Paul in the woods

Yes. The machine is sort of flat packed, so the oil isn't in it. I think it would have made more sense to supply to oil but then there wasn't much choice for the price I paid. Anyway, I've picked up some Total AZOLLA ZS locally so panic over. Thanks for the other suggestions. Now, what's the lifespan of such oils? Nothing in the user guide and I expect many small diggers never have a change of oil in their life, but if I was being pedantic how many work hours/years would be sensible to change the oil on an average micro/mini-digger?

There's also lots of people running non-smokeless stoves in smoke controlled areas. Installed legally to burn smokeless fuel and people then burn any old coal and wood. Plenty of scope to crack down on the worst polluters whilst keeping firewood as an option.

Thanks, there's isn't in stock by the looks of it. I've found a few more companies online but it's been very hard to track down via google. To answer my own question I have found places selling heating oil often stock agricultural lubricants - I'll be phoning my local depots today as they don't list stuff online.

I've asked the manufacturer and they didn't recommend a brand. I want a known brand for the reason you state, to minimise any quibble if I have any problems.

I need 20l of hydraulic oil for my small digger that's on order and I've been told it needs to meet HLP46 classification. I can find places selling ISO 46 hydraulic oil locally but it doesn't seem to meet the HLP classification. I'd rather buy a brand of oil I recognise as the machine is new but I can't seem to find anywhere that sells stuff that meets HLP. A bit of research shows I need "DIN 51524, Part 2, Category HLP" but many places either don't list their specifications or just say "DIN 51524, Part 2" which I don't think is exactly right. Can anyone recommend an online store that sells a good range of hydraulic oils? Also, apart from agricultural merchants, can anyone suggest where I'm I likely to find the oil locally? Thanks.

I'm not sure it's that simple any more. I think some of the Honda's are the most reliable, but those made in the UK! When I googled first time MOT failures some of the brands were Japanese, but to be honest I've not idea where they are built. Going back to the original question, I would suggest more police on the roads pulling over obviously dodgy vehicles would be better than MOTind more cars. It's very rare to drive about without seeing various lights not working, dodgy plates or, dare I say, overloaded trucks. Up the fines to cover the police and it'll not cost the tax payer anything.

I'm talking about cars in the UK, although some of the least reliable are Japanese brands. If you follow your argument then scraping all cars after 6 months would be better but hardly sensible or practical.

What's the benefit of that in the UK? I gather here some brands are far more likely to fail than others so why treat a car that's badly made and likely to fail one of it's first few tests (or all!) the same as one that's well made and is very likely to be several years old before anything is going to fail?

I also wonder if they need to incorporate some form of 'user' test. Apparently almost 20% of fails are due to lights and I know some will check their vehicles fairly regularly whereas others never check a thing. I'm not sure the usefulness of an annual check to replace a light bulb.

Age can be just as harsh on a car as use. Leave a car for a few years undriven and the breaks, tyres etc can well be badly damaged. IIRC there's also been studies that say many of the first time fails are problems the vehicle has had since new. Having said that a car that's racked up 100,000+ miles within 4 years might need looking at earlier than one that's done 30,000.

I'd guess Chondrostereum purpureum - Silver leaf fungus Chondrostereum purpureum - Silver leaf fungus - David Humphries’s Fungi Directory - Arbtalk.co.uk | Discussion Forum for Arborists

These people offer policies for small woodland owners: Public Liability Insurance Cover for woodland owners We've added our woodland onto our home insurance policy for a smaller premium, so it might be worth asking yours. Not many companies will do it though, we use NFU.

You would still have to answer yes to this question even if you've not claimed. AFAIK if you have an accident and don't claim on your insurance you still technically need to tell them otherwise they can wiggle out of future claims. I do agree that in this case they're hardly likely to help and would just pay up whatever the people ask for the wall.

Probably not very relevant as I owned a non-turbo Forester about 10 years ago but I found it great to drive on single carriageways but not great on motorways etc. The steering was just too light and the tyres kept tram-lining in the ruts on the inside lane. If you do many motorway miles I'd try and test drive one there.

There's plenty of stories about single dog attacks in the papers if you look and as a dog owner I'll happily admit there's plenty of owners out there that shouldn't be allowed a dog or any form of pet. I was pro hunting but each time I've meet a hunt out and about their behaviour has done very little to help their case. I'm sure there's some responsible hunts out there and I'd genuinely like to know what they do to keep their packs off land they don't have permission to use and also what they do to fully control their dogs in public spaces.

Why do you say that? There's been plenty of reports over the years of uncontrolled packs of hounds attacking pets and nothing has been done. It seems rather bizarre to me that I could get into trouble for walking my single dog without a collar in public but someone else can drive a pack of dogs over my land without my permission and there's nothing I can do about it.

Thanks. I mentioned him in my first post and yes I've seen many of his videos and posts on other forums. For the price he seems to like his and I don't think I'll work mine as hard.

Anything from 2m to 6+m. The further down the slope they go the more they've got to grow to form a wind break. I can get 6' cuttings so will probably plant 6m away.

That's probably the last good series that I think's been on. I also liked Black Books.

Thanks for the other replies, the powerfabs and the Mantis aren't sold new any more are they?

I was puzzled as to why the video showed the backhoe digging in sand but I've seen plenty of owner videos where they seem to cope with what I have in mind. Which one have you personally used?

If I put in a barrier wouldn't I still need to know how much the roots could grow up to know how deep to put a barrier? By the sounds of it I'll have to go for planting the trees further away.

A bit of a long shot but has anyone used one of these towable / walking backhoes? I've watched some of Metsaman's videos and others on youtube and done some, erm, digging and they seem suitable for my needs. Basically I'm after something to do all the landscaping jobs around the smallholding that 20 odd years ago I'd have done with a spade. Nothing too big, but lots of little jobs. (Small ditching, dig a few smallish ponds, did out some small stumps, level a few areas etc). I know a 2nd hand mini-digger would be better but they are more expensive and it would take me ages to track one down and get hold of it. I also don't have a tractor to add a backhoe to. I've looked at renting but don't want to do all the jobs at once and I frequently have to alter plans at the last minute so my own digger would be ideal. I'm aware they will not lift much as they don't have the weight to counterbalance and also manoeuvrability is an issue but I can cope with that. I've looked at the Kellfri but I prefer this one from Jansen: Mini excavator Jansen MB-300, 9 HP, petrol engine | Excavators | Agriculture & Forestry | Jansen Mailorder Anyone have any constructive comments or know of anything similar?

I've been growing fruit amongst alder trees for several years now. I'm not keen on planting root crops through the roots though (too much work) and for the veg patch I'll have plenty of compost for the nitrogen. I could put in some sort of barrier but don't know if it's required - hence the question.

I've not decided on the trees, I'm contemplating hybrid poplar as they would be quick to establish but know pop roots can sucker. The garden will be a fruit and veg garden, so I'm more concerned with the roots out competing the fruit and veg or becoming a pain when digging.