Robbo90

I went to the Midlands game fair at Weston park last week and thats still heavily into hunting, shooting and a little fishing. It was half price of the CLA at Harewood House to get in and no where near as many market stalls trying to sell posh rubbish. At Weston there was even a stall selling 4x4's, at the CLA they were trying to sell Lambo's I did comment to one of the posers trying to sell the lambo's that they would struggle to get any pigs in the back of them...... It didn't go down to well. There was nothing at Weston that promoted working in the countryside like you see at the CLA events. the closest thing you saw to any sort machinery was one stall selling axes, and I do like to have a look around some real kit occaisonally. I could never afford any of it but it's nice to think about what I need when I win big on the lottery

The CLA are quoting on their website that there will be no more CLA game fairs as they are no longer able to make a profit from them. Alcester which is/was next years event will not be happening.

Just found this. It might help Swarms The BBKA is a small charity with limited resources and it relies on a dedicated team of volunteers to collect swarms in public areas. In the office we have just four members of staff, and receive up to 300 phone calls a day asking about swarms. Around 75% of these are about insects other than honey bees, so please go to our Do You Have a Swarm page to check whether the insects you need advice on are actually honey bees. Please do not call our beekeepers about bumblebees or any insect other than the honey bee. They are unable to help you with these and will not collect/remove them. Our speciality is the honey bee. For information on other insects and bees the organisations listed on the Do You Have a Swarm page are better placed to help you. Head Office British Beekeepers Association, National Beekeeping Centre, Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2LG Opening Hours: Mon - Fri 9.00am - 5.00pm Telephone: 0871 811 2282 or 0871 811 2337 Phoning 0871 from a landline Caller pays 24p for the first minute then 9p per minute thereafter, Phoning 0871 from a mobile Caller pays depending on the mobile network provider. Emails Please send emails to [email protected]

You don't say what part of the country the house is located in? If it in the northwest..ish midlands it could be red ash but unlikely if the floor was laid in the 1800's and not touched since. Red ash was used as infill for foundations and the like as it was cheap or free. The ash came from foundries and gas works, anywhere that uses large fires. Red ash is high in sulphur and when freshly laid goes off like concrete but if it starts to get wet, swells and can do what you are possibly describing. A test costs about 200 quid

I hope you will dispose of the tree off cuts sensibly and have a fire then you can spread the ash on your garden afterwards. Please make sure the wood is correctly seasoned before having a bonfire so that any neighbouring properties do not suffer from LOTS OF SMOKE though their open windows especially if the wind is blowing in the correct direction. Try not to add too many old car tyres as this can create BLACK ACRID SMOKE and will take a long time to disperse from any neighbouring properties. By adding fresh grass cuttings that should take care of the black SMOKE and change it to a nice grey colour. Please try to be considerate with the amount of smoke created as if to much smoke is made it might set off a neighbours smoke alarm especially if they are already in bed. Don't get mad get even.

I went yesterday (Fri) I thought it was poor compared to previous years at the CLA Game Fairs. My impression was that it was laid out poorly nothing seemed to flow. There was a bit of something here and a bit of something there. There was a lot of nothing and not much of something. I thought the numbers of stalls was low as there was a lot of space between the various little enclaves so maybe trader numbers were down and thats probably down to the prices they charge for pitches. I don't think I will be going to the Harewood House game fair again. I don't suppose it helped in as much as, I got caught up in stationary traffic on the A1 for about 1 hour going home, but managed to get onto the M62 and cut across to pick up the M1 and then before sitting in the roadworks on there got caught up in another accident queue for nearly another hour. OH !! the joys of the modern transport infrastructure. No offence to anyone on here but I thought the area that had anything to do with arboriculture was not very good. they were stuck over in a corner and the number of traders seemed very low compared to previous years. Or is it me just getting old

A battery chainsaw never crossed my mind. I know the answer is going to be "How long is a piece of string" but how long would the battery last? Now there's too much choice and my brain is starting to hurt.

I had a lot of wasps in the garden in the spring and at first thought there was going to be an explosion of them later when the weather warmed up. But I have not seen one for a good few weeks now, so long may it continue. Some of them were obviously overwintering queens searching out new nest sites. I have not seen any activity of building anywhere. I would have normally seen a few hornets by now as well while out fishing, but I have not seen one yet. For some reason I don't mine them but i hate wasps:sneaky2:

I am currently looking to buy an electric chainsaw, mainly to keep the neighbours happy with noise issues while cutting logs for home use, as it's a bit noisy running the Stihl on a Sunday morning on a housing estate. The saws seem to range between 50 and 500 quid. What electric saws do you use? what do I need to stay clear of? Whats good and bad out there? I try to cut all my wood where it falls. But I do get wood handed to me at home, so I would like to stay friendly with the locals, and what jonny toerag can't hear means he might not come sniffing around my shed. Any help would be much appreciated.

Forgot to mention. I don't know where abouts in the world you are but Easter Saturday is the National terrier show at Bingley Hall in Stafford. It will be a good place to go and might give you an idea as to what will fit your criteria. And its free to get into.

Don't forget Border terriers. Hard as nails and soft as **** Mine goes everywhere with me. Travels well on land and water. He goes a bit DEAF !!!! if he's off the lead and gets the scent of Fox. Don't have kids, and he's never been a problem with my mates kids when they've been around. Being a small dog he's never been able to eat more than one at a sitting :laugh1:. He's just as happy in front of the log burner as he is in the pouring rain killing vermin

Yea! but I bet most of the UK "HOT" saws are on the local boot sales and the various interweb "Come and get it cheap" sites. What we need is a thread for project "V8" or bigger saws

Is anyone in the UK playing with toys like these or are we all too busy earning a crust and trying to keep our heads above water?

Looks like the Australian health and safety police have started making their chainsaw boys use one chainsaw between two users and both have to hold on to it at the same time. What a bunch of woosies !!!! Must admit I don't think I would want to take it up a tree

Evening all By all means buy a good chain. Lots of outlets sell chain that can withstand a nuclear explosion as well as a lock that can withstand 20 minutes with a 9” Sthil saw but the weak link is the lock internals. Maybe I am getting old and becoming a little anal with stopping the little bar stewards from nicking stuff that I have worked hard for…… But…… I will now search out a reputable lock smith that I can talk to and get my lock internals rebuilt with extra wafers and security pins and I never buy a lock now with less than 6 pins. The reasoning behind this is “LOCK PICKING” it is silent and someone with a little practice can pick a lock quicker than it takes someone to start a saw. Try it yourself. My understanding is that it is not against the law to pick a lock that you own. So you can buy a basic picking kit for about a tenner from the inter web and when you have seen some of the people on the tube channel you will frighten yourself with how easy it is. Just get a couple of old padlocks out of your shed and sit down watching the tv and I can almost guarantee within a couple of episodes of corrie you will have popped it open. Once you have done it a couple of times you will be wanting to borrow some old locks from your friends to play with. I try to site my locks with the key hole as close to a solid object as possible so the key has just enough room to enter the key hole but the lock cannot swing into a position that will allow a picking or tensioning tool room to work. Maybe its overkill but I have heard of stories where the local low life have taken a couple of spanners to the front of a trailer, unbolted the towing hitch, slid the chain out of the gap between frame and hitch put the hitch back on the trailer then driven off leaving the unbreakable chain and lock securely bolted to the ground anchor, so I buy breakaway security nuts and bolt covers and replace a few existing nuts and bolts on my trailers with these……. Probably just overkill on my part but touch wood not had anything go walkabout lately

I think if you tried to pick one length up you will end up with mahooosive doo daa's. You wouldn't get one on your roof rack there a bit big. They must be a couple of foot in diameter and ten or twelve foot long

Are any of you lads or lassies involved in the tree removal at the south side of Crewe railway station where the new link road is going? Or anyone know whats going to happen to the big stacks of logs on the side of the road?

Theres a blue one on youtube that I found by typing in stationary engine log splitter. As I am looking to make a log splitter with a Lister stationary engine for the power source and came across it. I had not seen one before

They were made by a company called ESCO and I want one too

Thanks for the input. If nothing else it's opened up a couple of new avenues to explore. Burgess : i have never even heard of a Etesia atila but it sounds good i need to get the Google out

hello Chaps and Chapesses I have been surfing this excellent site for a while now. It's now time to pick the brains of some of you experts. I am in the market for a second hand petrol strimmer and obviously some of you use them on a daily basis. So what are the good makes and bad ones? what are the best engine size for longevity? How do I check for slop in the drive line? or is it possible to check for slop? The only strimmer I have used before has been electric with the thin nylon cutting line. I am looking for one that sits on your shoulders in a cradle/sling and maybe with a cutting medium of something other than nylon. I have seen ones with a solid steel blade. Can you get them to accept a steel cable instead of nylon cord? The strimmer is for use in a semi wooded orchard type environment with a vast collection of weeds, bracken, bits of freshly seeded blackthorn and long reedy type grass and also a shopping trolly and a couple of car tyres. Every new land purchase around here comes with a rusty shopping trolly:confused1: What do I need to ask the owner that will tell me its not a knock off, apart from where did you nick this from? A regular user will know something about them that the local druggy won't. Any help would be much appreciated.