jamesfwpurdy

I leave for work at 530. Finish at 3 though so not all bad.

Hi, nowhere near Fernhurst and no stream for a few hundred yards sorry. The cycle for Hb firewood is 15-35 years I think.

I intercepted these two hitchikers on the log run after evicting four from the kitchen the day before. Little wotsits had made a wasp-line (damn I'm funny ) for the paper lampshade.

A few I had on my phone

Oi we're not all fat!!!!!! (Just insulated for winter ) And some of us are sympathetic to arbs and carefully move and replace cones before driving round.

You Viola!!!

Yep first one yesterday as elderly relatives came over, ended up having doors open as far too hot in the end. Started it again today amd its just dying down now. Still too warm in the kitchen where the stove is but the rest of the rooms are great.

After being a very ungrateful grandson I now have to tidy up my grandparents garden including this hedge. I tried two years ago to trim the top with a wolfgarten pole pruner/saw from the ground and small platform but I didn't make much of a difference. My grandma like the hedge as it gives her privacy from the offices, only a two storey building, so removal is not an option. I would like to do it myself if possible to keep costs down. To the rear of the hedge is a neighbours track and some offices. The neighbours are happy for us to have access to work on it providing we tidy up well. I had thought if I take it back to the stems so I could maybe get a ladder up to trim the top to a more manageable height. Does this sound possible? Also would the neighbours have any come back if its an eyesore etc? It wouldnt be visable atall from their house or garden. Sorry if Im rambling, just floting ideas as they come. If you have any ideas id love to hear them.

That makes sense thanks guys. Will tidy up the brash asap.

Hi, * I have been coppicing an area of woodland for my parents and I have some concerns about the health of the first coupe. *As I'm new to coppicing I'd like to hear your comments and suggestions. Firstly its an overstood hornbeam coppice on a plateau of weald clay in Sussex. The main bulk of the 2.5 acres runs south to north with the first coupe facing south. From speaking the the previous owner and looking at the stools, most of it hasn't been cut for over fifty years. * I cut the first coupe in two stages over two winters as I was new to cutting and the usual new job, barn conversion all in one go so time and energy were limited. Most of the stools have survived, other than a few that I possibly cut too low or were a bit rotten. The ones I cut 2011/12 have got away to 80-150cm and 2012/13 20- 40 cms already. Inbetween the stools the are seedlings 10-40 cms in 11/12 and 2-4cm in the 12/13 section. Due to limited funds and PITA terrain we haven't fenced although arranging the brash over the stools offers them some protection from deer. * There is a dense covering of willow herb on the ground in the two year old patch. Im not sure if this is smothering the young shoots/saplings or providing them protection from deer and rabbits or nursing them to grow. * Ill add some pictures below to give you an idea of where we're at.

How does every ethnic joke start? By looking over your shoulder...

Hornbeam, ash and oak (what we have).

Brilliant, great thanks. Its just to inform tipsy non arb bbq-ers so thats enough. Yes apparently had pink flowers at some point. Cheers guys.

This is in a friends garden. I did know once but its long gone from my memory.

I bought a 2009 one and had the clutch drum/bearing problems. Also a few problems idling etc. The dealer I bought it from was useless, even though within a year of purchase. I had to go to another dealer the day before my cs30/31 assessment for a replacement needle bearing who eventually spotted and replaced the clutch, crank etc and fitted an improved carb. Now I own a brilliant saw whereas before it was a ropey old (actually new and expensive) piece of crap.

Im also not in the industry but look after my parents few acres and have a passion for trees etc. Its a great help for managment, techniques, saw help (a dreaded 261 ) woodcraft and as a general good read. Also thanks to tapatalk and now the much better arbtalk app I can dip in and out to cries of "Are you on that bloody treetalk again?!?!"

I think the main reason to do it yearly, even if you've hardly used it, is to check/clear out any birds nests. They can be enough of a blockage to send the carbon monoxide etc back into your living space or even ignite. I reckon its more likely for a blockage of that nature if you haven't used the fire as there hasn't been any smoke to repel them. For that reason we'll be getting the workshop flue(not used for 2 years) done at the same time as the kitchen one.

This is a thankyou to whoever recommended this podcast. I cant remember who mentioned it recently but I found it and set it to download. Facinating stuff, especially the talk on subterrainian developments and trees. It makes for good listening when sorting out my firewood. On that note im off to the "My silky bit me" thread :eek:

This one has baffled me, ive never seen anything like it before. It has two different barks. Maybe a graft?

Just a little update, it went through another bearing so I called up ATS garden machinery near Horsham, Sussex who was my nearest Stihl dealer (after the one I bought it from!). I explained what had happend and asked if it coukd be that I was doing something wrong, which was answered with a "no it sounds like one of the dodgy batch, bring it in". They looked at it and after a few minutes they explained the clutch drum/crank situation. Although I had to wait for a few weeks for the parts from Germany I now have a saw with a new crank, drum with spur sprocket, new updated carb(as apparently the old one caused problems idling) and all the extra little bits. Even though Id had the saw since 2010 this was all done under warranty by ATS so much praise to them and I cant wait to try it out tommorrow

Thanks for your reply. Thats right, the top is a twin stem, one straight the other at an angle. The last picture has two large stems and two or three twisty (sure theres an arb term for this but I'm a beginner) smaller ones. I do like the idea of keeping atleast some of the height so will have more of a think. I was told by a carpenter that the wood can be used in windmill restoration which must be a niche market. I'm near East Grinstead on the West/East Sussex border. Sent using Arbtalk Mobile App

Yep I do regularly. I use an Oregon bearing grease. Is that not reccomended then? Sent using Arbtalk Mobile App

We have two crab stools in the hornbeam coppice. At the moment they are on the edge of this/last years coupe and I don't intend to cut the other side until 2014/15. I had intended to leave them as a feature but now as I cut closer to them I'm unsure. One is within 4m of an Oak standard roughly 15in dbh 40 feet high. The other is a bit further. Does anyone have any ideas what to do with them? Either leave, fell both/one or single one strong stem. I know the wood is quite nice, it would be a shame just to burn it but access is a pig, wheel barrows only. But again any ideas if I do fell? Sent using Arbtalk Mobile App

Well I did it yesterday after having to return to the dealer for a clutch retaining clip, which hadn't broken recently by the look of it. I had it running all day untill the (NEW!!!!!) needle bearing gave up. Sent using Arbtalk Mobile App

Dads secret to a peaceful marriage......."What's mine is your mother's and what's your mother's is your mother's aswell!" Sent using Arbtalk Mobile App