spandit

Thought that was elder?

I cut as high as I was comfortable holding the saw. Wasn't far off my shoulder height

Still going strong. Dealt with some hawthorn today that was probably oversized but it didn't falter. Main problem is what to do with the product. I netted it today but don't really like using them as they degrade. I've had a few fires with the minimal amount of dry stuff I found to put through it and it makes for a fantastic bed of coals for burning larger logs on. I know it will burn quick but it's an otherwise waste product and so much faster and safer than trying to chainsaw through it

Got called away for the weekend so had to wait until yesterday to deal with it. Misjudged the lean and briefly trapped the saw as I was doing the back cut but managed to push the tree enough to free it. Got a decent amount of firewood from it too:

Bit dark tonight...

Pollard it is then. Take it this time of year is best?

I have a reasonably old hawthorn tree that was previously really shaded by willow and holly, both of which have since been cut down (they were leaning onto a fence and in a poor state - they'll doubtless survive and sprout again). It's rotten in places and very uneven where it's been forced to seek the light. I don't want to kill it but it's just in a field so doesn't need to look pretty. Should I coppice it or cut higher up? The red line in the 2nd pic is holding up what remains of the fence and the holly to the right might benefit from a trim

I know! He likes paddling but hasn't discovered the joy of swimming yet. He's still young. We probably put him off it when we threw him in when he was about 4 months old

Dog was miffed. It's fresh cut prunings but still didn't anticipate this 20250206_095950.mp4

I've fitted an electric winch (Superwinch TS9500) on a towbar adaptor to the front of my tractor. With a wireless remote control (dirt cheap!) it's awesome. What winch do you have and does it not need hydraulic/PTO power (which would be at the back)?

I've been very fortunate with my tip site over the last few years but haven't been offered anything in quite some time - I wonder if it's because homeowners are opting to keep the logs instead, or whether it's worth tree surgeons keeping the wood to process and sell on themselves? Thing is, I haven't had any requests to dump chip either and most of the logs I had dumped were not the kind that lent themselves to efficient processing (not that I'm complaining - kept me fit) Will keep hoping for future deliveries although I have a lot of willow and birch that needs to come down which will keep me warm as well as my branch loggings

Dealing with brash is a lot more difficult and requires a chipper. I can understand why people just take the logs - easier to deal with. It's why I bought the branch logger for dealing with trees on my own land.

Buy a bale of straw?

Pete the Pond came to quote for our pond. His quote was astronomical. His schtick with the wooden leg and parrot wears very thin. I am only part way through the episode but the hole they dug for the pond could have been done for £400 in a day

I saw some that you shouldn't twist wires when crimping