rustcutter

I used to do some site work in London; it was pretty horrible but money was good can't imagine how horrendous working on the drainage system is as the whole place is a massive rats nest (two and four legs!). I imagine that to rake in that money he couldn't be picky over which jobs he took and earn't every penny.

There is usually a filter in the base of the tank which will screw out sometimes part of the outlet tap. Sometimes the fuel uptake is just a pipe which sticks up from the bottom of the tank away from the dregs. Quite often nowadays a growth of algae type stuff forms in the fuel bits of this can block or partially block the uptake but I have also known bits of rag/tissue floating about in the fuel can cause intermittent blockage and also when an inspection plate has been created (to inspect the tank internally because of previous type problem) is attached to the tank with little bolts sealed with silicon sealer when each bolt is screwed through the hole a little bullet of silicon is created which then floats about in the fuel and get sucked up usually found in the first constriction in the pipe.

Quite clearly just needs a couple of wafer weights in front footwells to bring it back level and looking just like it has been lowered all round. Works for an Astramax van; easy to redistribute when you've tipped.

I spent a couple of spring/early summers when I had seasonal work lined up for later in the year, basically I was just pretty much full time pulling garden trees stumps by whatever means was possible, chopping and topping a few connies walls/fences and major garden relandscaping; all just one off work. Nearly all of this was by word of mouth from one job to the next. I only wanted one off jobs as I wasn't going to be about later in the year so any customers becoming regular would be let down. Anyway a lot of the customers wanted me to do regular trimming/gardening basically because I turned up reliably. There didn't seem to be any thought that a gardener would be putting work my way but the opposite. It seemed to me that the one off jobs was the precursor to regular work so the tip off issue would be the other way round, if you know what I mean or at least mutual benefit so not to worry about reward.

I wouldn't think so; it was only the one time previously and none of them really meant to do it, one has even written to the victim to apologise! My aunt researched our family history and found some old court records from way back like early 1800's it was something about one of my ancestors had to give evidence in a case regarding theft of some linen or clothes; however the goods stolen were valued at 11 shillings and sixpence this value was not random amount because if you were convicted of stealing 12 shillings or more - you swung that was it! Nowadays it seems the more you steal the less harshly you are dealt with.

I once had to repair a IH885 that had porous liners but in this case there was coolant getting into the sump but must have been pressurising the coolant when running. Like Fords which had a porous block problem with the head off and pistons out fill water jacket with a bit of anti freeze and boiling water from kettle; see the coolant seeping through the metal into the bore even though you cant see any flaw!

The core plugs are not there as a frost protection; they are to fill the core holes left in the block as a part of the casting process. It just happens that they are a weak link and will pop out if an engine is lightly frozen, they wont protect an engine which is full of neat water in a heavy freeze. remember ice does not start to expand until it is -4deg. C. However these which are the cap shaped ones with straight sides will tap back in with a bit of sealant; quite often they are rotten and not really fit to reuse. We used to replace them as routine on a ford tractor whenever we split them (i.e.for a clutch) in the places which you cant get at normally. The slightly dome shaped ones have an edge which bites the hole when you tap them into their seat but I have in the past used a shilling coin filed to size and hammered to a dish shape and bashed in as an emergency expedient which worked fine and never gave any trouble. I probably would find an older coin to use not one of the modern steel cored shrapnel.

I always look at those logs in wonder. Remind me of some "sort of relations" got word to me that they wanted some free firewood; you know the sort! Anyway I sorted out some sacks of dodgy offcuts/builders waste timber and left them at a convenient place for them to collect but someone elses' place. After a while the person whose place it was said that they didn't want them but wanted "pretty" logs not firewood! They burnt fine for me and I'm sure my ash was just as pretty as their "pretty" log ash!

The E.U. is in a mad panic because their controls are very lax; just trying to bring in a ban on deactivated "assault" rifles because these atrocities in Paris have been conducted using recommissioned dodgy deactivated weapons coming from Eastern Europe tripped across the continent no problem now there is free movement. They are trying to push through a ban to include the U.K. even though our standards of deactivation are probably the toughest in the world and anything officially certified deactivated here is most unlikely to be made useable. Meanwhile unlawful gun ownership in the U.K. is rife; makes anybody talking about legal gun ownership being a problem look most ridiculous. It is often said that there is no gun crime problem in Switzerland where gun ownership is mandatory for adult men; I'm not sure how correct that really is!

The front axle is not driven on these tractors. Therefore to achieve the self cleaning effect of the tractor tyre tread they should be mounted "backwards"; as they would be on a landwheel driven machine. So to be pedantic the front left is in fact mounted correctly.

It is indeed a winch machine for pulling up electricity wires; the ones on big pylons. I have seen them in use many times. I don't know where it comes from but I have always known them to be called "sagging" tractors/winches.

I second that if you've mice it will be pretty sure you don't have a rat problem. If the mice are outside and not causing too much offence then I'd leave 'em and try to sharpen the cats up a bit as suggested. I do not agree that a knock will do a rat they are as tenacious as can be. I have trapped many which have evidence of previous "accident" damage like scars and missing limbs and have shot them with airgun and .410 and seen them get up and run. A quite sharp terrier will leave no walking wounded for sure.

Fifty Shades went on the stove ages ago. Seriously most old books not worth a s"!# these days; 1p plus postage. Charity shops don't even really want them like V.H.S. tapes. Might as well keep you warm. Just don't burn any Maurice J. Saunders.

Windows rattling in Shropshire tonight; windy as I have ever known it here or just coming from an odd direction and catching the house more full on.

I went to a tractor event near Llandeilo in September. There was a guy splitting posts by hand as a demo; he certainly implied that he does oak posts and rails when he has demand. I didn't make any note of who he was but the people who run the event are K.C. Baker and daughters; 01558 668591. I would imagine they would be able to give you his details.

If this was the case then the ventilation required for a fuel burning stove of any kind couldn't have been adequate. I had some friends who had double glazing installed and were quite impressed that if they closed the front room door then the wood stove used to visibly start to go out; they were completely unaware that some thing like this could possibly be a killer. They soon had a couple of air brick ventilators put in.

Even I feel this comment is unwarranted! I've seen my sister light her fire with nothing more than a supermarket till receipt and two cigarette lighters! That is one lighter with gas and no spark and the other having a spark but no gas. I find the postman brings me a daily delivery of paper based firelighting materials some of this stuff is good and some indifferent; T.V. licence threatening letters come fairly regular and burn quite well, don't tell them you haven't got a telly or they might stop sending them. However if you have to think twice about lighting your stove or fire because of smoke blow back issues then you've got a problem with your flue/chimney end of; whether it is simple or major it won't rectify itself.

I have a Garrett Euro ace which is similar to a 250; I have only used it for conventional detecting in soil. I personally don't think it would be much use for detecting included metal in wood; it only really seems to find nail sized items at around 4 to maybe 5 inches and only larger targets like plough shares and horseshoes a bit more I can't recall recovering anything deeper than about 8 inches. They are really a machine developed with finding coin like non ferrous items in mind and I usually set it to ignore ferrous but large nails, bolts and larger items can fool it. They have a pinpointing mode which is indiscriminate and supposedly narrow detecting "beam" which may be useful for this purpose. If anyone in Shropshire wants me to scan a saw log or a log known to have included items I would be interested to experiment. I also believe that the Cscope P.I. model previously suggested would be better for the purpose but have never used one. However as preciously stated non metallic included items can cause havoc; I remember when I was young I was at a sawmill one day when the bandmill hit a porcelain telephone wire insulator in a log the sparks flew and I think the band broke.

Just bumping this up. Any offers/ideas.

It isn't long until Onslow Park vintage rally; August Bank Holiday. Has anybody got any/will have available 2 or 3 pieces of round timber 18 to 20 feet long something like those in the pictures to use for log loading demonstration? Obviously the breed is not important anything that might otherwise be pretty worthless. Not too far from Shrewsbury or towards Bridgnorth would be good; I would be able to facilitate an awkward winch extraction from a problem site or winch assist a fell. Any suggestions? P.M. me or 07858 414565.

On one of these Sanderson threads not long back; I made some comments regarding these machines and was asked to comment further as I used to work on them. I said my friend had a TX525 which I hadn't taken much notice of but I said I would enquire. I had a look it has 100ish h.p. turbo Perkins; Ford never option on this model so no design compromise. We had a couple of jobs to do with it; one was to flip a flat balanced commercial trailer plated as 7 tonnes unladen on its side to weld underneath. It accomplished this without fuss and we actually tried to lift the chassis off the ground with the jib in the full up position and using the boom extension ram managed to just get the thing off the ground. This is quite impressive performance really! However that job done we then had to recover a dead army lorry 11 tons from a sodden wet clay field. This ground is treacherous and in wet the soil has the texture of the contents of a grease bucket; County, Muir-Hill and International BTD6 feature in the assorted horse power on the holding as an indicator of prevailing conditions. The TX525 crossed this field without fuss but could not tow the lorry even with about a ton for ballast on the forks but we found that it would easily lift the front end but still not sufficient traction; we managed to push the truck about 25 yds using the boom extension ram truck wheels sinking about 4 inches through the grass and two wheels stuck not turning. This is pretty good testament to the performance of this sometimes unjustly maligned machine. However point proved, we gave up and used 10 ton winch on tractor to recover the lorry a further 100 yds across the worst of the field back to terra firma. I hope this field testing report is helpful and informative.

Rats are difficult to trap; I think I worked it out but can become an obsession. What exactly is the problem with the traps? Not taking the bait; try to remove or make inaccessible other food sources. Traps going off but no catch; I use Fenn mk4 traps not cheap but proven their worth, look out at car boots for ones which have come apart go back together no problem. Triggers are variable sometimes need a bit of tuning. Fix the bait to the plate with string/cable tie so its not too easy to sneak off with. Also Fenn mk4 has safety catch so set trap safe until bait starts to be taken and rats are used to the trap then set with catch off. Wham! caught one by the balls once couldn't believe my eyes no wonder the shrieks woke me up. Make sure the traps fixed down with the chain and peg and make ABSOLUTELY sure that no livestock or pets or non target species can get to the trap with a cover and old car wheel rim is good. Never handle the traps with bare hands for scent and not healthy anyway; once trap has caught I find that it seems to be marked with "scent of death" even if not bloody which is unusual and won't catch for a while. I leave them outside hanging in the elements for a while if they are spare. Some cage traps are good but usually for juvenile rats which aren't to wary. I have a good cage trap but have had to weight it with two bricks to stop the rats turning it over rather than go in it to get to the food.

No reason not to sharpen hard point blades just use suitable stone/diamond file but don't forget especially a bowsaw which is used for pruning/tree work is that the set of the blade usually suffers no matter how careful you are. The bowsaw blade I use at the minute came from a skip was obviously quite new but set had been pinched out of it; two minutes with the setting pliers and it was like new again.

I'm out of all that now; rules have changed. Still true that if the local authority want something done; they have different rules/ questions not asked. Will be different if you're tendering for everyday work I admit.

I had a quick look; there is a section covering this in the NRSWA code of practice: Traffic control for temporary obstruction of the carriageway On occasions, activities are required in the carriageway or footway that temporarily restrict or prevent the free passage of road users past the works, or reduce the width of carriageway to less than 2.5 metres. Such activities include the collection and delivery of materials. In some circumstances it is not possible or practical to provide an alternative route because of widths or other factors, or to apply a full Road Closure. A ‘Stop – works’ sign or ‘Temporary obstruction 15 minutes delay’ sign may be appropriate in these situations. The full c.o.p. is here https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/321056/safety-at-streetworks.pdf I am in other employment nowadays so don't know the current exact thing but the "Roads and Streetworks" course I did was only a day and that covered surface reinstatement as well. The card you hold means that you can set up a roadworks site and dig the road; when the council chap comes along and says you can't do that then he can't stop you. Only one member of the gang need have the card but would then be overall responsible for signs, guarding, etc. I have in the past done this engaged in "private" works with borrowed signs etc made sure everything was right though. If you are working on behalf of the council then you can forget the lot; another job I was on involved parking the hiab lorry in the "inside" lane on a live roundabout in a town with no signage or guarding. Craning stuff on and off the lorry into and out of our worksite in the middle of the roundabout; the council offices were just off the roundabout; our council man we were dealing with just said try to avoid the busiest times of day.