Matthew Arnold
-
Posts
4,149 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Classifieds
Tip Site Directory
Blogs
Articles
News
Arborist Reviews
Arbtalk Knot Guide
Gallery
Store
Calendar
Freelancers directory
Everything posted by Matthew Arnold
-
I find it safer to use as well. Atleast when you get kickback from a clearing saw its well away from you but kickback from a chainsaw could snick clothing, boots, etc.
-
My boss cant stand the sound of them going thru 2 inch stuff but he doesnt mind it when i go through thicker stuff. It will certainly make our work load alot less as i can now getin into the thickets of ivy clad Ash and Sycamore and thin them out of the weedier stuff ready for the finaly clear out. We have a Timberwolf TW150 which is unbraked which is handy as we can tow it around even if some of us don't have a trailer ticket.
-
We have a Stihl FS550 clearing saw/brushcutter at work. Where possible i use it for removing re-growth from stumps to make it easier for my colleague to get in and lower and treat the stump. It doesnt sound particularly efficient but its the easiest way that we have found of treating stumps in late summer. I also use it for felling small trees (6 inches diametre and smaller). Does anyone else use clearing saws or is it mainly chainsaws?
-
I stupidly put the apprentice in charge of gettin a fire going. He had 3 sunday papers, an onion bag full of super dry kindling and loads of silver birch, oak and hazel tips to get a good base on it before loading the holly. I left him to it and two hours later during our mid mornin break he started coming up with every excuse in the book (kindling was damp, paper was damp, etc,etc). 30 mins after the mid morning break i had a crack at the fire of which there was barely a base to speak of. It didnt take long to become a decent raging fire. You can see the pics of it in the burn up thread.
-
What about "Fox" or "Bandit". Sounds strange but where we go beatin there are dogs called fox and bandit. It confuses the hell out of the guns as they are allowed to shoot foxes but they are not allowed to shoot "The Bandit".
-
First pic is of my colleagues attempt at a fire. Took him 2 hours to get it to that stage. No fuel was used (but a splash of chain oil was). My fire (second pic) required no oil of any sort just a sunday paper and 2 fire lighters. And with 30 mins it was raging.
-
3 newspapers n a box of firelighters should do the trick. Dead elm is the holy grail of fire lighting kit.
-
Ilex Robur Sambucus?
-
Bungie cords, gaffa tape and cardboard. Cardboard is brilliant for stopping the engine getting too cold and keeps the heaters slightly warmer. We had a thin steel plate to slide down infront of the radiator behind the spot lights. Kept the engine a constant heat. Some gypo stole that and at the same time stole the tow hitch off our new defender.
-
Although i've been beating today my colleagues had a bad start to the day. The Ford Ranger was flat as a fart and they couldnt get into the container as the lock was frozen solid. They defrosted it using wd40 and had to use the l200 to wrench the door open as it had frozen shut over the weekend. They picked up the jump leads and got he ranger running to then realise the water-antifreeze mix had frozen solid which nackered the water pump. the guys are not happy as it just had its 3 month check and aparently the water-antifreeze mix was the same mix that was in from the factory. I had a quick look at it and its just a water-coollant mix. No antifreeze what so ever. New jubilee clip, New water pump and a header tank full of antifreeze and water job done. I did this all after beating so my back is now hurting and my hands are bloody frozen. Just as well the water pump is easy to access and remove. 3 bolts and a belt off and job done.
-
Yep pretty much. If the roads are any worse than today then we may have to drive in from the main road then jump on at the farm tracks. They are still hairy but atleast you can see if anything is coming.
-
My dad was driving as we both go beating duringthe pheasant season. Going out to the same place tomorrow. And as you can probably imagine the roads havent been gritted. There aren't even any grit bins on the estate.
-
We got alot left in Dorset. Most of it has become ice. The untreated roads have become ice rinks. There is tons of black ice. We found a few bits today n hedged the defender twice. The second time we hedged it we went straight thru.
-
We have some Old Limes that are pollarded every 10 years in Blandford. They are at the far reaches of a small paddock where the local hunt meets every boxing day. They are rumoured to be 800 years old but no records have been found. The first link shows the old ones in the paddock. The second link shows some awful pollarding that is done every 2 years to keep the route clear for the carnival. It is paid for every two years by a local district councillor which my dad used to work with and he is an arrogant sod and sadly his son is the same. West Street, Blandford Forum - Google Maps St leonard's Avenue, Blandford Forum - Google Maps The images aren't brilliant. I shall try and get some pictures of the badly pollarded trees. Whats worse is they were pollarded last year in JUNE. The worst time to pollard trees.
-
Sadly its info from my colleagues. They have this single mindset that any wood which is really light is naff for burning. I've burnt dry willow and alder and it burns very well. They are amazed that i take a truck load home whenever we fell willow n alder. I will let them know that it infact burns very well. Coz im the "runt" of the group i get the naff stuff and they get he Ash, Sycamore and dead elm. And i get the stuff that takes two years or so to dry out.
-
This is the rustic benches we make out of cedar. The legs are either Douglas Fir or Scots Pine and the tops are either Cedar of Lebanon or Western Red. It just depend what the local timberyard has. The benches cost £60 for the set n the picnic benches cost £125 as it uses bigger timber which is more expensive. The massive chunks of timber are Cedar of Lebanon. We didnt pay anything for them and they were apparently of "no use" to the district council so we had them as 100% vandal proof bbq benches. We plane them off 3 times a year. And they weigh 2.5 tonnes each.
-
Alder is the "softer" of the hardwoods. Bit like Lime, Willow and Poplar. Thats why they are crap for burning. I think the exception for softwood is Cedar. That stuff is pretty damn hard. We use them to make rustic picnic benches (two 3 ft legs in the ground 2 ft and a 6 inch thick piece of cedar on top).
-
We got breathers on the back of our trucks. We used to get great blasts of fumes during the summer but now its relatively clear. The only issue with the breathers is it freezes the back up and if it raining like mad it can trickle down onto the powertools.
-
2litre flask of tea and a bottle of lucozade sport in the winter. And 3 litres + in the summer. Sometimes in the winter we have a little kettle that runs off a cigarette lighter adapter. It takes 15 mins to boil but it works.
-
Not normally but as its inside the house its probably got its hibernation system all out of sync withthe central heating. He probably thought it was June. Ive seen Red Admirals flying around today. The damn things are meant to be hibernating.
-
A form of identifying stolen gear
Matthew Arnold replied to ben lightfoot's topic in Stolen Equipment
We have security stickers on our tools. They leave a chemical imprint that is specific to the place i work and we have a big excel spreadsheet of the tools, serial numbers and security tags. Only we have gone a step further and etched/soldered the security numbers and serial numbers into the plastic on the air filter cover. We also lock them in place in the back of our trucks. -
Its looks almost like an Ash x London Plane. Very strange but no idea wot is causing it.
-
My dad had a go in one of them the other evening as a fast response car. Very good, went extremely quickly and had 120 out of it on a very straight piece of road. It handled beautifully and the 4wd system is very clever.
-
Im listenin to P.O.D. My colleagues aren't too into it but i love heavy metal.
-
Lots of pics of snow n haw frost. Was a tad hairy yesterday when we got pics of some virgin snow. We were the only vehicle (except tractors) that had been up to the hill but the only vehicle in the car park. The Haw frost pics were all taken on a Fujifilm Finepix JV 12 Megapixel. Most of the close ups were taken in macro. Enjoy.
