Billhook

Synchronicity more likely. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity

Me Too! Father Christmas bought me a pair of Fiskars left handed (proper) scissors. Processed a whole load of junk mail for the wood stove. Just need a left handed chainsaw and a left handed X27. I am not joking about the axe, well not the axe but the axe holster which is designed for a right hander and you would not understand if you are right handed. Looks as though the Fiskars knife is right handed as well with the serrations down the wrong side for me.

I thought that considering the amount of metal, hydraulics and automation that the result was disappointingly slow. I could certainly process faster with my "manual" Palax Combi with timber up to 12 inches and keep a bit warmer! A lot of the end product seemed to be far too big to sell to the normal firewood market. I thought that it was ridiculous to have two men employed moving logs by hand rather dangerously into the splitter with so much automation all around in the first machine. They did not seem to be actuating the splitter themselves which seemed very dangerous The second machine's operator looked as though he might be fairly cold after an hour or two and the third machine was painfully slow

Just came in from the cold to do some boring office book work. Using the last of the wretched plastic net bags which have the additional problem that rats seem to love them! Lit the Clearview 500 and in no time the room was warm as toast. Only trouble was I fell asleep before I finished the accounts!

They are too quick at 540 rpm, they need to be run at near idle speed so it stalls the tractor on a knotty branch. (Very rare)

Yes I think that the paper of the paper bag would act as a fire lighter as I do not like the idea and expense of dropping fire lighters into each bag. I must do some experiments.

We have been using the loggings from our Remec RP150 mainly Ash and Sycamore. Like Woodworks I found the plastic net bagging very unsatisfactory on my old SM70 Urban which was stolen. I tried to flog the bags around the village but the main complaint was the mess they made and the fiddle of making the loggings come out of the bag. They were also too heavy for women to lift. And they were a faff to fill and tie and stack at my end. The RP 150 was a lot cheaper being pto driven and works well with the little Grey Fergie which seems to have enough torque at just over idle will stall at that speed rather than break the shear pin. We use the loggings from a bulk container hauled out with a tubular scuttle rather than a tapering scuttle. They are brilliant for starting the stoves and running the one in the office. But I would like to make people buy them off me and I was thinking of putting them in a small paper sack, like a potato sack weighing nearer 10 to 15 pounds which I could seal with a hand stitching machine. The customer could just chuck the whole bag on the stove and light the paper and so have a firelighter and kindling all in one.. There is no doubt in my mind that the loggings burn very well and are a great way to start and gee up a fire. They also seem to last longer than you expect and produce a carpet of red hot coals. The problem is that the wood would need to be dry before it was paper bagged but that should not be too much of a problem with a bit of planning. Anybody have any better ideas? I think we need to sort this out together and create a market. Go and have a few beers and make that grey matter do some work!

If you can watch this without feeling sick you should be ok.!

By 'eck! This is a bit different to my system! I do think there is something special about actually handling all the logs and boards, and feeling the saws cut the wood and much more satisfaction with the end product each time you sit on it, eat off it or walk on it. This system has cost a few jobs no doubt but we had better become used to it for when the robots take over!

So we have had wind and water and now steam!

New Brunswick, Canada

They remind me of sex as you grow older, it goes slower and slower as you run out of wind!

I thought that it was strange not to have an automatic speed control on the sails. The guy seemed to have to stop the drive and run up a ladder to adjust something. On the windmills around here they have a pair of arms with large cast iron balls on the end which fly open with centrifugal force as the wind speed increases. These are linked to the shutters in the sails which open and slow the sails down. Very odd not to have a fan tail to turn the sails into the wind. In the days before fantails the miller had to turn the post mills by hand, so he had to be there most of the time. Perhaps the prevailing wind was SW and the site was such that there was not enough windpower from other directions so it was pointless to turn it.? Interesting piece about the wet wood

I was wondering the same thing. Any expert opinions out there?

Sorry if it has been posted before, still worth watching twice!

We have an ancient TPO on some large Holly trees in our garden. Some 18 inches at chest height. Also in our herb garden, which is very warm and sheltered, I planted a Lemon Verbena herb. This should never have grown more than a couple of feet but against the wall of the house it has turned into a tree higher than the garage roof and at least three inches at chest high! Apparently it does grow into small trees in South America. I have always protected it against frost when smaller.

I feel your pain , being only three years behind you! Mainly through natural idleness if there is an easier way to do something, I will find it. Lifting heavy logs is the worst thing a we grow older. As I have mentioned elsewhere I have an old Palax Combi with manual feed via rollers and a multi toothed circular saw followed by an automatic Splitter and elevator into one ton boxes I built a simple log feed table with just a slope and a manual stop for the logs. I load about twenty at a time with the Teleporter. The main idea is to pick up usually wind blown ash in the woods and cut into 8 foot lengths held by a muck grab . The Teleporter does all the lifting if I have done it correctly. As you point out not all wood is straight and indeed many Ash limbs are far too bent to go through a mechanically fed processor. I find it easy to slide or roll the logs down the table to a set of rollers and it is easy again to slide sideways into the Palax If the wood is bent it is again easy to hold it in the right position to present it to the saw. Sliding is a hundred times easier than lifting! Sometimes I bypass the splitting knife with smaller branches and I can cut half a dozen lengths without operating the Splitter ram which speeds up the process no end. I also find that I need a moderate amount of activity in these colder periods and I would not like to be standing or sitting in front of a load of hygraulic controls which in fact give me less control and keep me cold. Sliding activity is perfect for this I have never so far caught any clothing in the rollers but am careful how I dress for processing

I think that there should be a crackdown on lap steel guitars

I am in Finland at the moment in a glass igloo looking at the Northern Lights. The hotel which owns the igloo has very friendly staff especially since I told them that I have owned a Palax Combi 600 since 1996 and also Fiskars X27 and other Fiskars tools, all of which have stood up to my abuse. So I am hero at the bar tonight! The Palax I bought second hand from Jas Wilson for £2500. It was pto but I fitted a three phase motor which still allowed the pto to work without changing anything. i also fitted a drawbar and removable wheels making it a very versatile machine only one tiny fault in twenty two years that was repaired in ten minutes. The time and work this machine has saved me is tremendous. i operate it on my own with a Teleporter and home made log deck. I do not think an extra man would make a great difference to output The wood all goes into old one ton potato boxes i have rarely used the pto as it is so quiet with the 3 phase i would not entertain a chainsaw to cut the lengths as a good multitooth tungsten tip circular blade really is like a knife through butter and you can "feel" the blade through the wood. Having said that I am only using timber from our own woods. So knowing not much about the other machines my only advice is that Palax build good machines and that it is always a balance of the capital cost versus the throughput. So while 15 or 20 k may buy a superior machine, how long will it take to make your money back?

Father Christmas bought me a jar of Porter Foods Marrons Glaces. Nectar! Also bought me a couple of Gilets Jaunes which is meant for my bike but will be there ready for the revolution!

And a Happy and Safe Christmas to you and your family!

Just looked at the inoice from Welmac and it was the Remet RP150

I think that is the one I have but without the conveyor. Did they not used to be called "Remec" or something similar?