agg221

If you can find a bit big enough, I would split it in half first, then chainsaw out the rest of your cube and use the cleft face as the top (tidied up as you see fit). That way, when you cut it off, you effectively have a quartersawn board as the lid, which will be least prone to warping. Alec

Unless your table is going to have a seriously thick, wide top, there is a lot more timber in that than you will get through for the one project. You don't specify the thickness or width you want the top to be, or the style. Is this something sort of trestle-like, maybe 4' across the top? It's also important to consider how you are going to move it. Make it too chunky and at 20' long you are going to need a forklift! If it was mine, I would look to mill it slightly differently. I would take the length off that you are looking to use as the top, then take the centre slab out with an Alaskan, thick enough to make three boards. I would then split this in half and mill each of these blocks with a bandsaw into three boards, around a foot wide. This would give enough 'top' material to make effectively quartersawn boards for a top up to 6' wide if they are all perfect, 4' if preferred. I reckon 8" width boards would look a bit out of scale for something that length. Being quartersawn, the boards would be pretty stable and shouldn't cup. This would allow them to be used relatively thin, about an inch finished thickness. This would make the top liftable, just, by two people. A half inch allowance on an inch board would be fine. You could then cut the shorter length for rails, bars, legs etc. This would leave the rest of the decent length to be cut into full length boards for something else. I would also not touch it until October otherwise the risk of surface checking ruining it is very high. Alec

As Ray1 says, take the oil filler cap off and look for 'mayonnaise'. Also, start the thing up and run it to warm, then when you stop, leave it for a few mins and have a look underneath for anything wet. It could be a hose has perished, radiator has corroded through etc. but you could spend a lot of time guessing where, hence much easier to look for a wet bit. If nothing is wet, I would put it down to the heat. Alec

Indeed. Ratners anyone?

Funnily enough, we're off to Yorkshire for a week this year - Whitby, then a week in Norfolk. While the children are small they just want to enjoy the beach, and our younger daughter doesn't travel well (third summer holiday with her and the first time we're chancing further than Norfolk). I really wouldn't want to inflict them on people on a plane! There's also the grief of sorting them out on passports that I can do without. Thinking about Sussex/Hampshire either next year or the year after. Bodiam, Arundel, Amberley Chalk Pits and the Weald & Downland Museum, which has a huge range of activities and short courses. Plus a sandy beach and there's nothing more you could want. Alec

I'd agree with the axe. He is almost ideally placed for a day trip to Gransfors Bruks for a look round and buy himself either a large splitting axe or a maul. Should be about 2.5hrs drive each way. Alec

My servicing dealer refuses to touch my 090. Actually, he wants me to buy an MS880 instead (because this would make him a lot more money for less effort). Any guesses how many miles I would have to go to find a servicing dealer who was prepared to work on it? All parts are available OEM btw. Oh, and with reference to your earlier post about speed of delivery, if something breaks I can order online and receive it the next day, in my letterbox at home, so would have it fitted for use with only a day out of action. If I order it from my local dealer, even if they decided to order it next day (which so far they haven't) I would imagine I would be hit with a healthy 'special order' delivery charge. I would also have to go in the following day to get it, and if I was going to have the part fitted by the dealer as you suggest, I would have to take the saw in and leave it with them until they got round to fitting it - probably about two weeks. Not really viable I'm afraid. The situation indicated in your original post is perfectly reasonable. Most people don't have an issue with buying machines in person. The issue is parts/PPE etc. I need a new pair of chaps as the zip on the leg of one of the old ones has finally worn out (after 15yrs). I know the size - same as last time, and I do not wish to have a personal fitting (Suits you Sir!). The new ones will unfortunately have to be another make. Alec

I once milled a couple of large oaks in the middle of an August heatwave. Boards were piled in the shade (no stickers) straight off the mill. This was a mobile bandsaw mill, so less than 5mins between boards and the surface stayed wet, otherwise I would also have used a tarp over the pile and just uncovered to add a board. I then moved them all back under a plastic sheet and only stacked in the evenings. I used thin sticks (10mm) and stacked close to a hedge on the north side, so there was much less air movement than normal,although still some. I then covered the top and outside of the stack to restrict air movement further. I took the side covers off at night and put them back on in the morning, through until mid-September. Didn't get even the slightest trace of surface checking. I had a few 2" boards out of one of the trees, which were for rough work. I stacked these properly, but with a bit less shading, and used 1" stickers. These showed significant surface checking. So in summary, yes it can be done, but it's a lot more work. SC doesn't seem as temperamental as oak when it comes to surface checking, so you may get away with a bit less effort. Alec

That's a nice clean looking bit of timber. I would quarter it now to take the stress out (coincidentally making the bits a bit easier to move, then put 'pairs of quarters' back together on pallets, lying face down in the shade to keep the cut faces well covered but off the ground. Then mill it in autumn. Alec

Agreed. That was the point I was trying to make Take the installation we're looking at - it's the maximum size installation allowed, and facing 190deg, at an angle of 40deg, not shaded, so should generate 3400kWh in a year. We live in a grade 2 listed house, which is currently band E so the FIT is only 6.85p/kWh. We can't improve this to band D to get the full FIT - the measures which are taken into account by the calculation method are things like installing insulated UPVC doors and windows, so even if we wanted to there is no way listed buildings would allow it! We're out during the day, for about 11hrs on average. Over the year, during daylight hours the fridge freezer will use about 150kWh, the washing machine will use about 80kWh and the wireless router about 40kWh. In the daylight hours we are in the television will use about 8kWh and the kettle about 5kWh. We don't have a dishwasher, don't use a tower computer, our cooking is gas and we don't use the lights when it's daylight As such, the total we will use of that which we generate would be under 300kWh, ie less than 10% of that which we generated, so we would need to do something to benefit from the power we were generating. We could sell it to the grid at 4p/kWh, however if we do we will need to buy a different form of energy for heating. Gas is the cheapest at 4.3p/kWh (wood is about 7p/kWh). Also taking efficiency into account, gas systems are about 50% efficient, immersion heaters are about 85% efficient, so the 'real' cost equates to about 6.8p/kWh for gas, i.e. you save about 2.8p/kWh by running an immersion heater rather than buying in gas to do the same job (for comparison, wood is about 7p/kWh and about the same overall efficiency as gas-heated water, so the costs are comparable). Note, I have ignored capital costs in the above - to get more accurate you would need to offset capital costs of the export meter against the capital cost of the immersion heating system, taking into account the depreciation period for both (for simplicity it's probably the same for each, and you might as well assume they last the lifetime of the installation). You would also need to factor in that the extra savings generated by the export meter would relate to the difference between 50% export (assumed) and actual, i.e. not all the electricity generated, while the immersion heating system cost should also factor in only the proportion not already being used, since this is the 'extra' saving you get from installing it. Anyway, that's why if we do go ahead with the installation it will include a unit of this type. Alec

Sort of, but the reality is that, assuming you are out all day at work, your power consumption is way lower than your generation capacity. Then you come home and it gets dark, so you use power when you're not generating it. This means that in practice you use much less than 50% of the power you generate, so if you don't do something like this you end up 'donating' a substantial proportion of the power you generate to the grid. Alec

The data set is insufficient to be statistically valid, but it's certainly an observation that in the two beech trees of which images are posted above, the branches which have failed are vertically in line. Any more trees where this can be validated or dismissed? If this is a consistent feature it suggests that there is more at work than simple ground water levels? It is possible that there is a particular orientation of the branches which is causing them to extend more than on other sides (end loading) but suggests that there may be something relating either to insolation (would show up as always being on the unshaded side, or perhaps always the southern aspect?) or some feature lower down the trunk on that side? Alec

Hi Felix, Nice location! It looks like there are two generations of planting. The original generation appears to be the block in picture 2, and most of the ones in picture 3, which are open centre bush form apples of the early short stem type (used to keep the overall tree shorter before the introduction of a wider range of rootstocks). A couple of the trees in picture 2 (e.g. left foreground) look like they could have longer clean trunks and possibly be half-standards (4'6 or thereabouts of clean trunk). The early planting looks to have been well formed and looked after in their early years. There then appears to be a younger planting of apples - picture 1 and picture 4 foreground. The tree in the foreground of picture 5 looks like a half standard plum? This younger planting appears to be mainly apples in the more modern bush form, with a 3' clean trunk, but it looks like they were planted as bush form and the pretty much ignored with no formative pruning. They also look like they are smaller trees, and are struggling a bit in full grass. My guess is that the smaller trees are on M9 or M26 stock and the bigger ones are on MM106, although it could be something slightly bigger - guess is dependent a bit on the soil type and fertility. It's partly based on the fact that there are quite a few gaps in between the newer planting, which suggests trees may have failed, and this could be associated with them blowing over which would be typical of M9 or M26 (although they don't always, particularly if grown in bush form - as evidenced by the trees at Mum's place which I would guess are on the old Paradise stock, renamed M9 and none have fallen over in the last 25yrs) With regards to replanting, if you want to stick with apples I would be inclined to try to match the earlier trees rather than the later ones. It's more compatible with an orchard laid to grass, and will make 'proper' trees, which won't blow over. It will also create a nice old-fashioned orchard look. This would mean using MM106, or MM111 if the soil is really poor. I would try to keep them to just about prunable/pickable from the ground for simplicity - the tree in the foreground in picture 3 is a good example of what could be brought down to this height. The half-standards you'll have to accept as being a taller form but the trees from the younger planting could do with some heavy re-forming to get them back to shape. I would also take out a 4' dia circle around each tree, keep it weed-free and mulch heavily with chippings (stack for a year first). This will particularly help with the new planting, and the trees that are struggling a bit. MM106 is a very commonly used stock, so you should have no difficulties sourcing trees on that stock. If you need any contact details for orchards that stock anything in particular, give me a shout. Alec

OK, something to work from. I suspect that your soil is slightly on the acid side, and probably rather low in fertility - the mulch will help with soil structure as it works in but may also be rather acid. Fruit trees generally prefer slightly alkaline conditions, although if it's not too severe you should be OK, and you could add lime if necessary. It's worth using a soil testing kit, and planting in decent pits - about 1m across, working in some good compost and forking up the base of the pit. Make the pit conical rather than vertical sided, and dig out the centre first, then dig with the blade of the spade so its edge is against the pit wall, rather than its back. Both of these help keep the soil structure less compacted and easier for the tree roots to go out beyond the pit, rather than just winding round within it. I would agree with MM106 for apples - it's very tolerant and does not need a permanent stake. I would use Colt for cherries. Regarding spacing/varieties - you need 4-5m/tree, so a row of 4 would be fine. Most cherries are not self-fertile, and they do tend to crack when rained on whilst ripening. Not being self-fertile would mean you need two trees - the varieties suggested below are somewhat self-fertile so you could grow only one. Morello is a cooking cherry, which doesn't crack, but it depends if you want a cooking cherry. You could chance Lapins, which is good for cold climates and somewhat resistant to cracking, or you could think about whether you want to put a rain shelter over the cherry when fruiting (you'll need netting anyway against birds). If you did use a shelter then you could consider Sunburst. If there are plenty of wild cherries around in the area to rely on for pollination you could consider Governor Wood which is a black cherry, or Frogmore Early or Kent Bigarreau (Amber) which are white, which means they have a red skin with white flesh. These are all supposedly very hardy - the only ones I have grown are Morello and Kent Bigarreau, which has small fruit but in huge quantities and with excellent flavour (I once picked 225kg off a single tree!). An unconventional approach would be to try one of the Duke varieties. They are less common, less vigorous and not prone to cracking. They are less sweet than the normal dessert varieties, but if you have a surplus they cook better, and they have a good flavour for eating. May Duke and Archduke are both still available - not sure on hardiness. Apples - there are more to choose from, but your preferences suggest that you prefer a more delicate flavour than something highly flavoured like Cox's Orange Pippin. Varieties that might suit include the trio of Court Pendu Plat, Crawley Beauty and Edward VII (cooker). These would be the most bomb-proof. Alternative groups would be a selection from Greensleeves, Golden Spire, Fortune (slightly more risky but might suit what you are looking for so long as the site isn't too exposed), Margil and Newton Wonder (cooker). Trees of this size can produce a lot more fruit than you can eat as it ripens, so I suggest going for at least two of the trees having long-keeping qualities. If it was mine, I would have the third one cropping slightly earlier - Fortune might be a good bet as it ripens over a fairly long season and is crisp and a bit bland to start with, going into softer and more 'scented' as it ripens fully. You can pick them over a good month. You can find brief descriptions of the above here: Keepers Nursery UK | Fruit trees for sale | Buy Online | Mail order If you want full descriptions of any of these, give me a should and I'll dig them out. Alec

Hi James, mine did OK when the 066 and 076 both packed up once, and that was on a 36" bar. It wasn't very quick at all, but it got there and there was no damage to anything. I wouldn't want to go much over 18" most of the time and even that wasn't quick, but I was only making 12' long x 8" wide cants for re-sawing with the band mill so it wasn't too bad and the job got done. Alec

It's a bit small for ideal. The Stihl mill will take about 36"? You really want more than 100cc for comfort, although the 066 (92cc) will do it. I've been thinking of trying the Danarm DDA110 (110cc) when it's back together, and if you get hold of a 125cc Danarm that should work pretty well. The 1-71 would be better suited to a 24" Alaskan mill I would think - it's about the same size as an 044. Alec

That's a decent selection - I presume you're in Suffolk then (I'm right on the border, Suffolk being the other side of the river at the bottom of the garden). I presume you mean Polstead Black Mazzard - the village of Polstead is about 20mins from me. Mazzard is an old name for the wild cherry stock that was used for propagation before the development of Colt. F12/1 is a mazzard selection. There are some other brilliantly named cherry varieties, listed in the only english book on the subject, written in the 1940s by the equally excellently named Norman H. Grubb. I particularly like Bolium, Bullock's Heart (although it's a horrible cherry!), Caroon and Black Tartarian! The two small orchards I'm currently looking after are at very different stages - the first was planted 1919 so there has been a lot of filling the gaps (still more to go), whereas our one here was a blank canvas (about 1/3acre so far). The 1919 orchard includes Bramley and St. Edmund's Russett (aka St Edmund's Pippin) which were commercial then, and both just about still are - I saw St Edmunds Pippins in Sainsbury's about 10yrs ago. I've bought trees from the East of England project, but not Victoriana, although they have an interesting selection and I believe propagate their own rather than buying in. Felix - not sure if I'm going to Jonesie's show yet, it's quite near where Mum lives so we may go down for the day. Alec

Yes, photos and spacing would be good. I'd guess Gollum and Peasgood will be along at some point too. Btw, I meant 1857 for Annie Elizabeth, not 1957! Alec

OK, assuming all apples? D'Arcy Spice (1785 raised in Tolleshunt D'Arcy) I would say is an excellent choice. Not very attractive appearance, but excellent for flavour and pretty disease resistant. Queen (aka Essex Queen, Billericay, 1858) - I don't know this one personally, but is reasonably long keeping cooker (Sept-Dec) and breaks down to a puree like a Bramley does. Monarch (1888, raised by Seabrooks in Boreham) - an excellent cooker, keeps through to Jan and again breaks down to a puree. It's not too sharp so doesn't need a lot of sugar added. Dr Harvey (Saffron Walden, 1629) is a large golden colour with some russett. It's a good cooker, which again breaks down to a puree. It keeps to about Jan. I have a personal interest in this one as it's named after master of my old college There's also Chelmsford Wonder, which I don't know but keeps through to April apparently. Less local, but I also like Newton Wonder (raised in Derby, introduced 1887) which is a good, long-keeping cooker with red streaking and a good flavour. It gets sweet enough to be worth keeping the smaller ones in store as late season eaters. I would also go for Annie Elizabeth which is a very long storing cooker (raised 1957 in Leicester) - it's another cooker, but keeps right through to June and has the useful feature that the fruit doesn't break down when cooked, so it's ideal for flans and similar. For eaters, I would break all the rules and have at least one Discovery, as I reckon it's one of the best 20th century varieties with all the advantages of both its parents (Beauty of Bath and Worcester Pearmain). You could try Rosemary Russett (before 1831) which is at its best around Christmas with excellent flavour, although not 'nutty' like a true russett. Duke of Devonshire (1835) isn't even really ripe until February, so if you have somewhere to store it you get one of the longest keeping eaters. Orleans Reinette (before 1776) has outstanding flavour, of the russett type, and is a really attractive yellow with orange flush, netted with russetting. It's a Christmas apple at its peak. Adam's Pearmain (before 1830) is a good keeper for after Christmas, through to March. It has a rich/sharp/sweet flavour combination in the way that a properly grown Cox does, but it's not as aromatic and the trees are much less temperamental. Court Pendu Plat (Roman!) is a very hardy (small) tree and has excellently flavoured fruit for after Christmas. Egremont Russett - the classic russett flavour for Oct-Nov, and grows well in EA, there are still orchards of this around Cambridge. There are thousands of others, but this should give a few ideas for thought. It's worth looking out for The Book of Apples (Joan Morgan and Alison Richards), and "The Good Fruit Guide" by Lawrence D Hills, the former can currently be had on abebooks for £4.85 which is an absolute bargain. These give descriptions of a wide range of varieties, with origins, and help select pollinating partners etc. What form are the trees in - delayed open centre bush or half standard/standard? Also what spacing? That will determine the rootstock selection? Alec

There are quite a lot of cherry varieties local to Bucks - have you found Bernwode nurseries: http://www.bernwodefruittrees.co.uk/ They even have one from Prestwood! Hadn't heard of using them for dying before though. I grew up in Kent and used to pick cherries in the summer, up big old trees on long ladders. I grew up on what had formerly been a smallholding, planted 1919, and have replanted with the same idea of a regular source of supply, so a good range of timing and more long-storing fruits (apples, and some pears) to extend the season. We did once manage to eat apples from store through to June, then the first of the new season (Beauty of Bath) in July, so spanned the whole year. I have planted up something similar where we now are - I propagated most of them where I could obtain scion wood. It's completely mixed, with apples, cherries (because I like them), a few pears and plums/gages. I've used mostly EA local varieties or ones which are known to do well here, with a few others for particular purposes. I've also put in a couple of bittersweet cider varieties as I tend to use the deformed fruit for cider and it improves the flavour a lot to put in some tannin - sugar content I can balance courtesy of Tate & Lyle! Alec

Hi Felix, 1850 is an interesting time - there are three types of orchard around. One is the ongoing 'grand estate' type orchard, which is not about commercial qualities so much as supplying the big house, with as diverse a range of produce as possible, spanning the whole year. It's also around the point where what would later be regarded as a 'smallholding' orchard starts to come in, for supply of the London market, but in parallel you have the ongoing home/farm orchard for local use. By 1880 the pattern is pretty well established, so if you're prepared to stretch the point a little and go for Victorian era varieties it should be possible. Yours is what would be classed as 'big estate' isn't it? Are you looking to sell the produce, how big is the area you are looking to plant up and what level of amenity value do you want from it? This is about whether you go for a large range of varieties, which is good for spreading the season if you are supplying locally (farm shop/farmer's market) or go for a very narrow range (selling at commercial markets). This also determines what constitutes commercial qualities - if you want to sell direct to the public they can be educated on the finer points of flavour (I've proved this with cherries) whereas if it's through a middle-man there is more focus on size, uniformity and overall eye-appeal than on flavour. If you give me some idea on the above I can give a few suggestions. Alec

Stumpy, if you're going to end up doing a lot of hand tool work on this, I suggest getting yourself a side axe (and a cant hook if you can run to one, for rolling the thing around, although this can be improvised with some chain and a scaffold pole). You can find side axes (aka broad axe) on ebay for about £20-30. They are used across the grain, using a sort of circular motion rather than a short, chopping motion. You have to cut downwards, hence you need to be able to roll the log around. You can remove large amounts or very fine shavings and you can get a pretty good finish from the off with practice. Cutting something like this out entirely by hand is nothing like as difficult as it first appears, although it's a bit slower and a lot more tiring than doing it with a chainsaw. I made the replacement stem post (bit at the front) for the one on the boat shown here: Hagley - bow deplated using hand tools only after the chainsaw packed up (no pictures to hand of the finished item). It took a day, including making the full length rebates up each side to let the planks in to. I did a lot of it with an adze rather than a side axe, but I would suggest avoiding this unless you are already familiar with their use - although I just picked one up and worked it out over the first few bits of timber, so it's not that hard! If Si can cut the bulk out then you should be OK. Alec

As has been said, rootstock is key - determines how big the tree will get and whether it will need permanent staking. Some are better for certain soils than others and ultimately they determine how long the trees are likely to live/be productive. Also worth considering what you want the trees for and where you are trying to grow them. This will determine which varieties are most suitable. If you can comment on what you want to achieve it will be possible to give some ideas on selection of variety and stock (opinions will probably differ a bit). Most of the decent nurseries tend to supply bare root, so now is the time to be ordering for planting in about November onwards. Bare root is much cheaper too. Ones to look at if you want a wide variety are Keepers in West Malling and R.V.Roger in Pickering. If you're looking for commercial quantities (I presume not given your location?) there are others to work from. Alec

You commented that you are adding extra oil to the bar, but the above suggests you haven't turned the oiler up full? If not, I suggest you do so, regardless of the oil you are using. This is pretty much standard practice when running any saw with its max. bar length and particularly important when milling wide boards which are using a lot of the bar length. Alec

That sounds very much like nerves running down the spine - in my case I did this by dead-lifting a boat engine over a doorstep. Big twanging feeling in my leg, following day I couldn't bend. I used a chiropractor, who helped a lot. Another exercise to add to Spud's list - all of which look familiar, particularly if you find the dog-humping exercise does more harm than good (which it did in my case, and no we have a cat rather than a dog and no I wasn't doing that before anyone asks....) is to lie on your back and gently lift your pelvis upwards. It's a swivelling action - nothing should actually lift off the ground. It doesn't feel like you are doing anything, but done 20 times every morning it builds up core strength in a really gentle way. Alec