nepia

http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/arbtalk-christmas-charity-raffle-2011/37314-loadhandler-uk.html?highlight=loadhandler

Thanks for the lengthy response Mike. The success that I have seen is in very different circumstances to yours, namely beef and sheep reared on homegrown organic barley, oats and grass/clover leys. And in the north eastern tip of Scotland! I take your point about the labour needed to make sugar beet a success organically; the same applied in Scotland to OSR; without chemicals it simply wasn't feasible. A great shame about your dad but as you say agrochemicals have never been pleasant things to deal with and nothing like what comes in a 1 litre bottle at the garden centre! Cheers, Jon

Not having a dig at your farming methods at all but isn't that a good advert for organic growing? The subject is far from simple, I know that, but my limited experience of organic farming well done is that while output goes down by, say, 25%, input costs go down by considerably more. The more your chemicals cost the more the potential benefits increase but I don't know if organic sugar beet growing is viable... Jon

Ask http://www.surreyhills.org You're exactly the kind of person they're looking for, especially the guy specialising in PAWS (Plantations In Ancient Woodland). He's on here but I can't remember his moniker. And yes, there is free advice available. Jon

I know oaks like damp ground but it looks as if this one's been standing in water. To what extent could/would that contribute to decline? Obviously a willow or alder would be whooping it up there but an oak...?

Well I took my time but got one off the bay for £107 delivered. Am still driving like an old woman but have bumped up my mpg nearly 15%. What I've noticed in particular is the improved mpg when towing; you can do just about everything a gear higher, as I was advised by someone with previous experience of the boxes. The more fuel prices rise the quicker the box will pay for itself: I'm sure there's logic in that somewhere!

Can't run any more (knee/back) but walked round Kielder on Saturday so ?29 miles with a mile to/from rented stone barn. Great day for it but windy, so much so the osprey ferry wasn't running!

Correct; crash was predicted but while a few continue to make big money the behaviour's not going to stop just because of some warnings. Huck, government cuts worry everyone but remember why they are necessary - years of spend, spend, spend of that non-existent money, some of it on employing countless thousands of 'guaranteed' future Labour voters. Didn't work though did it! I started my earlier post 'call me the eternal optimist': this recession will end/peter out. History says so. The economy has seen worse (1930) but recovery still happened and will again. I hope.

Call me an eternal optimist but... I'm not convinced that China (or India) will actually take the world over. China has invested in infrastructure sure - a good move in principle - but the sums involved are truly colossal and they've lent, lent, lent. The US owes them trillions. The climate is one of countries being unable to pay their debts, in some case struggling to even service the interest payments. That presents risk to the lender, especially if the lendees find they can't continue buying. Add to that the Chinese workforce's new found desire for decent pay and working conditions: it is a huge workforce and it won't work for peanuts much longer. Yes, you have to admire Germany for maintaining its manufacturing industry; it's paid dividends. And no wonder they've got the hump at bailing out Greece, a country that defrauded its way into the Eurozone! Why would it be bad for us if we cast Greece aside? It seems the logical thing to do to me. Jon

...and that's just where I see most birds; at Watlington just out of the M40 cutting where The Ridgeway does a 90 degree turn.

Matt, if you ever come up to the Thames corridor try to take a drive along the M40 between High Wycombe and Oxford. I do the trip regularly and have seen groups of seven kites and counted forty individual birds. Jon

Good point well made: I'd forgotten about the house move bit.

Just as they resent pruning magnolias resent moving but it seems it can be done but only with a really good soil ball with the roots. Re timing; now would be the worst time to do it I'd think. I'd go for late September-February, i.e. dormancy as others have said.

Out of curiosity I've looked up phostoxin on Wikipedia and followed one of the links in the text to phosphine, which is released when phostoxin comes into contact with moisture (e.g. in air or respiratory tract). I recommend the reading: I'd be wanting a full face mask. Cousin Jack, the symptoms you suffered I think can be explained by the same text (re phosphine).

It's not just the patches. I rode a lightweight GT road bike for 20,000 miles around South London/Surrey and had maybe 20 punctures on narrow tyres at 70+ psi. Then I bought a hybrid 'Land Rover' branded bike for road/good path cycling and can't get more than 10 miles without a flat. And you're right; the patches just don't hold. But it seems the tyres they're meant to stick to aren't much better.

My surprise is unabated because there isn't a cat in the flue cube is there but again I'm grateful for the effort; cheers.

Thanks for that. You've lost me a bit in the detail but I get that in theory at least secondary burning of waste gases is possible well away from the primary burner; that comes as a bit of a surprise but I've learnt. Cheers.

Thanks very much for that County. I'm not so much sceptical as uncomprehending. How can smoke right at the top of the chimney be raised to a temperature at which it burns? Isn't that phenomenon what happens in the event of the dreaded flashover - an extreme event? But if smoke combustion does occur why isn't there combustion within the flue - lack of oxygen? If that's the case then a leaky flue that could potentially allow oxygen in could surely lead to an explosion. I'm dipping my toes in unknown waters here - guessing; but I'd love some answers because if I was to fit one of these things and if it went tits up I can guess my insurance company's position. It would be a bit like having a car accident and your insurer discovering you'd chipped the engine and not told them; no payout. Cheers, Jon

...that'll be The Black Maggot!

Can someone explain to me how there is a secondary 'burn' on top of the chimney pot?! The word burn implies flame and if things are that hot up there I'd better have the Fire Brigade on standby.

Worked there for a year when I were a lad and never noticed it. It would have been a sapling then though!

As porky says hitting the stuff repeatedly seems to work. The odd awkward bit near a tree or other strimmer/brushcutter target can be hand pulled.

All things are possible with a bit of ingenuity. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFGaW2FdKB4]Old Pallets - YouTube[/ame]