bolthole

Hi Mark, I realsie this isn't exactly what you're looking for but a friend of mine made these for my 2.5 year old daughter but also as a demonstration piece in response to a query from a friend of ours who had some funding for her Forest School. She wanted rustic furniture. They're made out of oak. It's all peg joints I think. PM me if you're interested.

Looks like a bleeding Canker, which is apparently down to a type of Phytophthora. I'm not aware of anthing specific to Laurus but it looks like this might be what's going on. The cut roots are a bit of a smoking gun... the tree has been injured and most likely infection or fungus which is endemic in the soil has entered through the wounds where the roots were cut. It's now under attack and will be using up it's energy trying to fight off whatever pathogen has entered. Some books recommend trimming away the effected areas, but I think that wounding the tree further is only going to make things worse - if it's got in through the roots it's probably spread systemically through the trees vascular tissues. You could try carefully removing any turf that's overlaying the remaining root area and mulching under the tree. Grass competes heavily with trees for water and nutrients so it would make a difference. Roots generally spread quite a long way; further than the height of the tree generally but it's up to you how far you want to go! In fact, just cover the turf with weed matting or cardboard and mulch on top. Not too deep - about 3 or 4 inches max. If you start stripping turf away then you'll probably injure the remaining roots. Maybe also try watering the tree with a sugar solution to give it an instant hit of carbohydrates. All this is just an attempt to help the tree survive and isn't a 'cure'. Really, I've said all this based on one photo which gives a pretty limited view; if you want some more solid advice, you should contact a reputable local Arborist and get them to have a look. If it's big enough to hurt someone or damage something if it starts shedding limbs (or falls over!!) then you should get it checked out. Where are you located?

Me too. It's really common apparently. My Mrs is a Doctor and got me to do a bit of mediation and introduced me to 'Mindfulness'. I was really sceptical when she mentioned it, but she's been right that many times about stuff that I gave it a go. Gotta admit, I felt a bit daft to start with. The meditation is all about deliberately clearing your mind for a bit. It sort of gives you a break from all the things you've got going on. A rest from all your cares. I was amazed at how much more chilled I'd feel after even five or ten minutes. It's pretty hard to start with but it gets easier if you practice. I've never felt the need to say 'Ommmm!' The mindfulness thing is like taking a step back from yourself and checking out how you are feeling. It helps you see what's going on in your mind, body and your emotions and gives you the chance to sort of assess how you're doing and let yourself off the hook if necessary. I'd normally get stressed about something I've got to do, and end up fretting about it usually insead of sleeping, but sometimes when I'm with the family; I'd end up getting a bit snappy if they put some extra demand on me which wasn't good. When I do the mindfulness thing, in my own case I can usually see my own self doubts creeping in like an old bad habit. It gives me the chance to sort of laugh at them and see them as not really true; like a silly mistake I'm making about the situation - it's usually about something I can easily do and have nailed before. Once you start doing it, you end up doing it all the time and I've found that it also helps me to appreciate the good times. Mrs tells me it started off as a Buddhist practice, but it's now something that mental health professionals are recognising as a real thing. It takes a bit of effort and it's definately no magic wand, but it works for me.

I've done loads on ebay. Be patient with the listings - most of the action happens in the last 5 minutes. Sold a trailer last year and got a really good price and from other posts I've read saws can go for a good whack too. If you want to know what sort of price your stuff will go for, search for one the same that's for sale and put it in your 'watch list' - when it ends BINGO, you'll know what sort of money it fetches. Thing is, everyone looks on ebay these days so there's loads of exposure and with it being an auction people can get carried away in your favour! There's always the odd idiot and there's planty of timewasters, but I've always found it to be a great way to sell stuff. Stick with it, have a bit of patience and I reckon you'll be pretty pleased.

Employment law actually deals with having to terminate employment in quite a fair way; essentially staff have to be given warnings and the opportunity to improve based on clearly identifying the issues and agreeing how they should be dealt with, and when, etc. I know a lot of employers find it burdensome, but it can actually work well for both parties BUT more importantly, it needs to be done properly if the OP isn't to lay themselves open to legal liability if he does decide to end this individuals employment. Check these out; (sorry if this is already known to the OP!) https://www.gov.uk/dismiss-staff/overview Unfair Dismissal: Capability If you've done all you can and it's still not working out, it's probably best for both parties if the employee concerned goes. He'd probably be a lot happier doing a job he was suited to. I think it has to be said that this is a particularly hazzard-filled industry with a lot of big, bad consequences if things go wrong; persons undertaking a carreer in Arb need to be capable of working safely, unsupervised, as part of a team. Nobody expects newbees to be perfect from day one, but you've clearly put the effort in and seen little improvement. It's not just the employee concerned potentially at risk, but his colleagues and the general public. If he can't be left to finish off a stump on his own...

Fair enough!

Thanks Rob. I'll check it out when I get home (end of the month) and PM you.

Hi Rob, I've recently bought a 'job lot' of nearly new Makita DCS 510s. I'd love to start milling - do you think two of these on a 50" bar would be a viable setup? The manual says their maximum power is 3.3hp. Either a .325 or 3/8 pitch, but I'm not at home to check... What do you think?

I had a similar experience a few years ago. I would say right from the start that it's well worth making every effort to chase the college and progress your learning. It'll do you credit and you'll benefit immensely from having pushed through adversity. Myerscough has some excellent staff, with some of them leading lights in arboricultural academia! However... ...now that tution fees are at their current level, and given Myerscough's reputation and status as the National Arboricultural Centre I am disappointed to hear that things still seem to be below well below par. I've done some of my CS tickets at the college; the first two were fine, with really first class (although not staff) instructors but the last one I did was disappointing. The chipper we were using was in a poor state and the assessment was nearly cancelled on the day. I also undertook online learning with them and had a very mixed experience; one lecturer was excellent, the second seemed only to do the very minimum and there was no real contact at all, let alone actual teaching. It appeared that the college hadn't been able to find a person to teach the third module at all - they gave us the name of one lecturer at the beginning of the module and then changed it some weeks later. I had no contact from the lecturer we ended up with. I found their communication to be pretty lacking. This may have been a one off but I really do think the college needs to look at how it's courses are delivered online. Ideally there needs to be one person acting as a point of contact for online students and there needs to be enough time for the existing lecturers to actually give the online students some time in leiu of face-to-face teaching. That's my two-penneth-worth. I may have been unlucky.

Have a look at this; http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr668.pdf As far as the HSE are concerned, you are the 'competent person'. Doesn't really say much about the reality of the job but the content of the document sets out what your responsibilities are in the eyes of the HSE - obviously this has legal teeth. It's specific for rigging operations...

The Mrs says these are very good... Boett Blankets provide protection from Sweet Itch

Bump!

You're probably right, but as long as I can pull a massive trailer and get the CS100 on into the tipping body then the job should be a good un. Also, the crane is a massive win for me, at my age. Did I mention that it's ORANGE?!

It doesn't say. Are you thinking about payload or is it relevant to importing?

First registered 2002

It's one of those Iveco 4x4s... it's got a tipping body and a HIAB and best of all, it's already painted ORANGE!

Hi Gents, I'm considering buying a truck (3500Kg GVW) via a German website; the vehicle is in Hungary. Has anyone any experience of this sort of undertaking? What issues should I be aware of? Ta!...

This looks good; [ame]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Delorme-AG-009871-201-DeLorme-inReach-SE/dp/tech-data/B00BX7TJ2O/ref=de_a_smtd[/ame]

The 112 thing is really good, but if this is a big issue for you then a Satellite telephone is a decent solution. The handsets are about the same price as an iPhone and you can get PAYG SIMs. I've seen a basic handset for about £300 on Amazon. We've always used very Basic Thuraya handsets at work and these are fine; they have a built in GPS and the facility to text your position. You can usually run them on both Satellite and GSM (normal mobile 'phone networks) without two SIMs. It's worth noting that they can take a while to find the satellite if you aren't in open ground but if there is NO network at all they will get you out of trouble. They're not tied to whatever country you're in. In the event of a serious chainsaw/forestry related accident they are not 100% guaranteed to work if you find yourself pinned down or spurting blood from a wound so they'd not be a valid excuse to undertake lone working... Hope that helps!

Genius!

And wear some PPE. And, with the benefit of hindsight, stop tempting fate by publicly boasting about how easy it is just before cutting off one of his hands.

C'mon Leigh, Bob's book is excellent and covers the basics of this topic, plus plenty of other stuff and references source material and further reading. From what I remember of the first year, the foundation degree starts at a pretty basic level; the college need to know that the original poster is up to the work and can put together an essay from some basic research. They don't at this stage need to know that he's sure to pass!

I've not married it!

Nav Free is one of the reasons I went from iPhone sceptic to iPhone convert. One device that does everything. Well everything except last a whole day on one charge! I still have me old TomTom but just couldn't see the sense in replacing it (when I mistakenly thought it had died) like-for-like when I could buy an iPhone and never have to carry a camera, mobile phone, walkman, laptop, compass, watch, satnav, calculator, inclinometer, tape recorder or any number of reference books separately aver again. Other smart 'phones are also available. Ahem.