ABtrees

Evening all. I've got a (actually 3) challenging windblown 45ft acacia (root plate lifted) hung up in the top of an Oak on a 40 degree slope over a road (with a fence and a river thrown in for good measure !!!). Any thoughts / advice on the best (least dangerous) way to fell it - greatly appreciated. There's no access from the top of the bank and nothing substantial enough to strap/winch it to. Same either side The only thing I can think to do is climb the Oak and try to 'release' it (!) but the outcome may be a bit too instant and binary for my liking and skill set ! Alternatively just drop it and hope for the best and then just keep taking sections off the bottom until it clears or falls back up the hill ! Leaving it and /or dropping the oak aren't really options either. HELP and thanks in advance. Photos attached show from up the bank and looking across the bank.

The big one missing from the list has surely got to be Hornbeam. Better calorific value than Oak and you can burn it 'wet' : dead tree - straight on the fire; Live tree - 1year later. Great heat, clean and slow burning.

There was apparently another reason for using wooden (hornbeam) teeth in the gears. It was a major safety (and cost saving) feature. If for some reason (say a large stone) the mill got jammed, with all that power, cast on cast wouldn't have a good outcome - there is no clutch !!! Alternatively replacing a few wooden teeth you'd be operational again within the hour. I attach a photo showing it was usually the big (drive) gears that had the wooden teeth. The smaller gears are iron. BTW the pillars are (apparently) sweet chestnut - no idea why - probably something to do with load bearing ???

Evening. Back in France - had a couple of sickly looking Alders to drop this week - dying / dead and the woodpecker had been having a go, so I expected the odd grub ! Splitting it out - absolutely infested with lime-green larvae - max about an inch long (and a couple of bigger flatheads). I am sure that some of you on here are far, far more knowledgeable than me so can anyone please tell me what they are ? Thanks As an aside I reckon the big grub (posted in August) is Ergates Faber - magnificent beetle - similar size to Stag but all beetle - none of that antler stuff !!!

Yeah - good call - they can fly in the dark and they are attracted to light (actually to harvesting the other insects attracted to the light) - maybe rethink the tennis racquet just in case !

I have an entirely self-set tree nursery containing a lot (maybe 200+) of predominantly Oak and Hornbeam but with a few 'others' (Walnut, Hazel Ash). They are obviously way too close together so I have the idea that I'll move some around a bit ! I've never done anything like this so I'm going to need all the advice I can get. I'm guessing the best time to move is Autumn (lower water requirement and lots of rain) but when is too early and when is too late ? How much earth to take ? Is there a metric between tree height and size of root ball and (I guess) is it species dependant? Some of them are quite big (see photos) - and therefore presumably their roots will be entwined - what is the best option : disentangle them and lose the soil surrounding or just pick a big enough (?) root ball and chop through anything outside that ! How do I 'prep' the new site or is it dig a hole and chuck it in and just infill ? And finally if (as I am sure someone on here has already done this) what are my chances of success (survival rates) ? Thanks in advance for any advice AB

I would think it more likely to be some other beetle, maybe a late stag beetle, lesser stag . The other name for a Maybug is the Cockchafer and there are plenty of other chafer beetles that fly. Hopefully (for you) they aren't Longhorn (as they can ruin any untreated timber - have a look at my recent post on the 'iggly, iggly thread and you'll see why) !!! The only real way to tell is to catch one - butterfly net and a torch rather than tennis racquet !

You may want to have a look at the King Arthurs / Lancelot tool range for the grinder. Also check out the Saburr carbide discs. Found this link https://www.toolpost.co.uk/pages/Carving_Tools/Power_Carving/power_carving.html which may be of interest. Good luck - be safe.

Hi Jules Yep pretty sure it is a longhorn but which one. This larva was the smallest of 3 I found, at just over 6 cms so I reckon its a big one ! Oh yeah - its in France

OH and I appreciate this isn't quite the right thread but can anyone id these fellas for me - they hatched yesterday. Thanks

Here's a fairly large grub found under the bark in an Oak trunk that's been down a year - I think I know what it is but would be happy to see if anyone agrees so suggestions please - loves Oak and leaves bloody big holes !

After chasing the gull around I bet he was Puffin a bit

Cat alerted me to something moving around in the nestbox so I grabbed the camera ................ not quite what I was expecting !

So been in France - very warm (35+) - think that may explain a couple of these - and a huge boring beetle grub which I'll post tomorrow

Ok so here's a couple of (for me) slightly rarer ones - been in France for a week before anyone gets in any way excited - or not ! And I found a couple of other oddities posted on iggly thread

I notice that to speed things up (if they need to replace any of the belts), they’ve done a bit of forward planning and removed all the guards – can’t help wondering if the death and injury rates are sky high or whether people learn (from a very young age) to be careful, manage risk and take responsibility for their own actions?!!!

Morning Pete That has just made my day. Never seen them up close and on land - something I do need to do. Does anyone know how they manage to get a beak so full of sand eels? I mean think about it - you're swimming along underwater and catch a sand eel in your beak - fine - then you open your beak to catch another one (X 12) !!!!

OK How about buying something 4 months ago only to find out much too late that it's definitely not what it said on the label. I give you by way of example my new blackcurrant bush. I thought those leaves looked dodgy when they first came out !

Yeah spot on. Help me out with these 2 pls. Two (not great) pics of each of 2 blues (even though one of them is brown ! )

Just discovered this thread (so thanks for bringing it back). Here's a couple of (relatively) easy ones to kick it off - answers on a postcard !!! Btw I literally have hundreds of pictures so please feel free to tell me to stop posting - I get that not everyone is as into their nature as me !!! I've got a couple of blues from last weekend that I'm struggling with (I'll post them tomorrow if I get the chance) along with some igglies (on that thread) that seem to be destroying my willows !

Hi Steve They're called an Icebow - caused by v.high altitude ice crystals - much more common than one might think - apparently. No idea why the colours are reversed - or are they not - haha !

Hi David I also have the 460 and just been using the 40-2 (now 46-2) it came with originally along with square 2.7mm for grass/ young bracken/brambles etc and then the 270 shredder blade for the more serious scrub. Have you tried the 4.00mm on the jetfit as Stubby is suggesting and does the 460 have enough grunt to handle it ? If not what is the max line you've found works?

Can someone explain to me why the horse chestnut has only flowered on one side ? It is normally the same all over but this year the East facing side virtually nothing and the West side, full bloom - late 'beast from the East' malarkey ? And can anyone tell me which Orchid this is and what are the purple flowers (like a hooded crocus) ? Thanks in advance.

OK I'm going to need some help with this one - possibly some kind of Alderfly or Dobson but can anyone narrow it down for me? The body is about 6cm with antennae and twin 'tails' on top of that, wings laid more flat down the length of its body rather than more triangular either side. Thick sturdy legs.

And whilst I'm posting anyone got any idea what beetle this might have been - never seen a trunk so riddled with holes (and a bit of Ganoderma ???????). Pound coin for size ref