Billhook

When I said that I would not be surprised if 90% of people claiming disability benefits were either making it up, self inflicted, or lacking in Headgroundsman's spirit, I thought I was being generous in leaving the other 10% to genuine and worthy folk. Do not forget that it is these folk who suffer most from the other 90%, not only with the labelling but also the lack of funds and resources which should be sent in their direction and not to the unworthy.

We have planted geranium macrorrhizum on the top of a low bank and the rabbits have not touched it in 30 years. It is a perennial and will spread nicely over time to cover the area. The flowers are attractive and the leaves in Autumn go a lovely deep red colour. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/search-results?form-mode=false&query=Geranium+macrorrhizum

But on closer inspection I would describe it as Fit healthy normal sized volunteer, padded up for police training program, hanging on for dear life! Now show me a fat tree surgeon climber!

Thank you for that Mull29! It looks as though he will have a serious disability now though, as he probably will not be able to sit down for a week or two!

Do be careful and wear masks and gloves. Quote from Wiki All parts of the plant are poisonous, and can be lethal if consumed in excess. Symptoms of laburnum poisoning may include intense sleepiness, vomiting, convulsive movements, coma, slight frothing at the mouth and unequally dilated pupils. In some cases, diarrhea is very severe, and at times the convulsions are markedly tetanic. The main toxin in the plant is cytisine, a nicotinic receptor agonist.

Very bad luck about the back, but an inspirational attitude to life. How many people claiming disability benefits are putting it on and how many even with an injury have not bothered to try and help themselves in the way that Headgroundsman has done. If you remove the self inflicted overeating diabetes/heart/lack of fitness/bad diet/badTV back/too much central heating I would not be surprised to find a figure of over 90%.

Show me a photo of a fat tree climber!

This is your record Bewarethemoon! My own view is that they are probably likely to be much more scared of us in a woodland situation, especially if we are armed with chainsaws and axes. Frisky cattle are much more scary for me, bulls in the wrong mood also! Cannot see them living in towns, does it happen in Europe or Russia? They are just too wild. I think that a well monitored and educated introduction in the right place, by that I mean all the locals being educated as well beforehand, would be o.k. The main worry is the disturbance to sheep and cattle but there may be an area where the deer population is becoming out of hand and there is no farming and little human habitation where it would be appropriate. Dare I suggest an uninhabited Scottish Island for a start to see how things progress? Could be a tourist attraction.

Monty Don discusses introduction of wolves. BBC - Podcasts and Downloads - Best of Natural History Radio Wondered how you lot felt about not only having to to keep an eye on machinery and humans but also for what may be in dem dark woods.

Both this axe and the Stihl splitting maul look as though the head would not come out of a tight bit of wood easily. However since I have not tried either I am sure I will be corrected. They both seem expensive. Price may be another factor and while the Gransfors may be good they are over £100 whereas the Fiskars X27 is on sale at my local hardware store for £49.99 Beware scams like this on Amazon though [ame]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fiskars-7884-36-Inch-Super-Splitting/dp/B004M3BAQE/ref=sr_1_13?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1418627448&sr=1-13&keywords=maul+splitting#customerReviews[/ame] For me and several others on this forum the X27 wins for its light weight, ease of extraction, quality of steel, strength of shaft, price and the bottom line, great result.

Second that. X27 never seems to become stuck and "explodes" stubborn Ash. Bloke brought round a £20 axe he had bought in Lidl to try and show me I had wasted my money. The heads look similar but the angles were slightly different and the metal seems far superior on the X27. Anyway I am pleased to say he took three blows to my one and when we changed axes he only took one blow. I think he is going to buy one!

Is there music to go with this or is it just rap?!!! Gave up on general public after selling our perfectly seasoned ash to a guy who poured water on it because he said it lasted longer.

Spot on x2! I have been farming for well over 40 years and if I had farmed by the weather forecast I would have been broke years ago. I suspect it is the same for arb people. You just have to have all the gear and be ready and prepared for any eventuality weather or otherwise. You have to try and set about the job in hand and sometimes it is too windy or wet but you never really know until you are on site and the amazing amount of times you are surprised that it is not as bad as you thought on site, even if it is really bad only a few miles away. Millions of pounds spent on computers and more to come I gather, £97m supercomputer makes UK world-leader in weather and climate science - Met Office CEO of Met Office on £220,000 a year, £80,000 more than Cameron, and no penalty for wrong forecasts Met Office seeking new chief executive | Western Morning News but now I see a bonus to all staff for correct forecasts! Met Office staff get £1m bonuses for accurate forecasts - Telegraph Wish someone would give me a bonus every time I make a good hinge!

We have an Aarrow Stratford, but I do not remember paying anything like this for it about five years ago! Aarrow Stratford Eco 25 HE Multi-fuel / Woodburning Boiler Stove - Aarrow Stoves - A to F - Brands - Stoves Are Us If I cut 8"x 8" lengths of beech with the Lucas saw and cut them to fit the width of the Stratford, season them and when they are ready load them packed tight on a bed of hot ash they will last 12 hours. A woodburner must be fairly air tight around the door and controls to stay in, so pay attention to the seals. The flames need to be "milky" and not bright. Give a good full heat blast first thing in the morning to burn off any deposits.

Can't make up my mind whether you are talking a load of cock or bollocks!

Don't you need a firearm certificate for it!!

Great link to see the fantastic skill of those helicopter pilots, thanks for posting. Exactly what a Christmas thread on Arbtalk should be about-----the Trees! What variety of tree are you cutting this year,are you using the tops of thinnings, tree with root ball, how much are you making per tree etc etc!

Bought a Stein on these recommendations and it works well but I wish I had seen this micro arb machine first as it has several improvements, "Micro Arb Truc Trailer" on youtube The versatile alternative positions for the retaining arms, the ramp idea for heavy logs, the towing hitch and the galvanised construction. I have not been able to find a price for it which is the bottom line since the Stein has been reduced in price. On the other hand I could easily make some ramps and different retainers for the Stein and a ball hitch female is only about £15 Billhook is online now Report Post

I had a farm sale in 1996, nearly twenty years ago, and one of the items was a Clarke parts washer https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cw1d-floor-standing-parts-washer I think we paid about ninety something quid for it in 1993 and it went for £110 at the sale when a new one was still in the nineties! A sunny day, good food and drink, good auctioneer and the "I'm not letting him have it" attitude all play a part

In the same way that Myxomatosed rabbits and these VHD rabbits are left alone to die by foxes and other predators and the fact that most people would not feed their dogs on a myxy rabbit, I think it would be wise to steer clear of them On the other hand the buzzards around here seem to do well feasting on them and they are still flying!

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Bren, I just had a visit from a wild life expert and that is exactly what he said it was. Started in Southern Europe and working its way North. Mucks up the stomach and seems even more cruel a death than Myxomatosis. He said he had seen them wheezing and having great difficulty breathing so perhaps it constricts the throat as well and prevents them both from eating and breathing properly. Some have an immunity so they will probably do what rabbits do best and recover their populations.

A couple of years ago were had a plague of rabbits on the farm, pre war numbers and I employed a ferret man as well as setting about them with the .22 rifle. From January tp March 2012 the ferret man caught over 300 and I shot over 1400. A lot of them ended up at the local hospital, probably on the menu as chicken pie! Probably a lot more healthy than chickens on processed food diets and antibiotics. Anyway this week we had a request for some more and I went off but after half a day managed to shoot only four, which was four shots and all I saw. One of them was hunched up like they are with myxomatosis but on inspection its eyes were normal. But its nose area had been diseased and the flesh had fallen away and it looked as though this had prevented it from feeding for when we picked it up it was skin and bone. This was the case with one of the others although that one was not showing the external symptoms. I shot another today to put it out of its misery and it was emaciated. Someone told me the local vet had over sixty cases of rabbit virus with domestic rabbits around here and a neighbouring farmer says he has no rabbits where there were hundreds a couple of years ago. This is in the Lincolnshire Wolds, has anyone else seen a similar rabbit disease?

My father started in the war as he was training to be a pilot in America where everybody smoked and cigarettes were a dime a dozen. I remember when I was a boy a carpet of half smoked butt ends lay on the ground outside the office. No filters but only half smoked so perhaps saved his lungs a bit as he was nearly ninety when he died. But although he did pack up overnight when he was about fifty, he always said he was one away for the rest of his life. He had a couple of "one aways" when on holiday looking out across a bay at a beautiful sunset with a glass of wine when the guy on the next table lit a Gauloise..... I think the trouble is not so much the nicotine but the habit by association. This is true of dieting as well. You stop for a break, cup of coffee means there is a huge feeling of a need for a ciggy or a few chocolate biscuits. No break for whatever reason means no cravings for either. Same thing driving on your own,ciggies and sweeties or down at the pub with a beer in hand. Out come the crisps nuts and ciggies. I know how hard it is as I was a very occasional smoker in my youth. I would buy a packet of ten on a Saturday night and wake up with a terrible throat on Sunday morning. Swear never to smoke again and I would then go through the next two weeks maybe without touching one, never smoked at work, but the next time I was in the pub and someone just bought a round and everyone lit up and offered me one.....just one away.