GreenGui

Peter - Tres Drole Welshwoodsman - thats the look I achieved for the first 8 years, 5 ft high weed turned to 4 inch of heavy mulch:thumbdown:

I have been cutting 6 acres of ex farmland for the last 10 years with the same intent. First 8 years I used a flail mower behind my "crap chinese" tractor and cut once in the spring and once in autumn. It left so much debris on top of the sword that things just got worse year on year. For 2 years now I have cut it with an old pitman stick finger bar mower, turned and racked with an old belt rake and then baled with an old low density baler. The difference is night and day to the quality of the sword even in 2 years. But I have a tractor and thats not really what you want to hear... The old bit of kit are cheap though as others have said:thumbup1:

There's an arm band for everyone...

Agreed, then we could rebuild Westminster and fill it full of people that might (thats a BIG might) represent us.

I did about 50 meters back in the spring, 1 meter clay based top soil. Bored to 750mm and back filled with a 0/20 gravel mix rammed/tamped, worked a treat. As others have said with your soil description you should be able to just use the fill. Don't envy you doing it now though...

King Dick or Britool both a pleasure to use and have lasted me since my apprenticeship (along with lots of less expensive stuff too:biggrin:)

Another one for a 50 ltr cheapy. On the second one, first one lasted 8 years this one has done 9 years. Used for tyres, blowing out saws, radiators, etc. But has also been used extensively with an air chisel chipping out cement joints and render off walls - I am amazed it still works TBH. One tip - use proper compressor oil, I have motor oil in mine and it has difficulty starting from cold in the winter. Can't be bothered to change it now.

Before going the Oxy route, try 50/50 acetone/auto trans oil mix. Paste in on a few times and leave to soak for a couple of hours - has never failed me yet. Gave up on penetrating oil years ago.

Good question. I have been thinking exactly the same thing myself. I would like a second machine that can perform exactly the same duties as my chinese "crap" tractor can do, still fit onto my trailer and be towed, fit between the rows of my tree plantations and work in my veg plot, make hay etc. Its a tough one to answer. All the second hand reasonably priced machines seem to fit into the large 1970/80's machines (good but too big). The Kubota 20hp type machines are too small (IMO) or the more modern JD etc. way too expensive. A chinese machine of 30 hp is not worth 7k£ but what fulfills the same function at a similar price?

Mine gets loads of abuse, that was my point. It gets lots of attention regarding maintenance too. The engine is Dongfeng, did they make Iveco engines? The ancillaries as I outlined are crap, no doubt in my mind. The mechanics have been copied off other old, well proven marks - its what the chinese do. Their longevity may be open to question by many all I can tell you is my own personal experience based on the time, abuse, hours run and maintenance during ownership.

Thanks for posting, made me smile. Impressive how they stay on.

A lot of people knock the chinese tractors. I have run a 30 hp one for 10 years and put approx. 2,200 hours on it so can talk with experience. I use it with a 1.2m flail mower regularly cutting 4 acres. A finger bar mower, 2.2m belt rake and 1960 low density bailer for hay making (600 bails this year), ploughing and rotary tilling for tree planting and veg growing each year, post hole borer for fencing, towing a trailer and lugging building materials with the back box sufficiently filled to raise the front wheels off the ground!. Mechanically they are tough but old technology and require regular maintenance and understanding by someone with mechanical sympathy (in this case me but I am a trained engineer). The electrics are rubbish (all gauges replaced with mechanicals) and the hydraulics required all the sealing washers replacing, likewise the fuel hoses needed replacing as they collapse. But make no mistake it is a workhorse. I am not flag waving for them but to simply view them as "crap" is grossly unfair. The biggest issue really is with support (non-existance once the importer had sold it to me) and spares backup. I would NOT pay the new prices being quoted for them today. You pay your money and take your chances

I saw that not long after it had been posted and laughed out loud. The next thought that crossed my mind was 'what would the english gardener' think of that...

I hear you Tony even if no one else does:thumbup1: Regards

I'm not sellling one! I am simply responding to a question re sub 500 quid stoves, which incidentally the OP never said NO Chinese when first posting but made it clear it must be less than £500. I can only speak from experience and having run one as a second stove for 5 years without problem for the mighty sum of 300 quid, its not bad. I run an expensive Esse as my primary heat source and whilst it kicks out the heat as a British made product it is not without faults wrt to quality control. I'm not preaching its better than Jotul, I know that its not, just answering the original question which the OP has now amended.

I suspect thats correct but what would one expect for less than £500 in cast iron.

We have a Bernard Davis and Co 'little Wonder' as a second stove: Cast Iron Stoves, Traditional or Modern, Multi-Fuel Heating, East Sussex There is a second maker known as Evergreen who sell copies of the Bernard Davis stove range (have also owned one of these in the past - no problems) and their copy of the Little Wonder is called the 'Larch' and is shown here Evergreen ST0311 Larch Multifuel / Woodburning Stove - Stoves Are Us If I had to choose between the two I would go with the Bernard Davis product although not the purchase experience!

Used to be added to lime mortar, it acts as a plasticiser. Our male goat pisses on his own beard in the belief it will make him more attractive to the ladies - he stinks so bad I stay upwind of him:laugh1: Don't think he has realised yet his nuts were removed two weeks ago:lol:

I used to use tap water in the UK and found I had variable results depending on where I lived - sluggish yeast and fementation that would stop for no apparent reason. I am lucky enough now to have water straight out of a 65 meter bore hole and although the ph is a tad low I never have a problem with 'stuck' brews. I think the main problem with tap water is the chlorine which will vary in quantity (up to a maximum allowable figure) depending on the water quality where you live. some sources state drawing the water and letting it stand for 24 hours before brewing helps let the chlorine evaporate. On the times when I did full mash in the UK I found the results to be better but don't know if it was the longer heating times evaporating the chlorine before pitching the yeast or if it was just the result of a 'superior' brewing process:confused1:

I remember when I was a kid, my father (in the timber business at the time) used to look for bits of wood that he claimed would glow in the dark. From memory I think they were normally bits of fallen timber which would indicate rotting - he never did find any much to my disappointment:confused1:

Try Skip Dr, bought the bog basic one years ago to fix scratched PS2 disks for my kids. works really well to the point where we were buying second hand disks for peanuts knowing we could recover them with the Dr. Only on one occasion has it failed to recover a disk and sometimes it needs to go through twice. http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2/280-1002721-5005930?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=skip+Dr

We are further north than you (Brittany/Loire boarder) and we planted a a little nut grove including 3 Almonds about 7 years ago. What Agg221 has said is exactly our experience; year 3 we had a few nuts, this year they are covered in flowers and given the weather is now so mild it should produce a good crop

Strange given I opened the my post with "I like em too", that you would think I would want and do to kill them. I'll leave you with it and bow out now.

Thanks Fungus, no worries mate.

Steady. If your re-read my post you can see that I NEVER suggested killing them or indeed stated that I do. I happen to like them as I had already stated. I mentioned the fact about the Raid in supermarkets to illustrate a point; that they are very common in Brittany. Most French "paysans" hate them. Get down off your high horse and read the post, your not the only one who like nature!!