Mark Bolam
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Everything posted by Mark Bolam
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Joking aside mate. you seem to have it sussed. Pretty sure it was Tom D on here who quoted that diesel was cheaper than sweat.
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I wasn’t sure about you at first Mick, but I’ve been on Arbtalk since the early days, and that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me. Your confidence in my continued success gives me hope.
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Gays. I will climb until I die.
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With grab, bucket and forks?
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That would be a great price for that machine.
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Judging by the amount of machinery and tool thefts recently I’d guess they’re fairly low.
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Rated at 350kg I think, I was looking at them before I went for the WQ because of the narrow access. And because someone (possibly you Reuben!) warned me that, because I’m basically idle, I would suffer from ‘arse stuck to the seat’ syndrome.
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@Gray git will be too far north for you Ben, but may know of someone closer.
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I’m in France at the minute Dan. Trying to avoid Mick’s departement in case he insists we do lunch.
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Too far for you @doobin?
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Thanks for having the courage to post all this. We can all learn something from this I’m sure. The pictures are horrific, but the progress you have made is fantastic. Best of luck with the ongoing recovery, and for the future in general!
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Ridiculous decision Mick. What were they thinking of?
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Indeed they were. All thanks to that idiot Gordon Jackson.
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Best engine size and bar length for all round use
Mark Bolam replied to Elliott.F's topic in Chainsaws
Pretty much what I use, but the bigger saw is a 660 with a 25. 550 wherever possible though, it’s so light and snappy. If we’re into a lot of heavier stuff the 500 and 462 get through a fair bit of work, running 20”. -
Grindr is pretty good.
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The ramblings of a drunken man turn out to be one of the most accurate posts on here. The sad reality is that even if we bend over backwards and become completely eco friendly, green, carbon neutral vegans it won’t make any difference because the Chinese, Indians, Yanks and Russians don’t give a shit.
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You can cut to length pretty accurately by eye if you do plenty of it. I mainly do my own arb timber, so it’s more important to cut so it will split as easy as possible, which often means short rings round knots, bends and unions. I think a digger and grab is great, but it does tie up expensive kit and another body, it’s not a one man operation. Is the other fella on hand all the time Jake?
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Best engine size and bar length for all round use
Mark Bolam replied to Elliott.F's topic in Chainsaws
Huge engine and massive blade. -
You definitely need some mechanical help there Jake!
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That was for a good mate we do quite a bit of stuff for. He supplied digger and operator, and the timber was in decent stacks. He also covered our fuel. Macca and me charged him £200 each for a leisurely day, but got through some timber. Tonnage wise I wouldn’t like to guess, but wouldn’t have been anywhere near 20 tonnes each! Definitely gave our backs a day off though.
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Easiest day I’ve had cutting rounds was when a good op in a 5 tonner was picking up with a Intermercato grab. Working at waist height all day was lovely.
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I get the need for it in really busy spots, it’s understandable and probably helps. It’s pretty bloody tedious driving through places like Jedburgh and Lauder though.
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Seriously this would be a nightmare to quantify from HSE’s perspective. Ridiculous amounts of variables. Some of my worst, but looking back, most enjoyable climbs, were in ridiculous winds trying to deck stuff before expensive shit got broken. I remember my old groundie Stevo screaming at me once on a heaved connie takedown. Couldn’t hear him for the wind, I just assumed he was telling me to hurry up. It had heaved another foot and totally split from the base up. I was well worth my £120 that day. I’m pretty sure it was @Rich Rule told me if the tail of your rope is blowing at 45 deg it’s time to bail. If it’s blowing at 90 deg it’s probably too late. If there’s no risk to anything we just pull off and go to the pub, sorry, log yard, now. Or go and flop some stuff where the wind is your friend (rarely happens).
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When your arse starts going 5p-50p it’s time to get down. This will undoubtedly be more accurate than anything the HSE will ever come up with.
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Mick, back on to Big Cat conspiracies! This isn’t a big cat, but was filmed in Kent last January. There was a howling noise from the woods for a couple of nights, then it seemed to disappear without trace. 891dfe11-28e1-4ccb-8d4a-d5d12a04198e.mp4
