Billhook

The whole World seems obsessed with the smaller details rather than the bigger picture Yes , there are arguments about particulates but there seems to be no joined up handwriting. At the same time as banning some of these lesser pollutants there is far too much air travel and driving around in cars with massively unnecessary horsepower all capable of sub nine seconds to sixty and three figure top speeds. Unseasonable foods coming in from all over the globe, massive waste of food by selective size, quality and Best before dates. All costing the environment and natural resources a great deal to grow only to throw away. But way above all of this is the pollution caused by military training and warfare. God knows how much energy is consumed every time a Eurofighter is scrambled let alone dropping a bomb in Syria. Every bomb dropped is probably equivalent to the whole emissions of all vehicles in London for a month.....a year even. Going back to the question of burning wood, we grow several acres of miscanthus here which has taken the place of coal at Drax power station. I am sure that there are tons of particulates released each year from this process but we are saving our coal resources. Will miscanthus be banned as well?

The Generac one above looks just like the old five ton Portek painted in a different colour. just because it says it is a ten ton capacity model does not mean it is. I cannot think how you would measure the splitting capacity of a kinetic machine relative to a hydraulic one in terms of tons. A lot of material will break more easily with a kinetic shock rather than a slow force, wheel nuts being a good example.

I would agree with a lot of the above. I really liked my old five ton model and had no issues at all with it. I liked the two handed operation which could be done easily from the side Unfortunately some barstewards decided that they liked it too and it was nicked, to be replaced by the seven ton model. I could not really tell the difference between the splitting power but I disliked the two handled operation as to be most effective you needed to stand behind the blade and pull the levers which was dangerous. it also had a grinding of teeth and I tried to adjust according to the instructions but however much I adjusted the bolts it made no difference to the clearance between rack and pinion. Sent it back to Jones who claimed that there was nothing wrong and charged £50 for transport at the same time accusing me of not operating it properly as according to them I should have placed the log on to the ram and not on the knife as it would have more impact! This is talking to someone who has operated the five ton model for over a year with no problems. i spoke to the manufacture and they agreed with me, that you should place the log against the blade. So although I still use it and find it has a place at home rather than in the woodyard, I would much prefer to have my old one back which was a "cracker" !

Cannot find the model number just now as I am away from the office but I seem to think it was meant to cope with 4 in ch softwood and 3 inch hardwood and cost about £1700 for pto and linkage model. Works perfectly with the Little Grey Fergie and is less nickable attached to the same.

yes, replaced the SM70 Urban that was stolen with a Remet from Welmac which is pto driven and 3 point linkage. I found the petrol engined one a bit of a faff to move around and this unit is much cheaper and has a slightly larger capacity diameter of wood. Very pleased with it. Put it on the little Grey Fergie which runs almost at idle speed so will tend to stall on a difficult piece of wood rather than break the shear pin.(Has only happened once.) I am putting the loggings directly into either a ton bag or a potato box as small bagging is also a faff. Best to grade the material before logging and just have nice twenty foot long lengths of Ash or Sycamore poles, all 4 to 2 inch diameter, with all the twiggy bits cut off (in my dream world!)

Just took down a small Holly and the Arb trolley is lurking somewhere beneath. I towed it for quarter of a mile and did not lose a single twig ! Unloading is simple, just unhitched, take out the two rods on one side and use the other two to push it over

The Elm may not mutate, but the beetle or fungus might die out with their own enemies!

Yes, the huge Elms were everywhere here in Lincolnshire lining the road sides and dominating the tops of hills until the disease struck in the seventies. Now they have all gone............ or have they? The hedges and copses are full of saplings which live until about 15 years when the bark splits and the beetles introduce the fungus. But they come again and are just waiting for the time, perhaps in our Great Great Grandchildren's lifetime when either the beetle, the fungus disappear or the trees become immune. We have two mature Elms on the farm here in the middle of fields on their own . They seem to have a touch of the disease in the crown every year but no dieback and each year starts with a complete canopy. I have written to the Elm trust people in the hope that they may take some cuttings. Anyone have a suggestion as to the best way/ timing to do this? I am confident that the Ash will survive in a similar way, Nature mutates, which is how things survive, including ourselves.

Found it at 4.00 minutes in

Well done you two! She was a vivid yellow rather than golden brown but the lighter spots down the side are there. I have seen plenty of the males but this is the first female, they are so different that I would have thought they were a separate species.

Never seen one of these before here, or anywhere for that matter Quite a big boy or girl

Saw this one https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STIGA-VILLA-11E-RIDE-ON-GARDEN-TRACTOR-MOWER/112990887171?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D50545%26meid%3D4f6fa20cf1614ba695d0a0562b6a4871%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D192542526801%26itm%3D112990887171&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851 Not quite as good as the pivot steer Stiga Park but still could be useful. One day left no bids at £185

Great machine, now even more versatile with builders bag hooks I welded from some one inch box section and a bit of light bar.

Or a bit like that scene from "Waterloo" There is a story, possibly apocryphal, concerning Henry Paget, 2nd Earl of Uxbridge. One of the last cannonballs fired that day hit Uxbridge just above the knee, all but severing the leg. Lord Uxbridge was close to Wellington at the time, exclaiming “By God, sir, I’ve lost my leg!”. Wellington replied “By God, sir, so you have!” There’s another version in which Wellington says “By God, sir, you’ve lost your leg!”. Looking down, Uxbridge replied “By God, sir, so I have!”

I am astounded! We certainly never heard a double ouch, or even a single one for that matter. Feel very sorry for him as it must have been a freak case of the perfect swinging log hitting an arm at its most vulnerable position.

This one will make you lot take a bit of extra care!

I know that sometimes it is difficult to see angles and forces involved, but to me the log did not seem to have enough velocity to do more than perhaps cause a bruise or trapped finger/black nail. This together with the fact that there was no "Aaaaaaaaargh!" or the usual stream of profanities, just the calm "I have broken my arm" with no sign of a broken arm or him nursing it. Did he break his arm or was he just commenting for groundie effect?

The new rules coming in on May 20th will mean than any vehicle over 40 years old will be MOT exempt. So a 1978 Landie would be quite tempting for a hard up arb worker. https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/mot-exemption-cars-over-40-years-old-starts-20-may

I think the word he was looking for was"Discorporate" Frank Zappa explains.....................................

I thought "Huel" was the noise you make when you throw up!

I am not sure whether the capital cost of the disruption of installing a ground source will be more cost effective due to the slightly more efficient conversion, than modern air source pumps which have become a lot more efficient and are cheaper to install. https://www.thegreenage.co.uk/air-source-heat-pumps-vs-ground-source-heat-pumps/ Of all the things I have done, I think that the solar tubes have been one of the most efficient and reliable. I went on an installer's course in Wales and that saved a lot of the capital cost of the forty tubes on our garage roof. https://www.navitron.org.uk/ Need another cylinder, pump and pipes to the tubes, but basically on sun power for a lot of the year.

Good work practice to keep abreast of any situation that may arise!

Perhaps a vertical wooden blockboard or similar in front of the work bench so that you can shadow mark your tools and when they are not there it shouts at you. I once did some work for an old surgeon friend of my father. He was in his eighties at the time and every tool was laid out on the wall in front of him in the same way as his surgical implements were in the operating theatre. He could reach out and find the tool he needed without looking but this was combined with the discipline of meticulously returning all the tools to their place. In surgery you did not want to leave any tools inside the patient! My biggest problem, which I gave never really resolved, is putting down a tool or machinery part, being distracted and then spending the next hour looking for it. If I could have added up all the time I spend looking for things............... The surgeon used to frustrate me a bit as I was young and wanted to do things quickly and he spent ages putting tools back and tidying up. But he was far quicker than me in the end!

And another thing..................................! Land is so expensive due to lack of it and a vast population wanting it, that to go to Agricultural Mortgage Corporation and borrow it would cost over £300/acre a year just for the interest but £500/acre to pay the capital, whereas average farm rent for an arable farm is less than half that. Even at a rent of £100 acre many farms are making ends meet by diversification or living off the proceeds of selling a bit of land for building. Maybe a second job, a farm shop, a wood business or contracting. The point being that the farm itself if generally just turning money round. How are the young people of today going to be interested in a future like that? I live in a county with good arable land and know many farmers, some with large farms of many thousands of acres, but I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of farmers sons or daughters who want to stay and run the business. There is a perfect storm brewing.