openspaceman

Well you may as well try to carefully dig up one of the suckers and replant it next month then.

Sorry I missed the layering bit, what failed with it. It was the normal method for propagating hazel coppice which was sparse.

Yes you could stamp on the bottom of one of the smaller shoots and lay it down and peg it to an area of bare soil six foot from the main stool for a couple of years.

The trouble is the market generally expects a product that is fairly consistent is size and shape (8-12" long I think) and the branch logger's product can vary a lot.

Pick the apples to reduce the weight then gently prop it back as above

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I think I asked you before but what are the common parts with an A55? possibly similar engines?

In practice yes but the main need is for it to dry evenly so a dry outside doesn't shrink more than the wet inside and crack. Too true Another one!

I imagine that was an interesting conversation.

It looks like wood of a fruit tree, apple my guess.

It's the chemistry of biomass. The white wood of a short lived tree serves only to support the crown it has about 1% minerals and the rest is cellulose, lignin and hemicellulose, the working parts of the tree like the leaves and bark are more complex and need all the other chemicals to do their job and it is these that need the small amounts of potassium, silicon and other trace minerals that end up in the ash. grasses have high ash content because they do not differentiate into a support system. There was a database (Phyllis) which showed the chemical content of many plants, I haven't looked for it for a few years.

I think it is much the same as wood though I bet birch bark is higher because it is oily, the main difference will be much more ash from bark compared with the wood.

Yes the ring shank nails cause a lot of split boards going to kindling

Faithfull Nail Puller 60cm (24in) | Power Tools Direct WWW.POWERTOOLSDIRECT.COM The Faithfull nail puller is the perfect tool for removing nails from most materials, lifting floorboards, opening wooden crates and... A modern version of an antique nail puller my father in law had. I never really tried it as it was designed to work. You use the slide hammer to bury the claw under the nail head then as you lever it the claw grabs the nail and pulls it. I see no reason it wouldn't pull a staple. I quite fancy one for reclaiming pallet boards but I so rarely have the need now.

My school mate had one, he said it was cooler than a bike, when we were 16. It had a tight turning circle but you could reverse it by switching the ignition on the dash and staring the engine to run backwards. It had a strange electric starter and also the kick start. It would only start in reverse by the electric starter IIRC.

Possibly Phaeolus schweinitzii, mostly found on softwoods but can affect hardwoods

If the fruitiing body is not on the log then how can it sporulate? Altough Kretz is both saprophytic and parasitic/pathogenic once the logs dry it will not fruit and hence spread.

Well the saw I first used had none of those things, nor AV, didn't cut myself with that. I'd be very uncomfortable without those items now, as I am without a seat belt in a car (my tractors haven't got them).

Three chains is probably about right for the amount of wear, I would hope to manage more before replacing the drum. Because the drive link is bottoming out it will be slightly deformed which may make it feel tight in the bottom of the bar groove when you pull it round manually.

If you use the stepped tap it will start following any vestige of original thread, the cutting bit of the step will ream out a hole which is the inner diameter of the helicoil's thread, the tap above the step will then form the new thread. If you use just a single helicoil tap you will need to drill first, this is where mistakes happen. The helicoil is just like the one way clutch you can make with a pencil and a spring of a slightly smaller diameter on it. You can wind it in because you are drivng in by the tang and, as you say the torque causes the spring to wind up and shrink its diameter slightly. Try and unscrew it and it attempts to unwind and jams against the thread, this is why it doesn't extract itself when you take a plug out. it's also why it is most important that the helicoil is short enough to sit totally withing the length of thread. Having a piece of helicoil sticking out of either end of the threaded hole is a disaster. I have never had one jump a pitch when inserting.

I've done that with a car engine (Subaru 1800 turbo) . Near bdc on the induction stroke pump grease in. Bring piston up until grease at bottom of plug hole. Tap thread, screw in helicoil, break tang then bring piston to tdc to eject grease with tang and swarf. Spin engine with plug out to expel excess grease. Not worth doing with a chainsaw engine when you can pull the pot so easily. Well worth using the special helicoil stepped tap to ensure it goes in straight.

I admit I used to run them a bit longer than that as I only had spur sprockets on less used , bigger saws. Even Stubby's floating rims will show the telltale mark the drive link makes as they wear, unlike spur drum the rims tend to explode if you run them too long.

Ganoderma aplanatum I think. Some holm oaks I looked at for SWT had it and were still going after 10 years in a station car park, I'll have to call in and see how they are. They were reduced a bit just in case.

Yes once the drive link bottoms out and marks the bottom of a spur sprocket with that telltale bright spot it needs replacing. How many chains have been through it in the year? I would supect an over tight chain if not more than one.

Yeah, I had a Dinky one in british racing green, I used to oil the axles to make it go faster.