported from our benefits system: as EU citizens, they're entitled to have a crack at whatever benefits are available to UK citizens). Thirdly, there's the issue of one of the richest nations in the EU siphoning off the brightest and most highly motivated workers from one of the poorer EU nations. A lot of the Poles that have come over here to cut cabbages etc would have been teachers, doctors, dentists back home, and this has caused a real skills shortage there. It's a shame that the debate so often boils down to the "foreigners pinching our jobs" vs "lazy Brits" cliches. A lot of this is misleading or untrue spin, but it serves its purpose; while we're all squabbling amongst ourselves, no-one sees the bigger picture.

I agree with this entirely. If they're like the "talent" we have over here, I'd guess that those DJs wouldn't have thought about anything else other than how clever they would look if they'd pulled their stunt off. Having said that, celebrities like these are often a tad narcissistic, and so I wouldn't expect a lot of them to think of anyone other than themselves. The real failing here is of their management and legal team: the fact that they reviewed this after the event and then still decided it was fit to broadcast (without the permission of the hospital staff or anyone else involved) is unforgivable, as far as I'm concerned. According to the reports I saw, that prank managed to get hold of confidential medical data of a patient at that hospital by deception, and they then broadcast parts or all of it. Of course the police would get involved, even if it's only to find out whether there's a crime there and whether there's a case to prosecute.

On the last two questions: It's a legal requirement in the UK (and the EU I believe) that anyone in a work situation should be trained and competent to use any equipment. We also have an Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) to these regulations that mentions chainsaws specifically, stating that operators should hold a certificate of competence before they start work (with some exceptions). Stavros' link doesn't seem to work so here is a list of NPTC assessment schedules for chainsaws: c&G Forestry and Arboriculture Level 2. CS0960 and CS0961 would be the very minimum, I'd think, and it might be worth you looking at the last one in particular:CS31 Fell & Process Small trees . Those schedules would be what a candidate would be assessed on. I'm sure there must be an assessor on here that can give an idea of how many pass or fail, but I'd guess 15-20% of candidates would fail on their first attempt. Personally, I much prefer a system where some sort of formal training and assessment is compulsory (although whether or not it's got out of hand here is another matter). It may seem bureaucratic, but the reason we've got to where we are is that, under the old way of learning informally and through experience, too many people were being killed or seriously injured early on in their career because they made mistakes that would nowadays be seen as elementary.

If you paid by credit card, you might get the money back from them. Paypal are also good like this, if that's an option.

Yea, I think the feller got £5,000. Last I heard, the house owner was fined £75,000 for the TPO breach, plus a further £50,000 to allow for the increase in value of his house, plus £14,500 in costs, so getting on for £140,000 in total. Probably a drop in the ocean for someone like that. I'll bet the £5 grand fine on the tree feller will hurt more. I can never get used to how greedy and selfish some people in this country can be when it comes to property..

This just in.. A property owner hired a contractor to fell his neighbour's tree, which had a TPO on it, so he could enjoy a better sea view from his hot tub BBC News - Poole tree fell sea view trial: Neighbour found guilty The pair have been found guilty - I've just heard on the radio that the property owner has had a record fine imposed on him - something like £75,000 plus an allowance to cover how much his property gained in value.

I've hired a number of these. They're pretty solid, but there were a few issues: The rollers on the chippers I hired were poor at dragging in anything bushy, like big thorn. They tended to scrape the bark off, but wouldn't bite in to the wood beneath. It might be that the rollers on these hire chippers are worn; maybe newer versions work ok There's some sort of lock on one side of the stop bar. When the bar is pushed to stop the rollers, this lock drops in, so if you want to restart, you have to hold the locking lever in and pull the bar out. Very annoying if you're feeding awkward stuff and you're having to work from the other side to the lock.

I think you did the right thing by sacking him. I never employed anyone who blatently took drugs on site, but worked with a few in one company. The worst one was their star climber, who seemed to have to skin up every time there was any chance of being bored with the work (eg hedge cutting rather than climbing). The boss knew, but this climber was fast (albeit pretty reckless), and make the firm plenty of money.

Definitely agree. I used to do a lot of this when I did run, but this wasnearly 20 years ago . Varying the distance/times sprinting helps as well. The other one was hill training. where you belted uphill as fast as possible, then jogged/staggered down.

Thanks for the replies Yes, this is the advice he's been given. The solenoid clicks when you start, but I'm not sure whether it's moving any distance. Any ideas how the solenoid comes out? He's tried turning it, assuming it's screwed in, but it just spins without unscrewing. I can't see any obvious bolts or clamps. Yes, the electric fuel (lift) pump ticks when the ignition is on, and it delivers clean diesel ok.

the link doesn't work for me. Can you repost, or tell us what it is you're linking to?