bolthole

Bagged a couple of beauties tonight... fried em up in garlic butter.

You can buy Potassium Nitrate.... 1kg Potassium Nitrate / Saltpetre Crystalline Salt (KNO3) (CAS No: 7757-79-1) | eBay ....and I'm DEFINITELY going to give that a try!!!

+1 on Ludlow - fantastic! Bishop's Castle is pretty nice and take a drive up the back of Church Stretton - there's a really steep little road that goes up onto the hill in a pretty spectacular fashion. There's a gliding club on the Longmynd which I've always wanted to have a look at... Midland Gliding Club on the Long Mynd if you like that sort of thing and last time I went to Clun, I'm pretty sure we drove past an Arboretum that was part of a stately home/estate but I can't for the life of me remember where it is. Seems to be a lot of pretty scruffy places dotted around too... agricultural machinery graveyards and the like. Don't let that put you off - I love Shropshire.

It's worth shopping around for a good one - get one with all the bits, awning, aquaroll, etc... got ours off 'preloved' as the ones I'd found on ebay were all a bit tatty. I've found visiting caravan dealers to be pretty depressing. Missed a cracking one from a really obsessively clean and tidy friend but eventually found the right one nearby. The bloke had a really well kitted out workshop in his garage - really tidy and well organised and that kind of gave me the confidence in him that he'd looked after the van. Spent about 2 grand all in. I've always ridden bikes so it was a like buying a Volvo - it felt a bit wrong... but it's been great. The kids love it and it's a lot less hassle than camping. Just rock up, get the legs down and kick back.

Cheers Jonny - I'll give them a call on Monday. Clitheroe? Will they call me 'young man'? ;o)

Hi All, Does anyone know of a Chipper course running in the North West/West Midlands/Welsh Borders in the next few weeks? I've asked Myerscough and Reaseheath but no joy. Cheers...

It's all true. Chuck Norris had a beard...

I guess it's all about the right tree in the right place... which to be fair, most Leylandii in a domestic setting aren't. I think enough Leylandii must crop up on your average TO's radar in that context for us to forgive them for appearing prejudiced... I was pretty happy when my local one basically waved through the application I put in to remove the ones that were starting to dominate my garden. That avenue is magnificent. Would get my vote for protection.

Looks like they'll have it for a wee bit longer too! Am looking at a 4x4 one just now. The six wheeled one might be a bit more of a long term aspiration - I'm guessing the GVW is a bit more on them with the wheelbase being longer? Would quite fancy having one with a HIAB behind the cab and a nice custom tipping body...

My pockets aren't that deep!!

Just seen your icon... who did yours? Was it them?

I actually have already - they were pretty helpful. Thanks for the tip though.

Hi All, I wonder if any of you have experience of Pinzgauers as Arb trucks? I'm considering one. It's currently a gun bus type thing with a soft rear roof and bench seats; has anyone sucessfully converted one to a tipping chip body (with lockers) - I understand that this can be done but is a bit tricky as the vehicle isn't your typical ladder chassis. Following the recent thread about tippers and insurance, I'd be looking to get someone to do it to some sort of approved standard. Any recommendations? What did it cost you if you had it done? Insurance wise... well the Pinz is an old (1982) 710M; is there any such thing as Classic Commercial insurance on the market? Might be dreaming there I realise. I realise I'll need earplugs. Thanks in advance.

Found this on Youtube this evening... thought it might be of interest! [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZzFL05CENI]How to sharpen a pruning silky saw - YouTube[/ame]

A sawmill in the South Cheshire/North Shropshire area who might be able to mill small batches for me? Doesn't have to be a professional outfit... obviously I'd expect it to be a paying arrangement, but am more than open to barter, etc... Thanks!

Okay... here's a can of worms... I was looking at a particularly tasty Mog this week, which is currently Ag registered. I've read through a lot of the posts on here and there seems to be loads of differing opinions - I find it really difficult to wade through the DVLA/VOSA regs on the web so I gave DVLA a call. They tell me that unless I am using the (potential) Mog to work on and move between bits of land that I own (it would be used for mostly 'domestic' work, as in not Forestry) the vehicle cannot enjoy this status and would need to be MOT'd and registered as private HGV. It was a 406 weighing 3600KG... Can anyone tell me how they run their Mogs legitimately on the road for mixed domestic work, removing arisings from site to your own yard (to process and sell on as firewood and chip), under Ag status? Legitimately, as in not the 'fingers' crossed approach! I'm quite prepared to cost 'Operators licence' and all other appropriate compliance, etc into my business model... well try to! Thanks...

Check this out Buy a new Skoda Yeti Diesel Estate The only time I ever bought a new car I found this - took the quote to the VW dealer and they (reluctantly) matched the price. If you take out the finance and settle it after 3 months you keep the 3 years free servicing...

I take your point guys and you might be right - I'd just like to deal with someone who doesn't have to have too much explained to them... someone who I can pay to do for me the things I find difficult! In a previous life (in a previous trade) I used a guy who did the books of a lot of people in the same business - he was fantastic and knew exactly how to minimise my tax liabilities. We had a couple of 'meetings' at the local tax office which I still look back on fondly! The trouble is, I can't find him to use again... his old office has been demolished and he's not in the 'phone book (or on t'internet). Previous (more recent) accountants I've had have had to be asked very specifically to pursue stuff I've found myself on the HMRC website... stuff which was very much to my advantage. I'm just sick of dealing with lead-footed, blood-sucking incompetents... Anyway.... rant over... and breath!

It's sole trader and just self-assessment. All of my previous accountants have been 'out of area' for me so I'd prefer someone local but someone proactive is probably more important. My current accountant seems to have decided to ignore my existence to the point of doing nothing for the tax year 2011/12 for me. I'm now a late submitter and subject to penalties... I was non-resident for that tax year so the amount of money at stake is substantial - otherwise I'd attempt to self-assess online. I now need someone familiar with the Arb trade, but mostly someone who does their job properly, or at least keeps me in the loop and fronts-up when it's up to me to sort something out. PM sent....

The last three accountant's I've had have been absolutely useless... didn't do what I asked them to do, zero communication, charged me a lot... Can anyone recommend a good 'un. I'm Cheshire/Shropshire based. Thanks in advance...

Can only agree - very poor practice. Get the tree officer in while there's an opportunity to take remedial action.

I can only echo what's been said about the FSB and the ability to get permanantly free business banking from the Co-op. The FSB deserves a thread all of it's own...

It's interesting you should say that - the Defender was new when we sent it out here and it's never really been faster than 40kmh - always driving arouynd in 2nd or maybe 3rd. We were told to expect trouble as running it at such (lack of) load meant that the rings wouldn't seal properly and we'd end up polishing the honing off the inside of the cylinders, hence we'd end up with a worsening cycle of wear inside the combustion chambers. Maybe it is fuel wash as you suggest. To be honest it's been really well looked after and (honestly) not abused - regular weekly inspection and serviced every three months. Must be doing less than 3000km between services as we only run it around camp. I know this isn't really relavent to the thread (sorry!) but it's really had me scratching my head how a brand new engine can have a turbo fail at such a low mileage...

Having said that about JP8... if that is true our 2010-bought Defender has just suffered a failed turbo after only about 6000 miles running on what we're drawing from the POL point out here in Bastion. Admittedly the speed limit is 25kmh on camp (with a few sections of road where we're allowed to drive at 40kmh - woo!) which I realise isn't good for a diesel engine, especially a new one... I asked the question about JP8 to the REME guys who looked at it and they said we were getting 'poor quality diesel' (they didn't say 'poor quality'!) so I'm not sure. The POL point seems to supply everyone on camp. If it is JP8 it's not done our engine any good. There was a lot more black smoke than you'd have expected prior to the failure. The older TD5s we've got seem okay.

Maybe we should start selling wood by energy content.... ...such that you offer the customer either a fixed amount of MegaJoules and a variable volume of wood or a fixed volume of wood (probably much, much easier!) but a proportionately cheaper price, based on how much energy they're actually buying per cube/builders bag, etc... There are a lot of folks out there in the energy market (because that's what we're part of) trying to get best value; if you can make it genuinely simple and understandable (and compare what you're charging for 'energy' to gas/coal/elec/oil) then all the mystery and misinformation will go out of it. Now this is probably a bad example to give, but when you go to Amsterdam and buy cannabis, the Dutch give you a little of the strong stuff or relatively a lot more of the less strong stuff for the same money. Apparently. Different people buy different stuff according to their tastes but everyone is getting more or less the same bang for their buck and maybe that's the way forward with firewood. The information regarding energy/unit dry volume is out there - price acccordingly and if you have a website explain this simply on your log page. You could even factor in the mositure content so that wet wood is cheaper/dry wood at a premium. Turn up with the load and a moisture meter, split a couple of pieces and show them the reading... after all that only the true problem children will find something to complain about!