agg221

When we set ours up they offered both options, and worked out which would cost us less. Alec

Some pictures of the fruit would really help, but at that size it sounds very much like a crab apple of some sort. Is it the tree in the other pictures in the gallery? If so, there is no sign of a graft line so it may be self-sown, or it may be the rootstock has grown up and taken over. Alec

There is usually a trade-off between risk and return. The higher the risk, the greater the potential return, but alongside greater risk of losing the original capital. Savings accounts are effectively zero risk to the capital, and have a guaranteed rate of return for a period, so are very low risk, hence very low return. You can slightly improve things by going for a tax-free ISA, but the rates are lower. Premium bonds keep your capital safe, but have a risk of zero return, which means that the capital can drop in real terms due to inflation. Bonds are fairly secure, but are not paying well at the moment. Stocks and shares investments are higher risk - you can lose the capital, however even within these you can vary the risk. Investing in individual shares is the highest risk, funds decrease the risk. Some funds invest in higher risk areas such as smaller companies or emerging markets, others in lower risk areas such as UK or European blue-chip companies. Any investment of this type is likely to fluctuate - growth isn't continuous like it is with a savings account, however the idea is that over the longer term you see larger levels of growth. The other thing that comes into play is a balanced portfolio - you don't want all your eggs in one basket so the normal approach is spreading it around, based on your attitude to risk, how much of it you can afford to lose in the worst case vs how much growth you want to potentially achieve, and whether you can cope with it going down as well as up. I don't have the time or knowledge to construct a decent portfolio, so I use an independent financial advisor. We use Investment Sense, who are national and I have always found very clear and helpful. They are also free for the first consultation, and their fee structure is declared up front with no hidden extras. They do not simply want your money - they form a view as to how much should be where to achieve balance, ie cash type accounts vs. investments; they want to invest the investable bit. They have also done a good job of identifying which funds should be switched when, and do the lot from an annual meeting, sometimes visiting us, sometimes by Skype, and then by email, with email confirmation from us if we want to accept their recommendations. We have achieved significantly higher returns than you would expect from a savings account - the first time round, enough to step up from our previous small house with small garden to this place with 6.5 acres, and when we had got over the first financial hump, we have started a second time around which is doing nicely. Alec

Had to go to Brussels this week on business. The chocolate shops are open until 11pm - that is late enough for even me to get round to sorting something. Alec

If they arrive wrapped in plastic they will be fine. They don't really need water to use when dormant, just to not dry out, so I would leave them in a garage or shed for a few days. Alec

What size is it, and how dry? Alec

Cheers - no rush from me but Steve needs his timber Alec

If Felix goes with this I may be able to help - if things work out with getting a decent blank out of the pear I will need to head your way fairly quickly afterwards. I need to pick up a trailer from Geoff (when he gets round to measuring the length so I can sort the lighting board - Geoff, hint, if you're reading this...!) and could probably pick it up then and drop it over with you alongside the pear. Alec

Mick Stockbridge is in Rainham - no idea if he's any good though.... Alec

I needed a router about 10yrs ago when cash was very tight (everything was tied up in the house which I was renovating, hence needing the router - catch 22 situation), so I bought a really cheap one - Blackspur I think. I still have it, it has done a reasonable amount of work - nothing like professional use but I don't feel it owes me anything and everything about it is solid, just basic. The only down side to it is that it has an 8mm collet. In future I would buy a 1/2" - 8mm has worked OK but the range of bits is more limited which has been a bit restrictive. I like Trend bits - very good range and quality has been excellent. Alec

This thread has become an excuse for pictures, so a couple of my favourites. The paring chisel is a real pleasure to use and I like the attention to detail in the butt chisel, grooving the ferrule and faceting the hoop. I paid less than a fiver each for these, including shipping (as part of a job lot). Alec

If you're just doing it to sell, I would take the £10/cube happily. There is a lot of time, effort and wastage otherwise, which will take your yield down, and then you have to market and sell it - not all of it will show the quartered grain. I reckon you will end up with more in your pocket selling now at £10/cube than you would selling it green/milled, and unless you are kiln drying it you won't get much more selling it seasoned unless you give it a good while. Everything is different if you plan to use it yourself though. Alec

You need one of the three ripping chains. All have their pros and cons. Oregon is cheapest and works fine; some find Stihl lasts longer between sharpenings but it costs a bit more; Granberg is more expensive but cuts a bit faster, leaves a slightly smoother finish and takes a bit less power from the saw, however you need a grinder to sharpen it as the cut down teeth are often too hard to sharpen by file. Alec

I would echo Big J's comment about bringing it into the house. It's quite a board so I can imagine finding somewhere to put it might be tricky, in which case I would rough cut the components and bring them in - behind the sofa is where I went for. Stacked up for a month or so will do a lot of good. Alec

I've posted this link before on another thread, but I think it's pertinent here: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bl1HQg7aCo[/ame] I would plant hazel, for its ability to form an understorey and, coppiced, its versatility. Alec

Have you considered a small froe and beetle? Alec

I was thinking along the lines of fell and stack cord by the stump Oct-Jan, then move the cord to a processing area in ~April-June when the ground is firm and it has dried a bit and cut/split/stack, ready to drive up to the pile with a trailer and extract in August when the crop is cut. It would mean slightly less handling as you are only double-handling cord, rather than logs. Alec

Not quite true - see my current Avatar (and Graham's). There are the odd few survivors, some of which are interesting. If the elm is around 18" diameter, with a clear length of around 6' or more, I would be inclined to fell it, see if it's sound, and if so consider milling it as it's an attractive timber. Alec

The length in the first picture is a bit knotty, but the others certainly look nice enough to mill. Two options - buy an Alaskan mill and ripping chain, and do it yourself, or get someone in to mill it, work with them and learn from them for next time when you buy your own. Whereabouts are you? Your 461 will handle 2', just not very fast, but how long is your 'long bar'? You will lose about 6" of milling length off the bar (if you take the dogs off the saw) so the bar needs to be at least 6" longer than the log diameter. There are several ways around this on a one-off basis though if necessary. Alec

A wheelbarrow is definitely the lowest cost extraction solution, and completely portable. Woodyguy's approach of letting 4' lengths dry for a bit will also help make everything easier to move around. There is a trade-off though - each time you make a cut or a split the occupied volume increases, although of course you don't end up with more wood, it just takes up more space. I therefore wonder if it might be more efficient to cut the 4' lengths and let them dry, then take them to the edge of the wood where they are to be extracted from using an arb trolley, and set up a small 'processing area'. This would prevent the need for lugging your log horse around the woods, although you would need to think about what to put underfoot to prevent it from getting too muddy. Btw, how big is the 'big dead elm' and does it look solid? That one may be worth milling. Alec

I have the large. I haven't tried the small to compare it with, but it does have reasonable weight and goes through quite a lot. I picked it up cheaply on Ebay and certainly don't regret buying it, but I think if I was paying full price I would go for the maul as the large splitting axe doesn't go through really knotty stuff and unions that well. Alec

I've used Gumtree, and it worked very well. The thing to do with it is to remember that it is -not- Ebay, so the same rules do not apply. Treat it like the old small ads in the back of the paper - everything needs to be pick-up only, and cash on collection. It will probably get the same proportion of tyre kickers and timewasters as anywhere else, but they are wasting a lot more of their time than yours this way. When I sold my van, the buyer was coming about 65 miles, so I said we would agree the price beforehand and if it was as I said it was then that was what he would pay, and if he didn't want to pay that he would be wasting his evening. He turned up, and paid as agreed. Alec

Regarding your intentions, the following might help (if I've got the figures right!): Firewood: once back in regular management, you will roughly get 1 cord (3.6cu.m) per acre per year, so you will be able to harvest about 2 cords (7.2cu.m) per year from your 2 acres (assuming it's all coppice - reduce accordingly if it's not). 1cu.m of cordwood converts to about 4 builders' bags, so that gives you a yield of between 25 and 30 builders' bags, so that should keep you going. To start with, since it has been neglected, yields will probably be higher than this on a one-off basis. I would look to fell the leylandii, coppice the hazel and remove the blackthorn, and infill spaces with hazel. You are better off working in blocks, rather than doing the odd tree here and there. You also want to consider the density of planting of the standards - if they are too close together then they won't thrive and you definitely won't get the coppice to work underneath, so some of these may also be best removed. Generally, leave the ones with the long, straight trunks, although there is an element of species selection too - birch is generally short lived (~80yrs) whereas oak and beech should be 120+ years old before considering harvesting, and will go on a lot longer than that. If the larger trees have been crowded and need thinning, consider whether they are large enough to justify milling - anything 18" diameter and up is worth a go for your own use, making sheds etc. Anything 2' and up may be saleable if you feel so inclined (although if you can use it yourself it will save you a lot). If you do sell some, don't expect a fortune but it could be used to offset the cost of kit - effectively making it a cost-neutral hobby, rather than an income in its own right. Alec

Not much on there at the moment. These look reasonable if they don't go up too much: Japanese Carpentry Tools : SET OF 5 CHISEL NOMI #80 | eBay Those Tataki Nomi look pretty decent, particularly the 6 piece set. Alec

If Paypal find in your favour (and if he doesn't respond, they will) then they extract the money from his linked bank account and he has a large unauthorised overdraft to deal with. You will then be free to offer to send it back to him (at his expense). When you make this offer, make sure that you phrase it that no response within a given period will be imply that he does not want it returned, and that you will then be free to do with it as you wish. This avoids the difficult limbo situation where you have it but it's unclear whether you own it. Alec