Billhook

Lucas Mill Sunset

13 hours ago, scbk said:

To be fair though, in a BP garage a tuna sandwich will also cost you £10.99

And as for the price of petrol and diesel! Being only a simple soul, I cannot quite understand that if it was Putin’s war that put up the prices, surely the oil companies would be having to pay more for it so would be making less profit which does not tally with their record profits this year

i have just received a massive bill for some fertiliser and the price of wheat has dropped so I am not expecting much profit this year.  I will be like Clarkson’s Farm and making Diddly Squat!

On 19/02/2023 at 22:31, GarethM said:

Rock out with yer out, just make sure you have a diet coke break afterwards.

I actually believe that you do not need to put a drug in sugar, just say that you have!

11 hours ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Too many people.

You are right Mick and they need my perfect solution which is to place an infertility drug into all artificial sugar.  I think you must advertise that it is in there.  This might clear a few beds in the NHS as I would bet that obesity would be the cause of half the patients from heart disease to hips and knees, to diabetes

12 hours ago, GarethM said:

I have no lack of flying bugs, which all get hoovered up by the swarms of migratory birds including housemartin, swallows, swift etc.

 

The only pesticides/herbicides around here are used in gardens and by the council.

 

Personally I would talk to your parents and not use post DDT years as an example of how the world looks.

 

DDT caused atleast a 10-15 year collapse of bird populations, now 50ish years later it's almost finished correcting total numbers.

 

If in your youth lots of midges not being eaten=an imbalance somewhere, does it not ?.

I am not sure about the demise of the general bird population caused by DDT.  It certainly nailed the raptors and crows and magpies and the result was lawns with thrushes and other birds out in the middle of the lawns listening for worms, unmolested by Sparrow Hawks, hedges full of nesting birds unmolested by crows and Jays and Magpies.  Not saying go back to DDT but just making the point that the current demise in all these garden birds is usually put down to modern farming methods when really I think it is due to the banning of DDT which has resulted in the gradual return of raptors.  What chance has a bird to raise a family against, not only all these I have just mentioned but also domestic cats.

do not think it was the peanuts a there are literally dozens of tits, hedge sparrows, robins, jays, blackbirds and squirrels on the feeders each day

I suspect the water bowl and me not cleaning it daily,  Many birds landing on it and pooping in it during the day.

Both the birds in the picture were found right next to it

9 hours ago, Brushcutter said:

How long since a hydraulic oil change and any debris in the filter?  Sounds like the spool valve is got something sticking in it. you could replace it or strip the valve down and see if anything is worn inside. 

1 hour ago, renewablejohn said:

Clean all the shit out from everywhere and then spray down with some clean oil and see if you still have a problem. Only time I had a problem with similar symptoms was due to woodchip not allowing the full travel of the control therefore not allowing the auto return.

Good advice from you both, thank you

8 hours ago, peatff said:

 

This sounds pretty obvious, have you had the valve apart to see what's happening inside ? It's 25 years old and might need a little TLC, some Jizer and a blow down wouldn't hurt it.

Do you think I should suggest the same to my wife to improve things down under?

Just had a huge Claas forage harvester cutting the dense Miscanthus today.  The driver has cut several farms and I asked him what wildlife he has seen running out of it.  He said plenty of Muntjac, few rabbits, quite a few pheasants but no foxes, not seen one since he started and there we’re always quite a few in the past 

I find this very worrying as we always had a stable population around here

Seen quite a few dead badgers on the roadside still no rats though, mind you I am not missing them!

14 minutes ago, Doug Tait said:

I read somewhere that bird feeders are like primary schools, riddled with everything going in the community.

So you would think that if it was disease they would look thin and ragged surely?

Have you or anyone seen a victim of bird flu?

A quick google doesn’t seem to show that garden birds are particularly susceptible but swollen heads and sudden deaths are mentioned.  They do not seem to have the swollen head but the deaths were sudden and both next to each other by the water bowl which I have cleaned

The Palax has been very faithful since I bought it twenty five years ago but recently the ram auto return has been playing up

We can split ten pieces and it returns every time then it refuses maybe once maybe five times maybe for the rest of the session 

It seems simple enough as there are plenty of adjustments but we had a real good go at fixing it today to no avail

no 1 is looking down at the spool valve which operates the ram .  The plate hits the rod coming up from the spool and the adjustable stop on the next picture is hit by the ram going forward and triggers the return by flicking the rod the other way.  The adjustment on this stop limits the ram travel so that it doesn’t hit the knife

The next picture shows where that square rod is gripped by a bolt under the plate

I have tried adjusting all these points but it doesn’t make any difference .  The ram travel quickly when working well but seems to be slow when the fault occurs as though the spool valve has only been partially opened.

I cannot understand why the ram will not trigger the return every time as it hits the stop quite hard and the spool is the kind that clicks into either position, you do not have to hold it there.  A light tap with hammer or boot on the valve is all that is needed to make it return but this becomes tedious in a working day

Any suggestions would be welcomed 

(apart from just use a bloody axe Billhook!)

Two lying dead by the drinking bowl, seemingly in good order with a good gloss on the feathers and looking quite plump.  Great Tit and Brambling

Bird flu?

We have dozens of all sorts on the bird feeder looking well and I have to fill it sometimes twice a day with peanuts and sunflower heartsts 

Fight back Mark!

I only have it for the puzzles, honest guv!  Perhaps I should try the Guardian to keep you happy

40 minutes ago, GarethM said:

Ah, so the man wearing the top hat, using the boot on the little doggy?.

 

Or will he be more the top hat running over the doggy with the car or wheelbarrow?.

I think you must have a later version.  Mine is at least pre war so no top hats or wheelbarrows!  Did have a car though

I think I am due to land on the “pay some income tax” card shortly which should take the shine off it!

1 minute ago, GarethM said:

He actually won a real competition but thought it was a scam initially.

 

I do find it very suspicious he's not clarified if it was him or the Mrs that actually did the sudoku 😉

My wife is a Daily Mail snob and would not even touch it if we had run out of loo paper!

I framed it and it now sits pride of place on our mantle piece!

Of course I read these wise words from Arbtalk so naturally am ready when I receive a phone call while I am in the middle of the woods asking to help clarify my name and address.

Was not in a great mood and surprised myself by being calm and polite.

”Who am I talking to?”

”Its the Daily Mail here and I was hoping to clarify some details”

I thought that they were going to ask me what I thought about the new ELM scheme on the farm or similar

”So what do you want to know?”

 I would just like to inform you that you have just won the Sudoku competition “

I thought  here we go , next thing he will want my bank details, but I could see no harm in giving my address 

He said that the cheque would be in the post  where have I heard that before!!!

My wife gave me a billhooking “ You idiot you gave them our address, we will be burgled now etc etc”

Anyway a week later a cheque turned up for £500 and I. Paid it in and it cleared and my name appeared in the paper as the winner!

I have never heard of anyone winning these competitions.  I only buy the Mail really for the code word and Sudoku which are more difficult than other papers, to try and keep the old brain going.

I shall try and be less hasty with my torrent of abuse in the future when I receive these calls!

The sad part is that the money of course has not bought me new chains and bars and fuel, just a new pair of shoes for my beloved who apologised for calling me an idiot

So Billhook has brains as well as beauty!

This is the website selling them at £6 per bag so quite a mark up!

Alder as well which is not quite the same as Ash

Just passing by the  factory shop in our local town and spotted this!

Eleven pieces of kiln dried for £14

I really believe it would be cheaper for me and easier to sell my firewood and go back to North Sea gas!

Funny old world!

Future firewood optimism indeed!

Here in Lincolnshire I have not seen a Fox or Badger around for a year, they are not hunted or shot as far as I know.  I have not seen a rat for ages or a sign of one but we do have bait traps.  Very few rabbits.  Hundreds of grey squirrels though.  Quite a few deer Roe and Muntjack

Plenty of bird life, Mistle Thrush singing today, every Tit and Finch in the county on  the bird feeder.  Many Carrion Crows Rooks and Jackdaws.  No swans on the lake when there used to be a regular pair breeding.  No sign of the Otters either

Just finding it very strange particularly about the Foxes who were not afraid of me and were seen often both in the day and night.