Billhook

It clearly states that the contractor was using a flail type and not the open circular saw type. It really is going to be a one in a million chance for such a thing to happen and terrible for all involved. it is a bit like a piece of metal falling off the back of a lorry on a motorway and bouncing in such a way that it goes through a car windscreen behind and kills the driver. In both cases the victim is very very unlucky. There are all sorts of possibilities with a flail. Sometimes the direction of rotation means debris is flung out of the front instead of the back, and perhaps a guard had been removed. But you can make all the rules about checking guards and making sure no one is nearby and then the law allows the operation of those totally unguarded circular saws in the videos. The latter makes no sense to me. Sometimes the pins that hold the flails fail, and I know of one incidence when a flail broke off on a trailed machine, came out through the metal cover and went into the tractor tyre with enough force to puncture it.

And another off youtube with someone standing close by [ame] [/ame]

If you think an enclosed flail is dangerous take a look at these with a circular saw blade totally unguarded, spinning in line with the operator on the second video and presumably still legal [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame]

I have a Woodchuck Dual which looks similar but may be a little more versatile as it will roll quite big logs and has the peavey point. Very well built with a retractable point and log lifter. [ame] [/ame] Here it is with the removable log lifter, [ame]https://www.amazon.co.uk/Woodchuck-Tool-Inc-Dual-Jack/dp/B00D9F3QKE[/ame]

I have only seen clegs this year but the Chrysops is really a very beautiful insect, also called a Deer Fly https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=tabanidae+chrysops&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiHqPmu2PvUAhUlJMAKHdoJDUkQ_AUICigB&biw=887&bih=410#imgrc=o7aFmgtG_sDSqM: They are the noisy ones who test your reactions with a few low passes before going into silent mode for the attack! The Horse Fly Clegs on the other hand are dull looking and fly silently. Both very vulnerable once they have settled and begun to feed but only if they are in a place where you can swat them, probably difficult around your soft and juicy bum area! Wiki says . In general, country-folk did not distinguish between the various biting insects that irritated their cattle and called them all "gad-flies", from the word "gad" meaning a spike. The most common name is "cleg[g]", "gleg" or "clag", which comes from Old Norse and may have originated from the Vikings.[3] So it may be of some consolation that the Vikings also met some local resistance here when they invaded!

I think you've nailed it!

And some just go round and round Making a lot of fuss!

Some youtube clips on the subject Obviously not as good as hand planting but better than doing nothing. [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame]

Drone technology has somewhat passed me by and it is great to hear of these initiatives. It seems to be a win win situation. We had an archaeologist here looking at a site of interest and he brought his very expensive drone which took off and began to photo map a field in a predetermined search pattern all by itself and then land itself at the foot of the archaeologist. Cost a few thousand I believe. Not wishing to be left out of this Brave New World I bought a drone off Amazon for £67.99 [ame]https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01M629244/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1[/ame] I was very impressed with the technology at such a low price. read the instructions and did a flight test in a sheltered spot, all very simple and easy. Thought I would have a go at photographing my house with my wife slaving in the herb garden and took about a dozen very high quality pictures before thinking that I ought to land it before over confidence crept in Pushed the throttle lever down to land and it went higher and off to the South. I pushed all the emergency buttons and it was totally unresponsive to any input. Also the camera was not working. Ran out into the neighbours garden to see it disappearing towards the South until it became a small speck. Fruitless searches in the nearby park were not helped by the appearance of a very large bull with heifers in tow! But I did enjoy my ten minutes of glory for £68!

My experience for what it is worth. Started with a Bosky cooker in 1983. Ran it until 1996. Blacksmith built and state of the art in Britain at the time, not that efficient and very dirty. Messy carting wood into the kitchen and a thin layer of dust over everything every time you emptied the ash pan. Clearview 650 for my parents big old draughty farm house which seemed a revolution to the old open fire. I bought it as stoking the old open fire was like stoking the Bismark and took more wood in a day than I now use in a week. Father used to have a rug on one side to protect him from the radiation of the roaring fire and another rug on the other side to protect him from the draught that fed the fire! Father was very much anti the Clearview, so we put it on the slab in front of the old fire place and put a steel plate over the opening with a hole in it for the flue, telling him if he did not like it we could easily just take it away. Lit it and went out for the evening leaving father looking very unhappy. Crept back at about eleven and gingerly opened the door. Burst out laughing when I saw father in his vest and underpants. Told me he went to sleep with the fire full on and woke up thinking that he was in hell! He loved it after using it sensibly. Stove a giant leap inefficiency but not that easy to shut right down with the double doors which also burnt your arms when leading if you were not careful. Needed quite a lot of replacement door seals. Bought a Clearview Vision 500 which goes well in the office mainly on branch loggings. Very good stove. Built a conservatory to house the Aarrow Stratford water heating stove linked to a Dunsley neutraliser, probably similar to Commando's setup. Aarrow works very well and should we feel idle or be away the gas boiler (not been used for a year now) automatically senses the lack of heat in the Dunsley and will cut in I like the single door, the ease of ash emptying, the capacity, and the controls. Works well to have the wood and ash just outside so not having to cart either through the house as before. Wife just demanded an Aduro 9.5 from Denmark. Very modern looking and incredibly efficient. Nearly airtight when shut down and burns for ages on little wood So a huge progression from the Bosky!

£250 excess??

Free tuition fees together with a £10 an hour minimum wage, does all this come under the heading of "Populism" which was so sneered at by many at the Referendum?

Could be going downhill!

[ame] [/ame]

Take down its genes!

Nice one Vespasian, not sure about Tony's contribution Peatff!

Just been trawling youtube and found these woodcutter songs. Some excellent others pretty moderate and I am very unsure about the final Oriental offering! Had to include the Python lumberjack song but if anyone has any more favourites you perhaps sing as you work, please post them. [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame] [ame] [/ame] [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hylYLinF2vs[/ame]

Good thought, but I was short of both chain and drivers!

I applied a bit of Zen to the controls of the JCB and retracted the sliding boom. This together with the wet soil just tipped the balance and after a mighty struggle out it came. Picked it up with the Matbro rated at 2.7 tons and the red overload was flashing all the way down the track. The lads bought a beer to celebrate

I think that the digger, though past its sell by date like the owner is still capable of pulling its weight uphill with the boom. In the same way I can just about manage to do some pullups but not as many I as when I was younger! Also when I tried it sideways it easily pulled the digger over onto one track When I pulled length ways it pulled the digger up hill until it reached the bank of soil when it stopped and still would not move the thing! Yes I know the bucket has a bigger tear out force but the bucket may be too long being a trenching bucket, and therefore lose some geometric advantage. Unfortunately the shorter bucket I have is a ditching bucket and not so strong. I will dig deeper and try that, hope there are no water or gas mains down there............just joking, I have checked.

The soil is a heavy loam. As you say I cannot see any roots to cut through at the sides as I seem to have gone deep enough but I suspect a mighty tap root. Do sycamores ever create a tap root like oaks? It was very exposed to the West wind (coming from the angle of the digger) so I would expect there to be more root mass on the digger side of the stump. This should make pulling it in a Westerly direction easier, but so much for the theory as it has not worked in practice. I suppose I could chain together the D7, the County 1124, the Fastrac 2170 and the Matbro and see what happens! The neighbour has a 600 hp 25 ton Case Quadtrac.............

Wouldn't be too keen on using anything but chain with such forces involved. He did not even put a heavy blanket or sack over the line behind the tractor which was brave considering there was no cab. Yes, dig a bit deeper I suppose is the first option. It has been exceptionally dry and now we have just had a lot of rain and the hole has filled up with water. I may try one more yank with the JCB to see if the water has loosened anything.

One of these might do the job! [ame] [/ame]

Just had a look in the book and the JCB 806C with Powerslide in fact weighs 16.5 tons.

I have dug a pit around it and I cannot take any more soil from under it unless I do it by hand and spend ages messing about with a chainsaw and axe and spade making all three blunt. But mainly because if there is an easier way I will try and find it I have some more options without resorting to dynamite! It is right next to the road so I can only approach it from one side. 17 tons of Daisy Etta Caterpillar D7 with a strong chain working in harmony with the JC B should shift it. The JCB bucket is only 16 inches wide and the thing has a six cylinder Perkins and it is quite capable of pulling itself uphill with the boom. I gave the stump some welly thumping it with the bucket but it showed no signs of movement.