Billhook

We had a chimney like that next to where we lived. It was part of a unit built in the First World War for refining shale oil from a sand and gravel pit. (nothing much new is there!) My dear old father sat all day in a deck chair waiting for the big moment with his clockwork cine camera while they struggled to fell it. When they did manage to do it he was sound asleep. Certainly woke him up though!

I seem to remember that you are not allowed to mow your lawns on a Sunday in Germany. Does this apply to chainsawing as well? Are there not also other rules about no big lorries on Autobahns on a Sunday?

Is it four wheel drive? I cannot see a post about that or any sign in the picture. If it is then some weight on the front would help, if not then as much as possible on the back without hindering the steering ability. I would not like to venture into damp woodland with 2WD. 4WD would also help controlling the tractor downhill with a load behind. With that in mind, is that a roll bar I see over the bonnet. Bilke-user gives the scenario of being pushed downhill by a six ton load with a right hand bend. Classic jackknife and overturning situation with six tons of logs completing the job. The tractor may have a special brake hydraulic coupling linked to the pedals. Best to look for that first before the spool valve option. What is the make and model?

I think you may need some fast rope training! [ame] [/ame]

I am a farmer and have always understood farmer's lung to be caused by the particles from damp mouldy material such as hay and wet corn. A sharp chainsaw should not produce much dust unless the tree is rotten, but generally you can find a spot to saw with the wind in your favour, The sharp Lucas Slabber working on Holm Oak produced a vast amount of dust and I had to wear both dust mask and goggles. I wear these for yew as well and generally just the goggles with the Lucas sawing Ash with the swing blade and the Palax processor (Headphones on the Stihl helmet as well as the mesh shield) The advice from us old'uns to all you invincible young'uns is not to take chances with your eyes, lungs and hearing as well as not taking chances with your fleshy bits (that includes trips to Amsterdam!)

I am trying to think think think what all those little boxes are meant to mean that you have posted and also Mediplogs uses. Thinking outside the box, box clever, tick box, living in a box?

All of the above is worth repetitive reflection. I always thought that one of the best ideas from the farming Health and Safety was to tie a bit of baler twine on your door in a neat bow to remind you as you leave to come home safely for the sake of your family as well as yourself. Over the years on the farm it always seems to be the silly little things which cause a serious result out of proportion to their threat. Just not having a tidy workshop or yard and not picking things up that will trip you up. Just fumbling about in the dark because you haven't had time to change the light bulb. Just doing one job too many at the end of the day in fading light when you are knackered

I felt a bit of a planker when it would not move!

It can even happen to a litt'un

I have a Palax 600 Combi and often feeding awkward shaped Ash limbs and have the same problem so I dsiconnected the auto trip and now have a foot pedal so I can see that the log has landed correctly before starting the ram. I fitted a three phase electric motor for yard work which is so quiet and easy, but it still can be driven with the pto in the woods if necessary without changing anything. I fitted and manual winch to lift the conveyor up for transport. I made a drawbar and detachable wheels for towing on the road with a car. I made a simple manual roller feed table so that I can bring back a load of 10 foot logs straight from the woods with the muck grab which can then be tilted and the grab gently lifted to feed the rollers. Seems to work well and cuts out all the manual lifting of the past.. I welded a single splitter to replace the standard four way for larger logs. Made it out of old D7 dozer blade wearing part. Made a T handle to make adjusting or removing the splitting blade easy. Yep, after twenty years with the machine I am now happy!

Friends bought me a ticket to the England Ireland match on the 27th Feb. This is the only fixture that I have not seen before, so looking forward to it.

Large Ash fell across a ditch taking powerlines down with it. Wedged itself in the ditch so tried to lift one end out with the Matbro 270. which has a 2.7 ton lift capacity. [ame] [/ame] Daisy Etta 17 tons of Caterpillar D7 came to the rescue. Still needed the forking lift to lift the tree over the lip of the ditch [ame] [/ame] Job done, Several earthworms unfortunately may have been harmed on this recovery mission. [ame] [/ame]

You have a short memory Jon, I showed you "Sandringham Sydney" in "Show us yer tractors" some time ago http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/picture-forum/10361-show-your-tractors-206.html#post1264354

To my trusty Sandringham Six, six wheel drive Stage 1 V8 with crane and tipping body. Bit thirsty but very useful.

Fond memories of the trusty Defender which took us across all manner of obstacles from Walvis Bay in Namibia to Livingstone in Zambia. The graded roads were just like driving over miles of cattle grids This was in the middle of the night in the middle of the Namid Desert in 1998

There is also an interesting little puff of smoke to the right of the screen in the woodland as though the bolt has travelled along the ground perhaps along a root and melted something or turned it to steam

I don't know what all your local metaphors are for describing the weather but there are a few on here "It's wetter than a........................" http://www.megaphores.com/metaphores?id=52

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19590316&id=2X5VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=U7MDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4172,2333370&hl=en http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/cutting-tree-after-lightning-strike.135122/ Seems a bit like old wives tales for ordinary trees but others may know better!

I did look at various places to fit the wheel on my Series 3 but in the end the bonnet was the safest place not to be hit by low branches or low doorways. It was in the way everywhere else as I have a tipping body. On the plus side it does help with my arm strengthening exercises and it is a great place to put a few tools and the chainsaw when moving along the woodland a few yards. By the way I have always meant to say "Nice Beaver" but some people seem to be offended by that!

Nah, the future is drones armed with laser cutters

You were not alone Stihlmad! Ford 8210 with Bomford Hedgetrimmer would not start first thing, very cold plus half knackered battery. Had to faff about setting up the charger only to find that the extension lead was a foot too short..... Started by mid morning, traffic on main road horrendous. Trying to trim a mile stretch of double white lines through a series of bends. Warning signs plus hazard flashers makes no difference to the speed merchants who are the only matched by the ditherers who will not overtake even though I am doing less than one mph! Trying to turn back was caught out by a maniac doing a ridiculous speed into the first bend which caused me to stall with two front wheels on the carriageway. Tractor immobile Battery flat again so called wife who took ages to find jump leads and appear on scene. Started off again and was just finishing the last inside part before dark when a spool valve failed (Oring?) and the flail fell into the hedge making a big hole in my neat bit of trimming. Could not raise the wife again, so two mile plod back to the yard to collect the forkinlift. Pulled up flail and tied it up and jumped started the tractor again with the forkinlift, and drove it back to the yard. Managed to find someone to take me back to collect the forkinlift . Back to house for a hot cuppa to find that someone had eaten all the ginger nuts......

You just started me thinking after that and all I can say is that anything I am any good at now, I was not taught at school!

And people just love to quote that tired old line "You get what you pay for"

While touring South Africa my wife and I came across (not a good choice of words!) Ronnie's Sex Shop in the Karoo. Ronnie had a boring old cafe in the middle of nowhere with few customers and a friend put up a sign "Ronnie's Sex Shop" as a joke but now it is a tourist attraction Stop for a pint at a fun pub ? Ronnies Sex Shop on Route 62 – South African Tourism It is a sad fact of life perhaps but we are all sexual beings and sex sells.

For a lot of work places where it is usually an all man environment such as tree surgery, machine workshops, farming, garages it may be sad but pictures of pretty girls do brighten the day. If those offended have their way are we to ban calendars with girls in swimsuits, ban all those perfume advertisements on the TV, ban Miss World, ban James Bond, ban any display of cleavage? It certainly worked for a company called Abertay who were trying to sell the most boring product you could imagine back in the eighties, a humble paper potato bag. (the farming equivalent of chain oil!) Abertay girls were seen in the press and at all the farming shows drawing large crowds. Their advertisements were backed up with glorious calendars which have become collectors items (so I am told!)