The avantgardener
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Everything posted by The avantgardener
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Viburnum davidii is pretty tough. Dark green foliage with clusters of white flowers followed by stunning iridescent blue berries in the Autumn. Can be hedged or made into a standard.
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There’s not been any decent Boxing on terrestrial TV since the Benn v Eubanks days, all pay per view and subscription, and the day that the great David Attenborough dies will be the final nail in the coffin of the BBC and TV licensing.
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There is a firewood guy down near me who produces a lot with Birch, he pays the cutters more per tonne If they ‘strike it’ after it has been cut to length, running the saw vertically down the entire length to open it up to drying, it certainly works.
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I don’t watch TV but I bet watching a blockbuster on one that expensive is fantastic, is the sound good as standard or do you need separate speakers?
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It cost more than you would individually pay to be in the EU?
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All Alders are quick growing if planted properly in the right conditions.
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I have been looking after an elderly neighbour for the last three years since his wife passed. Whilst I was working away last week my missus had to take him into hospital. I visited him last night and doctor informed me that he is very ill and may not see Christmas. He has a brother in Spain in a similar position and no other family so I will be making arrangement for his cremation. He is ex 1 Para, if there are any ex paras on here that could you give me any advice on any traditions that may be held by the regiment at your time of death, any help would be appreciated. If not, I think I will go with my gut instinct and do a tandem parachute jump in the new year and open the casket, should be able to raise some money for ‘Help for Heroes’ at the same time.
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There is a guy called Dave on here, Arboraeration or something similar, does airspading, based near Gatwick, a very reputable company.
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It depends where you live, Barchams can supply huge trees if you have access for a machine to plant them, Specimen Trees in Cheshire are excellent also, I used them a lot when I worked in landscape design.
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I was looking at some coppice work with a Woodland Trust Manager near me, he has a big lab that is nuts. A little old lady came by with a lurcher, the dogs did the usual chasing game with the lurcher turning on a sixpence and running past it’s owner, the lab hit her so hard her legs went up in the air and she landed on the back of her head, I thought she dead! Hope you recover Stubby, a nice brandy in front of the fire with the leg up.
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Swamp Cypress (Taxodium distichium) will deal with these conditions, just lift the lower branches as they grow to gain your view of the river. They will create a solid screen until Autumn when it will turn a stunning yellow/orange/red before dropping their leaves (needle). Or as Steve says, Alder, there are a few hybrids with interesting colour on the new growth.
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I sat through a FC meeting regarding woodlands in the South East shortly before the opening of the Black Hole at Sandwich. The guy showed a map of the wooded area in total, it covered a vast area in green, he then superimposed a blue map showing all the woodlands without any form of management plan or rotation, it covered more than two thirds of the green. I have discussed putting a management plan together with a few woodland owners/farmers near me over the years, most are happy to leave it as it is as they think it is good for wildlife, the others think that their wood is worth its weight in gold, with all the cutting costs, extraction costs, haulage etc sometimes wood isn’t worth its weight in wood!
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He’s thrashing himself into a frothy frenzy as we speak.
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I think it is down the the shape/size of your head, but mainly down to setting it up properly. Try one on and have a play about, as long as you don’t look in a mirror you will be happy.
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That is a particular dull way to spend a nice Sunday Andy, crack on if you must.
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You seem to struggle with a lot of things Andy.
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I have trained dozens of lads over the years, the numbers of guys I work with are dependant on the job, they also have their own work and I cut for them also.
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You are right, I rarely buy and sell standing timber anymore, but I cut it all the time, both on piece rate and day rate.
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I avoided buying one for ages, bought one this year and I can’t recommend it high enough. Adjust the fittings correctly and the earmuffs are fine. My Husqvarna Technical is now my Brushcutter helmet, it feels like a flimsy piece of loose plastic on my head now. Expensive, yes, but how much do you value your skull? £200 for trousers, similar for boots, my head is worth the most.
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I am paid the same as I pay the other cutters per tonne, how am I exploiting them? Most of the cutters who work alongside me are excellent at their job and can exceed the standard day rate that you would get in Forestry. No one gets into Forestry to get rich, it’s something we love to do, the environment and the challenging work. The only guys who I know who are rich from it moved into mechanisation or diversified into ride creation and car park creation for the likes of The Woodland Trust.
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Andy, you clearly haven’t a clue how the industry works so why don’t you just button it and maybe you will learn something? If I tender a price to buy some standing timber from the Forestry Commision, I base my price on the current market value per tonne that I can expect to sell it for roadside. I then factor in the costs involved to get it roadside, extraction cost per tonne etc. That leaves the tonnage rate that you can cut it for, I will be cutting at the same per tonne as the other cutters, you will earn what you cut and no one is forcing you to do it, there is no exploitation, you do it or you don’t, this is how the commercial forestry sector is. Comparing a small gang of hand cutters in Kent to a global tax dodging giant like Amazon if frankly ridiculous.
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It depends how good you are, Most people I know get anywhere between £100-£150 per day, a few of us get more but are worth every penny. It really isn’t about hourly rate in Forestry, you can’t expect £150 per day and then cut the guy you are working for £80 worth of wood, simple economics. Thats why piece rate is still so common, you earn what you cut, you learn to cut better and more efficient and if you can’t, jack it in and be a groundy in Arb.
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Eco-friendly disposable cups - possible???
The avantgardener replied to Squaredy's topic in General chat
What about getting someone to turn a load of wooden mugs in different species to show off the timbers, keeps warm, doesn’t get too hot to hold. Apparently the Romans turned wine vessels out of large Ivy stems, really thin walled and waterproof. -
The huge knuckles and included unions should produce some interesting stuff too, It was standing in the grounds of a large private school, hopefully it should be free of iron.
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It’s a Spencer timber tape used in felling for linear measuring of sawlogs/bars etc, imperial one side, metric the other. The butt has a 1.5m diameter and 2.5m long, it must have been an impressive Oak when it was standing.
