Al Baker

Used as per maple syrup. Ha now we're back on the rails right?

That would be Birch or Maple sap for boiling and reducing into syrup. Just drill into a birch tree with a half inch bit for a couple of inches on the south side of the tree whichever month the sap rises where you are. Drill upwards around 25 - 30 degrees. Stick a tube in that..half inch gauge. Point the tube into a container. cover the container pipe junction to stop **** falling in. Collect the sap. Boil it down to almost nothing. Do that with 5 or six trees. Bottle the syrup from the reductions. Let it stand for a year to reduce astringency. If you like, you can boil it right down to toffee.

https://dailyhike.wordpress.com/tag/pallet-shed/ Here's a large pallet woodstore

It's a big red Tiba, don't remember the model number. It has an oven and a back boiler and a wall to wall hob/hot plate.

Electrics that was the only engineering problem I ever had while deep wading. The starter motor would get all silted up and needed whacking now and then. It was a diesel engine mind you. I would never have attempted it with a petrol motor. In the words of a certain Russian marine electrician I know..."Nothing is waterproof" The worst problem over all I found with deep wading was when the vehicle would loose its footing in a fast flow forcing you to steer downstream and look for another possible exit while trying to read the river bed from the cut and flow of the surface with all those alarm bells going off in your head. That's where I would feel more comfy with a snorkel. A diesel engine is just not powerful enough to compress water. I've seen the results. Pretty ugly and not what you want if the nearest garage is 200 miles away. The whole "bow wave" thing, I never understood that. I think people probably recommend having a bow wave because if you haven't then you've stopped. If you've stopped then you're going to have to drop it a cog which means clutch, then the whole thing tends to spiral downhill. You can try the whole wading plug thing I suppose but if you have to fit it repeatedly for numerous crossings then it becomes a pain if you haven't lost it in the dirt somewhere already. Letting the engine cool down before submersing it is a good idea I reckon. It just feels like the right thing to do. Especially if the ambient temperature of that environment is 35'C +

My barrow goes from the stack out on the decking, straight through to the stove in the Kitchen. I had it in mind when I built the house. I wonder how many more of us in here Barrow it straight to the business end. Damn I just noticed it's trying to snow again.....I need a bigger barrow maybe.

Well the wood is bone dry, the barrow runs nicely and tire pressure good. So maybe it's the stove then right? I remember you guys extolling the virtues of softwood in here before so I tried the "fast burn" thing and the slow burn and the in between burn but I guess it's like Mr Spruce says , you have to burn the same weight of timber in order to get the same heat. hence 3 barrows a day instead of one.

I have a snorkel on my defender 90. The previous owner fitted it along with a bunch of other tat. Somehow I don't think he ever drove it through rivers up to the windscreen. In fact I think it was mostly pulling his caravan once or twice a year. My only ever need for a snorkel was driving up the cape york peninsula in Australia. River after river up to the bonnet. We never had a snorkel so we just took care. I wouldn't bother with one unless you're gonna submerse the front wings.

I normally burn Birch, oak, Beech and Rowan. All hardwoods. In mid winter I get through 1 wheelbarrow a day to keep the house at about 17'C. Last year I got my hands on a load of Larch. Pretty good as softwood goes for burning. I had it stacked and seasoned over the last year and just started burning it. Now it's been a while since I burned softwood on my stove and now I remember why I quit. I was a bit shocked actually. Burning 3 barrow loads a day and only just managing to keep the house at around 14'C. Once again softwood is banned from my log piles. It's a no brainer.

Is that £300'000 with a full tank or empty?

Bought the Larch from a Mill close by.

Actually, I don't think any of it was intended to be taken seriously. Of course a lack of any sense of humor may leave some a bit riled.

True....not sure you would be able to drill any holes in it.

The Marauder [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDoRmT0iRic&feature=related]The Marauder - Top Gear - BBC - YouTube[/ame] Now commercially available. Boxy but good.

You can buy anything you like if you have enough money.

If you're hanging off the hitch then the hitch is your PPE not your rope wrench Gary, I'm not saying whether I think a rope wrench is safe or not.

Hi Greame, Yep this was my dream for a long time. I designed it with the help of an Architect friend. It's based on a fairly standard Scandi post and beam construction. The foundation is concrete and concrete block with larch sole plate. The post and beam is Larch, the cladding and decking is all heartwood Larch, no sap wood at all. There's 20cm of insulation in the walls. All the wood was locally grown.

If your'e hanging your hanging your body off something then it's classed as PPE. if it's not rated as PPE then use something that is.

My mate Ohads dog during a wee pruning job by river Jordan last year. The dog is always in a muddle. I couldn't have actually got a more apt picture of it.

Well congratulations Mr Troll, I am that right dick. You can drill a plug out no sweat.

Very nice. year of the Dragon too.....or is it a Wyvern?

Hear hear

Looks a bit rough mate. You wanna plug all those screws for a start. Plugging is easy, just get a block of wood, drill same size hole you used to rebate screws. That's your template. Now get a baton of same timber and turn it into dowel with a chisel or disk sander/grinder. Pare it down so it's a tight tapered fit, check it in the template as you go then spludge some wood glue on it and hammer it in. Once it's in tight you can saw off and sand it. I'd be marched out by the ear if I did anything like that anywhere other than the shed. Looks cool though. Lumpy can be good

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixqbc7X2NQY]Lola-The Kinks #5.*Top Of The Pops-70s* - YouTube[/ame]