Graham

We'd have bought them locally if the old ones hadn't disintegrated. No numbers were visible. Got a record of the numbers now:001_smile: The machine is now ten years old so I reckon the original bearings gave good service.

Tips. Always lay uphill, if you have a decayed base lay it off the roots, lay it 'off' as in slightly off centre line of hedge, nick the stems with your saw to bring them into line and firm and get a good line on your stakes after completing your days work. How you finish the hedge will depend on the style it's laid.

Thanks for replies. Just that you hear so much about Chinese stuff that it makes you wonder. Just put them in so we'll see how they go.

Had some new bearings for our Rayco 1625. They're the taper roller ones in the main pivot so take the weight of the engine and cutting head along with associated stresses from cutting. Couldn't read the nombers on the old ones as they disintegrated so ordered some from Rayco. They're Chinese. Does this mean they'll fall to bits? Do Rayco know they're up to the job or are they cost cutting?

Could also be a broken clutch spring.

Looks like Polyporous squamosus.

If it's using butane then that's less efficient in low temps. Don't think propane is affected so much. Maybe the seals are iffy?

Like them. Are they hazel?

Isn't that just milled timber for construction/industry etc? Our timber needs have always been far greater than our production.

Most automotive users of green lanes do behave and see their access as a privilege not a right There are exceptions. In the Peaks 4x4 users have dismantled walls used the stones as infill to reduce big rock steps. There is also a problem with illegal bikes ...affectionately known as 'tossers on crossers' but all in all it's not too bad. Unfortunately most ramblers who choose to walk a public road ie 'green lane' seem to think they are the only ones with rights to do so. They'll even deride those who are just out for a stroll and complain that a farmer using it for access to his own land is causing damage. All the groups of motorcyclists I know, myself included, will use local businesses for fuel, food, drink etc. A group of five of us will spend £150 locally and the locals welcome it. Compare that to a group of hardcore ramblers who'll hog tables, buy a cup of tea and slip out their own bar of mint cake. Ask any cafe owner if they'd prefer ten bikers or twenty ramblers. One other thing, because I'm rambling on a bit. You'll hear the cries of; 'they must be stopped it's a SSSI and it's being damaged'. Well it's a SSSI because of vehicles creating a niche habitat not destroying one. Eventually the ramblers will win because their numbers tend to be made up of retired professionals with contacts and influence; too much time on their hands and lots of things they can complain about.

Some interesting pics of Rob McBride's journey through Salop. Shropshire's Ancient Trees (SATS) - SITA Trust Project - a set on Flickr

:lol:

All too common nowadays since the NERC bill. Not sure about tarring all ramblers with the same brush but I tend to nowadays. Not content with 95,000 miles of footpaths they want vehicles banned from Byways etc. Oh...and the right to roam, the rights to all coastline plus anything else they think they have a right to. We've had them stand and block legal rights of way in The Peaks. Makes you just want to spin the back wheel of the bike up and cover them. In fact I detest them!

Stay alert peoples. Danger lurks, often masked by stupidy . I can certainly vouch for the stupidity:001_smile: Been there a few times and ended up with cracked vertaebra, cuts, crushes etc. Most of them caused by the 'time's money syndrome' of my earlier years. Mishaps can occur where you least expect. We once had a dead willow legged up with a pull line installed. Three of us pulling at a safe distance soon freed it. It landed in long grass and I watched a piece about 3" x 18" cartwheel through the air. I watched it in slow motion, transfixed, for what seemed like an eternity. And then it hit me just below the rib cage. Never been so winded in my life and honestly thought I'd breathed my last:001_smile: To this day I can't understand why I didn't get out of the way!

Ducks will often use cavities. The amusing part is when the youngsters leave after hatching:001_smile:

Very lucky but you'd have thought the owners would have noticed some decline in the tree well before this.

I was hit fair and square with the top of a dead elm. This was pre helmet days in the early eighties. Was dismantling and the top broke out and hit me on the head. Knocked out, hanging in my Willans, cracked head and teeth smashed. Had to get myself down when I came round. Not an experience I'd wish to repeat.

Peewit on nest from last year.

Found a hoard of money with the stumpgrinder. £7.50 in old 50 pence pieces.

Don't know what a quarter is but a mate of mine once found a brown paper bag full of it in some bushes!

I have CG Advanced Welding and Fabrication and a ticket that allows me to use a 360 up to 35 tons plus other odds and sods. Doesn't mean I can weld a pipeline up or cut out levels with a machine. I wouldn't trust me to do it:001_smile: Just as I wouldn't trust some of the holders of chainsaw tickets to work for me. Tickets don't mean a thing, They're just a necessity nowadays and don't make anyone a 'professional'.

Diddlers, fiddlers, scammers, burglars et al all become old people.

Shakes in oak are more prevalent when they're growing in light sandy soils I think. Perhaps because of greater soil water variations?

I never really know what to do! Messing about with enduro bikes as I do you'll find that many people maintain that you run the bike 'like you stole it' straight from the crate. I've seen test reports on engines treated this way and it does seem to bear up. These engines have a higher compression than engines treated with kid gloves in their early life. Evidently if you treat it too kindly the rings and bore glaze rather than the two bedding in together and forming a good seal. It does seem harsh thrashing it out of the box though.

I part completed the old P Dip arb at Reaseheath. Unfortunately I'd just set up a business and ended a marriage at the same time and couldn't devote the time to finishing it. As I remember it required a fair lot of input/output so a lot will depend on your own circumstances and constraints.