Billhook

So what model is your PTO one? I initially bought an Urban SM70 with a petrol Briggs engine and it seemed to work well at a nice steady speed. The blades were such that they did not grab the branches and I never had any problem just holding onto the branch to stop it going in. That Urban model was nicked by some thieving scumbags and I bought the TR110 pto version which was quite a bit cheaper, but it took slightly bigger diameter branches and definitely had a bit more grunt. I think that it would take 4 inch diameter but it would break the shearpin on the harder woods with a knot. And those big diameter branches really flipped up and down hard and you needed to stand clear otherwise a long branch might flip up and hit your arm or face. I found that the pto model ran a lot faster than I wanted it to at 540 rpm so that is why it works so well at tickover revs., it also is quite easy to stop a branch being pulled through A nice even feed and no strain on anything and no broken shearpins.

I have my pto branch logger fitted to the little grey Fergie with a petrol engine. The stop switch is wired to the ignition which stops the engine immediately but I run the Fergie at low revs so that it will stall the engine before it breaks the shear pin. The main difference between these branch loggers and the chipper/shredders is that if you hold on to the material you can easily stop it going through so that you are very unlikely to be dragged into the machine if you have a bit of clothing which becomes tangled with the branch, unlike the feed system on the chippers.

Ok, I admit as usual I am not sure of what I am talking about at these sort of ranges. You should be able to nail a pheasant at 50 yards with a 12 bore and No 6 shot, maybe 60 yards. It would probably need to be a head shot. I have always been told that a BB shot pellet can kill at twice that distance, hence the use of heavier shot for high flying geese. My Browning would let off 280 BB pellets in a matter of seconds with the 5 shots. Peter Scott did much work with a surgeon at Boston hospital rocket netting flocks of geese and bringing them in to the hospital for XRays to assess the amount of lead shot in them. I think they found some fantastic figure like 80% of them were carrying lead shot because they had been shot at out of range on both sides of the Atlantic. I would think that tethering a helium balloon on 300 foot of string would not tell you much about the ability of lead shot to bring a drone down as the skin of a balloon is easily punctured. If you kept letting out the line you would eventually find the point at which the shot loses all its energy and starts to return to earth, but that would take a lot of time and balloons. Best Idea is to use a helium balloon to lift a hard plastic model plane to various heights and assess the damage, making sure the balloon is obviously out of range.

Try barking like a dog before you shoot it to see if it is frightened

Browning needs a firearm certificate. As far as I can tell a .303 bullet weighs about 12 grams and is pointed. If not fired vertically it can maintain a high velocity and kill at great range. A BB shot weighs about 0.4 gram and is round. The chances of being hurt by that falling under gravity I would have thought was fairly unlikely. I would guess that a 12 bore with full choke and BB shot would bring a drone down from 300 feet maybe more. Anyone have one for me to test?

Not with my five shot Browning semi-auto which also has full choke!

A massive fine followed by a long prison sentence at the moment!

I am sure BB shot would work well. Dangerous at 450 yards according to this https://news.gov.mb.ca/news/archives/1959/10/1959-10-02-shotguns_can_kill_at_a_long_range.pdf It says no.4 shot is dangerous at about 300 yards. It says no.4 will go through a telephone directory at 40 yards whereas BB would probably put the telephone directory through the fence behind! But you would need a calm person only shooting vertically to be safe and the pellets falling from above would be unlikely to hurt anyone.

Was this Difflock last Christmas??

Your head must be quite sore by now Timon and the ceiling will need redecorating!

Sounds like too much Southern Comfort!

Mind you don't bash your head on the ceiling when you are headbashing to that one Timon!

Good choice! My wife and I are off to see the elusive Northern Lights hopefully at the New Year in Lapland. Might pick up some firewood tips from Father Christmas at the same time!

I do not think I would like to be wielding that bloody great thing all day long. The X27 is the best compromise of light weight and effectiveness.

We have a Clearview Vision 500 (about 6kw)in the office and an Aarrow Stratford boiler stove (4.5kw room,24kw boiler) for the house and fill them with tubular shaped scuttles rather than the tapering coal scuttles which tend to bung. It is quite easy to swing a load in from the side. I have adapted a wheelie bin with a hinged flap at the bottom which makes the scuttle easy to fill.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

Google result says What is the difference between democracy and populism? Populism: A political philosophy supporting the rights and power of the people in their struggle against the privileged elite. ... In short, Democracy is a form of government elected by the people whereas Populism is a movement initiated by the people to bring some change in the existing government. I cannot see the difference between the two . Take the Corbyn labour government opposition which clearly has come to power because of a populist movement and may be elected in this democracy with the idea of bringing change in the existing government. Really all opposition parties are populist. Google again However, there is a vast difference between nationalism and patriotism.Nationalism means to give more importance to unity by way of a cultural background, including language and heritage. Patriotism pertains to the love for a nation, with more emphasis on values and beliefs. And here heritage surely encompasses values and beliefs and patriotism includes love of your language and heritage.

Did she ask for a leg up when decorating the top of the Christmas tree?

I think that the rats may be more pleasant! Envenomation[edit] The venom of P. affinis is potentially one of the most lethal in the world, causing coagulopathic and procoagulant effects.[1] Dugites generally avoid biting humans, but risks of encounters rise when they are most active during the mating season through October and November.[2] The last death attributed to a dugite was in Fremantle (South Beach) on 15 August 2015. A woman was bitten on her heel mid-afternoon while walking alone. She walked home and later collapsed whilst her husband was taking her to her car in order to transport her to the hospital. The ambulance was called, arriving five minutes later, but medics were unable to revive her.[2] In January 2011, a seven-year-old Perth boy was bitten and temporarily paralyzed after a dugite entered his bedroom and wrapped itself around his arm while he slept. After receiving immediate medical attention, he made a full recovery

What is a lot easier than deflating the tyres and messing about with a winch, is just sticking it into reverse gear and backing out! I videoed it because it was odd even to me that six wheel drive would be brought to a halt by such a small rut It was not the Landie or the driver but the soil and its particular state that beat us. Earlier I had just managed to get the Matbro stuck in the same place . Now that had four wheel drive and limited slip diffs and new tractor tread tyres. The downside is that it weighs about eight tons The saving grace is that you can push yourself out of trouble by extending the boom.

It is on limited use, agricultural/forestry

Here is a clip I took of the Sandringham 6 with five wheels turning on a level ground and enough room underneath for me to crawl under. The tyres look like slicks but they were nearly new and just filled with a very sticky clay!