agg221

Erm, probably more likely because farmers are very conservative in their approach. They tend not to experiment - it has a serious impact on their livelihood. Also, it doesn't actually decrease weeding and spraying as if you make the ground more fertile, weeds grow better! It is a bit tricky to do too - you have to apply at the right time, in the right condition to promote germination of the seeds; drilling is different (yes, he is very good with a rake, but a tractor doesn't quite work the same). For what it's worth, I am hoping to do something similar, but I am not dependent on the success/failure of the experiment for my livelihood. It's 4.75 acres of grade 2 arable, normally growing a 3yr rotation of winter wheat/winter wheat/rape and I am looking at the options for green manuring between/during crops and I want to add as much chip as I can, but this probably means hand application after the wheat comes through, which means the layer won't be thick. It won't be quite the same - the field will still be ploughed, but over time I hope that the plough depth builds up to a high organic content to improve fertility and yield. I also want to drop the rape and plant something else higher value at this point. Alec

You can make your life relatively simple here. You know the pitch, DL count and, presumably the gauge. At this point, you can choose any chain of that pitch and gauge and order a loop the right length. You may find these links useful: Chain ID table Custom chain loops Alec

I would try taking the top cover off and seeing how well the throttle cable is returning. They can get sticky and take a bit of time to settle. I would also look at the carb to pot seal as these are notorious for working loose and leaking - a smear of instant gasket on both sides is not a bad idea. It's the one downside of not having a rubber boot in there. On the plus side, you are unlikely to cause any damage to the saw through an airleak so long as you have left the windvane governor in place to engage the choke if the saw overspeeds. Alec

Several things to check. Firstly, check whether it is 2-stroke or 4-stroke (Villiers built both). Is it fuelling properly through to the carb? If there is a tickler button, can you get fuel to come right through? If it has been standing then bits settle out and block the system. Settings on choke etc will also be completely different depending on whether it has lost its air filter or not, and if it has one, whether it is single or double height (one or two sets of sliders), or something non-original that happens to fit. Can be worth taking the air filter right up, pouring a bit of fuel straight in the inlet, giving it very little choke and seeing if that is enough for it to fire up - if so you know it's the fuel system. Secondly, check for decent spark. If there isn't one, points as above but also the condensor and coil can both pack up (50yr old lacquered brown paper has a finite lifetime!), although I have been lucky and this hasn't happened on any of mine yet. Another thing that can be a problem if they stand for too long is that they de-magnetise. If this is the case, you can take the cowling off to get at the nut on the flywheel, stick a socket on it, on a bar that will fit in an electric drill chuck. I cut the flat bit off the top of a coach bolt to get a half inch square at one end but you could file down any old bolt head. You then take the plug out to stop compression and spin it over on the drill for about 10mins (very boring!) but that is enough to re-magnetise it. Finally, check the timing. The timing on the Villiers engines is adjusted by rotating the flywheel on the crankshaft - there is no keyway. It is held in place by what is euphemistically known as a 'hammer tight fitting', ie you have to do it up that hard. This means the timing can slip. I check this by putting a pencil down the plug hole, turning the engine to tdc (you can feel this through the pencil) and then picking something to line a mark up with on the pot, and putting a mark on the pencil at this point. You then need another mark 3/16" above it. Drop the pencil back in and line up the lower sight mark, then rotate the engine backwards to line up the upper sight mark. This should be the location where the points just start to open - if not then timing is simple to adjust by positioning the engine at 3/16" before tdc, undoing the flywheel nut (very tight), rotating the flywheel so that the points are just starting to open and then doing up the nut again. Even when properly set up, they can still be a pain to start if you don't get them on the first go. The plug can oil up very easily, which means taking it out and cleaning it, and the right setting on the throttle can be tricky to find - I tend to aim for about 1/3 open. Hope this helps! Alec

The problem with making your own handle out of something which isn't shock resistant is that you end up putting a lot of time and effort into something only for it to break very quickly. Sycamore, beech, maple and hornbeam are definitely short grain and hence not suitable. Oak was always available, but not used which suggests it doesn't hold up very well. That leaves greenheart as previously unavailable and hence probably untried, so if it has to be one of these I would go with greenheart for that reason. If I had the option though I would go for hickory first (lasts longest), then ash, then privet. Alec

OK, so it won't like it much! The longest bar I can find that fits is 20" for the Husky 560. This is on .325" pitch as standard. Alec

Which saw is it (and what pitch are you running)? Alec

Bonsai usually suffer from two things - being kept indoors and ending up too hot and dry, and being watered with tapwater rather than rainwater. Either of these sound like the problem? Alec

Just to say my wife will be visiting Lochnagar next Tuesday (26th June) along with 120 children from her school. When she was telling me she was going there she didn't believe a 'hole in the ground' could be that impressive, so I showed her the pictures. Alec

May be worth dropping Se7enthdevil (Steve) a PM. For an idea of some his work, take a look at: http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/woodcraft-forum/60100-all-my-woodwork-so-far.html Page 3 has a TV table on it but I am sure he is capable of other styles to suit. Alec

May be worth asking Pinden End Farm. They have units one side of the road, the chalk quarry the other side (they use part of it for the Pinbins skips). Access is excellent to both (I've had 7.5 tonners in the unit part and the other side was designed with quarry lorries in mind). Noise is not a problem in either. Alec

No, if I was going properly European I would have to chop all the branches back viciously to stumps and keep doing it every year to give it that hacked 'pollard' look Alec

Hi Alec, Sorry, can't help with your question, but just to say hello to another Alec! Alec

Thanks for your thoughts. Visibility is quite important - the tree is on the junction of a narrow lane and an A road (you can just see both in the first image). The lane runs behind the tree in the first picture, the damage to the tree shown in images 4 and 5 therefore being on the far side. This means that the low, flailed growth is on the field side (foreground of the first image). Having taken into account thoughts, I have done the following: 1. Removed the loose, hanging bits but left the ends fractured. 2. Cleared the ivy up as high as I can reach (for visibility) but left the big, 4" stem intact so there will be plenty of growth retained up the trunk. In the process, I have also uncovered a lot of nails which I will remove (says the miller with an eye to a good butt....!) Having had a closer look, the ivy is beginning to work its way out along the branches, which I don't like so much as the tree has a few stags-head branches and an internal canopy so I am guessing the beginning of natural retrenchment and I would rather not smother it out. I will wait until the nesting season is well and truly over and then cut back the ivy to the main trunk only. Treesrus - good point on an old tractor, but it would stop you seeing down the 60mph A road as you pulled out of the junction. I am still inclined to think about a sort of curved steel cage section to put in front of the vulnerable area - a bit like a sort of giant version of a street tree protector but it would only need to be about a quarter of the way around the tree. Cheers Alec p.s. Graham - glad to hear the 'treatment' has worked on your Bramley - any chance of an updated photo on its thread?

Our land runs right to the parish boundary. On the corner is this oak. It's a great specimen and a bit of a local landmark. It is vigorous, reasonably sized (41" dbh) and shows no obvious signs of decay. There are a few points I would welcome thoughts on. Worth noting that this is a rural setting, and that I am quite happy with 'natural' management methods (fracture pruning, leaving standing deadwood etc). Firstly, as you can see from the second and third images, the farmer who looks after our field has just taken the flail mower to it (I've asked him to leave it in future as I will look after it myself!). Nothing major, but would you leave completely alone, trim back the broken bits or cut back neatly to unions or something else? Secondly, as you can see from the fourth and fifth images, the roadside face of the tree has been heavily damaged from grain lorries trying to make the turn the wrong way (the farmer has told them you can't do this, but they have tried anyway). From the way the bark has been stripped, then there is evidence of re-growth and then more stripping, it appears it happens from time to time. Am I better off leaving it alone or taking off the dead bark around the edges? I have a bit of space between the kerb and the tree, so was thinking of putting some form of upright ironwork structure right on the edge to take the impact first - any thoughts on this (am I just making myself liable if someone hits it?) or is there something else anyone can think of to stop another lorry hitting it? Finally, there is a decent sized stem of ivy going up into it (4" across). Would you take it off completely, keep it trimmed back to the main trunk but stop it working its way out along the branches or leave it alone so long as it doesn't dominate the crown, since the tree is not yet retrenching? Any other thoughts welcome. Alec

Thanks Steve, that would explain it as I always upload. Alec

Rob - with the right bit it takes surprisingly little power. I have a normal size Makita power drill - around 600W with a 2-speed setting. I have drilled a 3" diameter hole with it using a Forstner bit, right through the stern post of a canal boat (about 15" deep hole, fairly well dried oak). I ran the line true by holding the drill against a bar I had fixed in place, but for something 'pretty' you would need a clamp type drill press. It's a lot less work than drilling a 12mm diameter hole in a piece of stainless steel Alec

Not sure if this is a glitch or a setting but when I upload photos to a post I can't see any reference to them in the 'reply' box (they show up fine in preview). I thought this might be my browser but I've now tried various versions of IE, plus Google Chrome and Safari and it's the same. I also thought it might just be a feature of Arbtalk, but have noticed that some people are able to insert text between images within a post, so presume they can see a link to the picture to do this? Glitch, setting or my incompetence? Cheers Alec

Do you have any pictures? It would be very useful to see where the foliage has died. If it's low down and all around it suggests contact. If it's more general but the grass is dead then it suggests root uptake (this may also show damage to the leaves in 'columns'). If it is the latter, I think Tim's suggestion is highly likely - it almost certainly has to be something you can easily buy as a member of the public. I suspect it won't be a true systemic ground-penetrating herbicide as these are now very hard to get hold of. Injecting paraffin won't do much - it's pretty benign, won't be taken up well and will tend to just wash out. There are some very effective herbicides (e.g. Garlon) which are made up in diesel. If it's Garlon or equivalent then yes, the tree has had it, but I suspect not. Trees are very resilient. If it is salt then you can buy a salt testing kit from ebay for less than a fiver - take a soil sample that fills a litre bottle, add water to saturate, pour off water and test. If it is salt then digging away the topsoil (airspade?) where the grass has been killed, then replacing with fresh, applying a couple of layers of cardboard and then mulch over the top with chippings from something from the rosaceae family (e.g. plum, cherry etc) and watering with a sugar solution, then making sure the soil doesn't dry out if we have a dry summer is probably about as much as you can do. Alec

Hi Mike, Is milling on site possible? The beauty of the Alaskan is that it is completely portable and a site a mile off a road is less likely to annoy the neighbours with noise (and you probably don't have the clear up the sawdust either!) The milled boards are then easily extracted. Cutting 40mm thickness boards would work fine. After seasoning shrinkage and planing flat, these would probably finish up around 32mm (ie if you want a finished size of 40mm you need to mill at 50mm). On a log of 19" max. diameter I wouldn't expect to get 7 good boards. That would need 14" of timber, only leaving 2.5" each side as a maximum - it would also require that the log was absolutely dead straight, which they rarely are. The outer boards would also be very likely to cup. I would expect 5 good boards with a 4" slab from each of the outer sides. Each slab could ultimately be cut in half to give two legs. It's good to have a clear idea on milling spec. like this before you start, but also to be ready to adapt if necessary, e.g. if you find rot or cracks when you start milling. Having a mill is very useful, but the key to it not getting frustrating for more than a very small number of logs is a big saw. You would need access to a Stihl MS880 or Husqvarna 3120, or older equivalent, if you want to mill 2'6" or so hardwood. The cheapest of the big saws is usually an 075 or 076, which is still around the £350 mark or more (although there are still bargains to be had). The mill would be around £200-220 (depending on size), bar around £80-100 and chain around £30. You would also need to think about sharpening - you need all the teeth equal in length and even in angle so a grinder really helps. I'll give you a ring when the children have gone to bed Alec

Hi Mike, I think you mean the Alaskan mill? For what you want to do, the 24" mill will go through and you would need at least a 25" bar, even if you take the dogs off the saw. To do this reasonably you need at least a 70cc saw and preferably 90cc. You will also need a ripping chain. Worth looking at http://www.chainsawbars.co.uk as Rob D on here sells all the equipment you would need (except the saw). You are best off milling it green, but you would ideally not do it yet - if the ends are painted then I would leave it in the shade but off the ground (up on a couple of blocks or similar) until September as it will dry more slowly if you get the first of the seasoning done over winter. If you need to buy the saw, mill and chain, for milling one log this will be rather expensive. Unless you have a burning desire to do the milling yourself it is worth considering having it done. If you want to consider going that way and want a price, drop me a PM as I am often down that way (I grew up in North Kent and still have family in the Medway Towns). I would be able to go through it very quickly with an 076. If you search for the milling pics and vids thread the first post is by Burrell of us both milling some similar sized ash. Alec

I have had my Gomtaro through 8" apple before - leaves a nice finish and won't break the bank. Alec

It's from the same basic family as the 051, 075, 076 etc. so it isn't the extreme high torque/low revs of the 1106 series (070, 090) but still pretty good. It will pull a longer bar than a more modern 60cc saw without bogging down, but it won't cut as fast on smaller stuff. They look and sound good though - a saw to pull out for an occasional bit of ringing up to put a smile on your face (and then put back in the shed before your arms drop off) Alec

I have measured up the trailer - it is 2.5m long x 1.25m in the bed, body is 35cm high. Legal width would be well over 1.5m as it is measured over the mudguards but whether it fits depends whether the shape allows the base to drop into the trailer body as I can't afford to raise the centre of gravity too much. Alec

Hi Graham, sorry about the delayed response - didn't spot your reply. I will measure up but I am not hopeful. I have what is nominally an 8'x4' plant trailer and it would sit within plated weight and towing vehicle capacity (and I have the necessary licence). The trailer is over-length on the 8'x4' so I suspect the 2.5m is OK, and the overall width is legally measured over the mudguards (I confirmed this when I was looking at carrying some outrageously big timber slung over the top of it) but the inside is not likely to be 1.5m wide. Is the flat base the full 1.5m width? If it will fit, I am going on holiday to the West Country this August, for a fortnight, so might just be able to fit something together around this? Alec