bolthole

Not too far from Whitchurch.

I'm sure mine's done this too. Only thing I've noticed is that the choke mechanism gets a bit detached and is free to move in and out too freely. Pretty sure I've had to re-attach is a couple of times now. Vibration could move it in or out... Anyone had trouble with the cut-out switch under the drive belt cover?

Three...

So I've got some Makita DCS 5030s. Am thinking of selling them off - they're ex-MOD and have had very little use. They come with a full spares kit - filters, clutch brake band, plug, pull cord and handle, bar (3/8) and chain. I cleaned out the fuel and filled them up with Aspen for testing after I bought them so they'll be good to go. I'm away with work until later this month - any interest on here before decide whether to put them on Arbtrader or ebay? Would prefer Arbtrader - have heard some nightmare tales about sellers getting shafted on ebay. I sold the last kit for £250 plus postage - would be looking for the same.

I think it might be this Steve - Forestry Commission Certainly next door's Bramley (half of which hangs over our garden) does this. One year very sparse, the next absolutely laden...

Colin, what you're trying to do is very worthy, BUT the important thing is that you're playing by the rules. I understand your annoyance - the situation you're describing isn't right, but don't get hung up on it. You're possibly making a lot of assumptions about this outfit; maybe the right ones, but maybe not. If you've got something solid, then go to your local trading standards, but don't hold your breath. It's better if you put your energy into your own business and making sure you do things the right way. NTPC are the body who substantiate training and assessment and have no powers to enforce anything. They might be interested to know, and possibly would get behind your complaint, but Trading Standards are where you should go... Then move on. Seriously, this is a great way to make a living but stuff like this will ruin the fun if you let it...

Join the FSB (Federation of small businesses) and then go for the Co-operative bank FSB business account. It's free and in fact I think they give you some sort of token annual cash bonus - like £50 or something. Can''t exactly remember. I may have let my FSB subscription lapse last year but still have the account. Joining the FSB is worthwhile in itself, but that's probably another topic...

Ha ha! Sounds like the voice of experience Alec!! My other half has actually been quite happy to do the job for the last five years but the landlord now wants to put the place on the market and she's after a quick fix. The hippy thing although true isn't really my thing with weed killers; when we did our level 2 the module on soils highlighted the role of micro organisms in soils and especially fungi - also the length of time the worlds soils have taken to form and the fact that they're essentially why life exists on the planet. I've always felt that putting serious toxins into the soil is folly, especially when the reasons for doing it are either cosmetic or because we've imported an invasive species in the first place. It all seems a bit like bombs for peace. However in this case we need to let ze panzers roll and have our beach safe to surf. Thanks for your answers all... Namaste!

Hello chaps and chapesses! Can anyone recommend a systemic herbicide that we can spray on the cobbled area outside the house so my Mrs can have her life back? Keeping it clear is like painting the Forth railway bridge... We're both hippies at heart so we'd prefer something that hasn't committed genocide/invaded Poland under a previous brand name. Cheers.

I got one of these... Stihl HLA 85 battery long reach hedgecutter (shell only) (20" cut) with the big battery and quick charger it came in a under £600.00. Quieter, lighter, no fuel to buy, three hours battery life on a 20 minute charge, no ladders to transport and then fall off (!!) and the battery fits in their other products. Cuts well too. Winner.

My money's on Phytophera... is the planted area quite wet or even waterlogged? https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=542

Thanks for the replies guys - I'll give NFU a try as we have an office not too far away. It all seems a bit ridiculous - it's not like I've lowered it and put a nitrous kit in!

Hi All! So I've come around to the point where I need to insure my pickup for business use. Knowing how insurance companies love to have a reason to not pay out, I've been completely honest about any vehicle modifications; only got a Truckman Top and an orange flashy-light but apparently because these were installed by the dealer and not the manufacturer they are classed as modifications. I've gone down the 'gocompare' route but am getting back some silly quotes. Given my ambitions to fit a winch, etc, this is only going to get worse. Surely I'm not alone in having this kind of 'modification' - what do you all do? I'm over 40 with no convictions and 10+ years NCB. Cheers!

Oxygen in water is present as a dissolved gas. In stagnant or non-moving water the level of dissolved gas is much lower and can be very low to anaerobic levels. Bacteria in the water may consume all the present oxygen... Think of a fish tank - generally it's considered good for the fish to have an air pump and one of those wee stones which makes a stream of tiny bubbles to keep the dissolved oxygen levels up. Also, does anyone remember being advised not to drill drainage holes in rot pockets in trees that are full of water? Same reason - anaerobic water prevents any further rot...

Yeh... me too. I've had something like this before. Saw came with the wrong sized chain for the sprocket and bar and kept jumping on the sprocket. It peened over the chain on the bottom and jammed in the bar groove. If it's not that then yeh... maybe your drive sprocket is worn out and causing the chain to jump...

On the adjuster nut thing?

Hi Y'all! Can anyone tell me how to correctly tension my CS100 belts? The manual gives a torque/force figure (in Newtons) but I'm not sure how to measure this. Is there a special tool that measures the tightness of the belt (by deflection?). Don't want them to slip and neither do I want to screw up the bearings by having them too tight... Thanks.

This The problem here is that there's not enough money in the industry. We're too cheap.... but that's a whole other discussion. I'd bet my bottom dollar a lot of us would feel a bit different if we could afford more easily to invest in our staff. If we train our staff the industry becomes better skilled. I work most of my time as an employee and yes... you bet your life they pay me while I train and I'd be seeing my union rep if they insisted or expected me to do it in my holidays. Of course, where this all falls down is that they've barely trained me in any way over the last few years. I and my colleagues have undertaken our own training to a greater or lesser degree because it makes us more employable elsewhere. I think we're all (probably rightly) of the opinion that we're only going to advance by moving elsewhere. If you're going to do it, do it right. If you're not gonna do it, then don't. It depends on your own philosophy of business... some invest in their people and claim that their staff love them and are loyal (see Branson - he's all over that!) and some wring the last drop of blood out of their staff and more. You'll always get some lads who will take your training and move on, and why wouldn't they - most folks want some sort of career advancement. Some staff will stay with you forever if they're happy. In my experience, if you treat your staff fairly/well, you'll get a lot more out of them. There are always problem children but they tend to weed themselves out eventually one way or another, even if you have to get shot of them. Anyway, pay them their basic, pay their course fees, pay them their accommodation. It all goes against tax. Get them a hire car between them and the drivers drive and the non-drivers ride. Next time you come to recruit staff, make sure they're the best-skilled according to your business needs and a lot of these problems go away.

This is difficult to say because you're obviously a good-hearted guy who's trying to have a bit of integrity, along with some understandable concern for your reputation.... But NO!! People should pay for your skills, hard work and all the kit that backs up your profession. It sometimes seems like this industry is in a race to the bottom price-wise. How many folks on here have bemoaned the fact that industry pay has stayed static for the last (at least) ten years? This is why most small firms can only afford to sub-contract and not properly employ. This is why £80/day for a groundie with his own saw, PPE, fuel, and insurance is normal in some areas for a day of real proper graft. Other trades have been mentioned and this is completely right. If you have the skills, the experience and the kit to turn this job into a couple of hours work then that's what the customers £330.00 paid for. Stand tall, be proud and don't be afraid to charge what you're worth. If we're always cheap then this is what people will come to expect and so it'll go on... (Gets down off high-horse!)

I don't know in detail, but I hear that repeated applications of urine effects the cambium and also the soil. Can someone (David?) comment further? Might be best not to discuss this in terms of just dogs (although dog urine might well be particularly bad somehow) as in an urban environment it's clearly not just dogs that wee on trees! I think dogs do do it as part of their territorial behavious though but I'm definitely NOT pointing the finger at dogs or dog owners...

Gotcha. I see quite a lot of stuff like this so it's good to have an idea how to approach them. What would you say to fencing off and mulching over the grassed area? Maybe try and keep dogs off too somehow?

So do you effectively treat it as if the stems growing from the old pollard point were young trees growing out of the ground?

Every day's a school day!