openspaceman

I fancy an old steam set from a ship and a flash tube boiler

Probably it will in a shed . I've recently picked up an oak ring which was in the field at work, been there 2 years but in contact with the ground. Sap wood was rotten but I cut a 25 gramme section of heartwood and it oven dried to 12.6 grammes. That's 50% water, probably more than when fresh felled.

At least they were told, our government simply quantitatively eased the situation and effectively stole from savings by more than 10% with no complaints.

I'd bet it was because the scheme it was established under had run its time and the subsidy was finished. I'm told it will stay running but with a gate fee but that doesn't tie in with the press release.

It was announced a few days back along with dire warnings about the electrcity supply in general and low gas reserves in store: Energy firm warns that lights are "going out" | News | Heating and Ventilation News If it is finished I'm surprised it's so soon after the announcement. That will mean an embarassing few heaps around the countryside the firm I do work for will have to find a home for, not to mention the prospects for the lorry driver.

Back before processors were in UK the FC had lots of research in motor manual felling and extraction. One tree length method was using a Radiotir, a 10hp 2t motor driving an interesting dual capstan winch. It was all fitted in a sled and the winchman would get it into the wood under its own steam to the head of the rack. He did this by walking the wire rope out but the machine was ingenious, when it was ticking over it engaged reverse gear, as soon as there was a pull on the rope it touched the capstans and was paid out, no pull and it sprung away and stopped. So the machine pulled its way in and was anchored to a tree at the head of the rack. the winchman pulled the wire to a tree in the rack or one of the offsets with a pulley, To winch in the radio control simply revved the engine and this disengaged reverse, engaged forward and put a little tension on the cable stowage drum. It all looked quite nice to my young eyes but there was a problem with bandwidth and the telegraphy act before things like CB were allowed. FC had 2 and they were sold at auction and I heard no more about them. Of course within a few years small scale small thinning became uneconomic by hand in any case.

Reborn like the man in the police box, thanks Steve

I didn't realise there was a similar name when I joined. You stay as you are, I'll change.

I was referring only to the match stick, poplar ( mostly canadian aspen) is chosen because it is strong for its weight, doesn't splinter and absorbs the wax. No wood will burn in ambient conditions on its own, once the offgas in the flame is used up the remaining charred stick doesn't burn out because it radiates its heat away to the point it is no longer hot enough for oxygen to dissociate on its surface. That's why sticks on an open fire need a bit of company to mutually radiate heat and keep themselves hot.

Crikey Stubby that makes me seem like a schoolmarm telling someone off, we're similar age and I'm just whiling away a damp Saturday avoiding going out to chop some logs ( or redundant chestnut paling in this case a lot of effort for not much yield but what else to do with it).

The skin shouldn't rot then! this is the same process used for tanning chrome leather gloves, a firm in Derby supplied a gasifier to the leather works and they reclaimed chrome form the offcuts. Chromated copper arsenate is only allowed for limited use now, the copper azole stuff now is nowhere near as persistent. My main concern about CCA was it's end of life disposal, too much was being burnt and leaving heavy metal residues in the ash with arsenic and hexavalent chrome in the atmosphere. I'm still not sure why they came down so heavily on creosote, it is carcenogenic but within a short exposure outside the surface was OK as long as not handles unduly, horsese tended not to eat it whereas they did gnaw cca treated wood.

And from that grew a large firewood business, using boards that didn't grade for sale. Unusable product turned into tescos kindling boxes overnight.

They make matches from poplar because it doesn't burn, it's the wax that burns leaving the support of the unburnt char. Similarly it was used for railway wagon floor because it doesn't dry out in the open and crushes without splintering. Like most non dense woods when dry it ignites easily because it's a good insulator and the outside gets hot quickly without losing heat to its interior. I think it starts out fresh felled at about 60% mc wwb but once it has lost most of its water it will occupy a lot of space for the amount of heat ( low bulk energy density). I'm burning pallet boards atm and it's surprising how quickly they need restoking.

I'd reword that slightly, the correct size of hinge is that which is strong enough on both outside edges to prevent the tree falling sideways. By default this will mean it's strong enough to prevent the tree falling backward in the absence of the felling requiring winch assistance.

If you're looking at the rough end of the industry, utilities and corporate work then there's a number of firms looking for hardworking young men. If you're a dedicated arborist for genteel folk then the knobs haven't realised it's time to start spending their money again.

A chap I felled for once exported some butts to Norway where it was used for furniture. Although it looks fantastic orange it dries to an uninteresting grey-buff

Yes I used to buy 73lp chain in reels and there were always more than enough presets and tie straps with the reel. I will admit that my joints often weren't as good as shop made ones. Then I would have been making a couple a week.

Red kites have reached my bit of NW Surrey now but I didn't realise black kites were here. This is the bird that was called the shite hawk because it lived on the solid sewerage that was shipped out of towns to be spread on fields before sewage treatment plants existed but I always assumed this was in the middle east rather than UK.

Keep a couple of 65mm ish 2m poles with the length of rope and you'll pull nigh on as much as the tirfor

I don't think it's bacteria from the chip that would be the problem but those on the meat already, as I said they are limited to the surface of the lump and can be quickly killed off in the initial phase of cooking. The problem arises is something has happened to allow these surface bacteria to get into the bulk of the meat, like with mince or chicken (where salmonella is often present in the bird), Then slow cooking that doesn't allow the high temperatures to kill the bugs means they can multiply, this is especially true of re warming food, the bugs multiply and as they live and die and produce toxins (e.g. Botulinum toxin). Even if the meat is subsequently raise to above 70C the toxin is present. We all have developed some resistance to common bacteria so can survive a dose of mild food poisoning now and again but if a bit less healthy... I've eaten fresh raw meat and eggs without harm. Parasites, like tapeworm are another consideration.

The microbes that live in the pile have evolved to survive in the different temperatures, so yes if you cool the heap the thermophylic (temperature loving) bugs will give way to mesophilic ones, which live in medium ( blood heat) temperature. If there is still enough food and air in the chip ( volatile solids like simple sugars and oils and not the woody lignin and cellulose much) then the heat will build up again and the hotter species become dominant. I would also expect it to be self controlling to some extent because there would be no point in pumping water through the pipe if the temperature fell much below 40C, so a thermostatic control on the outlet would stop the pump. In the 70s a pub in Devon was heated by a large chip heap. Being a pyromaniac I, of course, prefer achieving higher temperatures.

I'd be happy with cooking veg this way as that is a simple hydrolysis and its what makes the starchy material easier to digest, mind it will take a long time as that is why we normally boil or steam. The reason we cook meat till all the mass is above 70C is so that any pathogens are killed before we dine. Mind there is no reason why thermophylic bacteria wouldn't develop in the chip pile, especially if there were some fresh greenery in the mix. A place I worked easily achieved 70C from bacterial action in order to treat waste food to 70C for more than an hour, which is the UK standard before the waste can be spread on land. Having said that whole lumps of red meat are likely to be fairly safe as if the animal is healthy pathogens will be superficial, the same cannot be said for mince or chicken and probably pork too.

I try not to worry all the time the two basal stems are roughly cylindrical, I get more concerned when the width gets conspicuously more than the front to back depth. 14 m is quite a long lever arm to be stressing the centre of the root ball.

Jensen or Forst?