difflock

I was toying with doing this with my billet bundles, forcibly submersing in an old water tank, then measuring the displaced volume. Out of pure curiosity. Haint got round to it yet mind.

I appreciate(and it only took me 45 years, from age 17) I am somewhere on some "spectrum" of abbynormal, in my poor friendmaking/male bonding skills, but apparently better than average injury avoding skills**. To me, entirely untrained as I remain it it CLEARLY obvious that the chain must be kept sharp, and moderately loose, O.K. I only run semi chisel, but I keep it sharp, that way the chain rarely needs re-tensioned and the sprocket and bar last for ever, because I only ever have to "tickle" the log and the saw wants to cut, so no forcing/bruteforce, which allows for better relaxed saw control. I would also attempt to keep my body out of any likely line of kickback, if I forsaw the likelyhood of such occuring. I also always simply and intuitevly understood tension and compression and their effects on a tree or log. BUT I have unfortunately observed "trained" chainsaw abusers who brutally swing on the saw because they could not sharpen the chain, (i.e. they run to the local saw doctor to get the chains sharpened, each and every time) and could not understand that cutting asphalt was a job for a concrete saw, etc etc etc. I have also observed in mute gobsmacked awe some of the sad saws brought in, by both hobby and "professional" users, for attention at the local dealers, WTF! I bytimes had cause to wonder. But I am not seeing the well maintained saws cos those blokes dont be bringing them in for attention. I have also observed blokes that can make me feel downright inadequate with their chain sharpening and saw skills. Which is to say I mostly recognise my limitations. And I have the luxury of not working under pressure or attempting to make money off running a saw, while physically exhausted. Which is a very significent factor in otherwise inexplicable mistakes or accidents Unfortunately Dunning and Kruger were also correct when they postulated that stupid cannot be fixed. P.S. The Army is probably a bit of a contributor in offering young(ish) fit blokes who love working outdoors, the opportunity to "train" as chainsaw operators, for their post Army life. These blokes are not necessairly best suited to weilding a chainsaw, just because the feel like it or imagine they are Gods gifted chainsaw operators. "Two up and bags of smoke" does not always be the best tactic outside of the military. Sunday morning ramble over. N.B. **Injury avoiding skills, yes, I make mistakes, properly fornicate things up and break stuff, and hey I sometimes even learn something from these experiences, but "stuff" can be fixed, or scrapped, my body not so much. Marcus

Jeepers! Iffen I had these problems, there are a couple of local reputable engineering places, who will either do it themselves, or recommend someone better placed to do so. So many spin-offs from "wee Tom" McMaster's boomed and bust Engineering company of about 50 years ago, where his top men all went and set up shop in their particular specialities, be it lathe work, rolling sheet to radius, fabrication or making and mending hydraulic rams, all in the Garvagh and Kilrea areas. Odd how growing up with this background to find other areas are not so blessed. Good luck. mth

I like that, probably cos it looks natural and even tree like, so most appropriate.

Bloody obvious thinking to my simply mind. no free lunches. Simply robbing Peter to pay Paul. Which is why I did not install a ground source heat source beneath our alreadly marginally productive cold dour Northern soil.

I gnash my gums in impotent fury, knowing how well and how hot Sitka or Lodgepole burns in a stove, (based on previous experience with burning Birch exclusively, in the same stoves ), and having the potential to sell the Conifer. But the punters rather pay stupid prices for sketchily filled "1 tonne" but actually 0.65m3 dumpy bags filled with wet Poplar and Willow jumbled in Cos, hey they bes that guid burning hardwood. And I also presume softwood/conifer is very expensive to buy by the artic load, since "they" were bidding plumb stupid prices for standing, or even windthrown timber. Something to do with a logjam in the Government run paperwork application for felling permissions in the RoI. At least this was the case a while ago, O.K. on reflection, a 12month ago. good luck. marcus

But, for all the chains I use, the difference in cost is indeed marginal, in the greater scheme of things.

From my perspective, for my limited felling and firewood cutting, why would I use anything BUT Stihl. Local supplier(and we both catch up on the local gossip), very easy sharpened, holds an edge/ does not appear to need sharpening very often, the marginal difference in purchase cost is therefore inconsequential. mth

My first boss started with "The Corporation" or the Council in Londonderry, and talked about the men mixing the dry asbestos fibres with runny fire cement and plastering it in and around pipework and boilers with their bare hands. Probably in the middle 1980's when asbestos related deaths started to spike or were newsworthy. Anyway I remember him discussing it. He however is as healthy as a trout in his 90's.

Pissed all day here yesterday, but very mild, then a wonderful glorious sunny day today, and plumb awful tonight with rain driven on a cold biting wind. So much for the advertised full moon and meteor shower!

How to make a small fortune from farming, simple! Start with a large fortune.

Ineos Grenadier?

Thank BH, perfectly summed up.

The AWD version of the Rav4 HEV already does exactly what you suggest, with staggering good fuel economy for an petrol engined AWD vehicle. Just need it transplanted to a commercial chassis. BUT! apparently some "geeks" have deduced that Toyota are likely to introduce a diesel engined version of this HEV drivetrain for their larger trucks/pickups, based on information Toyota has released to the US market about (new?) diesel engines. Bring it on!

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Me, I bought a 50HP (an EX50) 2nd hand a few year ago. With a Kioti loader. And Wee hard badtard industrial tyres. Only a single speed 540. Mechanical forward reverse shuttle. Not nice to listen to, even at tickover revs. I find myself having to use the range change to get a useful speed increase. Because I use it almost exclusively for loader work. I.e I need slow to position the forks, but faster for useful travel speed. Much rather hadda Kubota or JD but money talks! Very powerful loader it must be said. But a 750rpm PTO would be really nice. And bits available from Squirrell Johnstone up at Carryduff. Ya pays yet money and ye tak yer chances is about the height of it. P.S. Ah proper had the hots for a baby Hurliman. Just remembered, tiny tiny fuel tank, and perhaps not the most economical to run? But no turbo to worry about, which perhaps contributes to the possibly poorer fuel economy.

Because people choose to live here. It's not a job it's a lifestyle choice. That is a rather circular argument. And I could introduce an Ex sister in law, that would well test your reasoning! Cheers. M

Muttley, I surmise the issue Andy and I remain perplexed about is how the hell the community so throughly vets and selects new members so that some, at least, do not develop lazier and lazier habits after a while, as some/most humans are wont to do, if other mugginsis will provide for their needs. If it is all so voluntary. Regards, Marcus N.B. Having witness backsliding by apparently decent Agency staff, once they succeeded in getting a proper Council job. And even considering families and family members, with differing work ethos.

I admit to being somewhat envious(or is it more correctly jealous, I can never remember) of Mutley's unfettered lifestyle(and I googled Redfield btw) the one point I cottoned-on to was the "no place for old men" aspect of the arrangement. Yet wider society has to provide for the neer-do-wells, the dregs and the misfits. A monestery I stayed at was the same, the bloke I spoke with was candid that they would refuse anyone turning up to join up, unless they were young and fit enough to contribute for a good number of years! Also my exposure to the cynical grant aided nature of some of the Council funded bodies claiming to be "eco friendly" soured me, when they dumped and trashed through stuff like most anybody else, always moving on the the next new thing, and leaving the ratepayer to tidy up their rubbish. And I was not unaware that most of the residents of Redfield probably pay their taxes, though there is a more than strong possibility some do not, preferring to work for cash in hand. Cheers, Marcus, EDIT. The ones that boil my piss, are for example, like the young female "social influencer" living somewhere in the hills of Portugal or Spain, "off the grid', which is to say NOT paying taxes, yet no doubt leaving a pile of shite to be tidied up, when they move on, and expecting gold plated Social Welfare when she get older, gets sick or hurts herself. Pure hypocracy.

What happens when you’re too old or too frail to be a contributing member of your commune? Do you get reduced hours dropping off to zero the older you get? Hmmmm? Or do they be dumped onto the common purse to be provided for, after not "working for the man" or paying taxes? A comunderum indeed.

You make assumptions too. None of us are lazy, unwashed or hippies. Now, I never said or even suggested that! I did ask how you prevented such a likely, (and purely driven by human nature), occurance though. cheers m

Never mind yung Euan worth was it £160,000,000.00 courtsey of his start-up which proportedly matches candidates with apprenticships. After his ould Da put measures in place to get 50% into Uni, the Son makes a bloody fortune reversing the process(no doubt by tapping into some bloody Government grant scheme)

Really really good to see such a large house still being used as a dwelling, rather than a profit motivated development "opportunity'. The "management" of the "expectations" (or how one would motivate them to make any meaningful contribution!) of some of those who would be keen to be part of such a community would interest me though.

I been following this thread with some interest. Born in 1959, reared very very lean in a 900 sq ft subsidy bungalow, (typical 4 Yorkshireman story) but "larned" to only buy what you could afford. Anyway, 60 + years later, well set financially, with a bought and paid for house, and one to spare, plus some reasonable acreage(including multiple potential sites) plus bought(with a not inconsiderable contribution from each child) 2 houses for the children, cash down, free and clear. All on a Council supervisors salary, never even reaching 30k a year after many very incremental promotions and increments, with the wife a teacher. Simply by dint of the now fashionable "FIRE" mindset. Each of us worked 2 jobs, Saved, like fornication, only bought a second hand car, shared between us, and 2nd hand furniture etc etc. Then bought a basic home for cash, did it up ourselves, rinsed and repeated. Still eat leftover foodstuffs and hoard shit, nowt(with a nod to the Yorkshire men again)gets wasted. Many mickle makes a mackle(bloody Yorkshire men get in everywhere, don't they!) Anyway, I continue to be either perplexed or horrified at the prolifigate way so many people live, while they constantly complain, "it's well for them, they can afford it". P.S. Most(all bar 1, other than me, that is) of the minimum wage workers I work alongside rush to the cafeteria or canteen to buy "scrans". I.e. No packed lunches. I realize the NI property market was not representative of the UK market when we first bought. However our 27 year old daughter, ( and working for the desperately underpaid NHS as a physio) is well on her way to her third dwelling, bought "cash down". But she drives a 10 year old car. Though property prices are going mad, so she is not rushing into another purchase. I am aware the above account will be rubbing salt in some wounds, but that has been a simple account of my/our experience. EDIT Yes I did get an inheritance, some 15 years ago, the absence of which would have made some difference to our progress, however . . .

Eggs may well have cause to roll his eyes, but that comment reminds me of the various Unions back in the 1970's each essentially competing to have their members earning the most, each in turn. And it was never enough. . . With the ensuing inflation.