Big J

On 15/03/2024 at 09:03, Whoppa Choppa said:

I'm looking at old photographs from 2020. It had been the wettest winter ever from end Sept 2019 through to March 2020. Then it went arid for the lockdown! Winter 23-24 has far surpassed those levels. Still chucking it down, relentless, every day without mercy. Big J - count your blessings!

It's been quite nice here this week. A dusting of snow on a few mornings (really only a few flakes) combined with some decent frosts. I've been taking the gravel routes to work on my bike and the wildlife count has been through the roof - the cranes are back in great numbers now, and yesterday I saw 22 deer on my way into work and 25 on the way back. 

The gravel tracks are still a little damp, but they'll dry out soon enough. 

It's funny to note that some of my colleagues at work follow English football and they've all remarked on the fact that it always seems to be raining when they watch matches! The climate here is so dry by comparison - especially in the cooler months.

Winter is still trying to cling on. Cold for the last couple of days, a decent easterly and a dusting of snow this morning and yesterday morning. 

To be up to 11c by next weekend though. Spring will be welcome when it takes hold

Lovely weather here at the moment. Every night a few degrees below freezing (no frost though as too dry) and every day sunny and 4-8c. A little greyer, windier and colder at the weekend, but back to more of the same next week. 

Feels like spring is coming.

4 hours ago, Rory hynes said:

Will give him a message if that’s alright with you @Big J?

Yep, crack on! Josh has a wealth of knowledge too, having been here much longer than me.

10 minutes ago, Botty Cough said:

We irrigate here where I live and pipes are permanent.

Underground systems from the supply lake cover a huger area on the farm.

We get long periods of no rain so yes it is common place.

Where abouts are you? As an adult, I've lived in Scotland and Devon, so not the driest places!

1 hour ago, Whoppa Choppa said:

Way way way beyond a joke now. I actually can't find the words. Incessant rain for what feels like months and February the icing on the cake. And so it goes on into March. Something is very badly wrong. Please don't just say CC. 

 

I'm going to need counselling after this. Four times the normal amount of rainfall apparently last month.

That's honestly how I felt after the winter 19/20. Trying to run harvesting sites through constant rain on Devon red clay and Somerset green clay was almost impossible. It started raining on (if memory serves) the 7th or 8th of September and didn't stop until the third week of March 2020. Longest dry period in that time was 3 days and my fairly crude measurements at the house indicated an average of nearly 200mm a month. We had to shut our site down for three weeks in February due to waves of liquid mud sloshing around the site. 

People complain about the rain here sometimes, but they've got no idea! 😄

All I can suggest is either find another line of work where the weather doesn't play such a large part or emigrate to somewhere with a better climate. 

No doubt it'll just stop raining at some point in March and by the end of May the farmers will be crying out for rain.

Interestingly, a great many fields here are irrigated as a matter of course. There is just the assumption that there will be the need for watering, and infrastructure is in place in the fields to provide it. I don't recall it being commonplace in the UK

1 hour ago, Peasgood said:

Same here but a degree colder.

Are your forecasts reliable then because if that forecast was for here it would be raining on Monday and nonstop for a fortnight.

I'm not confident they can tell us what did happen with any accuracy never mind what will happen.

Fairly accurate, with the usual drifts in timescales and severity.

Being more of a continental climate, it's a lot less changeable and extreme. We genuinely haven't had a single storm over the whole of the winter season, and no wind speeds over 8 m/s sustained. Precipitation is much lower over winter than summer (56mm last month, as opposed to 182.6mm in Cullompton, where we used to live) and even though it can be quite cold (down to minus 22c this winter), it doesn't generally get in the way of getting outside. Total annual precipitation is 480-550mm, with about 100-125mm of that over winter falling as snow. Summer rain is usually short lived and heavy.

Still looking forward to spring though. I really love the routine of cycling to work and stopping for a swim 1200m before I get there at the lake. The lake only lost it's ice this week. I might start next week - there are changing rooms and a nice jetty.

Drizzling here this morning. 4c.

Due to return to daily frosts on Monday. No precipitation forecast for a couple of weeks at least. Should be quite pleasant.

2 hours ago, Stere said:

The local ramblers are putting sections of  wooden boardwalks everywhere, must be may miles of it all added up I  think its foolish as it don't last more than 5yrs & needs alot of ongoing maintenance.

 

 

I reckon mini raised embankments plus some drainage could work better in most places.

At least they're doing something proactively. I agree with you though - drainage is the way to go.

The geology and landscape is totally different here. Quite a few bits of forest are flooded at the moment with the snow melt (usually planted with alder and birch in those areas) but the sandy soil means there is almost no mud. I went for a 6km walk up the ski slope and back through forest tracks with my wife this morning and the shoes were just as clean when we got back as when we left. It was about 4c and thick mist/light drizzle. 

It's not just the UK though. I've got friends who cycle in Germany, and their photos on Strava look pretty similar to that footpath.

That's grim. What can you do with that? What if you have restricted mobility? Or a pushchair? 

A sign of times to come sadly. As the climate warms, British winters will get wetter, windier and warmer. Far fewer frosts, more flooding and increasing difficulty in doing anything outside without needing to be a shareholder in Persil. 

3 hours ago, sime42 said:

I just want less rain! And more frost.

 

Parts of UK may have had wettest February on record

WWW.BBC.CO.UK

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Weather data to be released on Friday will also likely show that this winter was less frosty than normal.

 

My friend's (he's a deputy chief forecaster at the Metoffice) weather station just north of Exeter recorded over 180mm of rain for February (final total still to be confirmed). That's more than Feb 2020, which was the month that resolved us to leave the UK (after wading knee deep in liquid mud on a clearfell site for a month). 

It's been quite mild here this month, which has resulted in the ski slope closing a little earlier than usual. The ice has only just melted on the lake (after 2 months of it being frozen) and there is no snow no except for on the slope.

A few mm of rain is forecast over the weekend with 8c, and then returning to slightly colder weather next week with daily frosts and 4-5c highs. No rain, minimal wind and quite pleasant really. 

I do feel that the persistently and increasingly wet winters in the UK really inhibit people's ability to get out and enjoy the outdoors. Landowners don't want people on their land as everything gets churned up and the public get sick of getting plastered in mud. There is obviously no actual solution to this, but it's notable that folk tend to spend a lot more time outdoors here in winter, despite the climate being far harsher on paper. 

5 minutes ago, Johnsond said:

I’ve tried towing the previous mill I had J with sons 2.2transit 🤷‍♂️utterly useless and not even worth going off-road. 3.2 Ranger has 4wd tows 3.5t easily, I  get in ok at 6ft 5”. Let’s face it J they don’t build them to suit me never mind your height. I didn’t even think about the tax implications or benefits when choosing mine. I needed 3.5t towing capacity 4wd and as much grunt as I could get in a rhd format. It’s just more and more red tape in the UK suffocating small businesses. I’m sure you will get some who welcome this as they disapprove of anyone getting a break of any sort in life. Truth is with Hmrc ( a massive unaccountable organisation that’s destroying lives and businesses on a daily basis) they will probably end up actually taking less revenue and doing more bad than good which is generally the case. You recall the investigation myself and a few others went through a few years back, the tax take off the 48 guys involved has plummeted post investigation ( myself included) as most are stopping before going super high or a good few are getting the 183 days out the country and now paying zero. A friend of mine runs a Navara, we were discussing the implications of this legislation the other day. He sends out a dive team often to inaccessible areas towing a trailer or small boat and often carrying the HSE legal min 5 man team in one vehicle. These pick ups are allocated to one employee who looks after it and tends to give a damn as he gets to take it home at the weekend. 🤷‍♂️utterly pointless legislation nothing more than greed and yet more taxation . 

Totally understand the need to tow heavy - I did it for years and years in the UK. 

What I never understood is why they put so little power into pickups. We had the Navara, the Berlingo Van (160ps - actually towed superbly) and the 4x4 Sprinter. And then I got the V10 Touareg. 

By modern standards, it's power output wasn't that high (370ps) but it would happily accelerate up a 12% hill towing 3200kg at 50mpg. Any other tow vehicle I've ever had would be grinding away at 25-30. 

That's always the issue though isn't it. There are vehicles that are outstanding at particular jobs but very few that can manage everything. 

59 minutes ago, lux said:

There’s no doubt vans are roomy.  The sprinter cab is very comfy / roomy.  It would be a big factor for someone your height buying a vehicle.  Less of a factor for most of us. The ex power company 4x4 ones look a fairly good purchase.  Usually have power / workshop in the back that would have cost a pretty penny to install and very useful.  
sone of the posties have those 4x4 berlingo type vans.  Handy little things but wouldn’t cope with the work I ask of the pick-up.  
horses for courses I suppose 

If ever I were to get a pickup here, I'd just go American. The roads are massive and empty compared to the UK, and a Yank pickup is more suited to my size. I'd say you probably see as many American pickups here as Japanese.

Our family car is a 4x4 T5 Caravelle. Not super cheap to run but it's bloody versatile. I've transported pianos in the back of it, driven very long distances and on Friday pulled a Kia out of a ditch after it pulled too far over to let a car pass. 

38 minutes ago, Stere said:

According to this its got sunnier in winter  which i find suprising but annual variation is pretty big.

 

UK temperature, rainfall and sunshine time series

WWW.METOFFICE.GOV.UK

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Time series graphs of climate variables for previous months, seasons and years

 

 

 

I think it's just more the extremes. More winter, more rain, more sunny periods. It's like the weather has been turned up to 11. 

Minus 6c frost last night, but up to a couple of degrees above freezing now. Snow forecast for this evening, but a longer term forecas of generally bleh weather. Scraping a frost some nights, 4-7c through the day. 

Looking forward to Spring now. We've had 10 weeks of snow cover so far this winter, and I'm sure that we'll have more. I enjoy the snow, but there does come a point where a bit of warmth is welcome.

5 minutes ago, lux said:

Its all down to the individuals use /s isn't it.   I find mine a really good blend of useful for work and useful for domestic duties. It regularly tows across fields etc when I wouldn't even dream of taking a normal van on that type of ground. Fits a lot of kit in the back nicely, had a really good canopy made by N and J aluminium. Wet dogs can go in there without messing up the inside of a car. Sheep and straw bales/feed 

I would imagine given how tall you are if you put a child seat in most family hatch backs you'd struggle to get your legs in. Couldn't see you fitting in my little Peugeot 4 door hatch.  

Vans tend to have a much more upright seating position with more headroom. 

Now the kids are older and drive the rear seats dont really get used in mine but Ive no intention to sell it. Worth more to me than the money although the residuals are quite good. If the sprinter 4x4 van wasn't such a big price I could be swayed, that's a tidy and useful van for sure. 

 

 

I had a Sprinter 4x4. It was an impressive machine and damned comfortable too. A bit heavy for offroad work in the SW, though pretty much everything got sucked into the mud there. 

A lot of people have smaller 4x4 vans here. Dangel converted Citroen Berlingos are very popular and as are 4motion Caddys. We don't have anywhere near the same mud issues here though. 

I think part of it is probably specific to me. I really, genuinely struggled to fit into any pickup if I had work gear on (chainsaw trousers and boots). I don't know why they build the cabs so small. Vans are so much more massive, internally.

How much play do you have in the head? 

The issue with Woodmizers is always the single post design. They are designed to operate with a bit of flex in the head, but as the roller bearings on the rail start to wear, you'll have more and more movement. 

As the saw bites into the wood, it'll pull the cantilevered side down. 

Check the rollers and adjust do that you have as little movement as possible. Then level the bed up to the blade, but perhaps make a slight overcorrection, which will allow for the head pulling down just slightly as it settles into the cut. 

We had an LT40 about 10 years ago and always found it a bit of a pig to align. Single post heads have their advantages, but accuracy and ease of alignment aren't amongst them.

You hardly see any pickups here in Sweden. You get reamed for tax with them here, and in all honesty, they aren't that useful except as a hybrid work/family vehicle. 

From my experience though:

* A van tows far better. Much more stable.

* A van also carries far more kit, and for someone very tall like me, a large van offers far more space for the driver.

* Almost any car is a better family vehicle. More economical, quieter, more comfortable and often more interior space. I recall with the Navara being entirely unable to be a passenger in front of a baby seat in the back. I couldn't actually get my legs in.

The only reason that pickups are so popular in the UK is the tax breaks. There are much better vehicles out there for actually working. 

1 hour ago, Whoppa Choppa said:

Wettest winter I can remember. Maybe on par with 2019-20; that was never ending too. Looking forward to a drought and a heatwave from March thru October. Cheers.

The winter 19/20 is what broke me actually. It was the final straw, the catalyst for moving to Sweden. At our house in Devon we had 1800mm of rain over 6.5 months with the longest dry spell being 3 days. It was absolutely grim. I'm sorry that it's resembling that again in the UK.

It wasn't great here today either. Very mild (9c) with a couple of hours of drizzle. Feels like winter is on the way out now.

9 hours ago, Will C said:

Sweden used to have a deposit system on drinks bottles, does it still @Big J ? 
 

I think it’s a brilliant idea 

Yep. All plastic bottles, some glass bottles, all drinks cans. It's very simple - you take them back to the supermarket, feed them back into the machine, get a receipt and redeem it at the till.

48 minutes ago, nepia said:

...and then some.

 

I burn exclusively softwood at home; if I was offered a load of WRC I'd politely decline it

I disagree.

I'd buy the WRC, immediately sell it to a sawmill and then buy two loads of conifer firewood with the proceeds 😁

4 minutes ago, topchippyles said:

Did you ever get the money you were owed from that older couple you were having problems with J, What have you done with the machine you took over there ?

No. Their financial position was such that pursuing it would have been pointless.

I sold my machinery here, and have one machine left in the UK which is being sold next month.

It's all a bit messy and we quickly found that once we were no longer in the UK, people became less willing to pay us. But I suppose that's understandable given that we lost most of our avenues to chase (you need to have an address in the UK).

C'est la vie. You try to do what's best for your family and for yourself. In almost all regards, we're way better off. Just not financially. 

Since moving here, I've personally been working on my physical health. With the 21,000km of cycling, restarting weight training, restarting table tennis, learning to ski and learning to ice skate, I'm actually fitter than when I was 20 (I'm 40 this year and I was a very fit 20 year old). As a family, our diet and lifestyle has improved immeasurably, the kids are close to being conversational in Swedish (it takes a while as everyone speaks English) and work is good too (albeit a little quieter than I'd like just now).

Anyway, I've derailed the thread!  🤪

2 hours ago, doobin said:

It's a ****************ing embarassment.

 

Well done for getting out mate.

It wasn't plain sailing really. Between Covid and Brexit and actually emigrating, it's financially ruined us, but we're happy here and life is a whole lot better. I feel optimistic about the future, and doubly so for my children.