openspaceman

Could it be the alternator regulator voltage too high? Maybe put a diode or two inline with the solenoid

Yes an if you look at our current demarcation area You will see it all in the dry eastern part of the country. It has long been known that spruce does less well here than in wetter parts, so spruce will be more stressed here during a summer drought and probably should not have been planted. It may have been that the then much vaunted, highly subsidised Shotton paper mill that opened in the early 90s persuaded woodland owners to plant spruce but as with poplar for matches the mill closed before the trees were ready. I harvested thinnings of spruce within this area, normally planted in line mixture with oak, and occasionally would come across a live tree that looked little different from the rest of the spruce but was peppered with resin tunnels where the tree had tried to drown the insect with resin. As a relative newcomer to forestry in the late 70s I had it explained to me that insects were far better at finding a stressed tree than we were. My manager in 1974 told me it was then company policy not to plant spruce in the south east. Yesterday traveling south on the M23 just north of Pease Pottage I could see what looked like sparse spruce crowns.

"petrichor" formerly known as "argillaceous odour" I like "argillaceous" the way it rolls

yes that smell of summer rain needs a name

I would try it but for this, I wouldn't know when to record

Funnily enough, and apart from the way she set about it, it was the only good thing I think she did. The worst thing was the moving of the social housing stock into private landlords' hand and enriching her banking sector friends at the same time. The second worst was going with Keith Joseph rather than Goldsmith over GATT.

Plus for short term forecasting the rain radar map is pretty good

Might as well bury or cover them to stop algal growth. I got the submersible pump out to pump water from the capped well into two butts today as they were dry.

En route Ongar to Swanage

I wonder what insider trading was done

Even my chinky cheap one would do that, especially if it has been cleaned a bit. I would not attempt doing anything to it with a saw unless I was determined to split if, then I would do some deep plunge cuts from the top face and hammer some wooden wedges it. A very long spade bit drill is easier to sharpen than a chain if I wanted to get through it. The thing is a stump is a higher quality wood and interlocked grain because it has to resist all the motion the stem transfers to it without splitting.

Yes but it doesn't explain why ; either it's because the cambium isn't thick enough to support a breeding gallery or because it becomes too dry for the grubs. Back in the day when Thetford pine was coming on stream ( probably before the FC moved from scots pine to higher yielding corsican pine) there was a roundwood depot at Brandon. All the surrounding pine trees were stunted from chronic attacks from pine shoot moth (IIRC) that had bred in the timber stacks.

I don't expect it is deadwood that's a problem but that recently felled logs big enough to provide fresh breeding galleries that remain moist enough to support the grubs. If they are small they will dry quickly and the grubs cannot live on dry wood. Similarly a healthy spruce will drown the bugs in resin but a sickly one will not. Insects seem to have a better ability to find a stressed tree to invade than us.

How is that collected and chipped, it must be broke up and muddy?

When I started thinning young FC pine plantations we were not allowed to leave anything thicker than 2" or longer than 6' in the wood, this was so that the wood would quickly dry to prevent infestation by the pine shoot moth. I wonder if better forest hygiene or whole tree harvesting of spruce would remove breeding habitat.

probably not straightforward; ignoring someone can be done by setting a flag on your query to the database of all posts, just like how it recognises posts you have already read, whereas quotes are linked to an un related post. Similarly it might be nice for an ignored user not to see your posts but equally difficult as it would require a reverse look up.

Me too Stubby but a year older. I didn't get any qualifications and got into forestry late as agriculture wouldn't have me. Started harvesting on my own account aged 28 IIRC. I came across three time served toolmakers/ machinists. Something must have happened in the late 70s to cause them to come into forestry. Dale would reproach me for allowing my files to rattle around loose and Anthony shame me by using his verynear to check the length of the cutters every 3 sharpens, both better fellers than I. I manage a day every now and then, this week I was back redressing/shaping/lifting the 25 year old widely planted broadleaved plantation, wore me out. It was a crying shame cutting decent birch poles to waste when I would have liked the firewood.

Have you seen if Whitehouse would rebuild it? Generally I always repaired stuff as I was happier with the devil I knew rather than having to spend time looking for used machines again.

If I'm working and need to remount a bar that has a ridge formed I draw file with the less well worn ends of a round file. I have never used a dressing tool and have been tempted to close a worn groove but never convince I could uniformly overcome the springiness of the steel, so replace bar with new. I have damaged more bars than I have worn out.

That one doesn't have the reinforcement to stop the hand hold from splitting. That type I remember had a steel rivet passing through the hand hold with washers each side.

Well done, I bring a few homers back when I cannot get the job done in the couple of hours our repair cafe runs. Rust steel swing seat in my garden in mid repair today. As has been said tool handles were often cleft, not because it was easier but because the grain is more likely to be continuous where a saw can cut across and leave it "short grained". I know scythe handles were steamed to get the curves but I imagine some were straightened similarly to make rake handles.

I thought their main function was to prevent erosion and entrain silt to form a stable bank. I attempted to make firmer fascines by compressing them with the grapple loader. The EA (IIRC) guys rejected them because they couldn't drive stakes through them.

It was a "united we stand , divided we fall" message . I think it was Mussolini that picked up a stick and broke it and then picked up a bunch and showed the crowd he couldn't break the bundle,

Yes but I think those who got their full licence after 1997 have to ask for BE to be put on the licence, else it should be added at renewal.

Sorry my mistake I should have looked back a bit further and seen it was @JMA46 that was wanting to supply direct air to a 21kW boiler.