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Clear skies here again tonight - fallen from -10 a couple of hours ago to -14 when I checked just now. Wonder how much lower it's going tonight? Alec

Yep, that would agree with Sturmer at -17. Trees were still thick white in the sun, with frost dropping from the sky like snowflakes when we went to Cambridge earlier. Only place I've ever seen it like this was Lake Constance on the German/Swiss border. Alec

The 090 is the big one (137cc). The normal 090G is an 070 (106cc) with a reduction gear drive, so it's smaller than your 090. The 090G Super is an unofficial conversion of an 090G to 090 spec. It was apparently done by some US dealers. You have to change the barrel and piston and I think some mounting bolts. There's a description of how to do it on one of the US sites. Alec

You're right that it can be converted, but there's a bit more to it than that. The one I'm really after is the 090G Super, which is an unofficial dealer-converted 090G with the 090 pot and piston fitted. I fancy milling with that one! Alec

I think it's a generic term for several different species of pine - a bit like the term 'mahogany'. They seem to be mostly from N.America. What they have in common as a group is a very high resin content, which is what stops them rotting and why they're called 'pitch' - as in if you heat the wood up in a closed drum then the resin breaks down to yield pitch for ships, a bit like making Stockholm tar. No use in this job though, as you won't get round bits easily in the UK. Alec

Be aware that beech is not durable either. Alec

This is going to be really hard to make work. I presume you're looking to fill the space behind the posts to create the waterproof seal? Whilst you've rejected butyl liners, have you rejected puddled clay? This will work much better with timber posts. If they have to be round I'd use sweet chestnut as it has minimal sapwood. I would strip the bark and possibly even shave off the sapwood if I wanted to get a good tight fit. If clay can't be used, the only other thing I can suggest is that rather than concreting the posts in, make the pond a complete concrete structure with shuttering, to form a vertical wall. Then wire the posts together with stainless steel wire and staples, tied to the edge to stop them floating. This will make them much easier to remove when they need replacing. I would then use something like larch, still strip the bark as it would be annoying if it fell in the water, and reckon on replacing every 5yrs or so. If they must be concreted in then I'd probably go back to chestnut but just reckon on ripping out the whole pond in about 10yrs and re-doing it. You might just be able to make it work if you stripped back the SC posts to heartwood, then painted the parts which will be in contact with the concrete with liquid DPM. Alec

I'd avoid the concrete if possible. Oak is durable because of its tannin content, as I believe are purpleheart and greenheart. Tannin is tannic acid, concrete is alkaline, where they are in contact the tannins are rapidly neutralised and you get surface rotting, so they no longer bond properly (as many owners of wooden boats have found to their cost). These three have the advantage that the waterline and unsubmerged areas will also be durable. Elm is good, as are pitch pine and alder. All of these need to be wholly submerged - the area around the waterline will be attacked rapidly. Whichever you use, only the heartwood is durable - sapwood will disappear pretty fast. Alec

Do any of your experiences from the Basque suggest that re-pollarding is an option with lapsed pollards in this condition? If so, is it a long-term approach via progressive removal of the larger growth, or would this just result in rapid decay and collapse? Alec

I'd suggest Rob D of this site - he's reasonably close and uses an 088 set up, which you will need at this size unless you have infinite patience! Alec

Your options are either to mill to a cutting list - i.e. work out in advance what you want to make and then mill accordingly, or to mill speculatively to make it into something useful once you know what you are going to make. Your original question suggested you're in the latter position? I would anticipate that this particular log will be somewhat rustic in character, based on the number of branches visible at the surface. Rustic lends itself to big, chunky stuff with character - table tops made from 3" slabs, shelves from 2" etc. Legs need to be in proportion. This is also in keeping with it being very wide. Table tops out of the centre at full width would move around a bit during seasoning, but that would be in keeping. If it turns out to be much cleaner inside than expected I might revise my plan of attack. I would then cut the centre boards half-width, so truly quartered, and make them much thinner - say milling at 1.25" as they would be very stable. Boards this wide and quarter-sawn can be very useful for e.g. 6-plank chests (when I find a suitably large tree I'll be making some for this myself). Of course, you could use it for framing, cladding, any number of other construction rather than decorative uses, but usually it's not worth bothering with something this big for this purpose as it's proportionally much harder work than a thinner (say 2') butt. Alec

OK, so more like 4' dia x 9' length (bottom diameter doesn't help you as most things need to be fairly parallel sided). I'd still slab at 3", and make a bit of 4" slab from the edge bit. The 4" slab will turn into 4"x4" should 'chunky' legs be needed in proportion to a thick top on a slab table or similar. Alec

I second tommer - the bark definitely looks like an oak, but which one I couldn't say. Yes you can use brown (fungally affected) oak outside, but it soaks up a lot more preservative/treatment than non-brown oak. Alec

I wouldn't say it's too knotty - use a chainsaw mill as they are far less sensitive to knots. A bit hard to judge dimensions, but I'm guessing about 3'6" diameter x 7' length? If so, I would suggest that unless you have something specific in mind, slab it out at about 3" thickness with an Alaskan. When it gets down to about 1' width on each side, take a 4" slice off. This should give you enough to either use or re-saw for most things and although the slabs will be heavy they will be moveable by two people. For future reference, if you think of milling before you start cutting up, I would suggest leaving your log as long as possible, so trim off the top branches only, making cuts in line with the milling direction. This will give you more choice of where to take dimensioned planks out later, cutting around any defects, and will give you much more interesting grain up around the crotch. You will lose some due to instability, but it's worth a go as some will come out really well. Alec

I disagree with this. Historically, you're correct, but legislation has put a stop to raiding, and management charges are coming down a lot. The property route loses you both the tax advantage and you don't get the input from your employer at double what you're putting in. It's also only viable if you have a lot spare. Say you're putting in 4% of a £20k salary, that's around £67 a month, for which you're getting benefit of £200 tax free. £66 won't pay for much of a property investment! Alec

That's correct - I've got two previous ones. The old-style company pension scheme tends to allow you the option to defer payment until you retire. The more modern system is to use a pension investment company like Standard Life, Scottish Widows etc. It's like having a bank account that you can only withdraw from by closing it to set up your pension. The bank account continues to exist whether or not anybody (you or your employer) is paying in to it. Eventually you close them all down, separately or together - up to you, withdraw the money and move it into a big pot, in exchange for an agreed sum to be paid to you as an ongoing pension for life. The return you get on the investment varies with your attitude to risk. These investments are called funds, and you really need to talk to a pensions adviser to choose them. If you take the view that it's very important you get something back, the money goes into secure investments like government bonds, that don't make much interest. If you take the view that it's nice to have, and on the long term you should be OK (and don't watch it with fear on a daily basis!) then overall you usually do better with slightly higher risk investments. To put this in context, I think we managed something around 100% growth from 2002 to 2008 in medium-high risk funds, and even in the last few years it would still be more than 5% average. If the company has an agreed provider (e.g. Standard Life) then you might as well talk to their adviser as it will be free and they can take you through the funds they offer, the relative levels of risk, and let you sort out ones you're happy with. Alec

I would regard this as a good thing. For the majority of employed people (I suspect this is not the status of many people on Arbtalk who appear to be self-employed) a pension is a sensible thing to plan for. Following the collapse of Equitable Life, the remaining companies are heavily regulated so it's pretty secure. The amount you put away each month is realistic and you're effectively more than tripling it when the fact that it's tax free is taken into account. Compare this with, for example, the amount of your net salary you would need to pay the mortgage on a second house as others have suggested. Consider that, in the end, there is likely to be a period before you die where you can no longer work. During this period, you will need more than state benefits if you want to do anything with your remaining years. This isn't about luxury cruise holidays, it's about having enough to heat the house, or to visit the grandchildren. The basic state pension won't do this, having a bit more coming in will make this possible. It can get a little complicated when you move company as you do end up with a series of little pots of money from each if they're using different schemes, but you don't have to do anything with them - just keep them all in a big folder and when you're ready to turn them into an annual income you cash them all in together via a pension provider. Simple. So, unless you really need the small amount of extra monthly income now, I would regard more than tripling your money as a very good deal. Alec

There are resistant trees round here too. I suspect it's something to do with hybridization with the Plot elm, which results in more fertile seed and hence more genetic diversity than in areas where elm was mostly struck from suckers. To be definitive that a particular tree is resistant needs lab-based exposure tests which are expensive, but you can make an educated guess that a large tree in an area full of standing dead small ones has had a statistically high likelihood of exposure, so resistance is likely. Cuttings are easy - the firm in Essex started their programme in conjunction with the former conservation officer for Braintree, who retired a year or so back. We had a chat about it before he went - take the cuttings in June, that year's growth only, trim the leaves back to half length and make sure none are touching the soil, put them in a ring around the edge of a pot filled with 50:50 compost and sharp sand and close them up in a clear plastic bag to keep the moisture content up. If you can give them bottom heat then good, but if not a warm windowsill is fine. Take them out in winter and pot up the ones which have rooted, plant out a year later. Hope for a 50% success rate. Alec

Thanks Trollspiel. I rate Sovereign for the quality of their products, but in this case Wykabor is more appropriate - it's permanent protection of structural timbers for my extension, rather than temporary protection after milling during early stage seasoning. Alec

Inside, does it have a plastic dashboard or a metal one? Alec

Engines are very interchangeable and if the overdrive is good it's a serious bonus. Mine hasn't been refurbed yet - it has a new chassis waiting and a big pile of bits, for when I get some time. This is it being started up: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7U5Mze86z8]Starting USK - YouTube[/ame] The 'Moving Samson' videos aren't my landy, but they are my boat, and (coming back to the original subject of this thread) they show what you can do with a SII and a capstan winch. Alec

SWB petrol Series II (not IIa). The next digit gives you the year - 8 is 1958, 9 is 1959, 0 is 1960, 1 is 1961. Alec

It's the first four digits you need - 141x or 151x or 205x etc. Oddly enough, mine was also previously a breakdown truck, near Grimsby. It used to be used for pulling stuck things out of ditches a lot apparently, hence comes with a capstan winch. Alec

The wings have definitely been changed - the ones on there are from a SIII. This is quite common as they get dented. The grille rots, so it's cheaper to change them over at the same time. The tailgate is from a IIa/III as it's only got two bolts on the hinges. However, look at the top edge of the rear tub and you'll notice it has only ever had the single light installed in the conventional position. This suggests it pre-dates compulsory indicators, and therefore could be 1958. Tubs are generally harder to change over so more indicative. It's also had the numberplate reinstalled on the left hand side, suggesting that at one time it was configured as a hardtop with a rear safari door, but I wouldn't swear to this. And yes, I am a rivet counter..... Alec

Have you got the chassis number for it? The first four digits will tell you if it's 1958. My Series II is also on a re-registered 'USK' plate - USK 775. I find the Series II club forum to be very helpful for advice and sources of parts etc. It's a pretty friendly site. Alec