sandspider

Hi all I've got an aged Zenoah LRT2300 long reach hedge trimmer which has served me well. It's been stored properly, had the gearbox greased, blades lubed etc. but beyond that I've not needed to do much to it. When I got it out of storage this year, the blades were jammed and wouldn't reciprocate. I assumed they were just a bit rusted up, gave them a good oil and a couple of taps with a large persuader and they freed up and worked fine. It cut as normal for about an hour, then I put it away. When I got it out again today, the blades were jammed again. More oil and a jiggle and away they went again, but after another couple of batches of 30 mins or so of usage, the blades started to jam again. And now tapping doesn't seem to free them up. Engine runs fine, blades aren't too tight as I can ease them apart a wee bit with a finger. Gearbox is greased. If I rev the cutter with the blades jammed the tip of the cutter bar twitches to the right slightly and the engine bogs down a bit but that's about it. What's the next step to sort them out? I've never adjusted blade clearance etc. - perhaps I should! I haven't dismantled the gearbox or anything as I'm hoping it's a simple fix. Don't think it's a driveshaft issue as they cut fine when not jammed. Any ideas please? (I'm not super mechanically minded but I'm happy to have a go!) Thanks.

The price of fuel wood goes up every year! I cut and collect what I can, but usually have to buy a load or two to top up. Always more expensive than it was the previous year, supply and demand again I suppose. If log burners were taxed they'd be less attractive and maybe wood costs would come down again...

Just got back from holiday to find that I do have some yellow rattle in my meadow, and that it's set seed. And also got a few new (I think) flower varieties. Hooray! May give it a mow in a month or two.

Thanks, look like a useful site.

Thanks. I have some of those, but not all. Where did you generate that list from?!

Paddock is fairly fertile clayey soil. Thick grasses. A bit of shade from the west, but it's south facing. No trees in the meadow, orchard is separate...

That's basically what I did / am doing, though haven't had time to cut again. Hopefully the rattle will take off next year and the flowers will have more of a chance... Will cut it again later in summer, once I've got the tractor fixed. Maybe I'll put some rattle plug plants in. Bit of a shame as I got the seed from a local meadow conservation organisation, so it should be a good local variety and contribute to a good cause. Not sure I'll be able to find plug plants with local provenance.

Still some odd piles in the NRW woods round my way. (Or there were a week or so ago anyway). Some of them are pretty hard to get to with big kit, however.

Come to think of it, I mowed in Jan and must have put the seeds down then, don't think I mowed again after seeding. Maybe I didn't stratify them for long enough in that case.

I just dump the grass to the sides, marking the boundary of my meadow. Grass seems to be growing more slowly in the meadow, so I think it's working...

I spread my rattle seed in October so they'd stratify naturally. And I planted them into molehills and patches where I'd knocked the grass off with a spade, then kept the grass short so they could germinate. No luck though, maybe next year.

I tried to start / encourage a wildflower meadow in my paddock earlier this year. Not much luck so far. The rattle didn't seem to germinate, so the grass outcompeted the wildflower seed I put down. Maybe next year! More mowing and removing the cut grass in the meantime I suppose. I don't cut my lawn too much either, lots of good flowers and bees and butterflies there. People forget that grasses flower if they're not cut all the time.

I stacked some in my log stores yesterday. Been down 6 months or so, but only processed recently. I've got most of it in a north facing log store, but a bit in a south facing log store! Not sure how much difference this will make. Really I should move it to my seasoning polytunnel I suppose, but I don't want to handle it again if I can help it...

Thought it was condensed milk and sugar? Or evaporated milk maybe? Anyway, reminds me of my schooldays that does! Delicious. People outside Kent look at me all strange when I mention it.

On the bright side, I'm now getting individual topic emails again! Hooray! Well done Steve!!

I've got one that looks just like that over my drive. I was hoping it would thicken up, but not so far- and other ash in the area have. I fear it'll have to come down, but hopefully not for a while...

I notice that my (4 stroke) lawnmower seems to lose fuel in a hot shed, unless I close the fuel feed before I leave it. I assume as it gets hot and pressure rises it leaks out of the carb somehow? Shed certainly smells of petrol.

Lots of stick insects to feed?!

Could be I suppose, but woodland / gardens on most sides, nearest agricultural field must be a mile or more away, and behind trees at that. We have lichens and things growing, so the air can't be too bad!

Hi all Still looking for processed / unprocessed / part seasoned wood? Cheers.

It does look similar. My eucalyptus saplings got a bit of frost burn too, but I thought larger and more native sweet chestnut would do better. It's also in a slightly more sheltered area and the leaves came out much later. Fingers crossed all our plants recover in sustained warmth!

Hi Chessa Thanks for the reply. Yes, my best guess at the moment is frost burn, though these trees should be UK hardy (perhaps when they're older). Fingers crossed they'll bounce back. I suppose that cold winds & frosts when the leaf buds are out could impair the leaves later? But they seemed to develop as normal then go crispy rather than forming in a damaged state... I've got two stretches of SC, one protected with the plastic woven fabric you can see, and one without - these trees originally had a cardboard mulch. The one without plastic has the leaf browning too, so I don't think the plastic is blocking water from getting to the roots. (Though I don't think it lets as much water through as the manufacturers claim - I did wonder if this might be a problem). Both sets of trees are from a tree nursery, yes. But planted in two batches in different years.

Not scientific, but I season some wood outside and some in a (well ventilated - side vents open, one door fully open, one door open a bit) polytunnel. The wood in the polytunnel seems to dry much faster. Silver birch that I put in the polytunnel in October or November was around 14% by March - much dryer than the seasoned logs at 25% plus I was buying in.

Hi all As above really. See photos - the leaves on my sweet chestnuts are dieing at the ends, drying up and curling. I can't see any lesions or cankers on the bark so I don't think it's SC blight or Phyopthora. Could it be just frost nip / wind burn? It hasn't been that cold here recently, but it was quite chill a month or so ago (before the trees were in leaf), but the trees only seem to be showing these signs now. I planted one set of these saplings in Feb 2017, and the other set in Feb 2018. Both sets seem to be affected. Any thoughts? Is it just a matter of leaving them to it and seeing if they perk up? They do seem to be producing new leaflets but some of the new leaflets are browning too... Thanks.

I use walnut oil on my chopping boards on a regular-ish basis. Darkens the wood slightly and seems to work well. Unless you have a nut allergy!