Billhook

I dangled a tennis ball from a bit of string down by the lake. Set up a Bushnell trail camera and hoped for a result.......... [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame] These were all on Good Friday.

They are ace, and but this was one of the few situations where it needed a little help! She says that she took it out of four wheel drive for the main road which was snow free but forgot to put it back in for the minor road. The strange thing is that she seems to have driven it into the ditch rather than skidded there. I thought it wise not to ask any more questions!

They were mortified when the Panda pulled them straight out!

These poor folk had spent a couple of hours trying to unstick the Landie. It was on road tyres though.

My wife's contribution to the thread but she hasn't any nuts when I last checked. Does make changing the rear wheels easier though!

So it was you was it! My friend was in charge of a gang doing what y'all do, branch coming down on main road etc. Flash car pulls up and bloke with glasses starts sounding his horn, remonstrating and hurling abuse, late for important meeting. My friend goes up to him and explains he probably will be really late for his meeting if he proceeds. More verbal and by now he is red in the face and shaking so much that his glasses start to slip down his nose. My friend very helpfully I thought did not say anything and just gently pushed the glasses back up his nose. He reported it to the police and my friend had to defend himself against an alleged assault. Nothing came of it but it just shows how childish some people can be.

Poor old County 1124!

It would probably struggle but there again the 12 ton might too. Why else would they build A 22 Ton version. I bought the Portek for my wife who is a liability with an axe but I was quite impressed with what it can do for the price

I was impressed with this Portek machine. Seems to split logs that I cannot split with the X27 and is half the price of the Rock Venom and many times faster. [ame] [/ame] I see Rock also do a similar kinetic one but at twice the price of the Venom

Plus ca change!

I am sure it said in the Branch Logger instruction manual "It is hardly forbidden to use alcohol or drugs when using this machine"

I have only sold one bag so far! I gave the publican a bag and asked him to try it and give an honest opinion He liked the product and then came the inevitable "How much" Instead of talking pounds and pence directly I suggested that it had to be worth a couple of pints. When you look at a bag it is hard to disagree but then he realised he charges three quid for a pint so he felt he had a good deal when I lowered it to a fiver !

A better shot of the inside of the oven with World War One army helmet. (Maybe his punishment for desertion!)

Here is a picture of the oven . You can see the opening of the flue just above the oven door which takes the gases over the topbof the oven before going up the chimney. This also takes the smoke from the cinders below

Here are some more pictures of the oven and range which must be pre 1500 as it is a separate building from the main house and I gather they always put the kitchens away from the main house in those days because of fire risk

Took delivery of the Urban SM 70 last week and it seems to work really well. Seems to take everything we put in up to three inch diameter without any problems. My wife and I have been working together (rare occasion) and we managed to fill a lot of bags in a couple of hours. Output would be much improved if I had not just left a heap of tangled brash to deal with. Future logging sessions will be with all the branches facing the same way in a neat stack on the muck grab at the right height. Why on earth do foreign manufacturers not find someone who can speak English when they write their manuals. "It's hardly recommended to lubricate cog wheels and bearings" "It's hardly recommended to use only proper lubrication designed for bearings" "Keep your attention to screws, pegs and bolts which should all be hardly tight" Took a sample to the local pub, mainly sycamore and not too dry but the landlord was very pleased using it on a open fire. He said one bucket full made a bed and lasted for two and a half hours and kicked out a lot of heat, so he wants more and I think we have agreed on a fiver a bag. Plus twenty five pence VAT. I was interested to see the ovens. We have a very old farmhouse kitchen with an old range and bread oven. I was never sure how it worked until an old fella showed me. You put all the wood inside the oven and start a good fire and when it dies down to red hot embers you rake it out into the cavity below and he said that there was enough heat in the bricks to do two or three sessions. The smoke goes up a flue just above the oven door and is drawn over the top of the oven. Likewise the smoke from the embers below is drawn up the same flue. I will post some more pictures later. I there is a WW 1 helmet inside the oven so that was probably the last time it was used! Any bread or pizza recipes out there? I shall have a go with the branch loggings.

Well I wish I was a codfish! [ame] [/ame]

There has been a devastating report on the incompetence of the RPA under her leadership. We farmers are perceived by the public as having subsidies for doing nothing, but compared to these civil servants on £150,000 a year plus bonus and pensions packages that we can only dream of, we are not in the same league. One of potentially beneficial schemes to arb workers is the woodland grant scheme. This generally costs us land owners a lot to clear up a neglected wood for replanting so we tend to leave it as there is never enough money to justify employing tree surgeons and forestry staff. By their incompetence they have lost £640 million to the EU in fines over the past few years for late payments. They managed to pat themselves on the back for paying out just £13 million to woodlands. Just think of the good that the £640 million would have done for the UK arb industry Here are some quotes and depressing reading. "In addition, the Forestry Commission has also paid out over two thirds (70%) of capital payments, totalling £13 million to woodland owners to protect, improve and expand woodlands in England. They have also paid out over 50% of valid annual claims worth just under £6 million and work is ongoing to pay outstanding valid annual claims as soon as possible." Farmers and taxpayers failed by dysfunctional leadership - News from Parliament - UK Parliament "Explanations such as 'We worked on different floors' and 'We dressed differently' are a slap in the face to them and a dismal excuse for failures that could severely hit the public purse"

I think you could say the same about many hydraulic or electric conventional splitters costing £400. I can find bits of elm here that would stop most cheaper machines and certainly me with my trusty X27. I tried to test it on a smaller bit of elm which the X27 would not look at and I was impressed that it did split it but needed three hits. For my wife, who will be using it, I will only select the straightest, nicest ash logs as I like my cups of tea in the morning in bed! I am much happier with her using this instead of an axe! I will be interested if any of you buy the bigger American machines to see how they do, one has a claimed 30 ton splitting force.

I expect the 20 ton plus models could handle a six way head. Fair point about the vertical splitter, but it seems to me that both methods need a bit of thinking about in the setting up. In one of the videos the splits are falling into a bucket on a front end loader and they could equally well fall into a box or bag, either way stopping the extra handling. Again the wood needs to be presented to the operator at the right height and make it so that he does not have to move very far.

I think I should have put this on here http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/general-chat/95889-new-super-fast-log-splitter-must-watch-4.html Interesting Shavey are you up for buying one of the bigger ones? I do like the look of the Split Second machine [ame] [/ame] The Super Split looks dangerous with one handed engagement. [ame] [/ame]

I like the two handled operation as these machines are so quick that you need both hands out of the way in case of distraction. The other bonus as far as my wife is concerned is that the electric operation is so quiet and easy to use compared with an engine or tractor driven machine. There is quite a lot on the web about these kinetic machines when you start looking. The Rock machinery claims 30 ton splitting force and many are in the 20 tons plus category. The Rock one was about £1600 but out of stock. 6 Incredible Facts About Kinetic Log Splitters - Homesteading and Livestock - MOTHER EARTH NEWS RapidFire Electric Flywheel Log Splitter | DR Power Equipment [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame] RapidFire Log Splitter (Outsplits 34 Ton Wood Splitter) | DR Power Equipment Welcome to SuperSplitter [ame] [/ame] Split Second Log Splitter | Kinetic Log Splitting > Product Tour [ame] [/ame] Rock Rapide M2 [ame] [/ame]

Cannot seem to upload more than one photo at a time with the iPhone

just taken delivery of the 5 ton capacity Portek really for my wife to use as she never seems to have the right size for the wood stove and she is a liability with any axe. Thought I would test it out first and selected a horrible knotty piece of ash followed by an equally horrible bit of dead elm which I tried to split with the trusty Fiskars X27 to no avail even with my fifteen stone behind it. It cracked the ash first go but needed three thumps to break the elm. Very impressive though for a relatively small machine. It was really impressive on the ordinary straight ash logs where the output nearly matched the Palax Combi. My wife likes it and I shall build a table for her at the right height for the logs to drop into the one ton potato box

Ever since I posted this link of Alex Harvey on "Show us yer Guitars" the Boston Tea Party has been a mega ear worm !