Taupotreeman

When you're willing someone to reply to your post just so you can post again. When you're telling everybody you know (and don't know) that your a member of an online arb forum.

What about an Arbtalk debt collection service? Bunch of hairy ass chainsaw wealding guys turning up on the doorstep en masse? You'd pay upwouldn't you?

17? Man it seems like a long time ago when I was 17. Yeesh. Welcome to the house of fun.

Depends if you're paying for it. If it's free then you'll burn almost everything and anything. Better to have something on your fire for free than to have to pay or have nowt eh? As for my faves? I like a mix. I like Cypress or Fir for kindling and to get a bit of go in the fire and then I throw the good stuff on. I have some old daddy Gum I cut down about a year ago and it's almost seasoned now. Burns hot and long. Some of the NZ natives are hot enough to melt fire grates. Willow I don't bother with and I never used to bother with Poplar either but a lot of people I talk to around here reckon they are happy to burn pop. It just doesn't last long. What's a bugger to split? Seasoned old daddy Gum. Even a hydraulic splitter won't bust apart the the knotty bits and if you can bust em open they explode. Had a mate of mine took a swing at a hunk with an axe and thought he was going to lose his teeth with the vibration.

Same as above. Use good quality oil and keep the filler area clean. Happens to me all the time.

I thought for just a moment that I'd stumbled across a Geoffrey Archer book review by mistake. I'll have to go back when I have time and read your stories properly. Nice to have something completely different on here

Sorry Terry, should have stated that the neutral screen core doesn't give you cart blanche to go grabbing conductors. It is a secondary protection only for those stupid enough not to adhere to the minimum approach distances. As I said, insulated should not be used to describe any conductor. That includes telephone wires too.

Nah didn't feel it bro. Was out with the dogs but didn't even feel a rumble. Must have been too deep. 150kms is a long way down so that probably helped. Reckon they're following your every move.

Yeesh, Adam, what are you doing Bro. No sooner do you look at moving to Auckland than they get their first earthquake in donkey's years then Taupo gets hit by a 6.5.

You might need to explain to me what exactly that is but Bivouac outdoors nz have a rope protector as do altitude and accessgear. Not sure what type you are after though.

Some utilities did run some testing on insulated conductors several years ago. Not sure how much further they went with it but at the time it consisted of leaving a felled tree across all three phases of a 11KV feeder to see how long it was before there was any noticable trickle or similar. This was a controlled experiment on a closed circuit. Today people assume because the conductor has black rubber or plastic around it it is insulated. This, as far as I am aware, is a myth. The black outer is just weatherproofing and nothing more. Further, if any line was fully insulated it only takes a pin prick hole to negate that insulation. As many lines have rubbed against trees then there is every likelihood that any outer would have been worn away. In NZ they do use what is known as neutral screen core. This means that between the outer layer and the inner, live, core there is a wrap of aluminum which is neutral. Should something cut through the wire the elctricity is immediately earthed through this wrap rather than through whatever has cut through it......if that makes sense.

If it's of any help consolation, I've seen Gums in worse condition than that bounce back. He might have to try a little harder.

Repairing of the wall could have been part of the compromise along with replanting of trees somewhere else. As I said, it's a compromise not a victory for one argument over another. What I mean is if the wall is that important then council could have said to the tree owner 'we'll grant you permission to remove the trees if you repair and maintain the wall and replant at your cost'. This then puts the emphasis back on the owner and he has to ask himself the question "do I want the trees out that badly?" There is of course the H&S issue that was raised earlier. Who pays if the trees cause the wall to crumble on to a passer by?

Killing the trees is completely the wrong way to go about it and I sure as hec don't condone that action. Not knowing the entire hsitory of the tree/wall battle it's hard to comment too much further but suffice to say that there are surely other ways around the issue? The council could surely have looked at other possibilites rather than a flat out no and, the owner could surely have gotten a couple of independant reports and advice on what to do. Armed with this an amicable compromise may have been reached. Some councils though do need to get off their perch as do a lot of the general public.

To be honest, and at the risk of causing an all out arb war, I think soemtimes we go a little over board in trying to preserve trees. Looking at these ones they are going to cause damage to walls footpaths etc in the short and long term. Would it not be easier, and better on the whole, to agree to let the guy remove the trees if he replants a certain number in a better spot either in a green space or somewhere else? This is often the case here where a tree can be removed (if it doesn't have great aesthetic or notable qualities) as long as the applicant agrees to replant some semi mature saplings somewhere more suitable. This whole tree removal process and the issues within it caused the government here to look at the whole resource consent process and then slackened it right off. This now means that trees have very little protection under the resource management act. If councils had played the game of give and take a little more from the start the resource management act may never have needed to be changed at all. I value trees but i sometimes wonder if we go just a little too far.

Which was there first, the wall or the tree?

One of the worst noises for my head when I'm trying to sleep is a barking dog that some ignorant git won't tell to shut up. Drives me bonkers.

I'm passing through on Saturday so I'll ask.

I think the steel will disappear once they are moved to their permanent location. They just seem to be supports while the things are weather treated and fireproofed.

Honestly don't know. He was there when I took the photos but he was busy hooking up a horse he had just finished which is in the lean too in front of the tractor. Next time I'm passing I'll ask him. Whatever the time and cost I reckon it would look much better and be way better value for money than some of these so called art sculptures I'm seeing pop all around the place (for extortionate money just quietly),

Wait until he does the Haast Eagle to take on this Moa. From what I hear the Moa is not that far short of scale.

Couple more deadwood sculptures. The third photo gives some idea of scale.

Sweet Peas? She likey likey.

Just a couple more. To be fair, the flower photos are the trouble and strife's so I better not claim them as my own. She has heaps of them if anyone likes them.

Nice pics Adam. Here's a couple the trouble took.