SteveA
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Everything posted by SteveA
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ah, sorry mate, false alarm.... mine have got a Velcro padding behind the tongue. I found mine felt quite tight and it really does take a good few months of hard work to break them in. Excellent boots though and I'd probably buy them again. Some reckon they feel cold in winter.... I just think they should wear better socks! cheers, steve
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On mine the tongue is fixed so that your feet stay dry in deep puddles..... don't have any Velcro on them either. Are yours fake ones? cheers, Steve
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Actually, I haven't given it a good blast for a while.... been working on fiddly bits so would probably do it good to rip through some big stuff. Thanks for the suggestion. cheers, steve
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I've tried that once before but didn't make any difference. It's quite random... sometimes it will hot start fine, other times it needs ten pulls. I think so, yep. I never ever use the decompression valve. I used to run it on Aspen but got fed up with travelling so far to buy it. So I'm back on pump fuel now. Haha! No.... its been happening to me too. Right, I didn't know you could reset the autotune like that. Do you need to hold the throttle wide open as you pull the starter cord? Yeah - it's a bit of an art. But something has changed more recently.... it started fine last summer. cheers, steve
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Oh 'eck. I've started having a few issues with hot starts.... despite pumping the primer bulb and setting it to fast idle (choke on/choke off) it sometimes really doesn't wanna start. Seems to be flooding itself a bit as there's a bit of smoke after it fires up.... and sometimes it doesn't want to pick up on the throttle (bogs down and stalls). Apart from the hot start thing it's running fine & cold starts are no problem either. Should I try a hotter plug as suggested earlier in this thread? cheers, steve
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Great thanks. Our Florabest is about 1.35kw (43cc ish). I guess it may be best to keep the line below 3mm for that. cheers, steve
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I've been using the 43ish cc Florabest strimmer/ brushcutter from Lidl. It's bright green and it's awesome and it was only £90! cheers, steve
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Sorry to hear that Stubby, that's horrible. I was working on our polytunnel beds and heard a buzzing sound, looked up and there were thousands of bees circling around. One of our Warre hives had swarmed. They eventually settled nearby on some grass.... so I popped a Warre box over them and they climbed up inside.... then I carried the box and placed it on top of the hive. Lid on top... job done! cheers, steve
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Nice, good plan. Does the slope of the sides make much difference?.... 70degrees has been mentioned but would it make much difference if it was 45degrees (or thereabouts)? cheers, Steve We've got clay soil so no problems there. Not sure what a drott or a kob pyrot wood chip stoker is? Kind of lost me there! cheers, steve
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It's been a couple years since the last comment.... what's your user reviews after lots of use? Portek Power Strim fixed head vs Oregon Jet Also, what's the best line to use in either of those? Just for cutting grass.... cheers, Steve
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Hi Alec, what you've described above sounds like my best option, at least for now. Cheers, Steve
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If I dig a hole on our farm it'll fill with water pretty quick but we could do an above ground version of this (we've already got quite a few mounds of subsoil to build it with).... Earth Pit Biochar - Simple, Easy, Cheap - Complete How-to cheers, Steve
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Thanks Openspaceman.... excellent answers & even more food for thought! Sorry, I may need to retract my galvanised tank dangerous toxic substances comment.... from my hazy memory I think it was tin cans that were the problem, ie, using large dog food tins for the rocket stove chimney. A fire in a hole in the ground sounds like a simpler option.... I'm warming to just doing that now. Already got a mini digger so digging holes is easy. hmmmm But maybe that ain't so good for pollution?? cheers, steve
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The Village Idiot mentioned the above earlier in the thread.... so it must be true. cheers, steve
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I'm a little bit further on investigations for this flooring job and came across this DIY instruction page, quite useful info in this: How to Make and Install an End Grain Wood Floor from Scratch I'll be making our blocks a fair bit thicker than the ones in the link above. Will probably be cutting them in the round with a chainsaw mounted on a Portek Logmaster sawhorse, like this: Portek Logmaster Saw Horse Then I'm hoping to be able to split the rounds into fairly rectangular blocks using my Gransfors froe.... which should work okay as it will be splitting down through the grain/ rather than running across it. cheers, steve
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Is that a galvanised tank? If so, according to what I've read on rocket stoves the galvanised coating can let off some pretty bad toxic substances.... best to be avoided. Apparently stainless steel would last far, far longer than the usual more common mild steel barrels. I've been considering making a brick retort as I figured it would be long lasting and relatively cheap if using reclaimed bricks. Trouble is.... finding plans for one ain't so easy. cheers, Steve
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Looks good.... Portek Power Strim 4Pro Replacement Strimmer Head cheers, steve
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Awesome answer! Very impressive mathematical stuff. If traditional kilns & pits are banned does that also mean that open fires & inefficient wood burners should also be banned? cheers, steve
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Yeah ~ I should read more of that Positive Thinking thread. cheers, steve
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Then again I don't know why I question such things as embodied energy or a bit of pollution when we have monstrous pollutive things such as this: The world's largest cruise ship and its supersized pollution problem | Environment | The Guardian cheers, steve
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Cor blimey guv, I dint know Hazel could return at 2:1 ....we have a few acres of unmanaged Hazel coppice (overstood) that needs a lot of stool hacking so turning it into charcoal/ biochar at 2:1 sounds like a super dooper option. You kind of nearly answered my question.... what I'm saying is.... eg; would a Hazel burn at 2:1 ratio have 50% less emissions compared with burning a different type of wood at 4:1 ratio. And how are emissions tested on a device that gets so hot and leaky to the outdoor environment?.... especially at the stage where the kiln lid is off/ or retort door is open, or earth clamp smouldering? Another question I have is on embodied energy, and probably much harder to answer:.... Are the emissions from manufacturing & repairing metal retorts as bad/ or worse as burning charcoal in an earthy pit (that uses no metal)? cheers, steve
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Probably a tricky question to answer and I'm not sure how a reliable test could be carried out: According to various charcoal making techniques; is there a direct corellation between input/ output ratios and emissions? I've been assuming an insulated retort would produce far less emissions than traditional fire pit methods & ring kilns. Cheers, steve
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I'm forever leaving my sense of humour at home when it's windy & rainy. cheers, Steve
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I also rate DPD very highly, probably at the top of the list. We've received umpteen deliveries from them and all have been on time; they also do really well at matching the correct street name with our house number.... unlike UKMail! cheers, steve
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Exactly. cheers, steve
