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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

I have a Philips Dry Shaver Power Touch PT720/17. I have relatively soft skin and it hasn't carved lumps out of me in the year I've had it. There have been a lot of advances in the shaving foils over the past few years (we did some work on them). Alec

I am really glad you qualified this with the second part - I had some really unpleasant images of Felix starting just starting for a minute there.... Alec

Very useful link - I am now going to see him at the end of June On that subject, Billhook (and anyone else around East Anglia who knows of decent sized surviving elms), if you are able to send me a short length of this year's growth of typical form then that would be excellent as the plan is to see whether those which are surviving have significant Plot elm character, or any other distinct characteristics. Alec

Bad luck - sadly it seems to happen to most of us at some point. You could stick a 'wanted' ad on Arbtrader. I also tend to use Ebay and Gumtree - your protection rights with the former are pretty solid but not with the latter so caveat emptor. Preloved is also OK. Keep an eye out for local car boot sales too as they are a good source of cheap hand tools. I suggest buying a mulching brushcutting blade for the strimmer - fairly cheap and will let you keep rides down when they are more heavily overgrown.

I think this one is OK - there are whole machines for sale and those are pick-up only. I suspect he is clearing trade-ins and stripping down scrap machines from a dealer somewhere. Alec

I can find the wrought ironwork one, but not The Blacksmith's Craft. Wrought Ironwork: A Manual of Instruction for Craftsmen by Zanni, A & Tucker, C.: Rural Industries Bureau, London Hardcover, Fourth Impression - Camilla's Bookshop Alec

Products for the category: Granberg mill accessories Alec

Bad luck Geoff, your turn it would seem. I think there comes a point where it doesn't matter how good your security is anyway - reinforce the doors and they come through the roof etc. however you do what you can and hope it puts off a percentage of them. I would imagine if you're waiting for a shoulder op then you aren't in need of big saws at the moment, but if I'm wrong and you need something on medium-term loan I have one sitting here which won't be used again until the autumn. Alec

I suspect your 'oak' is in fact jarrah, which is nice stuff and extremely durable. However it could just be Karri - I quote from wikipedia: Jarrah wood is very similar to that of Karri. Both trees are found in the southwest of Australia, and the two woods are frequently confused. They can be distinguished by cutting an unweathered splinter and burning it: karri burns completely to a white ash, whereas jarrah forms charcoal. Alec

You can physically fit a long bar to it (up to 42" is available) but the longer the bar, the more of the saw's power is going in to pulling the chain round rather than being available for cutting. It will also bog down easily as it won't have the torque to pull it. If you do want to to go this way I would convert to .325" pitch on the sprocket and get the bar nose sprocket changed over to match. I know Rob D is exploring the options for long 3/8" lo pro bars, which would allow you to run an even longer bar on a small saw. Ultimately though, be aware that you only have so much power available so whilst it will get there eventually it will not be very time-efficient. Alec

Hi Graham, what are the length and width? Alec

There are several sources. I would say be wary and do it if you are prepared to take a chance. There are three options: find someone on Arbtalk who knows where there are big elms and give it a go with cuttings, google 'disease resistant elm' and it will throw up some results where nurseries have propagated surviving trees from cuttings (there is at least one inEssex doing this) or find the cultivar Morpheo on google, which is one of the most widely tested. I would avoid the Princeton elm though as it has not proved resistant to the European strain of the disease. Alec

Did you click the 'choose file' boxes and select them so that they showed on the window, the click the 'upload' button? What size were the files (were they within the allowed pixel size for the image type)? Alec

I would reckon that the fluting and the rot streak in the lower length would write off half of it. The other lengths - small one on the left and big one on the right have significant bends so I would measure to those (I would guess it's about 2/3 of the total) as the rest will be waste, or sold for chopping boards. Middle one has a significant step down in size 1/3 of the way up but using a true Hoppus measure would be slightly to your favour. With that in mind, I would calculate the good stuff as being around 43HF, at £4/HF so £130. If I had an immediate outlet for 10' long boards, or wide boards, I would go a bit higher but be aware you may get significant losses due to locked in stresses in the branches. Alec

Hi Billhook, I don't think it makes much odds where you take the twig from, but woodland grown you get better growth towards the top - open grown it doesn't seem to make much difference. You want a 4-6" length of this year's growth ideally, although I have had 1" growth take root! No particular location of cut seems to make it more likely to succeed, although cutting the base at a leaf joint does give more opportunity for cell formation. No need to split or slit the bark, just dip in the compound, dib a hole in the rooting media with a pencil, drop the twig in and water in. Cutting the leaves in half is to reduce the area for water loss. They don't need to photosynthesize that much as they aren't trying to make more growth, just sustain life until they root. Also, take any leaves off which would touch the soil as they tend to just rot. Layering would be great if you can get them in contact with the soil, or water reliably enough to achieve air layering. ELG - hope my response didn't come across as argumentative, I was typing in a bit of a rush to make sure my dinner didn't burn (just had a very nice Thai green curry) Perkins - there have been various bigger 'official' projects, including one in Warwickshire and my local tree officer (Braintree) had a serious interest which is where I learned from. He propagated a few trees through a local nursery, which are now available for sale but at a very high cost. I think the future is likely to be interested individuals just doing enough to keep the surviving strains going. Propagation from bark shavings is the micro-propagation technique which is amazing if you ever see it. The shavings are kept alive through nutrients in agar gel, then hormones are introduced to promote transition to root mass, then further hormones to promote bud growth. It produces really strange, almost alien looking masses of root, followed by perfect, beautiful miniature plants which are cut off and grown on. You can keep it going indefinitely. I did my work experience at East Malling Horticultural Research Establishment in the propagation department in the 1980s when it was just being developed and it was fascinating to watch. Alec