Peasgood

The more you think the harder it is. I have electric secateurs which cut quite big branches well enough so not often I need a saw really and the Silky suits that job. You may well get situations where the mini chainsaw is good but not in my orchards. I was happy enough with the finish of the cut but it was a little bulky at times where you would just poke the tip of the Silky in.

Don't see why it wouldn't work and don't see why you don't knock it in 4'. Only issue would be if you hit rock or roots.

I was thinking of getting one for apple pruning, I borrowed my sons for a day and decided I will stick with the Silky. Nothing wrong with the saw particularly but didn't suit me. Son cut himself quite horrifically with his and he said it wasn't even running at the time.

Be brave and do nothing. When there are that many there natural predators will find them and rapidly multiply and control them all by themselves. You just have to hold your nerve while waiting for them to turn up, or introduce them yourself. Phytoseiulus is what you are after but a bit late in the year to introduce them (too cold) I spent may years battling with spider mite in my apples, in the end I modified my fungicide program to be as kind to predators as possible and dropped all spider sprays. Never had a problem since but it was a nerve racking move.

Picked a few for cider today.

Mate of mine topped himself. There had been many times in his life when it wouldn't really have been a surprise but when he did it things were good. No explanation, no reason that anyone could figure out. Saddens me that he was in such a desperate state of mind but angers me that he left a lot of very devastated people behind.

My money would be on the US being involved at the very least.

Is it a Mulberry? I went right round mine with a chainsaw and it didn't seem bothered in the slightest.

I have one. To get the oven hot you need the top dial set to the casserole dish symbol, you need the bottom dial set to max and you need to get a good pile of good dry logs in there and keep them fired up. Smaller rather than big logs help as they burn quicker. I haven't found the openings on the door to make much of a difference to anything but keep them both about three quarters of an inch open. The pull out thing at the top that works a flap inside I keep pushed in, only seems to increase draw when first lighting. I have an oven thermometer inside and it reads exactly the same as the one on the door. It is a bit of an effort to get it up there and very unusual to get it over 200C, usually sits around 150 with the settings as above and fire ticking over. I can get it to 200 fairly easy but do need to be managing the fire. I use leyland mostly in mine or apple, leyland burns hot. Not saying that is what you need, that is just what I have.

Those things get stuck on damp concrete.

I wasn't talking about anything specifically, more a comment on how the media used to report what happened where now they report what they think should happen and express extreme horror to guide events into that direction.

That was back in the olden days when they did more publishing the actual results instead of how they now publish the results that they wanted to be true.

It is the media that do that not the opposition. Our country is being dictated by the media not the politicians.

I started out on a commercial scale with the exact same setup, not a million miles away from my current setup other than the press is hydraulic rather than ratcheting bar.

On a small scale, put the bottles of juice in a pan of water, heat until the juice is 75°C, put the lids on and lay the bottles on their sides to cool. On their sides means the hot juice gets the lid done too. Should have a shelf life of 2 years if you do that and in reality will keep for many years longer but quality deteriorates. That is pretty much what I do but on a larger scale.

My apple juice is Orchards Farm. Very local and not promoted at all by me, it is good stuff and very popular with those that have it. It is my job and it is a very nice way to spend your time but a bit hectic this time of year.

The plan is to make about the same again this year. Somewhere in there is a plan to can it and actually sell some. I have bottled and sold in the past but just making apple juice is as much as I can keep up with. Tried to order a lorry load of bottles today and was told unavailable until December. Bloody good job I bought plenty last year as I would be completely stuffed, no way would I be able to wait until December, nor would my customers.

Dog Vomit This stuff looks alien and it is mobile!

I have a big vertical splitter that will do 1.2m billets and have used it recently to deal with some lumps of wood I have around the place, random lengths but 1m ish. I cut them into billets thinking I would run them through the processor to get them to length and just use a 2way knife. It kind of worked but they were a bit of a nightmare in that they just don't fall right being such irregular shapes as billets. They never roll down and sit ready for the splitter. Using it to just cut to length and onto the conveyor without splitting was better but seemed a long winded way of doing it. If you were putting them on a horizontal splitter in rings they would need to go through more than once unless you invest an awful lot of money for a 12 way machine or bigger. Means a lot of handling again and I always cringe when I see folk leaning across a horizontal splitter, just waiting for an accident IMO. Very bad if it is an employee, bad enough if it is yourself. Just my thoughts, everybody has a different way of working.

It doesn't in my experience. Billet and sawbench does a bit but it is a lot more work.

Made 2000 litres last year, haven't drunk all of it yet but will be making more this year.

My missus uses a full box of firelighters and about a cube of kindling to get the fire going. Even then it sometimes takes two attempts.

I think the Spitting Image guys just know they can't make anything up that is more ridiculous than what is reality.

According to Google you can survive electrocution. Must admit I was wondering how he conveyed his views on his feeling like David Bowie when he was dead (the knob with a Hoover not David Bowie who is also dead). Apparently you don't have to be dead if you have been electrocuted but do if you are David Bowie which is a shame.

If the fire has got going properly hardly any smoke comes out when you remove them. I don't see how you could put a poorly fitting pan on the hole as it would jus fall into the firebox along with your soup.