devon TWiG

I would love to see how that is done as they are a particular pet hate of mine , how do you get an anchor to start ? Another type that is hard work is dismantling a Lombardy pop , tip roping each branch and cutting at the base of each branch so up and down a lot , the pantin is very useful in this situation .

There have been plenty examples of climbers extolling the virtues of SRT yet so few people seem to use it , a recent poll on this forum showed a very low take up . I am now 55 and only climb part time nowadays and have never had any problems with ddrt , although for many years I have used jumars and now a pantin for longer ascents ( often with help from a groundsman ) I have yet to see a real world demo / use of srt , the only times seem to be at shows etc in big open crown trees in a park like setting where the skill is all in the use of a throw bag to obtain a good anchor point ( if not already in place ) I would like to see an ivy choked western red cedar tackled for example . Also I feel the biggest wear and tear on my body has not been from climbing but all the other labouring involved in the industry . I hope to see and learn more at the APF show and am interested yet not convinced enough to spend the money and change from what I feel is a great method ( ddrt ) but happy to be proved wrong !! Obviously the gear sellers will put across a convincing tale but I would rather see it in action by someone who does it for a living on all sorts of jobs ....

I do quite a lot of kayaking in and around S Devon , coast and estuaries and there is absolutely loads of stuff like this , I must take some photos next time I am out , some of my favourites are very small islands of seemingly solid rock with just 1 or 2 trees growing on it , it baffles me how they obtain any nutrients let alone water except salty !!! mostly evergreen oaks .....also very large quantities of dead oaks just laying in tidal creeks especially on the river Dart ...

It is pretty rare I would get a MEWP in , most unlikely in this situation from what I can see , also customers often say the lawn can not be damaged etc etc which would require rigging every thing down instead of just dropping it , when I inform them of the extra cost, suddenly the lawn is not so precious any more .... it does not cost much or take long to sort out a few patches of grass !!! Were you going to rig it down from a MEWP ?

A company called THE GRAIN in Liskeard cornwall does a lot of this ,check the website for more details ... seems you are all right !!! router, sandblast stencil ... etc ....

If the trees you are on about are the ones between the Tolvaddon junction of the A 30 and "Heartlands " then they were in a terrible state last year when I saw them ..

With my Silky blade needing replacement soon I was pondering the other day just how poor value for money they are in comparison to a saw chain in terms of wood cut per £££ or is it that saw chains are just fantastic value for money ??? ( hope Oregon do not read this !!) I still like Silky's though !!

Virtually no one wears chainsaw gloves do they ? I rarely have in 30 years .... The regulations on PPE only really matter if you are working for an organisation which is very pedantic about such matters or on a site which is the same ... or you try to claim for injury , I have had dozens of boots and trousers over the years and ( touch wood ) have never cut them , however I rarely work without them NOT just because of the regulations but of self preservation , they may not stop injury but will most certainly reduce its severity !! I think the quality of boots especially these days are great ( mostly ) and they get a lot of use / abuse over a year or so of work .

I had a bowl saver but my lathe was not really powerful enough to use it with so I sold it ( the bowlsaver not the lathe !! )

I know of quite a few nice bits of wood in various yards where the owner would not part with them for less than "x" amount they have been there for years and are now virtually worthless .... sad really ........it is only worth what some one will pay for it !!

If the ladder or the climber does not cross the boundary then permission is not required , only if you need to go on to their land to access the tree which is not always necessary ... I have done a few jobs like this !!! Also I think there is some right of trespass for reasonable access , in situations such as putting a ladder on neighbouring property to access your own house for such things as painting / gutter cleaning etc most problems occur if there is already a hostile relationship between the 2 parties in the first place !!

I was parked by a bridge over a river the other day at 2;15 in the afternoon , on a warm sunny day ,watching a bat actively flying around the same small area catching insects , I have never seen any bat so active in the daytime ( unless they were in a tree I had felled !!! ) yes it has happened more than once in the past , before bats became sacred , but I wish them no harm .

Liberon finishing oil is what I use on virtually all of my woodwork , ( excellent stuff ) but I have found that small water splashes leave a slight dull mark , easy to put another coat on though , but the Rustins Plastic Coating is like a liquid melamine which is much more water durable .

Best stuff I think would be Rustins Plastic Coating , for a Matt finish just flat it back with fine abrasive or wire wool , it is very hard wearing and water resistant , not sure what stains you intend to use but if it is wax based then you will have problems trying to apply anything after it ...

Try Steve Swift Forestry in Ashcombe / Starcross ... Look up on Facebook ..

I put a post for Sequoia in the carving forum a little while back and they are still available , see the post for more details ...

I have a small patio of slabs and bricks and I keep it weed free by using salt , it works OK .....

One of my uncles died some years ago , and he too was a joiner / pattern maker all his life ,and my Aunt was telling me how he used to save up for the best tools available at the time ..... however compared to the best modern stuff it is pretty poor to be honest !!! There is plenty of cheap rubbish around nowadays but the best quality stuff is better than anything available before , also the choice , availability and comparable costs are just brilliant ....... just think about tools in any other trade !!! old chainsaws ? chippers? etc or any other gear, even vehicle you can think of is better today than ever before .

As Stephen Blair said .... just fell it , a few dents in the lawn can soon be repaired , it is the quickest, safest, cheapest option ...

I am surprised that any building is going on in Poland ......half the population has left the country !!!

That looks as good a log as I have ever seen , it would be interesting to know how much it fetches ( for future guidance / reference ) but like any other time it will probably be a closely guarded secret , funny old business this isn't it !!

Thanks for the response , I will look in to doing that ..... however could I end up with bad feedback for doing that ? It would be unfortunate for my first ever non fault /non sale !!!!........... although I know a local motor trader who has great feedback .... yet has done 5 years in jail for motor vehicle fraud !!!

Hi , I have recently had something for sale on ebay ( an outboard boat engine ) It is my first time on ebay and I find it bloody bewildering !! it is on as a classified ad and someone made an offer ( after some stupid low ones !! ) and I accepted the offer ..It states buyer to collect ( cash or cleared cheque ) however after a few days I heard nothing from would be buyer so I got in touch to ask if he still wants it ? his reply was that he is away on holiday until the 7th of August so collection and payment could be some time after this, however the ad ends before then what if he does not come good on the deal ? , is he committed to buying it ? do i have to sell to him ? ( I have had other similar offers ) Is it acceptable to have to wait this long with no contact or completion of sale ? any advice / help would be appreciated !!

I saw a demo of a guy welding ( by heating and hammering , not Arc ) a samurai sword made from motorcycle chain and when finished and polished you could see the shapes of the chain parts , he said it would also work with old saw chain, he called the pattern "grain" .

Well I was driving a nearly new Scania lorry today and it was a bit too cold ..... AIR CON is fantastic !!!!!