agg221

I don't fancy trying to train them to do it though. Alec

I don't think you can catch wolves with Nutella Alec

Which model? On some of the smaller ones, such as the Bantam, you engage the 'clutch' by shifting the whole engine over on a lever to tension the drivebelt. These ones are interchangeable with pretty much any engine. On others, it depends how well the output pulley lines up. Alec

It would matter to me - although we don't know which magnolia, very few of them get much over 20' in height and the increase in girth can be very slow. That tree could have another 30yrs in its current location, which may mean the owner can continue to enjoy it for as long as they live in the house and the new owner may well not value it and choose to remove it. Everybody happy By contrast, many of the maples (excluding the Japanese species) can get extremely large. I would far rather have magnolia in that location than a Norway maple. Alec

I agree with this. You like the tree, it isn't inherently dangerous at this time and it will only ever be fairly small anyway. It is in a location where you can easily keep an eye on it so if you do get a problem with it rotting and becoming unstable later you will notice (you could set up a reminder in your calendar to have a good look once a year). I suggest unbolting the panel of fence first - it looks like it is held in with four bolts and it will be a lot easier to do this than to mend/replace it afterwards! If you can't, I would move the first cut a bit further out than indicated in the drawing, so that it is well clear of the fence. This may make it rather high to cut safely with a chainsaw, in which case a hand saw will do it well enough, just take a bit longer. Don't underestimate the weight and leverage of that branch - once it is falling you won't be able to control it from near the cut. I would then cut about where the red line indicates, to leave the final piece to cut off as light as possible. This is because you don't have access to both sides of the cut, so once you are nearly through you will have the weight of the wood resting on the chainsaw bar and you don't want it to jam. Your question was about making the cuts so that they heal. When you are taking off branches like the ones which have already been cut, you can see that they have not been cut completely flush - there is a collar you can see in the bark which is where you want to cut them. However, you are now taking off what is effectively a second trunk so you won't have this option. I would make the final cut at a slope so that it sheds water and doesn't have a stub to rot away on the outside corner. Probably about 45 degrees, with the top falling level with where the trunks meet. Don't use wound paint afterwards - it doesn't help. Alec

If you are thinking of a future career where it will help to have letters after your name to secure a job, rather than just the knowledge gained from the training, I suggest the BSc. The wider world, be it an individual tree owner or the estate management/site services department of a company is unlikely to be familiar with the different levels or understand what they mean, whereas BSc is 'portable' - fwiw even beyond arb. Alec

Ah, the late, great Mr Freeman, who once memorably played Supper's Ready by Genesis on his Saturday show in its entirety - all 22 minutes and 54 seconds of it Alec

Yes, still going, although only Mick Box left from the early line-ups. I particularly like July Morning, especially Ken Hensley's epic keyboard solo at the end. Alec

Uriah Heep's 'Very 'Eavy, Very 'Umble' (vinyl) on the stereo. Alec

Hi Chris, long time no speak (we never did get round to meeting up!) I think the problem is that, whilst they will be just as durable as sweet chestnut, people won't be familiar with them so it's less likely that they would sell. I was trying to think of uses - might make good hedging stakes as although a bit lighter than normal they will last longer. They could make tree stakes too? May be worth putting them on Arbtrader as either of the above (there is the occasional enquiry for hedging stakes) and seeing if you get a response? I wouldn't think that kiln dried is much of an advantage though. Alec

A lot of grass - pretty much the day's job to cut it all! Alec

My old stuff, including the petrol which smells like paint, gets thrown in an old Westwood ride-on mower. It won't start on the really bad stuff but pour some good stuff in the air filter and it starts and warms up enough to run on pretty much anything. Mowing the grass takes about 10l, so it gets through it pretty well. Alec

I haven't - I did think about this but can't see how to do it as the wheels are pretty much fully enclosed by the casing, which also forms part of the tensioning system so you can't take it off to examine it. I'll have another think about whether I can jig something up with some pins though, set them to depth against the wheel edges through the casing and then and then rest that on a straight edge afterwards - cheers for the thought. Alec

My money is on the chestnut lasting more than twice as long as the treated softwood - the formulations for treatment after 2003 when CCA was banned are pretty useless. Alec

You could go for semi-transparent water based stains - let the grain show through but give it a hint of colour. Some of them come with the colour and base separately so you can make up what you need. Alec

At that price, don't suppose they have a second one going do they - be worth crating up and road hauling here! I think the real limitation on portability will be the length. The longest portable mill I have hired in was a Forester at 20' max capacity with 36" through the head and about 14" depth. Great piece of kit when it was working but the owner did swear about it a lot (partly when I had him bring it round the M25 at rush hour!) Only practical option I can think of is to use a chainsaw mill to break down lumps into something more manageable and bring them back for milling - beams ripped to a third of their thickness or butts quartered would be realistic on speed (each cut is not going to be more than 30mins even on 600mm wide x 8m long dry oak). Chains are reasonably cheap and assuming labour isn't too expensive out your way it should be viable. Alec

OK, so we know from your other posts that you use .325" pitch and if your Husky is standard that is on 3/8" lo-pro. .050" gauge is also used on standard 3/8" but I would guess you are familiar with this, so I'm guessing that this chain has a smaller pitch, which turns out to be 1/4". I can't offhand find any pro saws which run 1/4" as standard, but it is used for carving. I can only find a 56" DL fitting as standard though, for some 10" carving bars. Alec

The auction is tomorrow, and they will take commission bids by phone and ship at a reasonable cost (and well packaged). I will be leaving my commission bids (not for chisels) in the morning Alec

True, it's a chisel used in timber framing (and, as per the description, boatbuilding which is where I have used them) but I wouldn't call it a framing chisel. Not trying to be nitpicking over semantics, just that 'framing chisel' is generally used to describe a big, heavy tool you can drive hard to cut away a lot of timber and a slick isn't that. If I was looking for good, cheap chisels I might be tempted to take a punt on these: A quantity of chisels etc 28 chisels and gouges G I can't see anything I would call a framing chisel - nothing particularly long, but there are some mortice chisels and some with iron hoops rather than brass, which is a sign that things are designed to be hit hard. Certainly get £20 worth out of them! Alec

A proper slick isn't a framing chisel. A framing chisel is built for hammering whereas a slick is used two handed in a sliding action, almost like a plane. That's why the handle is so long (to get two hands on) and the tool is heavy enough for momentum to carry it through the cut. Alec

Yes - I work mine up through the grades 120, 320, 600, 1200 and for fine finishing 2400. Alec

If you can get them in the right size, I would be tempted to try M42 blades from Tuffsaws. They cope really well with very hard, dry timber and will even survive the odd iron nail. Alec

Wastage or co-product? If you assume square edge, parallel sided boards of maximum possible width is the premium product then tell me the thickness and saw kerf and I can tell you the yield with a standard allowance for straightness and taper. If you have a secondary market such as pallets for edge boards your yield goes up. If you have markets for sawdust and shredded bark and sidings it goes higher. If your kerf, board thickness go up, or your range of products goes down then your yield goes down. A big mill will laser scan each log as it enters the line, auto-customising the cutting pattern to maximise yield. A small mill with an eye to profit can't do this time efficiently. Someone cutting for themself with limited supply can work to a cutting list and minimise waste. Alec

I'm presuming from the fact that you are using 0.063" gauge that it's for a Stihl saw which takes .325" pitch as standard (something like an MS261?). If so, you need 67 drive links. Alec

If you want it for milling I would try to do a deal without the 48" bar. These are the Duromatic hard nosed and you want a sprocket nosed bar. There are several options including Sugihara and GB which are cheaper and more suitable than a list price Duromatic. Alec.