countrryboy

I would also be calling in a pest controller sharpish Like i said earlier amazing how some of the various calls u get on a electronic caller sound like a baby screaming/crying.

Thats americans for u. Would imagine quite a feat of engineering to get that sort of power, althou a complete waste of there time and brains Fair shot with that 500+ fox u would not be 'holding over' at that range where u?

Not really surprising considering it was hit in the hind quarters and lower jaw afore he shot it in chest. U could shoot a mouse in the tail with a .308 or even 50cal still not going to kill it. Not just about size of bullet, shot placement is far more important, althou u still need a bullet capable of killing consistantly and cleanly. Sure 1 of the old school victorian african big game hunters used to regularly kill elephants with a 223, shot placment would have to be spot on and be no room for error It is all very well talking about FAC airguns but the problem is u would not get a FAC for shooting a fox in a garden and why would u spend the ammount of money having a FAC airgun costs (talking a fair heap of money even 2nd hand) when u can buy a complete 22lr set up for 50 odd quid In eyes of law no difference between firing a 22lr or FAC airgun in a garden all classed as a firearm reguardless Plenty of professionals and experienced pesties will use firearms in urban areas, but they are very experiencd know wot there doing and will have risk assesed everything properly. A good 1 u woon't even know he's been. Even a 30ftlb airgun is putting out less power than a 22 with subs, some of the 22 shorts and light loads are meant to be equal to a 30ftlb airgun As for 100+ ft airguns? Why? only get about 30-60 shots out of a 30-40 ftlb airgun (depending on bottle size) so prob only talking about a few shots per fill, about as useful as a choclate fire guard

At the right range in the right hands a 22lr can be a good tool against fox, not the best tool and probably not most folks first choice. If u know ur rife 50 or possibly 80m is the absolutle limit with subs, if u put hv rounds throu it u will get a bit more range but loose the quietness. Most keepers/foxers will use a centre fire rifle of some form for fox control althou plenty will still be shot while out rabbiting with the humble 22 All depends on the situation, in an urban setting i'd say 22 is ideal for quietness and close range but needs to be an experience shooter using it. If u go down the culling route get an expert in esp in an urban environment, no room for error and no one has mentioned ur ground/soil conditions, 22 subsonic's do have a nasty habit of bouncing about at times. Not want u want in an urban setting. Not a job for an amatuer or cowboy

I would probably sugest fox proofing ur garden to the best of ur ability but its amazing the things foxes will do to get in somewhere. Concentrate at ground level holes first Marking ur garden is a good idea, alot of keepers will only pee round there release pens at that time of year. There used to be stuff called renerdine that was meant to keep foxes away unfortuantely not be much good in a garden as it stinks to high heaven. Ur quite right once u start killing them another may just move in, some old farmers actually only shoot a fox if it killing there stock/chickens as if they shoot it the next 1 might, so sometimes better the fox u know. U would be better gettin a pro in to either shoot or trap, u would not get a FAC unless u had other safe ground to shoot on. But u could apply for a shogun ticket easier and might be granted if u've not been a naughty boy. Like others have said a silenced .410 would do the job, but i'd only trap them and use gun foe pts ing them in trap rather than free shooting them

I read throu some of the comments below the photo and he was cutting for a skyline. And a felled tree was under tension over another felled tree Guessing the hinge had held and tree leaning over another felled tree so when he cut it butt sprung/see sawed up taking saw with it. Only guessing thou. Seen it happen when cutting for skylines, i usually tried to cut to make sure hinge would be weak and break off (not really best practice i'd imagine)

Must admit i cant understand why anyone would want to use a top handled saw on the ground, i hate using them even up trees. A rear handled saw is far nicer to work and handle esp if ur on it for long periods, but even around the chipper would never dream of buying a top handle just for that when rear handled are often cheaper too. I was speaking to a load in the local chainsaw shop, he had some budget chinese saws in aswell as stihl's/husky, and some top handled 1's too. He said he can sell non professional type top handled saws to anyone and u don't need to show ur ticket. Makes no sense he cant sell a ms200 but can sell a cheap copy of it?

Cats tend to skin there prey, must admit i was convinced that deer find was a cat even with the fang marks on 1st inspedtion, had a couple of mates out who also stalk and also sceptical like myself but we were all convinced it was a cat kill. It was only later on back in my shed after i skined it we found a small bullet hole (prob a 22lr only 80m off a road) which just clipped the ridge on top off the spine, which would usually drop it like a stone but it would sooon get up and run off almost unhurt, they have slipped dog on the stunned deer which has just choked it out rather than 'ragging' them and then a family of badger moved in to eat it all in 1 nite, this was a fully grown fallow doe probably 80-100lb. Not saying i don't believe there is big cats out there but sometimes it will be easy to blame them when mibee a a range of random causes. Know 1 or 2 very experienced countrymen who say they have seen them (althou would never admit that in public) and know a few others who also claim to have seen them but doubt they really know wot they were seeing

Do u have many badgers. That lamb could have been killed by a badger quite easily. Badgers start eating at the back passage and work up I know 1 local farmer who regularly looses quite large lambs at this time of year to broc, i'm talking about pure texels/crosses probably lab sized so 20 odd kg and these are not sick or dying lambs but very lively 1's. I would say this is quite unusual but must just be a rogue badger that has learned how easy it is to kill them and got the taste for it I found a deer a few years ago that i was convinced had been killed by a big cat, full sized fallow doe ate overnight and dragged 30m throu long grass, turned out after a lot of poking and prodding and skinning, to have been high neck shot by poachers stunning it not killing it, there dog then choked it out (explaining wot i thought where fang marks on throat) then they left it lying and a family of broc's must have ate it overnite

Must admit i'm amazed foxes in houses after kids does not happen more often. U get electronic callers now and some of the rabbit, mouse or hare squeks can be very baby/child like at times, actually quite scary esp when a fox comes charging into it Best cure to any fox is a lump of lead travelling about 2500+fps, althou a wire loop also solves the problem

Aye there used to be 2 window cleaners round here that had bikes and trailers, think 1 had a modified wheel barrow too. Those big twin wheeled barrows u would be able to carry a mower and tools about ur village. Would probably be a good advert as locals would see ur keen and give u a bit of work to help u out. When i was a lad my mother had a trike and me and my bro used to get strapped on the back (on proper wee seats,not just tied down:001_tongue:) she had a wee trailer made for it and a big box for the back for when the kid seasts weren't on. Was a great thing and surprising wot it would carry. Bloody scary going round corners/hills/bumps etc thou as used to face backwards on the seats.

Cheers penfold, i'vre got tickets and numbers and no idea wot corresponds to wot. Be even worse now they've changed everything again

Possibly Jenkinsons (got a yard at penrith/lockerbie) or Wm Nicol of Lochmaben both hual a lot of chip, possibly ACC, Annandale Coal Company, beatock or abington too has a lot of curtain siders on the road I take it ur woodchip is from a proper biomass chipper and not just a normal wood chipper? Looking into biomass for myself and seemingly it's a different type of chip. Is that right?

I think it would depend where the OP lives but definately an option. The jobs not wot it used to be and has changed a lot even in the last 10 years as harvester heads get more powerul, some of the larger companies don't even do a boundry brash anymore, never mind ur missed rows/ditches. That was the work that kept u going for long periods. But this is partly driven by not being enough cutters for all the machines so they just have to get on with it with out the cutters But some of ur smaller 1/2 harvester machine outfits still have full time cutters brashing every single tree, the extra years they get out off head pays the cutters wages, never mind hiher production and less breakages. Unlike the arb industry i don't think many kids want to get into the forestry side and most lack the skills, i'm pushing 40 and was the youngest cutter by miles when i was doing it more a few years ago. Possibly an option if u llive near some big forestry blocks. Plus the medium trees (old 36 ithink) is quite a good course, makes u think and learn to respect the bigger trees and appreciate the weight/balence more. Plus any techniques learned willl be handy for any size of a tree, and when u make a mistake throu bad cutting it's hard work to fix it unlike with the wee ttrees where u just put it on ur shoulder Money was better than arb work where i am and don't need as much gear and no LOLER tests all the time. There s also the option to move onto a machine as an operator, good money but bloody long hours and often living in a caravan up the woods. Not for everyone but good operators will never be out of work, but u could probably say the same for cutters, climbers or many other trades if ur good

Just an idea about ur pulling line, while not ideal but could ur groundy not put pulling line behind a tree, etc so he can pull it from his lowering point. Not sure that makes sense, but use a tree, pulley, cabdium saver to change the angle of the pull so he can pull stem in 1 direction when standing elsewhere where he can also handle the lowering. Not ideal thou

I'm not a 'proper' tree surgeon like the other boys more a bit of a tree butcher and not doing it full time like i used too But wot i'd say is u might be better of adding or swapping in some more ground saw tickets, possibly medium trees and windblow and possibly sectioning and/ or pruning a tree as extra cllimbing tickets. All 4 plus ur first aid ticket would probably be more useful than the last 3 courses u mentioned (and probably more espensive too) But everyone makes very good points about of lack of experience, i have worked with plenty with all the gear and no idea striaght out of college, some i wouldn't trust to cut there own finger nails yet as cocky as hell and nothing phases them. Thats when mistakes happen and things go wrong The fact ur a bit older and possibly a bit more level headed should be a good thing, but with a lot of common sense and listening and watching more experienced cutters and climbers u can learn a lot fairly quickly Dunno where ur based but there is also work in commercial soft wood harvesting, brashing and felling for harvesters and skylines, if ur near some big forests, not as good a job as it used to be but still work out there althou finding it can be harder. But not many people want to do it as more would rather be a climber, but again it's ur experiennce may be a problem If ur a decent lad keen to work and some common sense i'm sure u will find work no problems, usually plenty of work in most trades for the 'right people'

Aye i thought about that at the local coup, they will no doubt start asking a few questions if i try to dump that much oil. Will try dunking some timber in it to see wot happens but think it will keep that sticky coat on it, which would be a nuisence to work with If not will see wot there is in the way of oil collection companies, i didn't think there would be any doing it for free so would end up costing me.

When i was a boy used to paint all the larch lap fences at folks house with waste engine oil, worked great but not great if u leant on the posts always tended to have a slight black residue of them. Treating timber is the only thing i could think off but i wouldn't imagine would work with non- fling bar oil, doubt if it would soak in the same and also would imagine would always be sticky on the surface Is bar oil flammable? I know it will be a petro chemical? or wot ever the term is but never thought it would be flammable. Never like using desiel on fire if i can help it, usually prefer to take my time to build it and get it going right afore u load it up with brash

Alright Just wondering if anyone has any uses for old bar oil? Have just bought a small piece of ground that has an old shed with a large tank that was full of bar oil. Been almost 20 years since it;s been used so won't be any good for my saws. Also just the dregs in the bottom, and feels pretty stodgy when giving it a mix with a stick. It's a big tank with about 6" in the bottom so could still be 50-100 gallon i'd guess. Wot is the correct waty to dispose of it and wot sort of money would u be looking at? Cheers in advance

Sorry to jump on someone's post but... Does it matter wot u use for ducting? Does it have to be solid? Was thinking of doing something similar but using perferated drainage pipe as nice and cheap. Would that affect anything? Also i take it from a previous post water and electrics shold not share the same duct? Cheers

We were digging holes and packing strainers by hand, never ever dug clay in a drought before (don't have many droughts in scotland) i would not of believed how hard it was, even the pinches were hardly making an impact. Poured in water and left over lunch did soften the ground a bit Dug holes in all sort of other soils and never needed to pour water into any off them, althou never usually a shortage of water in soil up here usually bailing the bloody stuff out of holes so u can pack them Never heard of anyone pouring water down a hole when using a chapper, (mainly used the older kinghitter or now Suma) so really never have a problem with strainers not going in, lot of weight in those chappers, sometimes too much for travelling. The big problem would be going round a day early to prep all ur strainer holes with water, usually u just turn up do the job

Some good advice in the posts so far, not as easy as u think when u first look at it, and the fact it's only 30m actually make sit harder. By the time u buy the tools (pullers etc) doubt there would be much profit in the job for u, could definately take far longer than u think (apart from the lad that could do it all in 2 hrs??) so could easy cost u money, been on many a wee morning job and took a lot longer than expected. Esp digging strainers in near trees hedges due to roots, might need a chopping pinch Water only works in clay holes and usually only in very hot weather, only had to use it once in years of fencing but it did work but that was the middle of a heat wave summer years ago, doubt u'll need it the now. I usually have a bigger problem with water filling up the holes as ur trying to backfill and turning everything to soup.

Many folk do use concerte for the strainers but u shouldn't. Seen builders using it for normal intermediate posts too on silly wee 3 line wire fences It is a knack putting the strainers in by hand, probably a dying knack with the rise in chappers. Not many folk will do it as so time consuming and hard work. Doing it the old way u would do the job all at same time as don't need ground to settle or conrete to go off The problem with short streches is if the posts move a fraction (which they will) it makes ur wire look rubbish, far easier on longer pulls. Some times a top and bottom rail helps short streches like that

Depends on the type spec of netting and job. But possibly not as easy as u'd think Possibly i'd say if u don't know wot ur doing get somone else to do it, not meaning to be cheeky but most on here would not like a fencer trying to fell/hack down a tree. Timber fences are easy for a beginner, even rabbit net can be bodged fairly easily but wire stock net can be a nightmare esp for short distances, hard to pull wire tight enough without posts moving. bryseri is not far away althou, i always put strainers in ground 40" or 3' 6", not that easy to pack them properly tight unless u know wot ur doing esp with a short net fence Most fencers will be getting up to 5.50 to 6 quid a m now but thats for normal sized jobs

That's brilliant Ty, cheers for that, just ordered a winch off them. My heid is burstin, been looking at that many sites trying to find different winches and seems to be a massive difference in price between them. A lot of sites come up on google that don't even sell winches Had a look on machine mart seemed to be a bit dearer again, only sem to be 2 companies around the 150 ish quid for a 1600 then ur up to 250+ for most other companies It won't be getting worked very hard, but no doubt be brilliant when needed.