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Paul in the woods

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Everything posted by Paul in the woods

  1. Is there any reason for that? I would assume an electric saw would have less vibes than a 2 stroke if running the same bar and chain.
  2. When you apply the word organic to goods in the UK it has a legal meaning, so you can't define it yourself. I could not sell organic potatoes and then say I use Roundup on them for example. In the same way I would have thought selling 'seasoned' logs would mean something, a quick google suggests <25% or even <20% if kiln dried. I've no idea if 'seasoned' has any legal meaning but if it does then I wouldn't have thought you can redefine it yourself.
  3. Organic food in the UK is certified by one of a few organisations though, so you at least have some idea what organic means. I would also be curious to know what say Trading Standards would say about "Seasoned Wood" being sold that's 30% mc when I would have thought the average buyer would view it as 25% or less?
  4. The new Stihl compact cordless would struggle with logs over 6", I've found it surprisingly noisy as well. I keep being tempted by the Oregon offered by Screwfix: Oregon CS1500 45cm 2400W Electric Chainsaw 230V | Electric | Screwfix.com 2400W, 16" bar, 3 year warranty etc. No idea what the powersharp chains are like, anyone know?
  5. I have a little auction house near me and in the past they've sold a fair bit of wood for turning (probably from an old wood turner who's passed away) and plenty of people were willing to pay a good price for small pieces of wood. There's certainly people out there willing to pay but it's getting hold of them. It might mean holding onto the wood for a while and that may not be worth it. Has anyone tried contacting their local wood turning groups for example? I can see people not wanting to pay for any old rubbish but a decent sized piece of Laburnum should sell.
  6. Cheer up lads: Tony Blair considering future role in British politics - BBC News
  7. Are you sure they're Asian hornets and not the native ones? As far as I'm aware there's only been two sightings of Vespa velutina in the UK so far. Asian Hornet spotted in the UK for a second time - BBC News
  8. Stihl or Husky saw?
  9. It looks more like a cave spider to me, possibly Meta menardi.
  10. Yes, their life-cycle is the same as wasps. A mated queen will over winter somewhere warm and start a new colony in the spring. In late summer/autumn virgin queens will be raised that'll mate in autumn and overwinter again. The main nest will die off each year although it may be active quite late in the year if we don't get a cold snap. I gather the Asian hornets are more susceptible to cold but in the south at least we've not had it that cold for a few years so I can see them surviving easily. One thing I've noted bee keepers doing where Asian hornets have settled is make traps for the queens early in the season to catch as many before they form a nest.
  11. Something very concerning if you're a bee keeper is the arrival of Asian Hornets in the UK as they're more aggressive and more likely to raid honey bee nests than our native hornets. I thought it would be worth a mention here as there's a chance of finding a nest in future. If you do please can I ask you contact [email protected] as they're trying to destroy them before they get a foothold in the UK. More details available, including how to recognise them, form the National Bee Unit here: Beebase - Beekeeping information resource for Beekeepers Alert poster PDF: http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/downloadDocument.cfm?id=1224 ID sheet PDF: http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/downloadDocument.cfm?id=698 This I believe is some photos of the nest they have found in the UK: Asian Hornet Nest Found – Adopt A Hive I doubt you'd want to be topping that tree while the nest is active!
  12. Are the 400 trees spaced over the whole 1.5 acres? If so I assume it's not a replanting condition on a felling licence as the density is too low. I'd be tempted to only clear part of the area and write off some of the trees. Do you have much other open space? Have you thought of keeping bees, if so you don't have weeds only forage for the bees. (Sorry if that's not funny but brambles, rose-bay-willow-herb etc is great for bees and sometimes areas of scrub is just as important than trees in a wood).
  13. With the webbed redish stem and staining I wouldn't say it's a brown birch boletete but one of the rarer inedible/poisonous ones. Hard to say exactly which one.
  14. Do you play the lottery at all? 67 days.
  15. Has anyone done a breakdown of costs of turning say a fallen oak into saleable beams/boards? I keep pondering a mill of some sort, or getting someone in, as I use a fair bit of wood and get fed up with buying poor quality stuff. I even saw a very simple small oak fireplace that was little more than three oak beams joined together and it was selling for over £500. I wonder if there are people out there who would use a milling service but have no idea such things exist?
  16. Was the felling and replanting subject to a felling licence application? If so that may have stipulations/restrictions on it. If there's any rare plants animals there they should (well may) have been identified. I'd also avoid any herbicide if possible.
  17. From my experience there's loads of help and info out there but pulling it all together took a fair bit of time. Also the various government departments and advice doesn't always match up! A knowlageble pro would certainly save time. Anyway, some other useful sites if you've not alread seen them. First, the governments Magic site, very useful to see what designations your land has and to see what's going on around you, grants etc: Magic Map Application And this might be useful as you may need to identify any heritage details on your woodland (so you don't damage them etc): HeritageGateway - Home There's also loads of info on the FC site such as: Ancient woodland (England) although you'll have to search for your Scottish equivalent.
  18. You can write your own management plan and produce your own felling licence application (or work out if you do need one) using this free tool: https://sylva.org.uk/myforest/ I used it to do my plan for a 10 acre wood, it took a fair bit of time but I learned a fair bit. With only 2 acres and planning to thin you may not need a felling licence at all, no idea about the ancient woodland restriction. You might get away with asking the FC round to advise if a plan/licence app is required, it'll depend on you local FC chap as to the help you get.
  19. It's a pain if you don't have a local dealer that near and the one's you do have don't even know Stihl sell the saw you're after. Interesting to see Amazon selling them, that shows there's no safety issue with selling direct.
  20. I'd agree with Stubby, I've got some similar in some of my trees and I've assumed they're porcelain, or similar, electric fencing insulators.
  21. That's the problem, it seems hard to kill all of the pests and they do multiply rapidly once they get going. If you're thinking of binning them then you can try giving them a very hard cut back before the new growth in spring. I removed virtually all my lemon's leaves and it's grown back well. Still got scale though. Perhaps a prune and then a spray?
  22. That looks more like a scale insect, I get them on my lemon tree. I only try and rub them off and clear the sooty mould of the leaves with a damp cloth and not tried the controls. Leaving the plant in the rain during the warmer months seems to help. More details on the RHS - https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=788
  23. Your permission would be required as you can't shoot over someone's land without permission (unless you're in the police/army etc). I expect most culls will be done one large farms that have livestock and active badger setts. As for knowing if you have them, do you have any signs? Larger recently worked burrows, freshly dug holes with fresh droppings in them (look more human like than most animals and at the moment full of blackberry pips!). Funnily enough I have badgers on my woodland and I enquired about vaccinating them but no one was interested.
  24. It depends on your breast, or rather take care you measure the correct height from the ground. Forestry uses 1.3m but I thought other people use 1.4 or even 1.5? It can get more complicated if you're on a slope, have multiple stems etc but this is an easy guide (for forestry): http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/15-Diameter-DBH-Assessments-June-2014.pdf/$FILE/15-Diameter-DBH-Assessments-June-2014.pdf
  25. I was going to say it's been posted here: http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/general-chat/102308-ox-truck.html But yes, looks an ideal truck for some for tree work - I'd love one.

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