the village idiot

Has anyone out there had much experience with excavator screw splitters? My plan is to hire one in to help with log handling and initial processing. I am crosscutting stems to 4mtrs at stump and want to find a good way to further crosscut to 10 inch rings off the ground, leaving all the rings ride side. Some of the lengths (pretty much all Ash) are quite fat and could do with splitting down the middle before crosscutting into half rings, hence the screw splitter. I was thinking I could then pick up all 4 mtr lengths(split and unsplit) with the screw, slew over to ride side (we are felling along ride edges) and then whilst held at a comfortable height, crosscut from both ends to 10 inches. Can anyone who has used these machines see any potential problems with this system? I know it seems crazy to crosscut at stump, but there are a number of reasons why we do this that I won't bore you with now. Muchas gracias in advance. TVI.

I look forward to the day when we can meet up and have a really good natter! My landlords and their family are all evangelical Christians, we have some pretty far reaching conversations. Let me know if you are ever headed Suffolk way, we can have a walk around my 200 acre cathedral!

Blimey Wes, you went deep! I'm going with white, it's pretty hot in there. Really great that you are still meditating. Can you share your experience on the free will thread? (if you can dredge it up).

Good luck with that!

Apologies, slightly off topic, but if one gets to heaven is eternity optional?

I plan to secure the very lucrative Lucifer firewood contract. That guy gets through a load of logs.

They infect us Kevin, even when at sleep.

Not so fast jaffa cake. You have obviously not heard about our new Anti Ginger Ultra-Violet Skin Spot Detectionator, AKA 'The Freckleometer'. Every true breed will wear this pureness beacon around their necks during the hours of darkness. All of the cunning freckle spawn will be lit up like flourescent paint slattered imps. There is nowhere to hide. Know your place. We see you.

Won't help you sunset. Your hands will be so greasy you won't be able to pick up your pitchforks.

Happy ending? Isn't this the one where most of the inhabitants of the Earth are doomed to an eternity in hellfire?

You've forgotten about your achilles heal. All we need to do is stand out in the sun, you won't be able to get anywhere near us.

No worries, I'll tell you again in a minute.

Well, I saw a ginger nicking a toffee crisp from the shop round the corner. Thieving carrot topped scum the lot of them. They refuse to integrate into our monetary based bartering culture and should all be sent back to Gingerland.

Matelot, do us all a favour. Go and buy a dartboard and a set of darts, cut a picture of Hew Edwards out of your BBC monthly magazine and go to work. We really do understand that you don't like the BBC, we are perfectly capable of holding this thought in our leftist brainwashed minds.

Thanks John. I look forward to having a listen this evening.

I am not so sceptical. The world as a whole is becoming much less violent and much more tolerant. It doesn't feel like that sometimes because of our thirst for bad news, but it is a fact. Read 'The better angels of our nature' by Steven Pinker. There is conclusive proof that we as a civilisation are moving towards a more civil global society. I agree that not ALL parties will come on board, but if enough do a tipping point will be reached and the 'problem parties' will become so marginalised that their influence will be insignificant. We can't realise this world in years or even decades, but if enough people realise the necessary shift in perspective, in time I believe this goal is possible. Aiming for perfection though will always result in dissapointment.

I posted exactly the same link Matelot. It is interesting to wonder why you didn't click on it. I don't think it's overly relevant in this instance, but scientific research is showing that we are all intrinsically racist to some degree, even when we believe we absolutely aren't. It makes very good evolutionary sense to be suspicious of groups of people who look different from us. I think we can only really make lasting progress if we accept this fact and work towards changing our behaviour in spite of it. As with all things, my philosophy is to always try to accept what we discover is true and work from there to create the kind of societies that we want to live in. We are not hopelessly constrained by our genetics, we have the wonderful ability to think our way around them. Living in a purely darwinian world would be highly unpleasant. This is not to say that we aren't the products of evolution, just that evolution has fortunately provided us with the ability to overide some of it's less desirable offerings. Some people believe that racism and nationalism are desirable qualities. Their hardwiring is extremely rigid. They may be right if it is a good thing to only care about a certain subset of people. These thinkers are probably always going to exist. This is probably another truth that we are just going to have to accept, but the majority of us can carry on trying to develop in a more positive direction.

The world is going mad. The world is going mad! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42675665

Hmmm.

Do you know how many lambs/sheep they lose per year? In terms of the Lynx, they anticipate very few lamb losses and are proposing to compensate farmers for any losses. This will go down like a lead balloon, but I think the rationale for large scale sheep farming is pretty sketchy anyway, especially in upland areas.

I was going to raise the lynx/wolves issue but wimped out for fear of the sheepy backlash. I think it would be fantastic to have Lynx back in our forests. We have to be really careful that we have considered all of the potential ecosystem impacts, but on the surface it looks like a good option. They are extremely reclusive, very habitat (forest) specific and will only feed on deer (if available). I don't think availability of preferred prey is going to be an issue. We are not even scratching the surface in terms of controlling deer numbers. Does anyone know of the results in other regions of the world where they have been reintroduced?

Apparently Coyote numbers have exploded in the US and they are now present in every mainland state despite huge extermination programs. The more they shoot and poison the more the population grows. They have recently discovered that the Coyote's in any given region do a howling roll call. If they detect individuals missing the females automatically produce more pups! You've got to love nature's ability to confound us whenever it gets the chance.

Totally agree Eggs, this is not good practice and it certainly goes on, but in my view all the angst around foxhunting is just a distraction from all the wildlife related issues we really should be concerned about. Loss of habitat in the name of 'human progress and profitability' being the big one.

Yes, we have wiped out a lot of the top predators so we have a duty to take their place as best we can. Re. foxhunting. I am much more comfortable having fox numbers controlled by a pack of dogs than by some brandy soaked farmers with shotguns who shoot any fox on sight, sometimes killing it if they get lucky, but often just maiming it to go and die slowly and painfully. I should say that I also have no problem with professional shooters who know what they are doing and have respect for their target.

Soooo, If I understand you correctly, lots in the packet equals fruit pastilles, not lots in the packet equals giraffes? Makes sense. That's really helpful Gary, thanks.