nepia

No but the boss will be miffed when I tell her she's posted twice on Arbtalk ?

I know that's aimed at the OP Stubby but my Husky polesaw's a battery one and that doesn't come apart. There's miles of it and I have to strap it to the ladder rack the illogical way round, i.e. with the battery compartment up in the air, to stop it pissing oil over the roof!

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Let's try again after logging out and back in.

Seconded. The logs most exposed to the rain are most exposed to the wind: swings n roundabouts. I often don't bother covering the cages at all for the first few months of seasoning in the name of maximising airflow. You'd be surprised how few logs actually get wet, even after a downpour. It's like heavy rain falling on very dry ground; it doesn't filter evenly through all the soil, it pours down a small number of channels. Same with the logs.

Definitely more attractive. My tongue was firmly in my cheek ?

A Holzhausen on pallets with a flat roof would give you the best of both worlds I'd say but why the Hofhaus when you can throw the logs in IBC cages?! ?

I can't find any mention of an annual certificate either. I'm wondering if the communication between fitter and client hasn't been clear and that she's confused annual requirements. As for not burning pine etc... stuff and nonsense and 13 winters of burning pure softwood here proves it. HETAS probably have less of a problem with folk burning wet oak! Up the softwood!

I get all that thanks Mr Rat but my neighbour was told to have the flue swept annually - as you'd expect a responsible fitter to advise - AND to annually renew her 'HETAS certificate'. Confoozed...

A professor at University was giving a lecture on Paranormal Studies. To get a feel for his audience he asks, 'How many people here believe in ghosts?' About 90 students raise their hands. 'Well that's a good start. Out of those who believe in ghosts do any of you think you have seen a ghost?' About 40 students raise their hands. 'That's really good. I'm really glad you take this seriously. Has anyone here ever talked to a ghost?' About 15 students raise their hand. 'Has anyone here ever touched a ghost?' Three students raise their hands. 'That's fantastic. Now let me ask you one question further: have any of you ever made love to a ghost?' Way in the back Ahmed raises his hand. The professor takes off his glasses and says 'Son, all the years I've been giving this lecture no one has ever claimed to have made love to a ghost. You've got to come up here and tell us about your experience.' Ahmed replies with a nod and a grin and makes his way up to the podium. When he reaches the front of the room the professor asks, 'So Ahmed, tell us what it's like to have sex with a ghost?' Ahmed replies, "Shit, from way back there I thought you said goats."

Rather than start a new thread... My next door neighbour had a burner fitted yesterday by a locally well known company. I'd talked her round to burning dry softwood but, surprise surprise, she's been told not to burn softwood. Not a major issue; I've told her to do some online research; I'll also show her my own burner and flue which has seen about a dozen pieces of hardwood in the last 13 winters. What puzzled me more though was the claimed requirement for her to renew her HETAS certification annually. My own HETAS-fitted burner has never had a reminder! What have I missed? Could it be the lady's being strung a moneyspinning line? FWIW my wife and I walked out of said supplier's showroom those years ago the minute we saw their prices!

Thanks for that Bob; never even crossed my mind and Coppards Bletchingley are between me and the client. Cheers, Jon

I have a client on the Surrey/Kent border with 60 yards of 8' tall, 5' wide laurel hedge. He wants around 18" off the top. Two of us could spend too many hours on it and a lot of his money with loppers and/or small screaming saw. On the other hand a small/midi tractor and flail could do the job in minutes; access is OK for that with a pavement running along the hedge and a flat grass verge beyond that, all in a very quiet 100% residential cul-de-sac. Does anyone know of such a machine? I have once seen one locally and it looked brilliant, probably run by a ~25hp tractor. Thanks, Jon

...it marked the end of first lecture at 9.50am each week day when I was at reading Uni. We couldn't learn while the whole building shook.

Earlier this week I got a load of trunk rings (from Clapham) @ 14-24" x 5-12"; every one of them split very easily with the X27.

If the sums aren't adding up to the owner's liking can't it be left for the beetles?

Eucalyptus even when wet can be a bastard because it grows in a spiral. I've been trying to split some recently and have given up on anything longer than 12" as I'm more destroying the logs than splitting them. I acquired some 20" dia hornbeam a couple of years ago that wasn't a problem at all recently (Oxdale 400 splitter) except for the fact that most of the rings had been cut at 30 degrees to the grain direction so had a habit of not staying where they were told.

Last I saw on that subject - about 6 months ago - they had no plans for a pickup but those in the American industry reckoned that such a thing would be the size of an F150; not the most practical vehicle on our roads. But that size is a good starting point; the speed of technology development means that such a vehicle would soon be down to GB size, even if not made by Tesla.

The tree won't die but it presents a great opportunity for other lives - fungi, bacteria, insects and so on. By all means reduce the south limb to reduce leverage but the tree overall is now a real habitat in the making.

Philadelphus?

Or that you'll hack the plastics by the same amount she hacks the hedge.

...When you've hit the Search button zoom the map out and you'll see more.

Excellent work Steve. I had no idea there were so many potential drop offs.

Excellent. Will appeal to those childish enough to enjoy Snatch Wars ☺️

Phaeolus schweinitzii on a Black Pine stump. The tree - ~70' to the 12" topping cut - was taken down around four years ago due to the infection and now the stump is a standing feast for little critturs.