Perkins

that's rotten, the butresses aren't even tied in. half bond ring a bell? The concrete footing is floating in mid-air. what a sack

correct, no clamps or winch or tractor required. We also use them for repairs, just splice a short length in the middle of a fence. Twist one side on and the other is joined with gripples. Pull the fence tight again. On your new fence you will have to remove the verticals off the netting whenever the gripple backs up against it. I remove three verticals before installing the gripples, as it's easier, and this gives you scope to remove like 3ft of slack out of the length, which should be enough.

It's been very dry, but the trees did the same last year, which was anything but wet.

I think gripples will hold up to 300kg per strand, i.e. 2.4 tonnes of pull on a 8 strand stock net. I usually put them every 50 metres i.e. midway along a 100m stretch, or wherever it's convenient. The last little job I did was 125metres with one set of 8 gripples near the middle. You can always go back and tighten them again.

The longest fence in the world is 3488 miles long and is held together with gripples. Nuff said.

On a Beech tree. Small fluffy white growths in the fissures of the bark.

Apparently they came into full leaf and flowered, but have become defoliated recently. Leaf spot anyone? Treatment? Any advice would be gratefully received.

It's not always possible to pull wire past a strainer (in a corner for example), and you'll certainly find that strainers dug in by hand have a tendancy to spin after you've stapled the wire on and release the tension in the winch/tractor attached to your clamp. Obviously you can't wrap the wire around the strainer whilst the clamp is holding the tension. Rotation of the strainer will make a mess of your strutt/strainer interface. Strainers driven in with a post-knocker tend not to spin. Personally, I would use medium gripples mid-way along each 100m stretch. A gripple tool is only about £60, and you'll use 8 gripples for each join in a C8/80/15 net, at approx.£1 each. Also, don't cut your strutts into your strainer too high, (no higher than 0.6m from the ground) or your strainers can be lifted out of the ground when the tension acts in conjunction with the strutt to lever the strainer out. Once the netting's on, I would use a monkey strainer to pull the barb tight and finish off with your draper thingy. Bear in mind that undulations in the ground will make the wire tighter and tighter as you staple the wire on, so you should pull the wire up or down as necessary at each change in gradient in an orderly manner to ensure the tension is even throughout. I know some people don't like gripples, but they're fannies.

check out grumpy trousers! (I wonder if computer programmers have bad backs?) oh sorry, back on topic, I have personally found the petzl vertex vent pretty cool, and the meindl airstream boots (hefty price tag though). A mate uses stein trousers and says they are cool enough. To be fair though, wearing a helmet and chainsaw gear in this recent heat is never going to be comfortable. Take some shorts to swap into once the sawing is finished and you're just raking up.

The log mass chart is from the HSE rigging research document RR668. Well worth a read.

The maximum weight of a 1.0m cylinder of wood with a diameter of 30cm (12inch bar length) is around 90kg. Just bear in mind that the force at the pulley (your craning point) is twice the load, potentially more if shock loaded.

I'm not interested in getting anybody into trouble, just helping the churchwardens to understand that this could have been done better. (And obviously I'm their man).

The tree is approx.16inch at ground level, so probably 10inch dbh, and is in a conservation area.

This is NOT my handiwork by the way. I discovered it in front of a church Not 100% sure but I think it was a tarmaccer that did it. The churchwardens don't seem aware that there is anything wrong with this crown reduction, so any input would be welcome so I can put a few words together for them. Thanks in advance.

That which cannot be settled by experiment is not worth debating

Just been told they are sending out a replacement drum, rather than collecting and machining the old one.

Middle-laners? I usually overtake them and then wildy swerve accross all three lanes in front of them, narrowly missing their front bumper.

We're on wood fired heating and hot water, propane hob, spring water collection system and private sewerage. I just need to get a few solar panels and I'm totally off grid. bonzer

ditto, a 47kg bottle lasts 18 months. You can get a propane regulator from somewhere like go outdoors, or BES supply auto changeover kits etc. although this is a bit overkill. A lot of hobs come with propane jets, and you need to turn the air jets down to minimum. We got a smeg and the instructions were included.

yellow pages, total waste of money

Tha's bound t'catch thy death o`cold Then us'll ha' t'bury thee ...or something like that nice pics, I miss that part of the world, I was born in Otley

I hate mine, it's been in the saw shop for carburretor alterations twice, then had a new carb, then had a new pot and piston, ..and still doesn't work properly. Baulking, powerless and bad to start. Cuts out all the time. I have persevered for 10 months with it and will be asking for a refund.

(when it's raining), "I've never seen a man dissolve"

saws from a local dealer, everything else online.

When using the winch on the GRCS, can you also just use the bollard to lower sections, or do you need to swap the winch out for the smooth 'static' bollard?