SteveA

oh, okaaay. Could you send me all of your beer instead, please Spud? I'm always happy to help out with these kinds of things... You really don't need it, honestly, I'd be doing you a favour.....

Hey folks, dya hear that?!! ....if we send Tobimax a bunch of text messages a crate of beer arrives. Yay, happy days!!

*Phew* a big sigh of relief from here. Try to keep your stress levels as low as possible hereon (i imagine they've been off the scale!). Dont hesitate to ask the forum for help if you need some.....

Not quite - I'm thinking along the lines of using the saw on the tree (exactly where it is felled) rather than taking the tree to the saw. If that makes sense? Working alone so nothing too bulky/heavy. This is where the Alaskan excels..... being truly portable. But the downside of the Alaskan is the wide kerf of the chain & thus, the speed of cut.

That's the way I see it as well. eg; I'm needing to cut a load of cladding for our barn and could really do with something that wastes less wood in the cut & is faster than a chainsaw mill. Something easily portable to be set up in the wood, cut a bunch of planks, and be completely removed at the end of the day. I guess you could call it the Alaskan Bandsaw Mill, or Alaskan Circular Saw Mill.... working on the same principle as the Alaskan Chainsaw Mill but without the chain! *patent idea pending*

Well said Simon. I also wish John every success, and hope he can use some of the comments here in a positive way for his product development.

....you sure that isn't that a Brown Alert?

Thankyou Tony, I've taken a sample of the lichen from the tree to send off for a confirmation.

Yeah, and I thought the BBC used MET Office alert colours, but there was a tangerine segment on the map last night.

Been getting confused with all the various alerts.... is Red Alert worse than Black Alert, or is the Tangerine Orange Alert worse than both put together, Purple Alert looks really bad.

Very strong winds & horizontal rain here in Pembrokeshire and it's forecasted to be getting stronger this afternoon.

Oh dear, i'm sorry to hear this matey. Really hope everything turns out positively for you all. There's lots of support for you from everyone here.... Best wishes, Steve

"Can we talk about climate change now?" reads the banner from the recently flooded Oxford residents. Climate change is making the world sick - News - The Ecologist Why hasn't such a critical subject been properly discussed at Parliament, or run as a continuous headline by the newspapers, etc? It's a good question to begin with.... "Can we talk about climate change now?".... Cheers, steve

Winds are starting to build up here in Pembrokeshire, supposed to be very very strong later. good weather for, um, errr... nothing.

As much as I think it's a lot of wonga, and it's not for me.... I don't think it's fair to judge too much before seeing videos of it working, or getting independent user feedback/ reviews. Cheers, steve

To pointing people in the right direction.... Cheers Slap My Griddle

Hi John, no worries there mate. Sounds like a great bit of kit & I look forwards to seeing it working in your videos. .... a simple portable bandsaw or circular saw to compete with/ or go alongside an Alaskan Sawmill is what I'm interested in, but nobody seems to be making one yet - Bit of a gap in the UK market there. cheers, steve

A raffle prize from the AA?

Oh okay, I get what you are saying.... but it's still a big initial outlay to me. Maybe another Arbtalk dragon will be interested? No portable mills in the pipeline, i guess?

My exchanged Meindl Airstreams arrived today - here's a recap: - the first pair of Airstreams I ordered (at a size 41) were far too tight (with my toes curled up at the front).... in other shoe & boot manufacturers a size 41 usually fits me perfectly. I sent the boots back at a Royal Mail postage cost of £12.95 (rip off). - The second pair of Airstreams (at a size 42) fit perfectly and they are superb. Yay!! Motto of this story: mail order the boots only if you have no local stockist.... measure your feet, and order one size larger Hope this info helps somebody....

Looks great and i wish you every success. I consider £7329.60 inc vat to be a chunky wedge of dosh, not a small outlay. Do you have any portable units in the pipeline? cheers

Good to hear the 18" is working well for you. Looking forwards to trying my Sugihara 18" on some chunky hornbeam.... that'll be a test

Oh, THATS where the Monsanto stock pile lives is it!

Update on the lichen: A lichen expert has said..... "....a very substantial streak as you say! There are many white to greyish crustose lichens, but few tend to form such dominant streaks. Modern digi-photos can be very useful, however for crusts like this a close-up is invaluable (to see surface features). Probably the commonest extensive white crust is a species called Phlyctis argena, though that tends to occupy more limited areas. Because it can often appear like someone has painted the tree white it is sometimes dubbed Phlyctis 'duluxensis'. On occasion people will collect paint marks off trees thinking they are lichens to send for identification! Grey-white species of Pertusaria and Ochrolechia can also dominate tree trunks. Around Aberystwyth here the usual culprit is Arthonia pruinata (syn. A.impolita), but that grows on dry nutrient rich bark Fraxinus excelsior and generally not on acid Quercus, though can do in parkland-type situations. Other species forming dominant crusts on old Oaks like the one in your photo include Lecanactis subabietina & Schismatomma cretaceum, the latter a local species in Wales of ancient trees. The only way to be sure would be to see a specimen - if you were to lever off a small piece of bark, wrap it carefully in some tissue paper to protect it from abrasion and send it through the post (ordinary small envelope would do). Alternatively a good sharp close-up photo could help. L.subabietina is very distinctive in having abundant 'dot-like' bright white pimples over a usually greyish thallus." ....so I'll be sending a sample sometime soon.

Some people opt for the narrow kerf 18" Oregon bar (which shouldn't sap quite so much power). But following the Sugihara advert how could one resist !!!