john k

I went along once as a guest and that's exactly the conclusion I came to. Presumably it does work for some people but I couldn't see it working for me.

We were on the Thames between Reading and Oxford a few weeks ago and there were Red Kites around constantly. I've never seen so many before, it was more like watching seagulls!

I'm considering a similar type of setup so will be very interested to see what people come up with. Whereabouts are you bunnybasher?

I use one of the big felling levers and definitely wouldn't swap it for one of the small ones. They seem a bit pointless to me tbh. It's important to make sure you don't put any sideways force on it when you give it some welly because that will definitely bend it. Otherwise they seem OK and I don't think there's much difference between the makes. It's true that the bigger bars can be a tight fit, but it's easy enough to open up the kerf a bit to get it in.

I'm looking to buy a couple and I like the idea of the plastic version, but as far as I can see the inserts are only available as replacements. Do they actually sell high lift wedges complete with the plastic inserts, or do I have to start off with wooden ones?

MkIII Granada

Another vote for the 560XP. Much as I like my 346 it has definitely been relegated to spare saw since I got the 560.

My kids' school ditched the prison trays last year. They also improved the food and generally made lunchtime more civilised. Sometimes when I am working at home I go into school at lunchtime and eat with them!

Sounds like you've got some good work there Stu!

And you can buy them in the UK brand new for £9k plus vat! http://www.lada4x4.co.uk

That's one word for him I suppose!

And I was surprised to find that their price was as competitive as anywhere on line when I bought my 560XP!

I trained on them a few [1] years ago and they are a great bit of kit. I think the main winch was 25t if I remember correctly. Diff locks on all axles, so you have to really be determined to manage to get one stuck. Apparently when they were new the cost was in the region of £250k! [1] quite a few actually...

How about radiata pine for some quick growing height? You could underplant with laurel for a big solid hedge if that's the sort of thing he wants? Or go with a mixture of native plants for a less invasive hedge: hawthorn is the most common but field maple grows quickly and has a bit of height, dogwood and hazel are more bushy and fill out more. Or for something a bit less usual, how about a hedgerow of trees that he could coppice for firewood like the French do: ash or sweet chestnut?

Should any of you have been working on these trees at all?

Sounds like he wants more of a shelter belt than a hedgerow. How wide a strip would he be happy to plant up? What sort of final height does he want?

They are two completely different things really, and it seems that getting a ranger job is normally a matter of picking your organisation and volunteering for them until someone retires or dies. Even then the odds are they won't be replaced. A large part of working as a ranger is likely to be volunteer management, which may or may not be what you want to do. You are very unlikely to do any forestry work. If you decide that rangering is actually what you want to do then a qualification in Countryside Management or Environmental Conservation would be worth considering, and find some local volunteering opportunities to get some experience and get to know people. Subscribe to the Countryside Jobs Service to see what's around, what qualifications they are looking for and how little they pay! If you want to go for forestry then a Foundation Degree or National Diploma in Forestry and/or woodland management would be worth considering. Then get in touch with local estates and contractors and try to get some work experience.

Good to meet you It was an interesting day and I was very impressed that they managed to have 14 speakers giving separate presentations and run exactly to time. I'm definitely suffering from death by PowerPoint though!

That has to be Iggle Piggle I think. You're lucky you don't have boys. I had to make Thunderbird 2 a few years ago!

Definitely worth putting the time in to make sure you know it. Expect to be asked everything - I've done 30,31,38 in the last year and each time the assessor has basically worked his way through the schedule asking the questions. If you can't demonstrate that you've got a solid knowledge of the theory an assessor is likely to pay extra close attention to the practical sections! The way I approach the learning is to go through the schedule highlighting one or two key words per item, then try to remember how many there are in each section. Writing these lists of key words helps for me too. You may find that arranging them in a slightly different order makes them more memorable for you too by making it easier to visualise. For instance in CS30 there are 10 safety items on a chainsaw that you need to know and I remember them by starting with what you can see before you even touch the saw and working through to starting and using it: Scabbard Stickers Rear handle Chain catcher Stop switch Throttle interlock Exhaust Chain brake Low kick chain Anti vibration

Extraction by donkey?

Don't be too rude about them or you might not get your £100 cheque! I'll be wearing my clean jeans and best trainers

Children get their parenting from a variety of sources these days. If parents don't want other people telling their kids off then they need to teach them how to behave.

You don't need a piston stop. Just follow those instructions!

Can't believe they didn't give him another take. That's just cruel!