Billhook

Quite right Gary, bring us back into line. This area is for arb dogs not motorbikes even if the motorbikes are dogs!

Made out of recycled tank metal I suspect! First saw one when a friend and visited Ukraine just after they had come out of communism in about 1993. Found out that a lovely lady called Olga was selling them at Hornsea and converting them to right hand drive Unfortunately this means only one wheel drive as all the left hand drive model have both rear wheels driven The other clever thing due to good design is that the spare wheel fits all three wheels

It may interest some of you that the bike is a Russian copy of the German BMWs that were used by the army with a machine gun mounted on the sidecar, some were chasing Steve McQueen in the Great Escape. It has a reverse gear i took it to our local bike shop for an MOT and the old Lincolnshire owner of the shop said he would have to take it down the road to test the brakes . He came back and asked in his wonderful Lincs accent” ‘Ow many ‘osses ‘as it got” I told him it said there were 35 in the handbook. He replied “ Wee’ll I reckon thirty of ‘em are deead maeete !”

Hold what Stubby? Your breath, your language, your scream, the wood that hit you or some part of your anatomy??

Just realised that you were talking about the dead Elm from a year ago and not the lime Drinksloe! I did not need the Matbro on that one as there was no doubt about where it would fall. It was a much bigger tree but again was dead so difficult to assess quite what might happen depending on the state of decay. I was pleased with that result too! I only post successful videos!

There is casual observer type watching, there is another arborist type watching, there is certificate assessor type watching then there is a line of irate motorists type watching, wondering why you are taking so long and didn't I know they were on their way to something very important (like shopping!). I can cope with the first three, but the last is more testing!

Every felling is a new learning curve! I was amazed how gently the tree went over, just like a slow motion film with no crash and it did not even break the fence ,just a bit of stretched barbed wire. Wish I had videoed it but as I said we were concentrating on the traffic and worried more about falling rotten branches at the time.

I found that it is the antidote to road rage when I drive it. If I had a bright red sports car and carried out a series of aggressive overtakings, or if I was dawdling and holding up a lot of traffic, I would expect a lot of rage, but this combination brings out smiles and phone cameras.

K9 KGB on a Russian Dnepr 650. Airedale Terrier with helmet!

Thanks for that. As Clint says "A man's got to know his limitations" and I was unfamiliar with Lime trees and especially dead ones. I did not know how long it had been dead and what the state of decay was hence the Matbro because it is only going to go one way with the boom out and it protected me and the road at the same time and no need for wedges!

Pleased this dead Lime went down as planned It was on a 45 degree bank next to the road and full of rotten branches high up waiting to rain down on me Decided again to use the Matbro Teleporter with muck grab which acted like a shield over me while I chainsawed. I cut out the gob and then plunge cut with a 20 inch bar which only just went through Left a slightly bigger hinge due to the state of the tree and back cut leaving a holding tab. Did the final cut of the tab with the electric Stihl so I could hear instructions from the traffic controllers. Heard a crack but no movement so entered the safety cab and just extended the boom a fraction and it went over as gently as if it was lowered! Unfortunately no video!

Thanks , I will try that

Like many of you I suspect, I have accidentally laid tools across my helmet in the truck and the shield is badly distorted. Before I ruin it completely by bending / heating is there a well tried method of straightening it out? Hot water perhaps?

That medicine worked wonders for my two Airedales when they started to stiffen as they became older. Turned them into puppies again but the effects wear off so best not to use it too early.

If I can find an easier way to do a job, I will! We have all these mechanical devices, hydraulic , electric and engine power so we must use them when possible, not just do some stupid lift because you cannot be bothered to go and fetch the machine, or because you are worried about appearing weak in front of your colleagues. I would not be doing woodwork without the Matbro Teleporter. I have had my fair share of doctors and osteos over the years, the doctors recommending ibuprofen mainly (which I do not take as I need to know what is going on) and physio/osteo /chiros who made me feel better at the time but after the car journey home I was nearly back to square one. My conclusion is that I need to strengthen the back muscles evenly to give my back enough strength to hold the discs apart and not trap a nerve. This means paying attention to the stomach muscles so that the stress on the back is not one sided. On top of this of course is general fitness and diet. Although I was playing a lot of hockey, I weighed over 17 stone at times but carried it fairly evenly and not as a massive beer gut. But it was far too much so I have managed to reduce that to 14 stone now which is comfortable and about right for my build. I prefer cycling which is more gentle on the back than running and the hills around here help to make me work harder! The result is that if I do suffer an occasional twinge, I react to it immediately so it does not last much longer than a day whereas before it would have been week or more.

I had a bad back injury when I was 18. I was working on a dairy farm and loading large sacks of meal onto a hopper. I undid the stitching as I had done on the previous 100 bags but some barsteward had put another line of stitching which i did not see so when I leant forward to drop the contents nothing came out and the shock of the weight put my back out I played 1st team league hockey for years and found no problem when I was warm and playing hard , but I would seize up after an hour of sitting and chatting by the bar. Beer did not help! My recipe now is to go to work warmed up so I do a 4 mile bike ride each day before work and also have an ABS machine to do 30 stretches and stomach muscle tensioners before the bike ride. Hot bath last thing at night with bath salts. Becoming a bit old now,( a year behind Stubby!) hence the Lockdown Splitter which means I do not have to do any heavy lifting. It has been modified again so I need to post a new video

You got a sad face purely because I was disappointed in your lack of perspicacity. Sagacia Perspicacia,,,,,,,,,,, must be a new breed of conifer!

This report seems to indicate the obvious, that if you have more than one person operating the machine, you are more likely to have an accident than working alone. If this is the case, two handles will not help safety when working with others. ResearchGate WWW.RESEARCHGATE.NET ResearchGate is a network dedicated to science and research. Connect, collaborate and discover scientific publications, jobs and conferences. All for free.

I know they are the original parents when they return to our car port as they buzz me, flying inches from my nose before settling on the old TV aerial where they twitter away while I ask them how was their holiday in the sun and their journey. I will then start to tell them about my Winter and Covid and restrictions and they usually fly off two seconds later completely bored!

Bet they are on their way to us!

Weather Sayings and Meanings “Red sky at night, sailors delight. ... “The higher the clouds, the finer the weather.” ... “Clear Moon, frost soon.” ... “When clouds appear like towers, the Earth is refreshed by frequent showers.” ... “Rainbow in the morning gives you fair warning.” ... “Ring around the moon? ... “Rain foretold, long last.

Letter in the Torygraph today ”It is clear the Government gave no thought to the arrival of the Blackthorn Winter when allowing pubs to serve customers only outdoors. This cold snap comes every year and will be with us for at least another week” Michael Glover, Wiltshire Photo of our local bypass with an abundance of Blackthorn in flower.

We had an ATV trac tracker fitted to our Kawasaki Mule. It cost about £380 but has several times warned us if the Mule has been moved when we have just pushed it out of the way without the key in., or when the dealer took it away to be serviced and forgot to put the key in the ignition. Recommended by the dealer. ATVTrac - Discreet ATV and asset tracking ATVTRAC.CO.UK Revolutionising ATV Tracking Security