aquatoo

All of the world's radical innovators get scammed by the staid and stuck in the mud. We'll all be doing that when it catches on!

No, It leaned over far too far. I was just lucky that there was another I could drop onto it. If it had gone wrong I would have had to repair the fence. There was plenty of room and by the time it went down I was well out of the way.

Well, when I was back in France earlier this month I downed a whole grove of Maritime Pines including the one that was bowed over. I had intended to spike up it with a line into a nearby tree so that if I fell around it I'd be able to lower myself back to the ground by releasing the flipline and then climb back up again. I didn't think that if I slid around it I would be able to get back on top again. Problem was that I couldn't throw a bag up high enough to get it into the nearby tree. Maritime pines have a canopy right at the top but no branches down the stem, and I don't have a big shot. Looked at it quite a bit while I was felling and cutting up the others and then got what I though was a bright idea. About 10m away was another large pine that leaned gently towards the bent one. I gobbed the bent one on the side facing away, made the back cut to where I judged it might get pushed over and then felled the other one onto it. It didn't quite push it over so I had to cut the backcut in the bowed tree a little more and then watched as the two went down in the required location. Total success and a lot safer than climbing it.

That was meant to be tongue in cheek. I obviously failed there.

Veritable is French as well. Are you having a Gallic moment?

It's a lot easier if you have someone with a rake pulling them away from you as you go in with the brush cutter. Saves you from getting all tangled up in the thorns. I cut self set acacia trees in the same way. You really don't want to get caught up in those blighters.

I have hit one or two slow worms with the mower at home over the years and it always upsets me. You'd think they'd move when they feel the vibrations of the mower but they just seem to lie doggo. When the grass is long, which they like, you just can't see them until it's too late.

You forgot to tell us which slippers you wear

Tighten the shackles up properly with a tool, not just the fingers.

As you were, I've found it.

Er, where's it gone?

Don't kill yourself, there's another day tomorrow. Up and down like a whore's drawers when the fleet's in. In vino veritas When asked for directions, "Well, if I were you I wouldn't start from here...." You never see a fat thoroughbred.

Good girls go to heaven...............bad girls go everywhere!

Thanks for that

As kids we used to use crushed laurel leaves in a jar in order to gently kill butterflies. I never knew what the gas was until now. Best to be careful using the hedge trimmer on laurel, I guess. I hasten to add that this was a long time ago when collecting butterflies was an accepted pastime!

Anyone know of a good tree climbing boot that has lace holes all the way to the top? I hate those horrible hook things that are fitted to the last couple of lace turns at the top of the boot. They catch in everything and then snap off

I've seen that video. He used a standard figure of eight on his bridge and just choked it on the way down. Not very safe without some other means of protection and as I recollect he didn't have a lanyard or flip line on. I remember thinking that I didn't fancy that at all!

I own an Electrical Wholesale business but also have a house in SW France which has a lot of oak and pine trees on it. I have felled and cut up for logs quite a few large Maritime Pines which we burn in an open fire. We had a load of Pines blow down or snap off in the huge storm a few winters ago that produced 160 kmh gusts! This was in January and it even blew over an oak that was leafless at the time. It fell across the drive and hung up in a White Oak on the other side of the drive and partly landed on the garage. Bit of a bugger to get down but we managed. I still have to clear some of these Pines and cut them up. In one place in the wood we have four criss-crossed over the top of each other but fortunately they aren't hung up, they're on the ground. I fell the rest of the pines bit by bit as I am afraid they will blow down at some stage. We are fairly exposed to winds off the Bay of Biscay in the Landes and they can be ferocious. If the tree snaps off it isn't such a problem but if they fall over they rip up a huge root mat. In some cases those that have fallen over have ripped up a root mat over 4m high. The trouble is that the soil is very light. Go down a foot and you get pure sand which doesn't hold a lot. At Christmas I reduced four oak trees by about 6m as they were beginning to overhang buildings and had a great time doing it. I climbed DDRT using a hitch climber rig. All of the timber was rigged down as it was close to a building. Next time, if there is one, I shall climb SRT and swap over to DDRT. We ought to get a wood burner for efficiency but I like the open fire. I discovered this site and have continued to visit on a regular basis as I learn a lot as well as enjoy the banter.

What, like a Dinky toy?

What exactly is it about girls that makes you think you should wear gloves?

Mankind! The worst pestilence the planet has ever seen.

Fixed it. Thanks all. Stripped and thoroughly cleaned the carb, cleaned the tank vent, reset the carb to basic settings and it now runs and ticks over.

I've just downloaded a workshop manual. Seems that the bit I was asking what it is, turns out to be the breather!

Thanks Stubby I'll check that as soon as I get home.