Paul in France

Thanks useful to know.

It's the adjusting screw mechanism - a threaded bolt with a differential type cog that you can't remove from the housing. As you say the part must cost pence and Makita have quoted to replace the whole tensioner housing. Dilemma - pay them £70 to get it back fixed - £20 to get it back unfixed or buy a new replacement for £100-£120 with a 3 year guarantee - or don't bother and use a bow saw 😁 and let the NHS fix me free.

Hi My Makita corded electric has a broken tensioner which must cost pence to make and fit but the factory want £70 to repair it out of warranty and I can't buy the parts. I've been impressed with it as I've had it for about 8 years but it's not done a lot of work and at that price I may as well buy a new one. I've looked at other budget corded saws and the Oregon seems to offer what I'm after - £120, 3 year guarantee to do occasional fairly light work close to the house and power supply. It also claims to be self-sharpening. I could replace the Makita at about the same price but am a bit p'd off with their repair estimate so I'm thinking of making the switch. What does anyone think who's used either or both? Cheers in advance for any advice.

Wish price of logs in U.K. Was as described- as a consumer they have rocketed due to increased demand and shortage of supplies - and that's economics - everyone wants a log burner! maybe the OP should up the price

Before resorting to the law why not just ask the neighbour if it's ok to do what the client wants - or ask the client to do that....a pleasant approach can save a lot of hassle...

If the LA has not followed the law or its own written policies it is at risk of a finding of maladministration against it. If you can demonstrate that this is the case I would advise that you write to the responsible Head of Department clearly stating your case and indicating what you want done to rectify it - eg amount of compensation with itemised account. Ask for a copy of the Council's formal complaints procedure and state that you are considering complaining to the Ombudsman but want to offer the opportunity for that to be avoided. Copy that to the LA's Chief Executive. If you get no satisfaction, write again to the Chief Executive, copy to the Head of Department, and state you will take a case to the Ombudsman if they don't settle. In all of this be clear and polite and request responses within 14 days and follow it up in writing if you haven't received a response. In the meantime you can try to discuss the matter informally with the Ombudsman by phone - how they respond depends very much on who you speak to/volume of work etc but they can be helpful and may indicate informally if they think you have a case. It is a hassle and depends on how much you are out of pocket if you want to pursue it. At the end of the day the Ombudsman can order the LA to pay you compensation, issue you with an apology and make public the findings on the case or a combination of these - so there is some clout to make the LA respond properly. Good luck!

Sorry to come in on this late but I've just seen the thread. I can really empathise with how you feel and have been there a number of times - so from that I know that I can and will come out of the anxiety phase. I've been treated with anti-depressants and have used CBT - cognitive behaviour therapy - the pills can even you out after a couple of weeks of taking them as they need to build up in your system - they are not 'happy pills'. Some will not suit some people. I found Prozac good but Seroxat made me worse. CBT is good. When the dark thoughts come I used to feel it was like a game of dungeons and dragons and I'd almost irresistibly get drawn down the bad dark tunnels. If you can avoid that and think positive thoughts and about things you enjoy it helps to combat the negativity. If there are real problems dragging you down as opposed to negative thoughts - such as financial or relationship problems -then you need to tackle the problem at source and try to change whatever in your life is causing it (I realise that can be very difficult and there's no magic wand here). The big thing to remember is that the problem CAN be overcome, even if you think in your darkest moments that it will go on forever. Other people have given really good advice on this topic and I hope that my experience helps to add to the pool of knowledge. Good on you for being prepared to be up-front about the problem and for doing something about it. By the way I would share your feelings with your partner - chances are she's already wondering what's up with you - and a trouble shared is a trouble halfed.

This is a guy called Mark who works in the south west of France doing some work for me. It's the first time I've ever watched a tree climber - it's a job I couldn't do - found it hard enough to watch!

To contribute to my own question I've just got hold of a small amount of horse chestnut that had just been cut. The rounds were about 6" - 8" diameter and they split really easily. Obviously I can't burn it yet but splitting was much easier than the unseasoned oak I cut about 2 months ago. Just my limited experience of course.....

Don't know ..will find out ...what's best between the two?

I may have the opportunity to buy some chestnut. I've not burned it before so how do people rate it as firewood. Also if you had the choice of oak or chestnut what would you take? Thanks as always in advance.

You'll be SCUBA diving with chainsaws at this rate. Amazing. Clearly the Council lads don't have your bottle! I was born in Sunderland and regularly visted Durham until we moved here last year. Didn't recognise the location though until it was identified...feel a bit homesick now.

Ty - I reckon you've got me in one - I have worked hard all my life in a variety of jobs but retirement to me isn't sitting in a rocking chair looking into space. I love working in the outdoors and as you say the hours don't really matter because if I wasn't logging I'd be mowing the lawn every day to keep myself occupied. For a couple of years I did a lot of voluntary work for our local community in the UK ranging from building websites to litter picking. I even did voluntary work for a couple on an avocado farm in Spain :001_cool:Opportunities to do community work here in France seem to be limited. If I do the firewood thing here I know I'm not going to be a millionaire but I'll get to meet new people and have an interest even if it's not a commercial proposition in Le Sanglier's terms. Good to receive different viewpoints - thanks everyone. Now about that saw - it seems I'll have to bite the bullet and buy a chain saw - got the PPE ordered and had some instruction......

I know - I was "chain saw averse" ... but it's good to have ideas and ambition isn't it ... perhaps I've just had the wrong ideas and misplaced ambition ...that's one of the ways this site helps me ...keeps me on the right lines ... thanks for the advice And thanks everyone else for your input - appreciated.

I'm thinking of going into the log supply business here. The way forward seems to be to buy in 2 meter logs to reduce to 1m and 0.5m. Some people use a chainsaw to do this but I'm wondering if some sort of bench saw may not be more suited to the job as we have buildings that could house that sort of equipment with the space for storage. What do you think is the best way to cut it and if anyone is using a bench saw what should I be looking for and what sort of costs are involved? Thanks in advance as usual.

Hi I'm still dithering about chainsaws versus hand saws on my project to produce all our own firewood here. To be honest it's my body that will dictate what to do as it's pretty knackering and time consuming with a bow saw - albeit peaceful and relatively safe. Someone recently recommended Bosch electric chainsaws. If they are up to the job they'd probably suit me better than a petrol model as I'm not very mechanically minded. Has anyone got any advice based on experience of usage - if electric is ok in principle is Bosch the best to go for or another make? Thanks as always in advance of your replies.

He's nick-named 36 (Twelve threes) As for the 6 nations generally it doesn't do for England to get too smug. I remember supporting them when we played them at Murrayfield in 2000. Scotland hadn't won a match and we were on for the Slam - England lost 19-13 in the pouring rain if I recall the score correctly. Also we were stood next to a bunch of Taffs who were totally ratted and somehow or other had gone to the wrong ground - they were happy enough though:lol: It seemed a long journey home for us even though we only had to get to Durham from Edinburgh - pure misery made worse by stopping at a Scottish boozer on the way back to have the razz taken mercilessly by several dozen boozed up Jocks - good for them though! We did have the pleasure of seeing England get the Slam in Ireland 3 years later 42- 6 (we celebrated by having a pint of Guinness for every point scored - 48 pints over 3 days - never went to bed just slept for an hour or so and carried on. Nearly killed me but what a weekend and what fantastic hosts the Irish lads were. I reckon we can get the Slam again this year with players and coaches attitude. Good guys.

Thanks to everyone for your contributions. I feel much encouraged by your positivity Normandy and also I do value cautionary advice such as that from Arbmark and take it on board. I'm 59 Woodyguy so my inroad into a 200 year cycle will be fairly limited unfortunately! Amazing approach though. Don't know about truffles Cod but we do have ceps. I've found an English forester here and we are going to meet up within the next couple of weeks hopefully and he is prepared to give professional advice and train me in chainsaw use and maintenance if I decide that bow saws are too demanding on the old joints! I am doing a lot of research - as with anything new you only realise how little you know once you start to dig deep. This site is a godsend. Safety is paramount. I've got friends not too far away and it's scary how they jump into the woods with chainsaws getting trees hung-up etc. And how to tell them without sounding like an old tw*t.... Yes, a plan's a good idea Gardenmac - although the area isn't huge I'm still finding new bits and getting lost at times. Cheers all and thanks for taking the time to help.

I hope some of you guys out there can help me with some advice. I've never been involved with arb-stuff before now. I've recently moved to this house in France and an "extra" that I hadn't necessarily looked for is 3 Ha of mainly oak woodland. It's proving to be one of the most fantastic things I've done. Me and the missus are on our own and we are trying to do a number of things: keep ourselves in firewood maintain and improve the woodland keep the pathways clear tackle some very overgrown areas We've surprised ourselves with how much wood we've managed to get out all hand cut with bow saws and hauled out by hand. We've shied away from buying lots of machinery on advice from this forum already. After all if we spend thousands on tractors trailers etc right from the start we may find we've committed ourselves too early. We may well be looking towards a decent chain saw and I think I may have found a qualified guy here who will train me in saw and tree safety and maintenance but I won't be getting to see him for a few weeks. So my questions. Hopefully I've managed to get the photos on successfully. You'll see we have some nice mature open woodland but in other places there's just masses of thin spindly stuff covered with thick lichen. I've been basically hacking as much of this down as possible and where there is a decent looking specimen leaving it to mature. I'm piling the cuttings in heaps out of the way to create habitat. Do you think this is the right approach and is the lichen a sign of disease (they don't look very clever - but the whole area around here is exactly the same and I mean for miles and miles). Also one of the pics is of new growth that is coming up all over and it is a spiny looking whip. Is this new oak or something else:confused1: Sorry to have taken up so much space but in the past I've had invaluable responses on the forum and thanks in advance for anything you can come up with - particularly suggestions for improvement.

Thanks all. Thought about going back to UK to do it. Had an involvement with Houghall at Durham in a previous non-arb incarnation and found out yesterday they do CS30 and 31 for about £700 the two. Only thing is as they are short courses they don't schedule them regularly and wait until a max of 4 people are interested and then run them. Understandable approach but a bit more difficult for me to arrange. Still an option though. Has anyone here used Houghall and what are your thoughts about quality etc Sensible comments as always guys - particularly about the language - can just about order a meal without major mishap but what is French for sprocket:001_unsure:

Does anyone know of training courses in France that would teach me chainsaw use and maintenance and tree felling - I think the equivalent of CS30 and 31 if I've interpreted right. Alternatively someone working here who could give me some training. I've been managing with hand tools so far but am still thinking of going mechanical. I don't expect to be doing paid work in the field so don't need certificates but would like to be as capable and as safe as possible. By the way as you probably know France is a huge country and I live in the south west in a district called Le Gers (Departement 32) so distance is an issue.

I've been to Plaisance - not too far from us- nice area. Definitely agree about the countryside and price of wine - 15 euros for 10 litres of a decent merlot and you can get cheaper direct from the winery. Diesel is cheaper. Weekly shop about the same. Other things crazily expensive - I've posted about chainsaw prices being about double those in the UK and how do you justify 40 euros for a litre of gloss paint - no wonder all the houses here could do with a good coat of new paint! We get a lot of stuff sent from the UK and it's still cheaper even with the transport costs. It's definitely not a cheap place to live.

Now got to cook her dinner....

We've had wet weather here for over a week and it's stopped all our outside work and I've been going up the wall. Also accounts for increased use of this site! Today it's nice and fine so I have: re-staked 2 cypresses that had blown over cut down and hauled out 8 trees by hand chopped good number of logs chopped loads of kindling all afternoon got the missus to lift out a load of rotten fence posts that will burn Fell pretty chuffed with myself and deffo deserve a few beers tonight:thumbup1: Hope you guys out there are coping with the UK weather and still earning a few bob. Hope to post some photos of my humble amateur efforts later this week.