Saw-sick Steve

stick 'em in the freezer overnight!

All this wet weather must be suiting you then, what with yer webbed feet n' all. At least you had the good sense to be born in 'druth - Tremorvah by any chance? Still makes you a squarehead though. Camborne - did'nt they used to have a competitive rugby team?

No noise/pollution - apart from when using the forwarder! Believe me, i think its great to use horses. I had a day harrowing with a pair of Shires a few years back and they're awesome beasts (and i mean that in the correct sense of the word), but i cant see how the compaction in terms of p.s.i. can be less with a horse than a track dumper or quad:confused1: By the by, what part of Kernow are you from? Please don't say Camborne - im a 'druth boy meself:thumbup:

camera phone? Don't think my steam-powered Nokia has such a function...

I use exactly the same system, unfortunately i'm such a luddite i have'nt worked out how to upload photos yet - 'spose getting a digital camera might be a first step:blushing:

My sister made a batch of that in old Pomagne bottles (remember that?). One night we heard a loud bang, closely followed by another. Dad thought the gas had gone off, but yes, you guessed it, it was sisters Elderflower Champagne. After gingerly removing the remaining bottles, she had a second attempt and this time actually measured the ingredients out properly! She's recently decided to try again after a 20-odd year gap. As you say though, its real 'fightable' stuff!

I know a bloke who had a stint horse logging a few years back when it first came in vogue with the likes of the National Trust, wildlife Trusts and Natural England (or whatever they're calling themselves this week). He used Ardennes, I think Percheron (sp) was the other breed of choice. He knocked it on the head after a while as he could'nt make it pay and went back to a Valmet. Nice idea in theory,but at the end of the day you cant beat a comfy seat and a heated cab:001_cool: The Environmental bods always used to pontificate about the alleged benefits of using horses,i.e less damage to the ground than machinery, but so much of that is down to weather conditions and time of year.If they were a little more flexible regards summer extraction there would'nt be an issue. A forwarding tractor in dry ground conditions does'nt make half the mess a pair of horses does in winter - ever looked at a well used bridleway?

Sloe gin is a good one if you want to use up some cheap gin, not worth waisting a bottle of Plymouth. Similarly, blackberry whisk(e)y is a brilliant way to utilise a cheap bottle of scotch .

'tis indeed a good read, another book worth tracking down is 'Wildwood, A Journey Through Trees' by Roger Deakin, and 'Waterlog' by the same author:thumbup1:

''Butter face'' , a girl with a fit body but not particularly attractive facially. '' she had an amazing body, great legs and rack, but her face...''

Ditto the above.Vital to get it split to expose the heartwood as its very reluctant to burn when sappy - very durable and good for estate work though.

"face like a blind cobblers thumb" said of a particularly ugly bird.

If I really did re- train I'd probably be looking at teaching as a serious choice. I did alot of environmental education when I worked as a countryside ranger. Buzz, where were you a countryside ranger? Did a bit of that myself, but got out of it for that very reason. To much emphasis on environmental interpretation at the expense of the practical and natural history side that got me into it in the first place. If i wanted to be a teacher, i would at least expect a teachers salary and benefits and not the measly wage they expect wardens/rangers to exist on as they do the job "for the love of it"

Spot on matey.The one in the photo looks like a Tegenaria spp. ,or common house spider male, and thats exactly what he's doing. Males tend to have longer legs and palps (the little appendages near the jaws) while the females have bigger abdomens (asses!) and less hair- draw yer own conclusions. About this time of year the males set off to do what males do,and seek out the more sedentary females - hence why the males all look under-weight,having one track minds:thumbup1: I've removed dozens over the years and never been bitten - only got bitten by an Orb spider when i was a kid, and that was my fault. Oz, on the other hand, i could bore for hours on spider stories. Nearly crashed my ute one morning when a Hunstman dropped from the sun visor into my lap whilst doing about 70m.p.h.

I tend to wear gloves only when actually using a saw - if dragging brash,hand balling timber,using hand tools or any other activity, i don't use them - with one exception.As a result, my hands are a bit like shoe leather after years of manual labour.Bramble,nettle,and other nasties rarely bother me and extracting the odd prickle of an evening helps me while away the long winter nights:blushing: However, the one glaring exception to this rule is Blackthorn! The slightest bit (and i mean slightest) that i neglect to extricate results in an enormous swelling (fnarr fnarr) of the affected area.Any task at all involving this plant entails donning welding gauntlets or similar. Swelling is always infected and quite painful. Bleddy stuff! On the plus side though, properly laid and trimmed it makes the best anti-intruder barrier i know of - far better than Heras panels:001_smile:

No fan of eucalyptus myself,not only are some species almost impossible to burn it also takes a lot of moisture and nutrients out of the soil. Alder and Ash are indeed phenomenal growers,as pioneer species should be.However,Oak and particularly Beech will come up beautifully underneath them.Speed of growth is invariably traded off against density of wood,hence a seasoned Birch or Alder log will way considerably less than an equivalent Beech or Oak.

If using native species then Ash,Alder,Birch,Sycamore(yes,pedants,i know that one's debatable) and Cherry are all fast growing high yielding fuelwood trees that can be coppiced after a decade or so.If non natives are added to the mix then hybrid Larch and some of the nothofagus species are great,with phenomenal growth rates. My own personal tip is to direct seed if possible or use as small a seedlings as you think you can get away with.The trauma a tree experiences at transplant time is overcome far sooner the younger it is.I've lost count of the number of times i've seen massed ranks of whips in their expensive shelters out-competed by natural regeneration.The National Trust used to be particularly adept at this, especially where they were trying to expand existing woods into adjoining fields. Finally,if the option is available,try and scrape back to mineral soil, particularly if top soil is fertile.As well as removing weed competition,many of the fast growing 'pioneer' species seem to do better on bare ground.Oh, and if you want tree guards, see Markos thread below. Good luck!

Depends on the timber.Nice,clean,straight lengths plate steel blade- not as 'snatchy' as T.C.T blade and less kerf than chainsaw.On twisty old coppice oak chainsaw seems safer.

r.e. the plastic ones. i tend to just cable tie the handle to the stake as i use all sorts and sizes of wood as stakes(being far to tight even to buy canes!) Cheap.cheerful,effective,and re-usable, a great way to re-cycle!

only used the wax coated cardboard ones in Oz,not placcy ones. They seemed to last long enough to protect the 'speedlings' from rabbits. Used to make me smile seeing miles and miles of brightly coloured juice containers stretching off to the horizon. Never be allowed in Blighty!

Marko, been using milk containers for years now and like you never heard of any one else doing similar. In Oz,did acres of tree planting using the 2 litre wax coated milk and orange juice containers as rabbit guards:001_tongue:

whats the bear doing to that owl??