Paul in the woods

You just need to wait a few years for them to produce acorns. ? You should be able to tell from the leaf stalks, common oak having shorter stalks than sessile. I would go for common oak, Quercus robur, assuming seedlings also have short leaf stalks. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/a-z-of-uk-native-trees/english-oak/

I've put some willow cuttings in and have a Roe buck about and get a fair bit of damage. Your pic does look similar but a bit extreme. I found this guide that may help: https://www.bestpracticeguides.org.uk/impacts/damage-recognition/

It may be a roe buck fraying at this time of year. Any deer prints or droppings near by?

Some. I'm staggering the planting as it's been such an unusual winter. First rows of 1st earlies went in a couple of weeks ago. I'll keep them covered this week as we're likely to have our first real frost since December.

We had warm sun yesterday but the wind was cold. First swallows arrived on Saturday. Some blackthorn still in bud and some almost over.

Here in West Devon the Blackthorn was flowering at the end of Feb. This year I wouldn't say we've had a Blackthorn Winter, yet, but it has returned to a normal temp from the very warm Feb. Looking around there's plenty still to open so if it flowers for a month it's likely to get cold for some of that time.

You need to pick a store to see the bandsaw details. It's £89.99 and here's a link https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/MiddleofLidl.htm?articleId=20844&ar=15 For cutting hard and soft wood, laminate or wood fibreboards Powerful 350W motor with constant cutting speed Quick-locking parallel stop for precise longitudinal cuts Adjustable canting table with quick-tensioning system and angle scale for mitre cuts Adjustable guard for cutting heights up to 80mm Connection for external dust extraction Suitable for all standard 140cm bandsaw blades up to 12mm wide Includes 140cm bandsaw blade, parallel stop, push stick, screwdriver, double open-ended spanner and 3 hex keys Power consumption: 350W Cutting speed: 900m/min Admission height: 80mm Admission width: 200mm Table area: 300 x 300mm Mitre angles: 0 to + 45 Bandsaw length: 140cm Band wheel: Ø20cm 3-year warranty

I'm still a little confused. If I'm milling with a modern 80cc saw that the manual states use a 50:1 mix and I'm using good quality fuel and a good quality synthetic oil such as Stihl HP utra what mix should I use? Stick to 50:1, or use more oil 40:1, 30:1?

I would be interested in what package you've been offered as I would like to investigate similar issues. I've checked our voltage and it also ranges a fair bit, it seems to be much higher during the summer when the suns out which I gather is because so much solar energy is fed into the local grid which isn't designed to take it. Anyway, the range is 230v +10%/-7% I think, which gives you 253v. I wonder if you'll exceed 253v on a bright summers day? Your power company can put something in temporarily to record the voltage fluctuations which might be worth requesting, to see if they will help.

It's not a huge amount of fuel as the tank is only .25l. As mentioned, I use Aspen 2, so alkylate fuel premixed with Aspen's 2 stroke oil 50:1.

I've had a 352 for about three years now. I'm only a domestic user so can't really say if it's getting hot compared to other saws but there's no damage and the plug looked fine when I removed it. It's run on Aspen 2 and had 80+ tanks through it. I've tached it and when warmed according to Echo's service guide it was 12000 rpm, and when I checked after extended use it was just over 12500. If it's tached after starting then about 11000. The only problems I've had with it was problems caused by a service which were quickly sorted.

This might be useful if you've got time to look through it. It's the Forest Mensuration Handbook, all 280 pages! Things like stacks are covered from page 27 - 35. https://www.forestry.gov.uk/PDF/FCBK039.pdf/$FILE/FCBK039.pdf You'll also find cord to m3 conversion factors on page 198

The video says Hoyos de pinares, which is just west of Madrid. I wonder how they get back down?

Thank you for the detailed reply wyk, very helpful. I currently have a small Echo 352 and would happily buy another but I don't have a decent Echo dealer nearby. If I did I might be tempted to go for a slightly larger saw and get the Echo 501SX.

Anyone else noticed some chainsaws on the Makita UK site are now showing a 3 year warranty symbol? Such as this: https://www.makitauk.com/product/ea4300f38c.html I wonder if this is a mistake or if they are bringing in a longer warranty?

I'm looking at these two saws myself and the online specs say they are the same dry weight at 4.5kg but the MS 241 C-M is more powerful at 2.3kW vs the CS-390ESX 1.9kW. Is that not the case, or was the old 241 heavier?

Thanks for the update, it would also be good to see the new growth the euc manages to produce after being cut. How do you rate the euc as a firewood?

The FC link on this page does not seem to work: https://www.trees.org.uk/News-Blog/News/Chalara-dieback-Managing-ash-trees (Appologies, I edited my original post as I missed the Chalara link on your page. Actually, the page does not seem to load correctly in my browser (Firefox on a PC), the right hand menu gets overlaid on the 3rd row of pests. If I shrink the page it loads ok).

BT, well their contractors, recently replaced a pole on my property. They just pulled the old one out in a few moments. The old pole was condemned and needed replacing within 6 months, 5 years later... Anyway, getting hold of anyone to talk about the pole wasn't easy. I gather if it's actually dangerous BT Open Reach will come out within 7 days. As for the cost, I would have thought removal would have been part of the cost of re-routing.

One of the evergreen honeysuckles, Lonicera pileata or Lonicera nitida?

Luckily my stove manufacturer had a conversion kit. I took out the old grate but needed new back and side fire bricks as they needed to be bigger. I also needed to fit a new log and catch bar (suitable for double doors) and plug the side riddle hole. Here's a link to a video to a smaller stove: https://www.hunterstoves.co.uk/fitting-a-wood-conversion-kit-herald-5-slimline

I don't like the phrase "does not contain any chemicals", what does it contain then? I'm also a bit confused as to how it works. I've converted my stove from multi-fuel to just wood, and that means taking out the grate. I could see possible benefits if you just burn wood on a mutli-fuel stove, but you shouldn't be feeding in air from underneath once lit anyway. Cheap enough to try though.

Various petrol stations will have their own rules, but from the government's site: http://www.hse.gov.uk/fireandexplosion/petrol-storage-club-association.htm http://www.hse.gov.uk/fireandexplosion/owner-petrol-station.htm#containers-filled

I note they show bottom up fire lighting when I thought a top down method was better (i.e. put some large bits at the bottom then kindling on top)? I also can't help feeling the people who watch these videos already know what they are doing and it's those people who don't that need to be told.

Portable DVR seems to come up with some ideas like these? https://www.amazon.com/Mini-1080P-LCD-Portable-Recorder/dp/B009ZZJV56 http://txgsupplier.com/portable-recorder/portable-digital-audio-video-mini-dvr-recorder-lcd-screen.html