codlasher

You'll have to be really careful if your sat-nag doesn't work on Crete. There's a rumour that a bull like beast lives in the uncharted parts of this island. I believe it's called a minotaur. There's a fellow called Theseus who is looking for a fight with this creature, perhaps you can borrow his string when he's finished with it...... codlasher

Someone is taking the p*ss charging more for C24 over C16! In my experience they are often mixed in the same pack. If you want a specified amount/lengths just ask.(I may be lucky and just have a very good merchant nearby?) I do know that the Irish building regulation requirements are slightly higher than those in the UK. This is perhaps to ensure that any construction is able to cope with the more extreme Irish weather.......I do know that the Irish insulation 'overlaps' at floor and roof levels require more care/attention. This is not difficult to achieve but takes a little longer. I think you have made the right decision to call the standards office. Don't forget the building inspector is there, too, to help and advise. Folk forget this! It it the 'planners' who are the difficut ones.......... I can't help with Irish grading marks but I would suggest researching this too. What has been forgotten is treatment against insect attack. White untreated timber is like spreading out a picnic for these and I would strongly advise against its use. One dodgy wood-worm infested load of firewood will see your hard work reduced to a mess in a decade!!!!! The best roof timbers are wrc (Thuja) then Scandinavian pine followed by European larch if you can get this. I'd avoid Norway spruce if at all possible. Sitca spruce is ok but it should be stress graded......So you are back to square one! Finally, don't forget to VENTILATE! ooh-er Doctor:laugh1: codlasher

Have you had any contact with a structural engineer? If so the specs on the timber sizes will be on your drawings. As a rough guide a piece of 200mm x 50mm timber is able to span 4.0 metres. If this is a UK quality graded piece there will be either C16 or C24 stamped/inked upon its length somewhere. These C marks denote the structural quality of each piece. C24 being the better. Rafters are normally 150mm x 50mm @ 400mm centres, but there comes a point where a purlin is needed or the size needs to go up to something of greater depth to cover the span required. My advice will be to carefully go through the timber stacks at your local builders merchant and pick out all the pieces required marked with the C24 grading. This is what a structural engineer would ask to be put in your roof. Pick the best pieces too. When you use each piece make sure the curve faces upwards. Are you birds-mouthing over the wall-plate? What pitch are you creating? Are purlins needed and from where are you picking up the supports for these? Have you thought about the insulation then the membrane and then the covering (tiles, slate, wriggly tin, etc) Hope this helps. codlasher

Agreed! No way I'd let my machine out of my sight. codlasher

I have two ordinary and one tipped blade for my Posch machine. I only use the tipped one now as it stays sharp for so much longer, like 50 tons worth of cutting. Some timber comes with a lot of sand and this takes the edge off. I am nearly at the 50 ton mark now and it is starting to find some of the bigger lumps a little challenging. The ordinary blades are only for when the tipped one is in for a sharpen as this takes a week. I cut enough to last but sometimes things can get behind so it is nice to have back up. I think I will be visiting the saw doctor before cutting my winters supply. The last visit was three years ago! codlasher

If you know any local wooden boat builders I would suggest having a chat with them. Elm was a traditional keel timber. They like good lengths and this is do-able with a chainsaw mill. Keep the burr stuff for furniture though! codlasher

Hate them! Over priced too. The Q cab rusts badly. I'd look at a 4000 or a MF codlasher

The little suitcase inverter welders are all quite similar. The leads and connectors (Dinse) should be good quality, along with the stick holder. The electronics should have at least a years warranty too. The plus side of arc welders is their simplicity to do a good job in some pretty rough conditions. This is where a MIG has problems. They need very clean metal to do a good job. The shield gas is easily blown away and you will never get a good weld if that happens. I have seen some 'repairs' that an inexperienced MIG operator has done. The weld is still attached to the repair but not the bit it was intended to fix.......Penetration is the name of the game and this is where an arc welder comes into play, again with its simplicity. I spent a year at Maidenhead College learning to weld (thirty years ago!). It was time & money well spent! Self darkening glass is a brilliant invention. Ark-eye is not a nice thing......Go careful. Have a half hour fire rule before you shut up shop for the evening........Find some clearing-up jobs for half an hour after you have finished any welding. You may one day thank this time taken. Particularly if you smell/find a smouldering rag, pile of burning saw-dust, hot acetylene bottle.......This is what the half hour is for. They didn't do this on poor old Cutty Sark! codlasher

I have one of these. I can't fault it for general repairs. I would advise a separate 16amp supply though & if you can access your fuze board to do this work you will have the best possible source of power too. THERMAL ARC 175 SE STICK / MMA / ARC /LIFT TIG WELDER 240V INVERTER | eBay codlasher

No bang. If the bearings seize there's a grinding/screeching noise. If the half-shaft splines and drive hub wear so much the failure will most likely be at a X roads or T junction as you pull away, particularly if you're pulling a trailer. The noise then would be a rrrrrrrrr as the splines rotate in the hub..... Then you will have to put it into 4WD to get home. My old 1993 110 is awaiting this repair. I'm still driving it carefully but I have the half-shafts and the drive hubs in a box ready, so they can be fitted as soon as I have a spare moment. At 96,000 miles this is the first change. codlasher

Exactly the same. Yes it made a horrible graunching noise! Easy to fix though and all the parts are readily available if they're broken. On mine the bearing carrier was ruined so I sourced a new item from Dingocroft/LRSeries suppliers and it was back on the road. I overfilled the axle oil as I thought lack of oil was the main cause because the bearings were dry. Yes the drive flange is another place to look and this is the first step. This is more common on Sailsbury axles than the modern units. Still worth a look though. This one is more expensive as the half shafts should be replaced too... codlasher

Love your hooked scarf joint on the old building! codlasher

I had a Stihl FS 220 clearing saw and it was a fine beast but I found it too noisy and heavy. I'd had it for 15 years. I sold it and bought the 35cc Honda brushcutter. I can't fault this for reliability, quietness and ease of use, plus my wife can also use it when I'm too busy to do ditch clearing! The Honda will give good service all day, every day and it does what a 35cc machine will do. Up the grade of line too as this will make a big difference to the machines operation. Also consider a mulching blade with the turned down tips. If, on the other hand, you have to go and clear considerable acres of natural regen, brambles and derelict construction sites Go and spent twice or three times the price and buy a two-stroke Stihl with the many 'business ends' that will fit. Aspen is more easily available & I think this is a real plus for two-stroke users. Clean engine oil is a plus in all engines and what Eddie@aspen says is good advice and not to be overlooked. codlasher

Well spotted! codlasher

Happy Birthday Jon. Have a cracking day! codlasher

Mmmm, My dilemma would be the width of 265's against 235's. I have never been a fan of spaced out rims as the steering became more vague. I never went over 235's as I found that the tyres rubbed on the chassis and this meant you lost part of your turning circle and sometimes this was important! Yes it is easy to stop the rubbing buy adjusting out the swivel stops but is that a step forward? Plus there is the extra power needed to slap that extra inch on the road..... Cooper are not to be overlooked although I'm a big fan of BFG's. I would also recommend a quick shufti round each corner after all the mud has spun off before going on a M-way. This has paid off on a couple of occasions as I have found a flint embedded and a big cut from the same on another. OK you can't see the inside but you can see 2/3rds of the tyre just by looking! codlasher

I do know that getting a machine over the seven ton mark will not be so easy. Unless you know someone really well and they trust you with their £30k+ tool. The majority of hire companies won't let you near even their oldest banger! You may well be better advised to hire in a decent sized machine (as said earlier) with its operator and ask nicely for 'a little go'. You will also have to have current machine insurance for the site. I certainly wouldn't hire out my machine to just some geezer no matter how many £'s they would like to flash! codlasher

Some very sensible advice from LGP Eddie. codlasher

Most modern 360's have an in-built fuel transfer pump and hose in a dedicated locker. Gone are the days of trying to syphon fuel. I'd go for 205 litre drums from your local fuel supplier. codlasher

Hey Jon. A thinning job and this was the haulier for the time the timber was being shifted. A fantastic driver! I made sure the wagons could get in and out as easy as possible without taking half the forest floor onto the public highway. The loading bays only needed minor attention this time as I had spent time and effort five years previously and the main base layer had been put in ten years before then! The main thing was making sure the drivers could see the edges as they came in to turn. I'd probably use glyphosate in future ops to mark these edges but orange marker paint on sticks worked too. Some of the bays were set up to allow the forwarder to load returns, hence their width, as this enabled the wagon to be on the hard and then a gap big enough for the forwarder to get between this and the timber stack. This also meant that the mud was kept on mud and not the hard......Some of the un-made extraction routes were from the 'modernisation' in the 60's and soon became gloopy! These were tidied at the end of each op using a 360 and soon became dry enough for walkers. They were permissive paths when not being used so didn't often cause complaints. Being in the home counties folk went from air-con house to air-con car to air-con office and never considered the road conditions be they wet, muddy of freezing as they drove the lanes so I tried to keep the skid-on-mud type accident on the low end of the risk sheet. We hid the firewood stacks deep in the woods to stop the faeries! One farm had a nasty corner which could be taken at 70mph and contractors had left a little mud one rainy day. On the apex was a fine oak tree. A BMW hit this seven feet up the trunk!(The scab is still there) We only discovered it was a BMW by looking at the makers stamp on the plastic debris:cursing: codlasher

You can do almost all the work yourself if you feel competent enough and if you follow the fitting guidelines. I'm assuming this is an oil fired unit? The flue must be up to the current regs so you'd need to familiarise yourself with this. There used to be a requirement of a secondary vent in an Aga flue to stop updraughts..... Once you have installed the stove all you need to do is flash the cash and get an engineer to sign it off. You need to see his/her HETAS cert and get a photocopy too just to cover yourself. £'s speak loudly and if you have done the work to the right standard I would imagine the cost would be around the £250 mark. Hope this helps. codlasher

Ah, found a picture.

Will this be used again in the forseeable future? If so it will be worth making a strip big enough to get a wagon on. You don't have to go mad with 150 tons as this is only x6 loads. You can grade the timber either side as well. Good screened rubble is £10 a ton and top dressing of type 1 granite scalping is £20 a ton. The advantages are manyfold. You won't make a mess out on the public highway and you won't have a stuck wagon which is always tricky unless you have the machinery to aid its recovery. The job will run smoothly and you'll have a happy haulier. I'd do this in a day with a 5 or 7 ton machine providing you have a good local firm who can supply the loads in good time and order. You have to decide where the topsoil will go but this can be used to fill any ruts caused by your extraction later. There may be an issue with using rubble so the option of using limestone should not be overlooked. codlasher

As everyone has posted. If you take pride in your work and want to make a name for yourself don't worry. I bet there will be a pile of 'stuff' dumped in some farmers gateway in the near future! codlasher

Is this close enough Jon? codlasher