Treewolf

Slightly o/t, but just before Christmas the local dealer gave me a complimentary copy of the 2012 Stihl calendar, which features a bevvy of hot chicks pictured in states a lot less suitable for a family forum than the pictures posted above. Curiously enough, though Stihl is H&S-aware enough to prevent dealers selling saws over the 'net, it seems happy to let nubile hotties use them wearing little but chainsaw gloves! Perhaps they are so highly trained that they only need ballistic panties. There's a nice Landrover in one picture

Reversing light is limited by law to 21 watts, so to wire these in to the reversing light circuit would be illegal. As "work lights" they would be allowed but again there are restrictions - they must be wired to an illuminated switch (or have a seperate warning light on the dash) and, if used on the public highway, they can only be used in conjunction with an amber beacon, i.e., you mustn't use the worklights on their own. Having said all that, are you likely to get booked for it? I doubt it! I have a pair of LED worklights on the back of my Defender. It is a double-cab, but I noticed that it had all the wiring in place (except for the actual switch) for the heated rear window, including the relay! I therefore decided that the easiest way to wire them up was to buy a HRW switch, which just needed the harness plugged in to it, and wire the lights in instead of the HRW. I made one small alteration so that the power to the switch is from a permanent live (actually taken from the hazard switch which is next to the HRW switch) since normally the HRW only works with the ignition on. Result, a pair of bright, low current worklights, which are fused, relay controlled and have a warning light on the switch AND a warning light in the instrument cluster. I don't have a permanent amber beacon fitted, to of course these lights are only ever used on private land!

For some reason I always thought that barbed wire was invented during WW1 as an anti-personnel thing, but having just looked on wikipedia I see it was well before that - 1860 - and was intended to stop animals crossing by hurting them. Lovely. I do remember being told that the leather firm Connelly (who used to supply all the leather for seats in top class cars) wouldn't buy hides deom animals which had been in barbed-wire-fenced fields due to the amount of scarring on the hide. To my mind the main application for barbed wire now is to keep people out, rather than animals in.

The 7-pin socket gets a very simple (non-electrical) security check; the 13-pin gets a full electrical check. Note also that the statement about catalytic converters although not stated on the AA summary quoted below only applies to spark ignition engines, so if you have fitted a de-cat pipe to your Defender it will not be affected. From the AA website:

I have had a similar problem reversing an auto-reverse trailer up a slippery slope - the problem was that there was insufficient traction for the trailer wheels to activate the auto-reverse mechanism, so the brakes simply came on. For the autoreverse feature to work, the wheels have to rotate backwards, engage the brakes hard enough to move the shoes to activate the release cam. If there is insuffient traction for this to happen, the brakes will stay on. In many ways the old style, non-auto reverse, mechanism was far better for off-road trailers. Less convenient everywhere else, though!

This is totally normal on a Puma Defender. With the heater set to 'demist', air comes out of the footwell vents and the demister nozzles. Set it to 'footwell and demist', the only difference is that even more air comes out of the footwell nozzles. Also, you will find that the heater is either cold or scorching - there is no in-between. if you do manage to get something in-between, the air temp will fluctuate between cold and scorching according to what the engine is doing! Unless the heater is set to cold, you will also find that the passenger's side (LHS) is always hotter than the driver's side (RHS). The only solution I have found is to stuff a rag up the footwell outlet. This is a well-known problem which has been dicsussed at length on various Landrover forums. The root causes are firstly that the engine temp does vary a lot due to the design of the engine, and more significantly the water enters the heater matrix at the LHS of the matrix. On a low heat setting, the water has cooled by the time it gets to the right of the matrix so the temperature of the matrix on the left is much higher than it is on the right, with the inevitable result that air coming out on the left is much hotter than air coming out on the right. There are people who have extended the footwell outlets so that they actually discharge towards the feet, rather than towards the calf. You will probably also have noticed that it is easy to make the handbrake too hot to touch. Realistically there is probably nothing that can be done (other than the rag technique) until someone starts making a better designed after-market heater. Until then, enjoy the novelty of a Landrover heater which actually warms/cooks the driver.

Congratulations on finding one, how about posting a photo? I have been (half-heartedly) looking for years, though I am not sure how to explain it to OH if I got one. I have over the years been compiling a list of various preserved or scrapped Unipowers and would be interested in a register if you did get one off the ground. Good luck with the restoration - I am assuming that it does need restoring, of course!

Corrected link: Reusable Paint Mine - e-Paintball

It does look bent in the middle to me! I presume that vandal damage means stolen/recovered? A lot of good stuff on that truck, though, and it probably wouldn't be difficult to sort out. If the price was low, it could be a good buy for someone with time ontheir hands. Nice hydraulic winch.

Interesting. I have found that on my '07 Defender 110 Mintex pads in the rear shreik like banshees - I have never heard anything that made so much brake squeal. The only pads I have found that don't do this are Landrover "Genuine Parts" ones, and I don't know who actually makes them. The Landrover pads have a resilient backing of some kind and come with new antisqeal shims; none of the non-LR ones seem to. This does seem to be a particular problem with the 2.4 TDCi (Puma) Defenders, along with the famous rear pad rattle.

If you want a laugh, visit 419eater and look for the Nigerian version of the Monty Python "Dead Parrot" sketch; you've never seen anything quite like it!

Not as far as I know! I don't think that there are any in service with British forces now. There are some reasonable American multifuel engines in some of the M35 series trucks, I believe, but I am sure that there is someone on this forum who knows more than I do about this!

Probably be OK for undersealing it, but you couldn't run on it. What you really need for a Landrover would be a way to allow it to run on "contam", ie contaminated fuel. This is the stuff that recovery firms drain from the tanks of vehicles misfueled by idiot owners, and is a mix of petrol and diesel. It is a waste product which the recovery firms usually have to pay to get rid of, so if you can use it you can often get it free of charge or for pennies. Better still, the tax has already been paid on it, so there is no tax issue. Some military multifuel engines will run quite happily on the stuff, but I don't know of any that will fit a Landrover.

Yup, it is very poor grade fuel (as a "residual" oil it is basically what's left from the crude oil after the good stuff has been taken out, so all the rubbish is actually more concentrated than it was in the crude to begin with). it is not easy to burn and has a relatively low calorific value. The only reason it is used is because it is effectively a waste product and therefore very cheap, and if you are burning 1660 litres per hour, it needs to be very cheap indeed.

Heavy Fuel Oil or HFO (also called Marine Fuel Oil - MFO - or Fuel Oil No 6 ) is more commonly known as "Bunker C", and is a thick tarry stuff that has to be pre-heated in order to flow and burn. It is about as far removed from diesel fuel (which is essentially Fuel Oil No 2) as you can get. Bunker C is essentially what is left in the distillation tower after all the better stuff (like the volatile petroleums and lighter oils like diesel fuel) has been removed.

I believe that another reason for extra cost of underground lines is that the natural cooling of the line underground is not as good as when air suspended, and the cables have to be substantially larger (to reduce the impedance) as a result. I gave up reading any newspapers years ago after realising that they are no longer reporters of news (as they should be) and have become self-appointed controllers of public opinion. A very dangerous development when so much of the public is too dimwitted to form its own opinion about anything important.

Never (yet) had a chain snap, and only once (sofar) had one come off. That was caught by the chain catcher with no damage to me other than an adrenaline rush. I shall be quite happy if I never have one snap and never have another come off! I only use Stihl, Husky, or Oregon chains; seems to me that it's not really worth taking any chances with a chain of unknown provenance.

If it was a concept for a replacement for the Suzuki Jimny then I reckon it would be ok. As a Defender replacement, never!

Figures quoted show that the 2.2 EU5 engine has exactly the same power and torque as the 2.4 EU4 engine. One possible downside is that for EU5 it has a DPF (diesel particulate filter) and these have caused a lot of problems on some vehicles (not just LR) recently. "Project Icon" is the replacement for Defender due 2015, lots of rumours but nothing is known for sure. I did hear one person who claimed "to know someone at the factory" (but don't they all make that claim?) say that it will actually look just like the present one, but with better side protection, airbags, etc., but this seems unlikely due to the requirements for being pedestrian impact friendly etc. Another problem for LR to solve is that ideally it will be built by robot not by Brummies (no offence to any here) - one of the big bugbears at the moment is the appaling and variable build quality resulting from being built by humans. Whatever happens, I think 2015 will be the end of an era.

Sounds a bit like contact dermatitis (rash with tiny weeping pustules, and an itchiness to drive you mad). If so HC45 from the chemist helps a lot, but Eumovate Cream is more powerful (pharmacy only). Eumovate is a topical steroid/hydorcortizone and should not be used on on open cuts etc since it will stop the healing. If it is an allergic dermatitis type reaction it will ususally clear it up quickly. If in doubt, pay a visit to your GP.

Tirfor is hard to beat and top quality; looked after it will last a lifetime. There were two Trewhella monkey winches on ebay last time I looked, which are primitive but incredibly powerful - rigged properly you can uproot a tree with one!

When I read an offer like that, at the same time as seeing on the tv what's happening in London and elsewhere, it reminds me that there are still good people in the world and - maybe - hope for us yet. Thank you, Treebloke, for cheering me up!

Roughly speaking the power in to the device = the power out from the device plus losses (heat etc) in the device. Power (Watts) = Volts x Amps So if the output is (say) 240 Volts and 2 Amps = approx 500 Watts, then the input current on 12 V would be approx 500/12 = 42 Amps, and that doesn't allow for losses. That'll make your cigarette lighter wiring glow! [before anyone jumps in and tell me it is not quite this simple, I know!] A 6kVA tool will draw approx 25 Amps from a single-phase mains supply, and the only place you'll find a supply like this is in industrial premises. The only things you can do realistically are a) sell the tool, b) remotor the tool (if possible), or c) or buy a much bigger generator. Most generators above 3kVA are three-phase rather than single phase, so you may find it difficult to find something suitable. The only good thing is that larger generators second-hand are generally better value for money since there is less demand for them. Running a 6kVA single phase tool from a three phase supply won't be easy either due to the need to balance the load across the three phases. If the saw has an external motor you might be able to replace the motor either with a smaller single-phasae one, or a three-phase one. Otherwise I think you may be better off selling the saw. A step-up transformer will not do anything to help you since it cannot gain power from anywhere; it can only increase the voltage at the expense of the current (plus inevitably it will be a 'lossy' device, ie it will waste power as heat).

Certainly on a Land-Rover FWH are hugely over-rated! The swivel pins in the front axle rely upon the front halfshafts turning in order to keep them splash lubricated. If you disengage the FW hubs this lubrication doesn't take place, and unless you run periodically with them engaged you will wear out the swivel pins quite quickly. The cost (and hassle) of rebuilding the steering outweighs the very, very small saving in fuel. Also, when you need 4WD you have to remember to get out and engage the hubs first. Having said that, FWH tend to polarise opinions, and for everyone like me who thinks they are a complete waste of space there will be someone who thinks they are the greatest invention of all time! They won't make a significant difference to fuel consumption. Running with them engaged while in 2WD won't do any harm at all. However running with them disengaged in 4WD is bad news since you are very likely indeed to break something in the rear drivetrain.

According to a programme I saw on the box the other day, over 25% of all recorded theft now involves metal taken for its scrap value. Yet still it is thought of by most as a "victimless" crime, and still those in authority don't take the (relatively simple) steps needed to make it almost impossible for the thieves to sell the stuff they nick. A couple of towns mentioned in the programme (I forget which) are spending £48,000 per year replacing drains and manholes that are stolen. Who pays? we all do, of course. Outrageous.