devon TWiG

Being one of the older climbers ( SAGA eligible for a few years ) although only part time nowadays, I have always used Drt and both ends of the rope with Blakes hitches , however today I used a Pantin for the first time and think it is really useful , I had a big (25 metre )twin stemmed , very resinous !! Monterey pine to dismantle which needed some long hauls a few times , especially after dinner and being able to use my leg instead of arms was a lot less effort ..... I have on many occasions in the past used Ascenders / Jumars for long ascents to good effect but found myself using the Pantin for any upward motion at all , very useful bit of kit , might help me keep on climbing for even longer !!

I made this a while back using bone oak legs and it took some thinking as to how to do it and to be able to do it well . I used a tubular hole saw about 1" dia and drilled in to the top of the legs and then cut off the exterior to leave a dowel integral to the leg , then use a corresponding sized spade bit to drill the female part on the underside of the top ( not going right through ) then cut a slot to insert a wedge that will only expand when reaching the bottom of the recess then glue up ( titebond ) and hammer home ! I am not sure if this is good to be used if the legs are "solo " so to speak without cross bearers etc supporting the legs .... hope this makes sense in text rather than a series of pics !!

This does seem to be an unpleasant situation to be in .... I doubt any reputable tree surgeon would attempt this without NR co-operation , simply due to the risk , however you go about it , it will be a pretty costly job , and this is sadly yet another example of letting Leyllandii grow out of control !!! Leaving them to grow any bigger would not be wise either , are these trees covered by your house insurance ? I do not mean they might help !! but if something did go wrong ( storm damage etc ) are they aware of the potential risk they are covering ,as trees are often a specific extra on home insurance policies .

That is great ! would be a bit scary for some though !! I dive / fish a fair bit and know that these things are to be handled with caution ....[ame] [/ame]

Really love wood for the tops , but are you sure the legs are strong enough ?.. ( joking ! ) Very nice indeed , are they for your own use or do you sell them ?

Not much of a market for ashtrays these days .... was there ever a market for wooden ashtrays ? ... "elf n safety " , trading standards and the EU would probably put the brakes on that fantastic niche !! lol ...You could possibly market the wood as Himalayan flowering tree wood ... some would think that is "amazing "..!!!

Absolutely superb work !!!! I am quite arty / farty in a woody way , and am not in the least surprised this won , in fact I could not imagine what could possibly beat it , or what could even come a close second !!

one load of what ?

Bore in to the base of the trunk with your saw to see / feel if it is sound inside , It looks a bit like WR Cedar which is pretty rot resistant anyway , also it will be very light if dry , and also pretty strong as well , as Mick says above spikes , strip and chog or does it need to be rigged ?

I think in some circumstances you can approach a property owner and arrange to purchase a set of plans from the owner or architect , it would be cheaper than having your own drawn up , I know of some one who has done this as his house had to match the others on a small development and it was far cheaper ...and you could probably customise to your own specs if required ...

Transalp ( Honda ) and trees ( Beech ) in sunny Devon last weekend ..

Should be able to get it all from agri supply type shops MVF for instance , I assume you are using threaded bar and drilling right through as opposed to eye bolts , nuts washers etc are easy to come by , teardrop eyes and steel cable and bulldog grips also readilly available in many places but perhaps not all stuff in one place ..I have done quite a few over the years ( especially in Germany ) but none for a while madern cordless drills should make things easier than they used to be !!

Saw this program the other evening and really enjoyed most of it , but with particular reference to David Nash's ...Ash dome .at about 8.00 minutes in to the film it appears he has cut deep dip like sections in to the trunks of young saplings to allow them to be bent and seemingly grafting to themselves and carrying on to live / survive as crooked stems has any one ever seen this done ? or even heard of / seen it before ? although it has no real practical use the biology intrigues me !!!BBC iPlayer - Forest, Field & Sky: Art out of Nature

But surely each step dragging a bundle of heavy /wet leylandii tops up a flight of steps is a bit harder than being led around by a self propelled mower ?

This whole Brexit thing is becoming quite fascinating , in fact no political event has ever interested me before !! It will have big implications which ever way it goes , but I am pretty sure we will end up staying in the EU...which is a ridiculous organisation when you think of it .... what other organisation has a paid representative in it ( nigel farage ) who is against the whole organisation he is a member of !!!

I think most woodland is poorly managed if at all , mainly due to poor timber values , also only a very small percentage of woodland is being sold this way , big woodlands are needed to allow modern processing machinery to be viable, there fore small woods will be neglected , also woodlands will not be managed primarily for timber but for amenity , wildlife and leisure and sporting purposes purposes which will probably provide some opportunity for more arboricultural type of work , in some ways it could be compared to holiday / second homes but without the social controversy caused by that !

.... Easier said than done I think .... same as getting 5 people to buy 1 house , who has what rooms , who is responsible for the roof etc what if 1 wants out ? etc etc .. and in a way this is what woodlot companies do as a living .

......I also wonder if it would be worth speaking to local land owners / farmers yourself. I think some would be interesting in selling a bit of woodland for £5k an acre or so if you sorted the legal fees...... I tried this for quite a while and no one seemed willing to part with land unless you make an overly generous offer , a plot of land for 5-10k is very rare nowadays and much farm woodland is not conveniently easily separated from the farm ( having to go through yard / fields to get at it etc ) and been used as a dump for years .., most land owners are not poor so 5-10 k is of little temptation for the bother , and as one land owner said, what could he do with 5-10 k , not worth keeping in the bank or it gets you a reasonable 2nd hand car ... so they do not sell .... dedicated woodland usually has it's own road access and away from dwellings and main roads etc One piece I looked at was a SSSI and was long , narrow ,steep no vehicle access and backed on to a housing estate with lot's of mature tree's overhanging gardens , and back fence gates on to land for dumping garden waste and for dog's and kid's to play in ... it was a liability not an asset !!

This is true because there are very few potential purchasers for such large amounts , also a lot of the bigger woods are pure plantations with conditions attatched and in more remote locations .... the price of small affordable useful lots of woods near larger towns etc will always be considerably higher .... just plain old market forces at work ! same as with a pony paddock near a village compared to a mountain side in the uplands ...! Fields in the area I live are fetching 15k plus per acre and many of those are steep , poor hedges / fences down miles of horrid single track lanes . buying volume and breaking in to small plots is exactly what some companies are doing for the reasons stated above , I doubt that those selling the bigger plots will remain unaware of this situation for long and can then command greater prices or divide it themselves ...

The oxygen in water ( especially salt water ) is not available to the wood boring insects and decay causing fungi that commonly will cause the wood to "rot" as such , I am sure there must be water borne fungi or else the sea wood be full of non decayed wood , there are a few wood boring insects in sea water, gribble and toredo worm which can destroy wooden boats and structures over time ...but this is different to having a lump of Elm half in, half out of soil where decay organisms thrive ..

I am just about to complete on a purchase of woodland from Woodlands.co.uk , just over 4 acres at about 10k per acre ... It is not exactly cheap , when is any land cheap ? but woodland rarely comes up for sale , and this plot is only about 5 miles from home , with easy access ,all the land is usable ( not steep or boggy ) with about 2.5 acres of mature 80 foot Douglas fir and the rest is a really good mix of native broadleaf , it is ideal for what I want, the only problem is a Goshawk has nested in there and I am not allowed in the woods , even on foot until they have fledged ( late June ) John clegg does have woods for sale at a much lower rate per acre I think Woodlands .co.uk buy much from them ... however you need to buy a lot ( 6 figure sum ) to make any such savings .

Basically if you are selling it is not enough ,and if you are buying then too much !!! with a lot of variation in between !! Try looking on Woodlots . Local values can vary greatly it just depends how much you want / need it . Milled will vary hugely dependant on dimensions ...

I believe that Venice is built on Elm piles , and they have been there a very long time !! however they are totally immersed in water , effectively anaerobic conditions and therefore very slow to decay , however in use as a gate post I pretty sure it will not last long .

Is any one here going to the bodgers ball ( an event about green woodcraft ) at Tyntesfield ... near Bristol 7&8 may ....Arts and Crafts weekend and Bodger's Ball | National Trust

Blaisey , what are you using the wood for ? are you making furniture ( or surfboards !!) if so it would be great to see some finished products ....