agg221

Just check that the clutch is properly fixed on first. Alec

I would be hopeful that the ones which aren't completely girdled will come back. Could be worth trying bridge grafting on the others? Alec

Frederic Back, who made the film, died on 24th December 2013. Alec

Cheers, think I conclude that there is nothing current production that fits. Alec

I reckon Spud will know how to fix that..... Alec

Is that a .404" sprocket? If so, chain is no longer a problem! Can you measure up the clutch drum please (ID and OD) - I'm just intrigued to know if the 3120 sprocket will fit. Alec

OK, you asked 'what would you do' rather than 'do you know what you are doing'.... I would consider two options. 1, do the minimum and let it retrench gradually. 2, encourage the retrenchment. The reason I say this is because the area I've circled in green looks to have good internal growth, suggesting natural retrenchment. To encourage this I would cut back reasonably hard, but not really pollard it as I suspect the shock would kill it. For aesthetic reasons (since this seems to be a consideration here) I would use drop-crotch cuts where possible, working on the basis that although this makes them relatively heavy, there is more work to be done later once the retrenchment growth takes over, so although ash isn't naturally durable and hence is likely to rot before it heals on heavy cuts, the remaining heavy wood above the cut will be taken out before it becomes unstable. Where there is no suitable point to drop-crotch to, such as the branches overhanging the road, I would cut back as shown and then coronet up the end, particularly on the underside, to simulate a slight rip fracture. One or two of the central cuts I've shown higher up are slight guesswork as I would want to walk round the tree to place them. My long-term aim would be to end up with a natural looking retrenchment/pollard, with the majority of branches springing from the height of the horizontal branch over the road (which is why I would shorten it to encourage growth near the centre, rather than remove it), but maybe leaving the straight section above alone too until it gradually disappeared by itself. May well become hollow, but with the weight off it I would expect it to be stable, even if future work was erratic, although it would require the introduction of a maintenance cycle, and it would be great veteran habitat. Please do not take the above as advice - I am not qualified to give it! It would work nicely on an apple or pear though and I would get away with it on a plum.... I would, however, be very interested in David Humphries' view of just how wrong I am. Alec

Likewise I wouldn't use any of the species you have mentioned in permanently damp conditions - expect a lifespan of a year or less. Elm is good below the water (permanently submerged) and SC/oak heartwood are good permanently out of the water. If you have to cross the waterline, robinia is the best bet. If you can design the bridge so that the timber is not in direct contact with the ground and sheds water well with no ponding, of the species you have available I would use the Douglas fir, maybe with oak heartwood slats if the oak you have available is wide enough (a foot or more) but in shorter lengths (as wide as the bridge). If it's normally very shallow, can you put a concrete/blockwork pier in the middle, maybe by shuttering up or dropping in a slab which is thick enough to be above water level when the water is down? This would drop the span to 10ft, which would let you use thinner sections that would be easier to handle. Alec

I'm sure someone far more knowledgeable than me will be along to answer whether you -need- to give them notice, but I know in my area they -like- notice so that they can come out and confirm that the tree is dead. It would be rather too easy to claim inconvenient TPOd trees were dead so you had taken them down.... Alec

If they're anything like mine, the colour is -essential-. Very nice! Alec

D009 is the standard bar mount for the big Husqvarnas. If you can find someone nearby with a 3120, 395, 390 etc you should be able to check which bits fit. I suspect some holes may be needed, but it could be as simple as widening out the tensioning stud hole and drilling a new oil hole. Hard to tell on the clutch drum but 94mm OD is big. I've had a quick look and the 090 is 100mm, the 070 is 80mm. 3120 is around 87mm. Once you've got yours off it's worth re-measuring to see if the Husky one is actually a fit. Alec

Cheers, well worth putting up pics of the walnut - the best bet would be to take a picture after it's down, showing how much heartwood (dark) to sapwood band (light) there is, together with a diameter and max. length. If there is a decent amount of heartwood it should be more than firewood price at least. Alec

Any plum in that lot, and what's the walnut like? Cheers Alec

I normally mill my own stuff on my own, although I completely agree with Jonathan regarding the advantages of working alongside someone else where the opportunity presents itself. The maximum width I can do is 36" and I have done this (including having to trim the odd bit off as I go along to squeeze the mill through ). This is without the winch - with winch fitted I reckon I could do 48" easily, and probably as wide as I can practically go. When I've paid off my current debt to Rob I will be setting up to go to the full 72", as I have some timber to mill at full width, probably working singlehanded so I'll let you know how it goes! Rob - what width was that cut, as there is no sign of sag at all and that mill looks like a modded Alaskan so no bar tensioning. Alec

That reminds me - I owe you a photo! Alec

Well done, you would have had a bidding war if it had been up my way Alec

I would buy a 48" mill, and start out with a 36" or 46" Sugihara bar, then uprate to Stihl 59" bar when funds allow/justify it. This will cover pretty much anything that isn't speciality milling. Alec

Not necessarily. If built right there will be a small number of jobs which it can do that nothing else will. This would mean that there was no competition for the work, hence it could attract premium pricing to recoup the costs and then remain highly profitable per outing thereafter. I find this with my chainsaw mounted bandsaw - although I'm sure there must be more of them that have been imported into the UK I'm not aware of them and it secures certain jobs that nobody else can do. It is, in fact, pretty much the reason I started doing any contract milling, not because I wanted to specifically but because it started being offered based on the kit. There is of course the other reason for doing it - to see if it can be done Alec

They do, and it's also available as an online selection tool, but it only goes back so far (unless the book version goes back further?) Otherwise there are several ways I can think of to do this. The easiest would be to contact the people in Somerset referred to earlier. It's possible they know the answer! It would be worth dropping Magnus a PM as he may well know the answer, and if not it is likely that he will know a man who can. Gordon at Carlton Trading may well have original parts and if not he may well know the modern equivalent. As a last resort, measure everything up - for the bar you will need to measure the following: Diameter of studs Spacing of studs (centre to centre) Distance from back stud to clutch drum Diameter of tensioning pin Vertical distance down from centreline between studs to the centre of the tensioning pin Horizontal range of travel of the tensioning pin, although this can probably be guessed at from the photos For the sprocket you will need to take it off and measure: OD of clutch drum ID of clutch drum Depth of clutch drum Diameter of crankshaft where it passes through the bearing Diameter of bore through the sprocket Depth of sprocket There will be some flexibility around the above, and some degree of bodgery may be possible, but starting from that it should be possible to measure up a few existing ones and see what's available. Alec

Excellent, that's the sort of deal you want Alec

I think the challenge is going to be identifying which, if any, of the currently available sprockets will fit. Alec

I think I'd go hydraulic. Every now and again an old ex-MOD hydraulic Danarm turns up and apparently they used to have some monster bars fitted so I'm pretty sure that would make a good starting point. It would want a big bar to justify it - I reckon 72"+ and it would need a hydraulic power pack of some considerable size - probably on a hand trolley, but the whole thing would be portable-ish Alec

There are various different bar mounts currently available and there is a reasonable chance of getting a bar that fits, although you may have to drill a new oil hole. I would look to change the drive sprocket over too, to .404". If you can identify a currently available bar/sprocket combination then it will be possible to replace these indefinitely. The biggest difficulty I can foresee is that, although the parts may fit, they won't be specified for that saw, so it's knowing what to use. The best bet I think is to get the saw, measure up and put up dimensions and pictures. The collective wisdom of Arbtalk will then probably do the rest! Alec

Try Gordon at Carlton Trading (advertises on ebay) as he has an Aladdin's cave of such things. You'll need to measure the gauge as well though. Does the bar have a hard nose? If so, the other option is to change the drive sprocket over to something currently available - .404" is very close so would be the obvious choice. You would need to have a look at the design of the drive sprocket and see if something might fit. Alec