waterbuoy

But they are worth it - if looked after properly! My D3 has done 273k miles, about 80k of which has been towing a,d another 30-40k working off oad. The wife's D4 has done 135k. By far the most versatile and reliable vehicles we have ever owned

Whilst not wanting to encourage you in any way for the multiple reasons given by others..... If you are going to continue then try to cut the branches flush with the trunk. That way, whoever climbs up the top of the tree is not going to impale themselves on the pegs you are leaving at present.

There is a massive thread on here for smaller chippers The Wee Chipper Club Pretty much all you would want to know about small chippers over 200+ pages!

Based on our experience here in Nicola Land, PR brings as many challenges and problems as it does solutions - lack of a clear majority, coalitions etc.

We have had the same type of shed for over ten years now - situated about 2metres from the sea. The manufacturers caution about raising the timbers above ground level so we built it ion a ring-beam of 9x3" treated timbers which were in turn sat on old sleepers. The edges of the t&g overhand the other timbers by about 25mm so any water can drain off freely. However, like them we are having to replace the roof felt. I'm using steel sheets (total cost around £300) which I dont think is too bad for a 16' by 10' building Will try and get some photos later

Does that not suggest that the Kenny Everett/Cupid Stunt thought was maybe closer to the mark?!

Too add further: You may still require a consent to 'discharge' the water back to the river/stream as, believe it or not, some parts of the EA (and SEPA) consider that water which has been through a turbine to be trade effluent. Another consideration is that at low flows they will not even permit the diversion as you would take the main watercourse below sustainable levels for aquatic ecosystems etc. In the past the threshold used to be related to either Q95 or Q90, is the flow which would be exceeded for 5% or 10% of a typical year (c. 18 and 36 days). This is partly why I had suggested that you try and measure the flow in the coming weeks as some rivers are already getting below Q80.

lino floor tile?

For hydro to be a viable investment it needs to be able to operate as much as possible. Consequently, it is not the 'full flood' flows which are important, but those at the lower end of the flow regime. We are approaching the low flow season (hopefully) so it is a good time to start taking some measurements if it is a serious consideration. How you go about measuring the flow depends on the size of the stream at the potential point of abstraction. In an ideal world I would try and reduce it to a metre or so with an informal structure built out of stone, river bed and polythene sheet etc., and then install what is called a thin plate weir. This can be made of plywood if you don't have any steel sheet etc available. Again, depending on the size of the channel/stream I would usually use a 90 degree notch weir - ie a 90 degree triangular notch cut out of the plate. Flow can then be calculated using the following equation: Q (flow) = 1.38 x h^2.5 where h is the head or height of water above the base of the notch. Due to drawdown over the weir (arising from what is called the velocity head) it is important that the level of the water is measured a short distance upstream of the weir notch, but still in the 'flat topped' section of the channel where flow has backed up from the weir. For example, if you measure the height of the water to be 0.2 metres above the base of the notch then the resultant flow is 1.38 x (0.2^2.5), which is 1.38 x 0.01789 which gives 0.0247 metres cubed per second, equivalent to 24.7 litres per second (which is actually quite a lot of water)

We have a Makita DUC306Z twin-18v top handle which, for the money, I think is pretty hard to beat and a huge step up from their original 18v offerings. We already run Makita 18v tools so had the batteries etc. My colleague is an arborist who has his own small woodland (larch) and spends 2-3 days a week on the saw. This weekend we topped out a large(ish) pruce in my garden - the tree was about 110-120' tall and he cleared/snedded it up to at least 24m/80' using the Makita before cutting out the top with his Husky from the MEWP we had hired in. The Makita did all of the cutting on one set of batteries. Whilst it will obviously not have the grunt of a petrol saw, not that of the 'professional' but eye-wateringly expensive Husky/Stihl offerings, it is perfect for intermittent use (there is also a rear handled version as above). At less than £180 for the bare tool and coming with a 3-year warranty I'm hoping mine lasts 2-3 years before it dies and I then get another to play with! This is the tree we topped out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK1xx1M7xX8

We have a 17.75 Hinowa lightlift on hire at the moment - around £500 for the week and it can be towed behind the land rover as it weighs less then 2.5 tonnes. As others have said, for the really tall trees we used it to gain access to the canopy but still plenty high enough for most: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK1xx1M7xX8

We do a lot of cableway rigging for flow measurement purposes and use George Taylor Lifting for most of our hardware. https://www.gtlifting.co.uk/products/hoisting-material-handling/gt-lightweight-wire-rope-snatch-block-shackle-head-gtsbs/ Their snatch blocks are not too expensive for what they are - we have used our 5 tonne unit weekly for about the past 4 years or so They also do slings but you will get better for less money elsewhere - I will see if I can fine the details of the UK supplier/manufacturer we use as we have yet to break one of their slings - something I cannot say about other suppliers! Edit: Found the details of our supplier for our heavy duty slings https://slingsandstraps.co.uk/ They are not the cheapest but are very good quality

We had an Ifor trailer stolen a few years back. Found it for sale a few weeks later at a car dealers about 80 miles from where we lived. Notified plod who, on finding that we had received insurance payout, advised that it was of no interest to them and that we should contact insurers etc.

GIven that they had to subtitle both Gerrard and Carragher on Sky then I can just about manage four - English, Scouse, Glaswegian and French. Geordie is close but just too far howay.....

Is the top wheel nut missing or just hidden in the recess?

What;s the cable tie for? That looks like a (rather small and possibly deformed) alloy, not a wheel trim

Rest assured that is where it will be going if necessary - we are already 'in dialogue'. However, I have some work for it to do over the next week - we are taking down half a dozen large spruce trees around our house (about 120' high with a dbh of around 3') so I will need the big saw for that. Ashamed to admit that I managed to get somewhat distracted today due to a new arrival at the other end of the scale - a Makita DUC306 cordless top-handle. What a great piece of kit for the money (£170 plus VAT). I spent the afternoon clearing the lower branches from some of the spruce and one very large (I think) Leylandi (taller than the spruce) and only had to change the batteries once.

We have often considered this with the LR Discos, some of which are a commercial spec and the rfl is considerably cheaper. Turned out that the DVLA go with the class as per original V5 document - no-one on the Disco3 or Disco4 forums has managed to get it changed (in either direction).

Thanks both peatff - I have been told that the 066 had different flywheels and ignition modules. I'll remove the cover and check first before exploring further. Thanks for the encouragement though!

Thank you both - I'll try Spud's suggestions first before parting with any cash I think! It doesn't wrench the starter handle so it sounds as if it isn't the timing (even without the decomp button pushed in) I'll whip the cover off tomorrow and take a look at the control shaft - tbh I haven't run it for a few months (since someone repaired my Husky in fact!) so I can;'t remember exactly what it does when/if it eventually starts. I seem to remember that it 'just' ran then slowly picked up revs, but will look more closely tomorrow.

Thanks - I'll start hunting (don't think that Stihl still make the original part so it will most likely have to be a copy) I was dreading someone suggesting it might be the timing!

Evening all I have had my 066 since new (around 1998I think) and it has always been a bit reluctant to start for the first time each day (bit like me really). No issues once it has been used - even if I go to start it some hours later, and it will run all day if I need it to with no issues - it is just a case of getting the thing to start for the first time! 'Symptoms' are that it will initially fire/cough with choke fully set, regardless of whether or not decomp is used. Thereafter it is a complete ballache to start - whether I leave the choke on or push the lever up one to the throttle only setting. Of late it has become a complete lottery - some days it will reluctantly start, other days it doesn't want to know. Fresh fuel mix and fuel system has been drained through to carb so I don't think that is the issue, and plug was recently changed. Any (relevant) thoughts appreciated. Thanks

For all business insurance I use a broker - let them do the legwork as they know who to ask. It may cost you a few quid on top but can save a lot of hassle.

We have tried that in the past. In our case they generally take the discount but still take an age to pay!

But Steve doesn't need to know his age to be able to say when anything was established - DoB is pretty much irrelevant whichever way you look at it.