APC

Got one of my wisdom teeth pushing through the gum at moment. Painful as hell but I'm reminding myself to not be such a fassyman about it as its growing proper so doubt will ever need to come out. Had crap buildup under gum around a single tooth and thought I was done for. 5mins at dentist blasting it out with his high pressure nozzle, oooo errr, and it became less painful within the hour. Thought I was going to have all my teeth pulled out cos it was so painful.

Yo, I'm up for travelling to Kent for this although like last year, will need to clear it with my employer first. Just need to know cost and how many days. Nice one thanks!

how much? £250 a day per person or thereabouts. Hampshire Plant Hire did 2 catagories in a day. what does it enable you to do? Use a MEWP. Doesn't cover chainsaw use, purely the use of the MEWP. Covers law aspects, setting it up safely, positioning, safe moving etc. can you use any type of mewp? You can use whatever catagories you train for. I did 1b (static boom) and 3b (mobile boom), so one was a trailer jobby, the other was a big one you could drive around while elevated.

It's not too bad. I did mine in a thuja/pine plantation. If your levels are good, you should be on to a winner. I think I only took down 9/10 trees all week but every aspect was monitored closely by the trainer which was better than being shown cuts once then sent off quarter of a mile away to bash down as many as you can. I did 2 part cut on the hung up tree, or whatever the cut was called. Winched it out, rolling it around a tangly pine. Second tree was leaning thuja that I did dogs tooth on. Was the bigger of the trees, cuts met pretty much spot on. It got hung up too but was almost expected to. Quick roll then straight pull back and it was sorted. Enjoyed it loads and learned a lot. Wish I could have done a couple of broad leaves tbh but never mind.

Just spent the last 3 days on CS32 dreading the test this morning. When it came to it though, passed, no minors! Get in! Found it much less strenuous than CS31. Now I'll probably forget it all by next autumn!

Probably because that is the most expensive option. I dealt with a similar sized area and nuked it within 2 years. I cut to the bottom node, burned the waste on site, used a syringe to fill to just below the top with 10% roundup biactive. Anything too small to inject I sprayed. Second year there was nothing to inject so sprayed in July and September. Third year, hardly anything left. Less than 1% of what was there originally. Read the label on the bottle though as it has specific section for application to knotweed.

Hello, I'm currently working full time as a ranger but am becoming quite interested in building stuff with wood rather that just chopping it down. I'm 31 now and Mrs APC is planning on getting up the duff fairly shortly and so I figure it's now or never to learn a new set of skills as in a few years I'll either be working, changing nappies or trying to sleep. I've seen a few courses around, all claiming to be better than the other despite them looking similar. Ideally I'll work towards a recognised industry qualification. What I'm looking for is a worthwhile course that includes everything from basics up. While I've been doing odds and sods with wood for years, I'd rather make sure I haven't missed anything. Problem is, I will probably only be able to attend evenings and weekends. I'm not worried about part time courses taking longer, so long as it's worth it in the end. Maybe I stay a ranger at the end of it, just with better woodwork skills or maybe I'll have opportunity for career change, maybe I'll be made redundant in the future and need to widen my job search to other areas. Any thoughts would be helpful and appreciated thank you!

They're no Charlotte Church though.

Thanks for your quick reply, I'll look at that tomorrow!

yo, chain seems able to move under very mild pressure on throttle while brake is on. I've removed the plastic cover that covers the spring and nothing appears to be amiss. The actual brake coil looks even and tight over the sprocket when applied, and even when loose. Chain is tensioned correctly. Any ideas?

Nail/Head

I was considering getting into small-scale log sales, but have found that they are worth more to me through bartering; I swapped a bootload (and some homemade chilli jam and sloe gin) for a dog, and am in the process of getting a pair of battered Technics 1200's a full service and an entire new paintjob that would have cost several hundred in total. This is now what I'll use them for, swaps for services. Feels much better than exchanging money too.

reminds me I need to plant mine this weekend! got chocolate habaneros, ring of fire, some type of scotch bonnet (got one from last year that's fruited on my window sill all winter!!), white habaneros and something else. Will shove some pics up at some point.

1b and 3b. You'll be able to do them both in one day for about £240 all in.

tempting, but we've got no room with our own gear!

Today, countless hangups. Last month: reversed my car into a digger with bucket up (getting washed) and smashed my back window and boot door right up. Picked one up from the scrappie and fitted that all good though. Nothing else bad has happened actually, which is better than I thought!

Yo, Adam from Staunton here, sorry we're no longer taking chip, haven't got much use for it beyond what we chip ourselves. I know a site by Winchester though that takes it for free although that's quite a distance. Free though.

Any leftovers will be ultra seasoned next year! Every cloud!

Bailey Bros?

IKMF, good lad Knighton as in the guys from Poole? For an example of reptile fencing, the A338 into Bournemouth between Ringwood and Blackwater Junction is bordered by it. Unfortunately, whenever a car goes through it, noone ever repairs it and so it looks pretty tragic now.

Yeah? And I know someone who goes to work for a private contractor hanging from necking handfuls of (recreational) vallies the night before and then smokes spliff after spliff all day. I don't tar private sector because of him, don't tar LA's because of the waster who you know.

ps: that was more referring to the notion that we should all be out of jobs, rather than the whole competition thing, which I have no opinion on as I don't do private jobs publiclly funded so haven't thought about it before!

It works both ways. Councils have been held to ransom by inflated costs from private sector contractors. That is partly due to poor negociation from the councils, but councils have been seen as a soft touch by anyone who can get their claws in them, since forever. Wanting them to fail is wanting them to lose their jobs, which is crass beyond belief. The people who I know within the council are the first generation that are actually trying to become cost neutral so that all our shiny tools, spilled fuel and all your other presumptions are costing you jack. My country park costs the county's taxpayers something like 30p a year. We are bang onto finding additional incomes from grant funding, which anyone else is entitled to apply for, and through running ourselves more like the private sector. It's early days at the moment. If you don't like the competition, be more competitive. We have to be. Yours, Council Scum.

Wrap with a strop and slide them. Had to do 250m runs with them across Priory Marsh, Christchurch a few years ago. Easier to carry by yourself than swing between 2 of ya.

I'm sure I saw something about Eddie Stobart picking up chip for biomass.