Haironyourchest

I know it well, superb channel 👍 Ye ah it's hard watching. Thing is, California or more specifically the big cities in CA basically invited the homeless to come and live there for free. The laws have gone so "tolerant" that they don't prosecute for car thefts and stuff. Decriminalized pretty much all drug use and possession, inc hard drugs. Allowed shantytowns to exist and so on. So, now they're stuck with them... Then there's the clean homeless, who got priced out of the rental market and live in their cars. Due to corruption at the state level. Wildfires due to arse backwards environmental policy (no scrub burning), water shortages due to the almond cartel getting first hit, protected delta smelt fish etc etc. Used to be a good state, had everything going for it.

The simplest thing would be use wire rope instead of textile. Figure out the the exact length needed, get one made up with a thimble swedge at both ends, and base tie to both trees. Padlock the thimble to the rope. Not untying that without tools.

I bought an Estwing hammer once. It had a "may cause cancer" warning sticker on it. California seems like an absolute dystopian hole, anyone with sanity and the means to relocate is moving away. Mind, counties and cities in the US have a lot of leeway over their local laws, so there are pockets of sanity, I presume.

Gonna be difficult without climbing the trees, I'd have thought, if a base tie isn't allowed. Only thing I can think of, is getting a remote cinch on tree A, then accurately estimating the length of your rope and securing a heavy weight to the rope just far enough along that the weighted end would hang over a crotch on tree B, and the weight would be enough to tension the rope (with banner attached) between the trees. To get the weighed end over the branch or crotch, you'd need to have a bet of excess rope after the weight, and tie a loop in the end. Then fire a throw line over the crotch in tree B, and use the throw line to pull a very long loop of rope over the crotch. A rope joined end to end. Then pull this rope around until you have the joined ends in your hands. Then untie the joined ends, and thread one end through the loop of the end of your banner rope. Then re-join the ends, and use the doubled rope to haul the weighed end of the banner rope up and over the crotch in tree B, weight and all. The weight will have to be something that won't snag or jam in the crotch, (like a paint bucket full of concrete probably won't do)... Then, once the banner is set, pull your loop around so you have the joined ends again, untie them, and pull the pull rope free of the loop in the end of the banner rope. You can retrieve the banner later with the aid of a long pole with a hook, or more likely blade, on the end.

The Stihl 4-Mix 32cc motor has been around a good few years now, more than a decade I think... Got on on the pole-saw, on my second head and third shaft, but the motor is still going strong. Gives very little trouble, starts real easy, and savage power. I'd be quite ok with a 4-Mix version chainsaw.

This thread in a nutshell:

Inflation.... 🙄

The mechanical aptitude and spare time would be better spent building solar water heating panels. Bit of old black polypipe and a lagged barrel, about as free as it gets..

Cookery skills, and willingness to use them, are underrated... Sexual appetite diminishes over time, in most men, whereas culinary appetite doesn't. Also, she will be a better cook at eighty then she was at eighteen. You can enjoy three meals a day, if she's a really into the Aga, etc etc.

20 tonnes?

I looked it up as well. Bloody awful stuff. My great grandad reportedly took a lungful of phosgene in WW1, laid him out for a year but he lived to 98.

Good story. Fascinating about the gas symptoms returning every year. Was it around the anniversary of the injury then?

I really don't know, Ty. I was pulling in reverse gear, which has savage low gearing. Ground was wet and soft, big rolling resistance on the trailer tyres, traction, even in tracks, is just not great on soft wet mossy grass. Low nose weight on the ball hitch, didn't help. Thing is, it pulled away grand untill we hit a gradient. I don't remember if the tracks were spinning or the belt slipped or the motor stalled, but the gradient gave us trouble. Track barrow is a funny thing, on hard ground it seems unstoppable. I've pulled trees butt first through the forest floor, carving a groove in the dirt, pulled big stones out of holes, crushed myself against the house, etc. Here's a link to the page where I showed the trailer + hitch setup, it's on the last page of the thread

Speaking of PPE, I recently acquired a Powercap forced air respirator. What a bloody difference it makes to quality of life, there's no explaining it if you haven't experienced it... Not really arb PPE but for milling and other woodwork, my goodness.

He doesn't want to look like a Monty Python lumberjack, said so in the first post.

I tried this, not to pull a chipper but a trailer. Welded up a gooseneck hitch attachment which clamps onto the trailer. Trailer had a cage on, and a plywood sheet on top of the cage. The idea was a mobile work platform for doing long hedges; matey stands on the platform and works while I slowly track around the place. It kind of worked ok, on flat ground, but we struggled on slight gradients. The barrow didn't have enough power to turn while pulling the trailer up a grade, so he had to get off and push. Trailer was about 400kg fully ticked out with a man atop. Track barrow was 5.5hp and 220kg. Track barrow was too light, and not really powerful enough as well. Fine of flat ground though.

So the 1.3 bar is for a .325 chain? The .325 is a bit narrower than 3/8th for sure. So does Stihl .325 always come in 1.3 guage, or is it available in 1.6? Cos if that's the case, the gauge won't make any difference to the kerf width. Go with whatever is cheapest and easiest to find, I'd have thought.

See, it's not really about money. It's about tangible goods and services. Which comes down to Sure it is. On paper. Why is the money migrating from CA to TX & FL? I mean, it's not an overnight exodus, obviously. But the trend is there

Tax petrol too much and you kill the economy. Tax fags too much and you get bootlegs. And kill the revenue from fags. Your move.

It's the reality though. And TX & FL are booming because of it. And the ordinary people seem to experience the effects too, cos they voted heavily for more of the same policies in the midterms, in TX & FL.

Why does the OP want a 1.3 guage bar instead of a standard 1.6? Same bar, only difference is the width of the groove, surely?

California & New York are hemorrhaging high earners and even corporations, because of their tax policies. They're moving their operations to Texas & Florida.

So what's your personal strategy for (legally) minimizing your tax burden, Mick? Or do you just work as much as you possibly can and pay the higher rate, virtuous, like?

I signed up to the recall plan, just got the email to send the swivel in "for inspection and/or repair". I have to pay postage but they're giving a free steel carabiner with the returned swivel, so that's nice 👍. Estimated return is mid Feb 2023