agg221

There are quite a few models of these, with variations. A picture might help (and your location). I don't have a spare, but I do have a bench, so could take photos/measurements of the part in question if it helps. Alec

Milling being a more of a hobby for me than a job I am in a similar position with regard to justifying investing in plant, so everything is manual. I have a pre-'97 driving licence, so I use an 8x4 plant trailer with a 2.3ton rating - my Volvo will tow 1.8tons so I can shift anything I can get in to or on top of the trailer. This usually means that if I've milled it in-situ then I can bring it home so long as it's under about 16ft. For longer stuff, I hire a 7.5tonner which has a deck of just over 20ft. I prefer a drop-side, but these are getting harder to find. I try to avoid curtain side ones, but have done it with suitable roping. For moving timber, long levers are good. I use about an 8ft length of steel box section with a bit of half-inch plate welded to the end. This will move almost anything, either directly if I can get it under, or chain it round to roll it - particularly useful when rolling up faces during milling if you don't want to mark the faces as you tend to do with a cant hook. I also use an old railway toe jack with a 15ton capacity - these sometimes turn up cheap through the free-ads. I have an old trailer axle cut down to about 2ft length, which I use to roll anything I can get on to it. I intend to upgrade this with a log arch at some point. This will move a surprisingly large piece. I use an engine hoist - decent quality one but they're cheap from Machine Mart or similar - which will lift a ton. With a strop and a few wood blocks I can get just about anything up onto the trailer that it is capable of carrying. I recently moved two 8ft lengths of oak butt, 2ft or thereabouts at the thin end, which took about half an hour to load and the same to unload and roll away, working on my own. I reckon that was near the capacity of the trailer/car combination. At the moment, everything I need, including mill, can be put in the boot of the Volvo, and moved around to the site with a wheelbarrow, working singlehanded. Alec

Think of wood as a whole bundle of paper drinking straws with tiny holes punched in the sides. The water goes out of the ends of the straws far more easily, but can slowly cross from straw to straw through the holes. When the wood dries, it shrinks (the walls of the straws all get thinner as the water comes out of them). If they get thinner at the ends faster than in the middle, it causes stress and the board splits from the end. To stop this, you seal the ends so that the water comes out only through the sides (via the tiny holes). The holes are very small, so the water diffuses out gently and the wood is less likely to dry faster in one place than another, so it doesn't crack. So in answer to your question, leave them long as cutting short won't help and will just give you more end cracks so more waste. Alec

Don't know the brand, but I don't like anvil type secateurs as they tend to bruise the bark opposite the blade and you can't get in to awkward cuts, as you often need to when taking back apples etc. in a renewal pruning system. Alec

It can - I had it with a rim sprocket once where the chain jumped the sockets. It happens more easily with long bars and milling as the long cuts warm the chain up and the total 'give' is greater. With a spur sprocket it tends to drop into the low-spot at which point the chain goes slack - tension it again and it will stay in place, but it's a sign that it's time to change it! Alec

I would agree with above - both have gone at various points with my 066 which is mainly used for milling. If you do have to replace the sprocket and currently have a rim sprocket it's worth replacing with a spur one for milling - they last better apparently under constant load conditions. Alec

It seems to have been particularly bad this year. I think magnesium is easily leached by heavy rain in the growing season, so it's less to do with the earlier drought, more to do with the subsequent rain. I've got the same problem with most of my young fruit trees (when the deer don't get them) and stuck some Epsom salts down a week or so back. I'm watching for the recovery. Alec

Magnum is doing nicely thanks - it got a quick run at about 8pm today for trimming snags off the next log - 026 would have done, but not such a good noise - the neighbours prefer the bigger saws! It's the 076 that gets choked to stop it - had to strip it down when it ate the starter cord and upset something in the wiring. Since it has a convenient choke button next to the start/stop button it hasn't been a priority to take it apart again - too busy milling! Alec

In the meantime, flicking to choke position is very effective.... Alec

Generally speaking there are two forms of pruning - summer pruning and winter pruning, which are self explanatory. Winter pruning is used to generate vigour. Summer pruning will generally reduce vigour. Winter pruning is generally from October to March - the earlier in that window you prune, the more vigorous the response. Summer pruning is usually June/July, but you could do it now. The description you give of the work that's being asked for, and the fact that it's a cooker and they tend to be more vigorous in general, suggests that about now wouldn't be a bad time to do it, if the customer doesn't mind the reduction in crop. Alec

Normal overlap is 1" so you're looking for 7" boards. This may well be within the size range of commercial volume products - I'd try BSW in Carlisle - they definitely do mill larch cladding at one of their mills and in staggering volume - not sure on the max width they do though (8" from memory). They may supply you directly or put you on to one of their outlets. You may well already know this, but if not, larch moves about quite a lot. The best way to handle it is to fix the boards with a single row of nails, placed about 2" up from the lower edge (so they only go through one board). This allows the top edge to be trapped by the board above, but free to expand and contract a bit which stops it from splitting. There's a really good page on installing cladding in the guide here: http://www.the-edi.co.uk/downloads/architecturaldetailsfinal.pdf Alec

Plums used to be germinated for use as rootstocks, and my edition of "The Grafters' Handbook" by RJ Garner has the following in respect of Prunus: "The treatment begins some eight weeks before sowing. Air-dried seed is mixed with rather more than its own volume of a mixture of one part sand to three parts pulverised peat and placed in small sacks, so that the sacks are never more than half-filled. A large vessel of water is heated to 74degC (165degF). Each sack of seed is submerged and moved about in this heated water for ten seconds, then the sack of seed is removed and laid flat on slats to cool for thirty minutes, when the dipping process is repeated. On taking out of the heated water the second time the sacks are plunged, and moved about, in a tank of cold water and then put into a cold chamber maintained at about 2degC (36degF). The sacks of seed must remain wet, yet aerated. he bags should be turned and shaken every day or so and watered thoroughly as required. After about three months the seeds begin to germinate and a close watch must then be kept on samples taken every three or four days and sown in warmth. The appearance of roots in these samples in four days indicates that the bulk of the seed is ready for sowing outdoors. At no time from the beginning of the treatment until they are sown must the seeds become dry." Looks like a lot of the same principles apply as in the above answer. If you can get away with using the fridge for such things, and maybe turning it down a bit colder than normal, this would probably do the trick for the cold treatment, the weather being somewhat unreliable. Alec

It'll be fine, but make sure you aren't overspeeding at the top end of the rev range. Getting the revs set with a tacho is the best bet, and unless you really want to lean it out, I'd go 1000 below top to give yourself a bit of leeway when you're running out of fuel, running in different atmospheric/temperature conditions etc. Alec

The good news is that if there is ever a time of year to take bits off prunus of any sort, it's about now. It could heal superficially, but it will only be in the new growth, so you would have to brace it permanently and it would always be weak. There are other ways to brace things which are less unsightly, but it's not ideal. As such, it's probably better on balance to take it right off. It's a relatively large wound, so there is a strong risk of decay setting in. If you make the cut sloping upward from below, with the brace in place, and trim it up neatly, you give it the best chance of shedding water and hence less likely to create an ideal environment to decay rapidly. In the meantime, I'd be inclined to get another tree going, and ideally grow it on a single stem to a suitable height as it will give you a stronger base overall than your current multi-stemmed one, which would be rather likely to split apart eventually anyway. Alec

Yep, I've had wood from Brogdale before, bit dependent on the growth rate they get. I think I know where you are - other side of Maidstone from where I was. Alec

Apples D'Arcy Spice, Adam's Pearmain and Merton Charm. Pear Josephine de Malines. Whereabouts are you in Kent btw - I grew up in Kent and learned budding at Keepers' Nursery before it was bought by the present owners. Alec

The other advantages I find are take rate - slightly over 90% for me; less susceptibility of the union to late frosts and it's just nicer standing around outside at this time of year! Alec

Not really commercially, but I'll be doing a few cherries later this month. I don't have a good source for the apple or pear varieties I'm after so will probably end up buying them in. Alec

I still use the same pair of Felco No.2's I was given as a birthday present in 1989 - and have used them every year for the pruning of the orchard I grew up on. One new blade, otherwise original. I have used them on rather heavier stuff than you're supposed to - just take care to cut with no twist. Alec

Hypothetically you can sharpen any of them - it's just not usually worth the trouble. You won't cut the impulse hardened teeth with steel files, so you need diamond ones. On the untempered blades, only the teeth are hardened (impulse hardening), so whilst you can re-sharpen, you can't re-cut teeth or take out significant chips - just re-touch dull edges. If you look at the last couple of teeth near the handle you can see the correct compound angles. With the right combination of diamond leaf files you can take the tops back to the right profile (straight or curved), then cut the teeth back to the right depth with a thin blade leaf and finally re-create the compound edges. Every tooth has to be equal, as otherwise they work unevenly; you want a modest cutting rate (fairly fine file) and regular checks every couple of strokes with a lens. I have also done this successfully with handmade japanese carpentry saws where it really is worth doing - the last one was a 600mm saw which took me about 4hrs. Alec

Genuine I think. He's got a lot of feedback, over a reasonably long time period, , mostly positive, as a seller but not in this field. I suspect he's just got hold of it for some form of sideline and now want shot. Alec

Hi Pete, no I'm not in timber production, I'm in contract R&D - we're the ones currently developing the alternatives. I take it from your earlier comment that you're on the building surveying/remedial treatment side? Alec

Do you mind! Our children had to have home births here to make sure they were Essex girls - make it Suffolk and we'd have had to drive south in the snow to do that. Alec

The two approaches you mention above have thrown up some issues recently. The first is the recent EU volatile organic content (VOC) legislation which came into force in 2010. This has, in effect, made the use of any organic compound with a boiling point below 250degC challenging to say the least. They're not banned, but the controls make it very difficult to apply them, particularly in volume. We were initially looking at systems based on a low toxicity organic solvent and had to change approach as feedback suggested that end users simply wouldn't introduce a new technology based on it, in part driven by the current legislation and in part by the fear that an extension to the legislation would make it rapidly obsolete. Essentially, anything fundamentally new now needs to be water based. A slight aside, but relevant, is that proper 'Cuprinol' (as in copper-oil, originally copper naphthanate in turpentine but latterly the octoylate in petroleum distillate) wasn't banned - it was withdrawn as the manufacturers couldn't justify the £40k annual fee for its registration as a biocide. This is another issue in introducing alternatives which work on a biocidal approach. Acetylation has shown very good results with regard to durability - but has some adverse effects on the cell structure, most notably the timber becomes signficantly more brittle. It also changes both the appearance, which becomes muddy brown, and the smell, which becomes vinegary. It's also only effective on certain species, particularly radiata pine, so its uses are limited. This is very convenient for converting a low value, low durability species into something highly durable, but the cost of the process at present puts Accoya on a par with high durabilty hardwoods, so the benefits are mostly lost except for very high end painted joinery, mostly window frames, where the main benefits are easy machinability and high dimensional stability, the drawbacks being less signficant in these applications. And yes, I think we agree, although the original poster may be beginning to wish he'd never asked! (hopefully he's got something useful to work with from the earlier posts) Alec

Hi Pete, interesting post. I've got some current professional involvement with one of the major wood preservative manufacturers - we're trying to develop a non-biocidal alternative on their behalf, so are also working with TRADA and some of the major end users. The fundamental issue is that the very factors which make timber an attractive option at the same time make its use a direct competition with nature - as trees have evolved, so have agents of decay as a fundamental lifecycle and you're trying to stop the process for as long as possible. The factors which generate decomposition/degradation are environmental, and as you highlight relate to temperature and moisture content. The options for preventing it are therefore either to control the environment or to use chemical inhibition (biocides). Environmental approaches are ideal where possible, but they do require extremely tight control to be exercised when crossing from conditions which promote decay (usually the high moisture content when first milled for example) to conditions which inhibit it. In the commercial environment, kiln drying is a highly successful approach - the operation at a mill somewhere like BSW Timber in Carlisle for example is staggering in its efficiency, and facilitates transfer to a kiln kept at optimum conditions (which are sufficiently high in temperature to kill latent fungal infections) within less than an hour of a log entering the saw line. They achieve this through economy of scale - there's a log going in about every 30 seconds, 18hrs a day. For the hobby miller, a different approach is required! The use of a biocide is an effective approach to controlling the 'difficult' stage. It's also useful in controlling any other issues that may arise during the drying process, due to inability to control the conditions to closely. Considering types of biocide - the highly persistent ones are inorganic while the organic ones tend to degrade over time. The other choice is fixed or mobile biocides. The fixed inorganic type are ideal for permanent exposure to environments where there is a risk of decay (class 5 would be the technical definition). The best of these was copper chrome arsenate (CCA) which is now banned. Other copper-based treatments, and some zinc-based have previously been used successfully, and are chemically fixed, but they have virtually been withdrawn. One issue with fixed type preservatives is that they are only operational within the region of the timber which they penetrate during initial treatment. Results suggest that subsequent development of surface checks requires that a minimum of 5mm penetration is achieved, which requires pressure treatment unless repeat applications are to be made at regular intervals throughout the life of the structure and often difficult to access the critical region which is usually concealed, which is why it remains sufficiently wet to promote decay. The advantage of the non-fixed biocides, such as those based on boron, is that they remain water soluble so are taken further into the structure in the presence of water, which makes them long-term active in the event of irregular exposure to decay conditions. The down-side is that they leach under permanent exposure, so they aren't useful for class 5, more class 3 or 4. Practically speaking, OK for bits of house or shed, no good for fence posts! As you point out, the big issue is end of life disposal. One of the biggest problems with CCA is that when the timber is eventually broken down (decay or combustion usually) it results in leaching of arsenic and chromium compounds. Copper and zinc based products are less severe in their effect, but the presence of copper results in highly toxic dioxin formation during combustion under the wrong conditions. Fixed organic biocides are usually rather chemically reactive, usually through radical formation, which means they tend to have relatively short lifetimes. The advantage is that they do not usually have the same problems in terms of end-of-life disposal of the timber structure as they tend to break down either in service or through combustion, but the down side in terms of the lifetime of a structure is that they tend to require re-treatment, which is often not possible in the critical regions. The durability of modern softwood fence posts is highly questionable for this reason - I have spoken to some manufacturers who have significant concerns. Whilst this is unlikely to result major issues, childrens' play equipment is a very real problem. In practical terms, a relatively short-lived fixed organic biocide would be the ideal choice for milled timber which is to be post-processed, since the biocide will chemically decompose (possibly accelerated by combustion) without leaching, and will last until the timber is sufficiently dry to inhibit decay. If it is to be used in an indoor (class 1 or 2) environment it will then be fine. In an exterior environment, the ideal solution is to use naturally durable species such as oak, sweet chestnut or cedar. However, the use of boron-based preservatives, with good understanding of their method of action, is probably one of the most effective approaches currently available in respect of its combination of effectiveness, aesthetics and toxicity. Sorry for the very long post! Alec