Haironyourchest

A tip from the Norwegian Wood Firewood Book - (though maybe not relevant to your set up) - is don't buck up the tree straight away, leave it lying with the branches and leaves on for three weeks before processing. The leaves continue to draw moisture out of the wood through the capillary system before they whither and die, and can speed the curing time by several months. Works better with broadleaf trees, but conifers do this too.

Depends what kind of jobs you're on as well - if you pick up work from your fencing clients, which are likely farmers Im guessing - they wont require chipping. Just tell them the job comes a bit cheaper if you don't have to chip and they'll be quite happy to build habitat piles instead. For suburban work, the brash will have to be removed, either in chip form or whole.

I hat to modify my vertical splitter, removed the right arm/handle and cut the hand guard off the left handle. Just unusable the way it was, you'd be looking at repetitive strain syndrome the way you had to contort yourself. As power tools go, it's on the safer side of the spectrum, I feel... actually, just remembered - I did trap my wellied foot unloading it from the trailer last week. I'd put a longer axel on, and proper urathane sack trolly wheels, and my foot found itself between the inside wall of the wheel, and the body of the machine, with the axelrod pressing on the instep. Couldn't pull it out, as the heel of my welly was also wedged against the dropgate of the trailer...hard the describe, but take my word for it, I was well and truly stuck. The splitter is 110 kilo, and I just could not lift it, the way I was positioned. Really didn't want to call for help, as there is some bad blood between me and my neighbors, and I couldn't bare to afford them the pleasure of "rescuing" me....I did escape, luckily the ratchet tie-down strap was withing reach and I used it to gain mechanical advantage....so yeah, dangerous..

Ha! Got a packet of that in my Christmas hamper - havn't opened it yet, still got loads of stevia to use up. Is it nice then?

There's a thread on here called "The Wee Chipper Club" - about small commercial chippers. Some good reliable models out there by all accounts.

Have you ever tried it? All I can tell you is try an arnica next time you give your shin a wallop. I'll mail you some, free gratis. Or just ask a new age traveller type if they can spare a few pills. HM the Queen uses it...

Right, sorry I misread. Would you consider joining the wee chipper club?

Well, yes Mick, sadly it does tend to attract the lunatic fringe, hence giving the discipline a bad name. Classically trained homoeopaths don't go in for all that new age stuff though. No need to take my word though, just ask a homoeopath for some arnica pills and experiment next time you have an owie. Just remembered a funny incident. Some years ago I took half a year off to go backpacking, found myself in a bus station in Malaga. This scruffy guy with a black eye approached me - there I was thinking "What does he want? Is he going to try and mug me or something?" - so he pleads at me in Spanish, trying to sell me his watch. I looked at the watch, looked at his eye, and said something to the effect of: "I'm sorry my good man, I have no desire to purchase your timepiece - however, I think I can help you with that shiner!" Whereupon I pulled my homoeopathic travel kit with 30-odd remedies in little bottles from my jacket breast pocket, selected Arnica and indicated him to present his hand, palm upturned. He obeyed, much like someone under Jedi mind control, and I deposited a single tiny spherical sugar pill - loaded with homoeopathic goodness - on his palm, and indicated to put it in his mouth. He did, just like that, with the weirdest expression I've ever seen on a human face! Then I patted him on the shoulder, and said something unintelligible to him in English and went on my way. I like to imagine he stared after me for a long time, his mouth half open in bewilderment, the little magic pill barely visible on his tongue.

I'm in the same boat really, v experienced with ground removals, worked on a handful of trees with rope and harness. Going for the C38/39 course in a couple of weeks. Way I look at it, even if the cert only gets me a a couple of decent weeks climbing work over the next few years, it's paid for itself, minus the time investment, obviously. And the gear. And maybe saved my bacon too, as I anticipate learning a few things from a very experienced trainer that I simply can't gain from youtube vids. I think the key thing for you is you already have a big chipper, which is a huge roadblock for a lot of guys starting out and could make or break a young company. There is something to be said for sticking with one trade and mastering it, but not everyone is built that way, some people crave variety in their work. If you're anything like me, you'll derive more enjoyment from the fasttrack course more than a three week holiday in the sun!

Nobody want to hear it, but rest is a big part of the solution. Working the inflamed tendons will not allow them time to heal. A problem for sportsmen, but moreso with guys who have to pay the bills... I always turn to homoeopathic treatment for everything, for tennis elbow Ruta Gravolens or Rus Tox, but would be better to have a consultation with a reputable homoeopathic practicioner.

Yeah that would be my approach too. I'd be checking out the charity shops for old motercycle leathers, even if the pants the wrong size won't really matter.

My go to YouTube guy is Chucky2009. But the content is getting better all the time, for everything. Just learned about the different properties and numerical designations of rod. Got the inverter out yesterday to modify a fire tongs that was slipping on the logs - welded some wee dabs on and ground them into "teeth" to grip the wood better.

Great idea, how you gonna attach the leather? Not supposed to stitch through the cut padding. What about just waring leather chaps over the trousers? Any way you do it's gonna be hot though.

What about tyre chains, any good? Anybody tried them? Problem with tyres is they chemically delaminate after about 5 years, weather you drive on them or not. Chances of a blowout multiply exponentially after 6 years, and yet the rubber can look perfect. Most people will use up their tread inside of 5 or 6 years anyway, so its no loss, but if you buy two sets of tyres, you're effectively losing half of each set to entropy. Thus, I would mention chains again. Or here's an idea - tyre sharing - you rent a set of winters for the cold season, return them in spring, then they ship them to the southern hemisphere as the winter kicks off there.

Ok, got a real one: when a supermarket product is marked down on sale, but rings up at the full price. I actually returned to Tesco with six packets of beef jerky for this reason after checking my receipt in the parking lot. Photographed the price tag on my phone to show the customer care lady, she still walked across the store to check, leaving three people waiting in the queue for 6-7 minutes. I got my three euros discount though, at the collective cost of probably a manhour.

I hate ..Bono. The self-righteous hypocritical nanny. Really loath him.

Yeah, got a point...Let's get back to criticizing fatties!! ?

Village Idiot, I used to believe that stuff too. I think for the most part you're right, but it's a mechanistic view of the world that leads to what? If all human actions are preordained, and there is no free will, how can we judge anyone based on their actions? The default position on everything, would be "its not their fault, it was just their nature" - so we would have to tolerate everything, or accept that our own natures are incapable of tolerance beyond a certain point so don't blame us when we start killing people because we feel like it - after all, we don't have a choice in the matter. This is how the animal kingdom operates, from bacteria colonies to elephants. The law of the jungle, the law of instinct. Actually, a lot of human cultures seem to have been this way too. But what you describe as the "illusion" of self awareness, the choice to exercise will - not in an effort to satisfy instinct - but rather to override our animal nature for a higher purpose - well thats free will. The freedom to use the will as we see fit. In accordance with our higher mind, not our instincts. So what is the higher mind? Is that also a phantom of our brain electrochemistry? That is the crucial pivot of the argument: where do thoughts come from? Are they generated by the physical brain or by a higher non-physical power? If they are from the brain, then we are animals through and through, morality is an illusion, civilisation is an illusion, our cities are cultures are no more important than termite hills. We are, actually, a cancer on the planet which should be eradicated for the greater good of all nature. And nothing we can do will change that because we are incapable of change, originality, growth, etc, because we are just following our programming. But if we hold that thoughts come to us from a higher power, and our brains are just sensitive receptors - then we can exercise free will to act on those thoughts or not. Now we might say that even if thoughts came from a higher power, then we would still be puppets of that higher power, and without true free will. That may be the case, but its a better deal then being an animal. I have done thought transference experiments and derived knowledge of future events that there was no earthly way of knowing. Proved to my own satisfaction that thoughts are not a product of the brain, and information, intelligence is not confined by time and space. I can't prove it to you, but I choose to challenge the naturalistic argument whenever it appears - nothing personal!

Yeah they do. The cut profile is not quite as refined as what a file makes, but it seems to work fine.

Just for kicks...

Look into buying a load of past-it scaffolding and build the barn out of that, handy 8x4 bays, perfect width for a pallet, strong, and it would be classed as temporary.

American guy sees three gargantuan lasses at the bar, speaking with an accent. He approaches with curiosity and asked "Excuse me, are you ladies from Ireland by any chance?" The girls are shocked and offended, one replies "WALES!!" The guy responds: "Oh, I'm sorry - are you whales from Ireland".....(wakes up in intensive care)

Trump, Israel, Embassy, Riots. Just spent the last few evenings studying up on history of Israel. Wow, what a tragic mess.

Highlands and Islands I would have thought.

What's a "Milf"??