chrisjpainter

my plan was to put it up before it had an owl in it...the chances of getting one in are low when it's in the tree, but probably infinitely better than its current status of being in the shed. unbuilt.

We're thinking of installing an owl box into an oak tree. the site's pretty good for barn owls, but the tree in question has a TPO on it and the Barn Owl Trust weren't sure if this would cause a problem legally. Their recommendation is a 4 inch coach screw as a fixing, but they weren't sure if this would break TPO laws. Does anyone know? If an issue, would strapping that could be released as the tree grows be acceptable?

Thanks for the replies chaps, I have past this on and it looks like I'll be cutting it down at some point. Without landing on the neighbour's fence or in my mother's pond...

Some more pics, hopefully they're useful! The damage does, it seems, extend further round. That's the same branch removed as the earlier pics. There's the whole tree and some of the dead branches. There are more of these higher up and right

No fire. It's well away from their traditional fire site. It doesn't look too healthy, I have to say! the other side is fine, but i'd be pretty worried about the state of the middle of the tree, which'd make it a bit precarious. slight lean over the pond and towards the fence to the neighbours too!

My parents have got this tree in their garden. It's not massive (30ft?) and sits next to a pond. About a foot up the trunk there's all this damage, some possible fungal damage but also clear insect damage too. bits come off and just powder away and some of the branches high up are now starting to die off. Is there anything that can be done, can it be left, or is it time to remove? Many thanks

scandalous idea. where did you here that?

my thoughts exactly? I've never bothered with mine...

It's still active, although in greatly reduced scenarios - and actually in the vast majority of cases, we should be grateful it does still exist. If it was removed, every single ridiculous outcome would have to be insured against and the result would be premium hikes. this tree is a case in point. 'Acts of God' have to exclude things that reasonably can be guarded against. So the tree could have been pollarded back, but would that have been reasonable to expect, just to save a greenhouse/fence? Even with vaguer catch-all assessment clauses, premiums would still go up because more and potentially far more expensive risks are being insured against. Your house flooding is an interesting one. usually people have bolt on insurance for flood, because it's expected or at least foreseeable. But if some fool with a pneumatic drill hits a pipe and floods you, then they'd be liable. if you live right next to a stream that never rises much, has never flooded the house in living memory and has never posed a threat to anyone else, suddenly does flood your house due to natural causes, then you could be in trouble. Lots of ifs and maybes - the fun and games of insurance! It's just like risk assessments in work. there are some things you just don't put down and for which you'd never be held accountable should they happen. you might write the perfect risk assessment - then a goose dies mid-flight, knocking your climber out just at a critical point, causing someone to have something dropped on their head - it's not in the risk assessment, but if it was, you'd either be psychic, or mad. Really you're just a victim of 'these things happen' and insurance companies don't like unforseeable 'these things happen'!

I know very little about this, but wouldn't a site check be pretty normal - especially as the photos you provided put the red line (assuming that's the cut line?) at two different points on the tree and there's a steep bank with a stream at the bottom on one side of the tree. seem to be a fair few logistics involved that you've not thought through or spotted, which is probably why getting professionals in is a good idea - and have to pay them as professionals. or you could get some cowboy in to do it, kill himself on your property and then be left with having to live with that on your conscience because you didn't want to pay for someone who knew what they were doing...

Thanks chaps! I now have a working chain brake, once again. no left over screws, no springs in compromising positions! thanks again Chris

sorry that's what I meant! so should it be more compressed and the knee joint flat? that feels like a lot of compression in the spring!

can anyone help me extricate myself from a mess? I can't get the chain brake back together. where does the brake spring sit in relation to the knee joint assembly? i've got it sitting in what feels like a natural position, but there's no movement in order to engage/disengage. right now it looks like this... The area in the red circle. is that correct, or should the knee joint be flat. if so, does that mean the spring should be much more compressed? many thanks. Chris

Funny you should say that. At work we had a couple of 250's in for a day and I felt the same. Anyone use a 271?

any thoughts on the stihl 251 while we're here? i had ruled it out based on slightly lower specs, but there are sme good deals on them right now and it's nice and light. looked on you tube for some vids, bit it sees they're only owned by complete numpties who can't use a saw anyway, so it's tough to learn how well they cut!

Ah that most essential of features! Can't be doing without that now, can we?! Thanks people, keep it coming.

Could someone explain to me why one would go for the over the 555? I know that it's lighter, but in terms of chain speed, power output, torque and a few other things, the 555 seems to give more. What am I missing and is there a reason for the price gap? Go easy on me! This'd be my first saw. It'll be used for felling (cs31 stuff) and limbing, but also firewood stuff. We use Stihl 260's at work which cut well, but I wouldn't choose to own one myself, based on how they all handle. Any other suggestions would be most welcome. ATB Chris

yeah, it's not looking so clever right now. I work for my Wildlife Trust reserve and we're taking out the worst hit trees and the trees in public access areas (safety concerns) but we're not clearing it. partly because we have so many and partly to allow the possibility of resistance to materialise. I will say that a friend of mine who's doing his PhD in ash dieback isn't quite as pessimistic as most of the media seem to be. It's unlikely to be as bad as the elm loss and resistance if not immunity is being identified. Fingers crossed

Er... just realised you were talking about starting the training, not the assessment, right? Oops. well in that case. listen to your instructor, he'll give you all the advice you need. You will probably make mistakes, but that's fine, just learn from them. It's a lot to learn, but it's not hard to learn and it really does all make sense. A healthy mix of common sense, logic and gravity will get you through fine! Oh and enjoy it,

Take your time. I'm assuming you've done all the training and practice? In that case, you will be fine. Primarily, your assessor is looking to see if you're safe. So get that right and you'll be well on the way to passing. I found it helped to talk out loud everything you were thinking about in your head, it shows you're effecting a thought process behind your felling and also helps to avoid missing anything. try and be as logical in everything as you can, whether it's risk assessments, emergency action plans, saw safety features, etc. They're looking to pass you, not to fail you, so take as much time as you need and show them what you've got. Better to be slow, safe and accurate than try and show overconfidence and get done for not putting your visor down! let us know how you do

The Stihl ones we use are pretty excellent. I can't remember off hand what they are but i'll look tomorrow when I'm in. If I forget, drop me a pm and it'll jog my memory! If it's brambles, whatever you do decide to get, it's worth getting something with a flat blade with the ends tipped up. Brambles get pretty horizontal (obviously!) and regular tri-blades can miss them and on the thicker stuff, strimmers can't get through

The Stihl ones we use are pretty excellent. I can't remember off hand what they are but i'll look tomorrow when I'm in. If I forget, drop me a pm and it'll jog my memory! If it's brambles, whatever you do decide to get, it's worth getting something with a flat blade with the ends tipped up. Brambles get pretty horizontal (obviously!) and regular tri-blades can miss them and on the thicker stuff, strimmers can't get through

Well, it went back. Sam Turner & Sons were excellent about it. DPD picked up the old one and dropped off the new one in one go this morning. It must have been faulty, as the new one's ear defenders had no problems staying clipped out. I've not been felling with it yet, but we've had some storm damage to tidy up and it's such a nice helmet to work in; way better than the ones work issue us with! highly recommend it - now I have one that works! Thanks for the help all

Just tried that. It definitely feels tight in and seems to rotate fine, as if seated right, but when you click them out so they're not tight to the ear, they spring back with such force that it seems to spring out of the casing.

almost certainly! I just want to make sure I'm not being a nitwit first...