drinksloe

Lot of money thou. I'll have to have a good look in the shop next time i'm in. Was all wrapped up in plastic so i couldn't even tell how they worked, and to be honest shocked at te price.

I'll try and mind to take a photo the morn. But basically its the steepness of the steepest motorway bankings ur allowed But my back door opens right on to it and its right round the house so u will see the bit 'going mental' i might be as well to let the whole lot go mental. When i got it sown i did want a wild flower or bumble bee/nectare mix but the lad advised against it 1 he wanted to sow a lot of deep rooted grass spc just to hold it together, which makes sense 2 he says they just look sh#t for most of the year apart from when actually flowering. I have planted some wild flower mixes lsewhere and results tend to vary, having a very poor year this year but that could be 4 years since sown, just looks like a big ple of weeds plus hard to spray any actual weedss without killing the wild flowers

I tell u wot that is cheap, i would be worried too cheap u pay some serious money for more well known brands. Aye originally planned an electric on a rope but i'm worried it might not have the grunt and i'm really wanting a mulching mower so i don't pick up any grass. Job will be bad enough without mower geting heavier and then having to empty it. Plus the banking could do wi getting some mulch on it to form a bit of soil really. They're not dear so dunno to have a punt and if i get a few years out of it and then see wot happens But ur looking around 500 squid for a new 2 stroke hover mower and u still have all the hassle of dangling it off a bit of rope. I can imagine any novelty will wear of pretty quickly. Thinking about the logistics of swinging a lawnmower on a rope for potentially hours at a time, i casn see u having forearms like popeye or just sore arms and a bugered back, i did think about buying a cheap body harness thingy and attach the rope with a prussick to chest loop ( or if i got really fancy a VT system) so harness is hold the pressure and i could just take in or let out rope as i needed. Was just a bit of a hair brained idea dunno if it would actually work or not?

Or more likely tune in to a different prey species, any nesting bird ground or tree, rabbits, chickens, pheasant etc Would cos absolute devastion if they were ever released widely in big numbers, esp numbers big enough to kill enough greys at a landscape/regional/national level. Dunno about the smelling them but as they evolved with them will have a good built in fear of them and know wot that smell means, But seemingly the main factor is greys spend a lot of time on ground ( i think 70% odd) while reds spend very little and the reds being smaller and more agile can escape on to higher smaller branches the PM can't follow

Cheers folks for all replies so far very helpful Been thinking about this bloody banking for years while i dug the stuff out but didnae truely appreciate how steep and slippy it is. Had a wee go with the strimmer there and done the less steep banking easy but that extra few degrees wjll make it a bugger. Must admit dinae even want to think about striming it while i'm tied in, would be a nightmare with climbing harness and strimming harness on. Done felling like that of near vertical faces for railways and laterly for pheasant shoots to open up gully drives for guns Must admit i didn't even know u got 2 stroke flymo's, not something i've ever looked into before. Would an electric 1 struggle then? Never even used an electric flymo before or any flymo before so really havnae got a clue how it will work. I ight nip up and see the greenkeeper 1 morning, he's the only person i've ever seen doing it, mibbee could borrow his just for a trial run. its at the back of my own house so doing it for myself so even if it was an hour or 2 hear and there Grass was only hydro sown last back end, had a pretty good catch but the type it is not too thick yet but still 1st year. Meant to be banking grass species, must admit amazed its grown as well as only sown on sub soil, no top soil at all, but a few bits are struggling a bit with lack of nutrients so getting a bit of fert when weather allows. At moment i'm meaning to leave it another week or so as a lot of the grass is just seeding the now Banking was pretty level, had a couple of runs over the winter but filled them in and keeping on top of the rabbits too! I take it the hover mowers need quite even ground? When u read some of the bumf most claim to be able to cut grass and leave it 1ft long Cheers open i'll drop u a pm 👍 Is there much to go wrong with them? I see a few other brands for sale 2nd hand allen and u still can buy new 1's just not flymo

Alright folks I'm sure plenty on here have came across this problem before. Have any of u came up with a way of cutting grass on proper steep bankings? It is at back of my house so i can run power to it and it is a genuine 45 angle slope.and quite a decent size could be 7-10m up the slope and mibee 50m long The only option i have thought of is an electric hover mower do wot i can from top and bottom and dangle it on a rope for the rest, seen the green keeper doing it a local golfy years ago but not for anything this size. I would be worried about a petrol mower unless it was 2 stroke being at such a step angle for so long having problems with the oil/sump. I have a big petrol strimmer and strim the old banking at the bottom no probs but the steepness of the new banking it just is hard to keep ur footing at all, patching in some grass seed a while back ending up sliding from top to bottom on ar@e with a bucket of grass seed scattered everywhere, really don't fancy that with an expensive strimmer on my back

Cheers folks Aye just alaskan milling, to be fair i've never got round to buying a ripping chain yet, always mean to but never did and not done an awful lot yet) and the wood is quite dry. sAW FEELS SHARP ENOUGH ALTHOU I THINK RAKERS COULD DO WITH DOWN A TOUCH NORE ( bloody caps lock!!! Grrr) Aye esp on here u read about lads switching to aspen but be an expensive day milling with a 660 on aspen, usually it doesnae bother me at all but must off been standing in a bad spot and no breeze which is unusual u here. So basically a suck it and see. Cheers

Are those the things about 80 odd quid?? I was in a fencing shop a week or 2 back and seen them hanging up seen the price tag and couldnae believe it. Just a lass behind till she didnae ken much about them. The probelm with normal fencing pliers if ur doing a lot of them the oppisate side eventually snaps off. Seen varios things from rebar spikes etc, but best thing i use now is a bit of leaf spring cut at a steep angle ( like thin pizza slice) and weld a handle onto it, looks ridiculaus but it does work well Being an old leaf spring i thik it holds its shape better? atleast thats why i persume he makes them out of springs

Alright Just wondering of the more experienced boys who do a lot of milling. Do u use either a full face mask or just a dust mask when milling esp if having a big day at it? Been doing a bit of googling, watching clips and reading throu old threads on here about milling and any tips etc, seen 1 boy's video and he recommended a full face mask thing A to stop the fine dust etc but also he said helps with fumes from the saw/2 stroke. The rest of his clips seemed quite good but i tend to be a bit wary of watching/believing some internet clips, there's a lot of heroes out there that shouldnae be let lose with nail scisscors never mind a chainsaw and video camera Been doing a wee bit last day or 2 and normally the 2 stroke fumes in general forestry work never really bother me. But i must admit today i had that finer saw dust everywhere and sweating like a pig too and must have been getting to a lower hieght down the trunk so bending over a bit and was noticing the 2 stroke more than usual. Do any of u use a mask or mask and visor combo? Must admit not sure hom the googles would get on in tat heat today, but thats not the norm really. Cheers

I hope u don't have ur name or any iD marks on the kayak. U might have the police/border control/immigration knocking on ur door in a week or 2's time claiming ur providing boats to immigrants! 😄

Aye that may be true but if ur cutting in front of a harvester on the las tof edge trees or on a steep banking gully do u just phone ur boss and say a bit hot today do u mind parking up ur 1/2 million quid machine for a few days?? Don't get me wrong if u could plan ur work beter esp in forestry u can start early doors 4 or 5 in morning and save brashing in the shade for heat of day and do felling or more snedding outsiders in the early morning cool. But unfortunately it doesnae always work like that , as chances are a harvester driver planned the work from his cool air conditioned cab 😃 I abslolutely hate the heat but wearing decent breathable/wicking base layer/lycra type stuff it is easy enough to wear long sleeves in the hottest of days. and modern cutting pants with zips and breathable bits arenae half as bad as they used to be As has been said drink plenty of water BUT also add elctrolytes to it. Seemingly u can buy 'proper' stuff dor bikers/atheltes Last year i would add 1 or 2 sachets of 'skitter' powder ( that dairrohah? stuff and do think it made me feel a lot better/fresher less sleepy on the drive home. Was just thinking about the not wearing cutting pants, i'd honestly never dream of it on a commercial site. If the forrester caught u, at very least u would be made to put them on and a 'yellow' card, but most would kick u off site. many would ban u from all there firms sites. And go nuts at ur boss. If they did let u back on they would never be away from ur site wondering wot other things ur up to. But i do understand with climbing ur cutting/saw positions are completely different and trousers offer far less/no protection to the areas ur likely to catch/cut. I am actually off today, away back to milling for another couple of hours and i have got some cooler work to do for the worst of heat if it comes as far north as us. Stay safge, drink plenty, keep in shade ( wear long sleves/collar tunred up and put some electrolyte stuff in ur water

I've climbed the odd tree for myself just in normal trousers and cut firewood as well without PPE. I do get where ur coming from. But very different story on ur own ground I'm just surprised any boss would allow it no matter how good a climber u are. Sure as sh~t his lesser climbers will all be trying it next even thou they don't have ur skill or experience. I bet if boys went past ur site and seen u climbing in shorts photos would be up on here claiming ur a cowboy/caravan dweeler working with no PPE But even as a SE forestry cutter absolutely NO site would let u anywhere near if u weren't fully PPE'd up to eyeballs. Even in the heat i wouldnae dream of not putting them on. Plus if something did happen they're woud be hell to pay and no other contravctor would take u on either I've had 2 pairs of cutting trousers condemned now by foresters, don't get me wrong the outer layer was ripped all over and badly stiched in places but the inside layer ( with kevlar?) inside was completely untouched.( Touch wood i'm like u never been near nicking myself or trousers, yet! But i bet everyone says that just before they cut themselves) I still think it was unfair to condemn them just because they looked a mess Some sites foresters will check the date on ur hats and ur 1st aid kits . Must admit with modern chainsaw trousers there far lighter now than they ever have been, i dinae really mind wearing tem even in the heat. And working with sticky jaggy softwoods the protection gives u a bit of protection from the needles anyway Many years ago i had a bust up on a gas pipeline, there policy for some reason is everyone must waer a boiler suit at all times with sleves rolled down. I was climbing taking limbs of and felling plus some bat work at the time. Was madness to insist i wore a boiler suit on top of all my climbing gear

Must admit i thought ur post was a wind up. I'm amazed anyone lets u climb up a tree with a chainsaw in shorts, fair enough if u just went up with a silky. I get where ur coming from but didnae think with stuff like that there was any room for choosing ur PPE Last summer it was real hot with us hi 20's, to mid 30's for ages, litre of OJ on drive, was carrying 7 litres of water in every day and drinking the lot and hardly pissing all day. And dry as a nun by time got back to van, on way home 1st shop was a juice and lolly stop Job was a nightmare big timber on top of a steep hill 1/2+ mile from van, carrying sledge wedges 30T bottle jack, saw and brimmed combi. Wot made it worse the boss wouldn't always send u back the next day so was a gamble to leave ur saw, sledge and jack up the hill or not. Must admit even in the heat i was wearing long sleve t shirt but more to stop the clegs biting and getting covered in resin up ur arms. And i'm 1 of the rare folk that still wears a rain thingy on my helmet all the time, stops the sun burning the back of ur neck

Aye that is exactly the type of thing i was looking for. Aye squardely it was meant to be uses not users, would love to blame auto correct but really just my fat fingers to blame 😃 Its sort of along the lines i thought of but good to be reassured. That popular door is stunning. Fits in well with the building style Wot thickness did u will them down to? Guessing 9"-12" wide boards? I have just renovated an old stone building so have some big window sils at moment just done with mdf painted but not sat very securely on so at some point i do hope to replace with hard wood sils i have milled. And could do with some coffee tables too of some description and various other bits and bobs I did mill some last year, gave a fair bit away and left some stuff down wher ei milled it out the way and some bugger nicked it. Fair play to them as fairly big slabs 12ft x2ft+ x2"+ took a bit of lifting out the wood Must admit don't think i've ever seen a sweet chestnut tree, and always found it hard to believe folk would use horse chestnut type timber for fence posts or anything else like that. Usually the only time u deal with a horse chestnut up here its a huge windblown thing

I'm sure some of the subbies may have made some good money right at time when desperate to get power, phone lines back on and roads open. So for 1st week or 2 i'm sure some would be on decent money. But i know some of the employed boys were totally sick of it just long hours of same crappy pay. But once roads are clear and power phone on and then haul roads open that need to be there really is not an urgent demand to get stuff cleared up, unless the estate/land owner is 1 of those types that likes thing done right and cleared up and tidy. But even then it still has to be vaguely financially viable I mind we were getting shouted at as took us 4 days to get to a windmill site to clear trees of their access roads, but had been flat out opening public roads before that trying to get people/power folk in/out of places. Aye everyone thinks they're timber is worth a fortune, as u see on posts on here all the time, but by the time u take into account the time sheer hard word its really almost worthless or they need to pay u for ur time. Dunno wot ground is like around durham but might be as well advertising now rather than wait till winter, u might get better access now when fields drier as soon as an crops come off. But again i bet most farmers will have tidied/bulldozed the worst of it out the more valueable fields and it will jus tbe the crap ackward bits left. Sue be plenty of work but just wether u want to do it or not may be the question.

Alright Hopefully this is in right place and not be in the milling section Got quite a few windblown trees about my wood still as well as nieghbours, in no danger and still growing so not really wasting and was wondering wot alternative users i can use them for?? I have firewood/logs coming out of my ears already, and while i could start selling it, it really wouldn't be viable if i counted the hours involved ( all hand cut moved, possibly removed split with an axe and stacked) yes i could get more mechanical but still a few others in area selling it quite cheap I'm planning on building a leanto porch/type roofed gazebo at my back door mibbee 10 or 12m long, which i'm going to mill some oak for and make a nice feature off. Other species i have needing a use, some big cypres ( with another due to be felled must be near 80-100ft single stem), beech, plenty sycamore, a big oak which i am hoping to plank a good bit possibly make some 4-6" posts too, some ash ( althou most has a touch of ADB now) and some big straight populars 3-4ft butts and nice and straight. Possibly also a horse chestnut I was thinking down south u use chestnut for fencing? I take it it is untreated? Is there much difference between the timber of horse chestnut and sweet chestnut? Not familiar with sweet chestnut at all, Horse chestnut seems to dry similar to sycamore i wouldn't of expected it to be a good fencing timber Done plenty of fencing but never with untreated posts, all just soft woods up here apart from the old sq oak strainers from generations ago I could also do with some big boards 6 or 8x2's for holding soil back for a new lawn or raised garden and some steps too? Not sure i want to use the oak for all of that. Wot would be the next best species? Usually plenty of larch up the track behind my house but they must of had a tidy up Also could do with a semi temp car port/shed for trailers, got some 2nd tin coming and thought i could use some of these trees, Are u better using it as round wood or milling it square? And finally u se eon these alaskan type programmes where there living in the wilds building stuff, i've seen them singe/burn/blacken the outside of timber to prevent it rotten for founds and stuff buried, i think a japanese type name. Does that work Cheers

I've heard reports from all over scotland that it is pretty patchy but where it has hit it can be pretty bad. I heard borders/berwickshire hit pretty bad and done a wee bit throu past kelso/coldstream area, some woods flattened some barely touched. 1 we were in was not great timber even standing but atleast all blown the same direction. To be honest now the wind blow will hardly be commercially viable for cutting now, even the stuff still living could start to have a bend in any saw logs. So really all good for is chip, with the price of diesel now and the slower production just not be worth the hassle for either contractor or owner unless they need access. God knows wot they will do with all the timber later on as it will only get worse until only good for going under tracks. I also wouldn't believe too much about big money being offered, possibly right at the time to get access and power on but not now. I done 4 hours on the way home for a power crew for nowt, only reward was getting my own power on to get 1st shower for 4 days, which was worth it, As has been said most RAMS state no hand cutting of wind blow as normal now on most forestry sites, yet i usually still cut any i see if safe facing directly towards harvester, leave any other stuff. And also depend son the driver some will ask u to leave a 3+m piece of chip on it so they can rip stump out easily Unless they ask me to do it, harvesters can usually handle windblow quite well unil they get into real big stuff or big tension/compression esp if coming at it tip 1st We were on a FC site a while back and they didn't know wot to do, the OS trees that were too big for harvester standing had blown down and then we weren't allowed to cut them blocking the whole site up. Did they think they had shrunk now lying on the deck and the harvesters could manage them?? These were big trees taking 2-4 big logs off, 1 3.7 the harvester couldn't even lift it out the way was that meaty and forwarder barely got it on his bunk. 1 operator i was speaking too got sent up to aberdeenshire somewhere reckons he'll be on windblow for next couple of years on the same estate. He's on a tigercat which is well suited to windblow althou they have put a big 360 infront of him with shears on says it has helped his production massively ( far less blunt chains, bent bars) Be work out there tidying up big house gardens and fields for farmers fields and it will be going on for years, but very dodgy work doing it on ur own ( even breaking down hardwood crowns) and been lying a while now so no great panic over them so ur not going to be charging fortunes

Traditional management of willow is to coppice it, so wot bolt has shown is actually the traditional way to manage willow. Might be best to wait till winter time before u do it but willow does grow back strong, Plus cutting blow the snapped join tidies it up and would stop any diseases or rot getting into the willow stem long term. If the wind is really that sevre u could build a wee box or rail to stop the new growth being blown over that direction too far. Must admit if it was me i'd proably cut low and spray with round up or drill some holes and fill with round up. There are nicer trees Also is that a main/public road in the back ground? If so at some point u may have to manage ur willow when it gets bigger, willows can be quite bushy trees so catch a bit of wind ( and it looks like prevailing wind is over the road) Might make life more complicated ( and expensive) in the future if u need to manage it. Just saying another type of tree might be more appropriate for there or have willow further back

Back to OP I really haven't done much with this cut and really know little about it but the above green lines where not really how i thought u do it.. I would say video tree was not really big enough to demo it on and with a rope on it u could of done almost any cut u wanted and that tree would of pulled over easily But it looks like his back cut went right up to his final vertical bore, so it wouldn't do much good. And his 1st bore right in the face of the hinge i though that might encourage it to snap the hinge rather than make it stronger. There is another cut i occsasionally do if i want the hinge to snap off and i cut down the face like that and take a wee tiny gub out there, handy for steep ground uphill felling when u really don't want to go back to sever the hinge after its on the deck Like i say i don't know that much about the cut but the very few times i've done it were just 3 vertical bores 6" or so into hinge wood just 3/4" apart ish all on the same level, just on the inside of the hinge/tree. Like i say i have no idea if that is right or not but wot some other clips seemed to show, it has always seemed to work when i hav done it but never done it on a real dodgy heavily weighted tree yet whjn it might actually make a difference ( or not)

Not the best photos, was sure I had others in phone. Aye it does mean a slightly higher stump, but can't be helped, ur doing the cut for a reason. Most of the time I use it is edge trees so a good chance I might be jacking them anyway so ur stump will be higher. Not the biggest or ugliest of trees or massive lean or weight over ride, althou I'm sure those trees had to come right in so forwarder could lift all the produce as harvester off site. With the larger edge trees Ithat a normal gub in first horizontal and then put the extra diagional gub on the inside. chances are the gub will be bored anyway and it's only that 1 side I really care about holding anyway. I think that's my 372 with a 20 on it ( otherwise 560 and 18) it's sitting on the normal gub I I then took the angled gub out the inside. If u can tie hinge into a buttress seen it pulling big bits of root out the ground. Really does hold well when u do it right

Looks like the sizwell done its job well 👍 U do get some real decent fibre pull with them and it always/mostly seems to pull down into the root plate and not up into the timber like a normal gub can if u havenae done sap wood cuts. I've never noticed much tearing in the bottom log Aye i'm the same as u practice any of these more advanced cuts when it doesn't really matter and see how they cope. The only problem is every tree is different so u will never truely know if u done something different Did u put a rope on to just for belt and braces since a power line? Would u subsitute this sharks tooth cut instaed of that swizel cut? . Ive found larch to be a queer tree at times most of time hinges hold real good but every now and again 1 surprises u and breaks of on u. To be fair most of the time that happens ur cuts have not been 100% spot on

I've tried it and not often but never really in anger, must admit i didn't think u bored all the way throu a tree i just thought u put it in a few inches or even on a large tree and usually i'm only ever concerned about the inside side of hinge holding so have only bored in that side Would probably say not the best tree to demo it on in video fairly small and straight Must admit i had a tree go wrong with me a few years ago, don't get me wrong a fair bit of operator on my part, cuts were prety good but should never attempted to put it where i did but anywhere else would off been a nightmare to process Tree was far too heavy with far too much back lean and too many big pappy branches on it ( some of lower 1's where size of ur leg) Just a horrible horrible tree beside a hual road and steep banking. And the wind really picked up mid cut, but a combination of wedges and 30T bottle jack i thought i had it. It was a big horrible hairy edge Sitka, a proper fat arseed 4ft+ but with the toes off, and right on the corner so weight on both the 'wrong' sides But i still think i had left the hinge too thick on the inside and it wanted to go but hinge wouldn't flex and it snapped off and went over the gully. I had the back cut lifted a good 3 or 4" and thought it was going easier Hinge on the inside must of been 9" and just nibbling wee bits off it as i jacked, be very little on outside althou not quite a dutchman I always thought if i had done some vertical bores it might of allowed that side of the hinge to flex more i might of got it but it did have some weight and lean on it and the wind was final nail in coffin. But as i said i thought i had it as was just beginning to jack a lot easier. If the wind was blowing as strong when i started i would of hinged it different But i had already done 5 or 6 similar but slightly smaller trees just along the roadside into the wind to build up my confidence for the real big bugger and all came in easy. End of day no on was hurt and tree ended up on deck and missed the road, but was a pure bugger to process and ended up 1 of those trees ur snedding it and butt is way above ur head ur just waiting/wondering which way its going to roll as u sned it out or how fast it will come down. Which was why i tried to hold it nearer woodside In hindsight i probably should of put it there anyway and saved myself a lot of wedging and jacking but was a pure bugger to sned and even a medium sized Tigercat couldn't drag it back in when sned and they have some power There is an other cut designed to increase hinge flex/strength which i do use more often with big outsiders.the Swizel or Sizwell? cut I do think it works althou u have to keep ur back cut pretty low, they definately pull a lot of timber/fibres on the side u put it in on I think with any of these more advanced cuts they only work in certain timbers ( and not even all softwoods, wouldn't try 1 in Norway spruce) and if the cut dosen't work u have to be ok with that, ie no houses or serious targets if it goes wrong. End of day ur only putting them into trees that are weighted wrong so always a chance of breaking off anyway, if in doubt ur gooing to need a rope/winch/machine on it I dunno where u stand if u use 1 of these more advanced cuts and something goes wrong? Is ur insurance still valid I know they claim some foresters come round after inspecting ur cuts

Another option may be to hire a spider lift, should get in if u can get a 4T digger in. I'm waiting on 1 coming back of long term hire £200 quid a day for 17m lift, not a lot more than 90 just for a winch ( assuming hiring a tirfor?) not sure if a capstan winch would have the grunt for that or would just burn all the rope spinning on the capstan. And cut away at the top from a slightly safer position than climbing the sycamore. If u got 1 in make a day of it and mark up all these other problem trees/branches. But again as has been said even cutting from a man basket may not be entirely safe depending how the limb twists and turns or rolls out towards machine, so a good bit of common sense and experience would be needed wot ever option u chose

Another just thinking question Again assuming PR, i don't know the status of the Bristol area, i'm assuming it will be PR free or wot ever they call it. If OP wants timber/brash/chip removed would they need a licence? And does that also mean timber/brash/chip then has to go to a designated/licensed site?? So u can't just log it for firewood and sell it? althou i assume the homeowner could burn it himself in a log burner? In my area its so rife no one really bothers now, further west is the red zone and pretty much given up even trying to control it, i think were in the caution/observation zone? where jumping on it quick but not bothered about where it is moved too as long as stays within this local area. So no need for licences etc any more

Just wondering IF a tree surgeon/arborist diagnoses/confirms that it is PR is the homeowner ( or tree surgeon) meant to inform the local FC officer or do u have to get him out before u cut it down to confirm it is PR?? Just incase he then has to survey the wider area?? Looking at the photos which may well be decieving, if u moved/took the monkey bars of the slide u may well get a straight fell down to corner of ur garden., doesn't look a massively tall tree and quite a big garden. But i could be wrong also when just looking at the photo Would make it cheaper than if it needs climbed