openspaceman

Agreed, nearing 2 years Sycamore and Birch is degrading if NOT covered. However these species generally come in at small diameters so may well be fit by then. Up on large diameter bearers, covered, most species appear to tolerate long term storage. I agree with Beau and would class oak sapwood in with birch. The thing is that bugs will be living on the wood all the time it is above 20% and it is the volatile solids that they live on first. I suspect these are the things that give a bright flame as old iron hard oak is a less lively burn. So attempting to dry in the round means you lose dry matter to rot and the wood is not as lively when it burns. From my experience in sunny Surrey if you cut and split it and stack it in a covered, airy (in my case glazed) shelter then the logs are down around 20% by autumn. Although it's currently raining it's the first for a while and the wellingtonia I split last month has noticeably dried in the heap (because I have no room as I'm still burning from the shelter and don't want to re-stack it).

Just a small point, I believe leaded fuel was to an extent self lubricating. I can remember one saw running through a whole tank of straight leaded before nipping up. A couple of asides: Outboard motors which were watercooled ran at 100:1 In my teens before I came across the first chainsaw I used, DDA110, that ran on 16:1 and this was the same oil and ratio as my Bantam and my mate's Ariel Leader. The leader was prone to nip up if you went down a long hill on overrun, hence you learned to coast. Similarly the Saabs at the time could not overrun as the transmission had a freewheel. Chainsaws don't need to overrun so possibly less need for residual lubrication??

Did the tree on the left blow down, dam the stream and then the stem on the right layered itself from a branch?

This is my feeling also, I have some older saws which used to run 25:1 and seem fine at 50:1. Do you know the science behind this? Is it just better oil? I lashed out on some Stihl ultra 2t oil in the hope it will reduce the chance of lubrication failure, even though none of my saws require it (non strato). My hedgecutters use aspen red.

Salt Box?

We were clear felling some spruce on a PAWS and set the fire alarms off in the local major hospital half a mile away, that stopped all work pretty quick, about 25 years ago. Not original but pretty reasonable. Nowadays I would be much more mindful of the effect smoke may have on ill people.

Is this because they are a bit lower and the weight of the slew gear is at the bottom? Offset by the heavier kingpost and poor rear view.

No he had it as used but I have no idea how many previous owners.

NW Surrey 8 miles south of M25 J11. A friend of mine in Sweden is due home at the beginning of March and he has offered to look at it, it would mean I have to buy the special tools though.

Oi! I have no garage or facilities, I was okay doing engines and gearboxes on Series and 101outside but this is too big and complicated. As per your suggestion I was willing to spend £1500 but cannot justify double that and the local MOT place, who originally diagnosed the fault won't MOT it for fear of the engine disintegrating on test. Otherwise he says he is sure it will pass. He gave it to me on the basis I would repair and use it, now he wants the wheels for his RR. I'll have to ask but he won't entertain tyre kickers for security reasons. It has done about 115k miles.

Yes I'm getting estimates in excess of £3000 and no smaller mechanics interested, special tools needed and too fiddly for my capabilities means this will be sold for spares.

Is anyone with a truck available to dispose of the arisings from an overgrown privet hedge for me? It will fit in a transit truck with a bit of cutting down. Short drag to roadside. PM if interested

It makes sense. Oddly enough I was felling such a monolith today, 15 metres high and 6 metres from a bridleway. Such a shame as it was a lovely habitat. Timber was a bit soft for wedging so the little vitara tugged it, all 200Hft of it, over after I had whittled away the hinge more than I should have. It's on Ada Lovelace's (the first computer algorithm writer) estate . It was fascinating also because though originally downland it must have been made a parkscape and the place is littered with the corpses of 250 year old Beech with a mixed thicket stage understory of dying ash, squirrel gnawed beech, hawthorn, turkey oak, viburnam, holm oak and box.

I have a grand daughter who is in exactly this position, is there any way of baling out? Can someone explain in simple terms how this PCP, balloon etc work?

I think I can just about remember a timbermaster skyline winch from the early 80s manufactured by G R Smith but haven't seen anything of them since.

Can't good design of the joints mitigate this?

I always fancied trying small diameter sweet chestnut, clean grown coppice after the first metre was discarded. Bigger stuff tends to shake and spiral but fast grown off the stool seems stable.

I rode past the scene of a tragedy on my way back from delivering some bits of wood to @se7enthdevil it had been cleared up but the butt was still there, pictures from BBC and Google streetview. This would have come down with speed. I often wonder about monoliths, we have one locally adjacent to a path carved into a flying horse, the sapwod has already gone and an adjacent one fell across the road.

Yes fine tungsten carbide dust is not likely to do you any good. I sharpened outside and used a dust mask, the respirator type.

Fine I was just pointing it out as solar gain will put a lot of heat into the logs. BTW if anyone does go down this route with such a shallow pitch it may well be worth losing a bit of coverage and overlapping by two corrugations.

My last lot lasted over 30 years (we moved in in August 79 and it was here then) and were only translucent at the end, the new stuff looks like new still after 3 years so far. £6/m2.

There are a number of different sections and types of belts, some plain and some have toothed cut outs that are designed to wedge into the VEE pulley and increase the drive friction. Yours sounds like Z section but I found this site https://www.beltingonline.com/vee-and-wedge-belts-213/help-identifying-v-belts-591/ Does the belt measure 300 mm all the way round the periphery? In UK the belt number is its length in mm . I used to adjust the pulleys to their minimum and then measure round them with a thick cord and then buy belts to bracket that in an emergency. I also carried http://www.bearingshopuk.co.uk/belts/nutlink-belting/ as my tractors were difficult to fit endless loops on but this stuff has big disadvantages for normal use, it is a bit too elastic, low friction and fatigues at the joints over time. It also flies apart on anything that revs more than 2500 rpm.

Why not have the whole roof corrugated transparent PVC for a bit of solar gain?

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I'll get a price from DLR if it gets through an MOT. I shall only keep it a short while as I have a chance to help my mate's widow and daughter out by doing some extraction in his woodland.