Conor Wright

"Doc, every time I drink wine I get a sharp pain in my eye"

Whitethorn?

**************** me, that's stunning!

I feel your pain, I recently built a timber frame greenhouse and made one of the uprights back to front, didn't realise until I was putting it together. Had to go back and mill a cant down to size, plane it, mark it up (correctly!). Put a whole day on the job. On the bright side, you made your mathematical booboo on a little home project, not a gushing oil field!

I must admit to a moment of sheer laziness last year when I used the digger and riddle bucket to dig our modest plot of main crops, surprisingly few damaged spuds in the end. I may even do the same this year! It appears a few slipped through the tines though, following a bit of reorganising of the veggie garden over winter we now have a bed of onions... and spuds, carrots and... spuds, brassicas and yeah more spuds, strawberries and, yeah you get it..

No signs of recovery here, we live beside a failed ash plantation and it's become progressively worse year on year, all but one of our hedgerow ash are now showing signs of dieback, including one which I pruned back hard three years ago in a vain attempt to break the cycle. The regrowth looked OK for the first year but its become an arboricultural train wreck since and will have to be removed along with approx 10 others this winter. One tree which had stayed healthy looking despite being surrounded by diseased neighbouring trees has succumbed this year. I was hoping it was resistant but it appears not to be the case. The farm next door has a row of relatively healthy looking ash still, but lots showing rapid dieback this year too. Removed three ash yesterday for a client. one was completely dead and so brittle it was unchippable. It just disintegrated when it hit the ground.

Healthiest looking ash ive seen in a while!

Yes and no. Have one but always pick the stihl up first. Echo are not bad, just not quite as good. Anti vibe and balance are the issue rather than poor cutting performance.

Pictures would help.

I'd be wary, not a log in sight, very careful with the photos to show no identifiable vehicles or property in the background. Ask for the serial number and to see receipt of purchase. If they are unavailable then walk away, if the seller is willing to provide them its happy days. Even at that I'd still be going to look at it in person.

So the hat does match the purse!

As said above felco bahco and ars are decent saws, wolf garten are OK too but you will not get better than a silky, for what they cost its a small investment. What's in it? 20 quid? A pittance over the lifetime of the tool.

Cut them up and bin them. Kept a few for diesel over the years but now buy a 200 ltr barrel as needed. Cheaper and tidier in the long run.

What you're seeing is part of a natural cycle in the lifetime of a woodland tree, poor hedge management may be a different story, but ivy can be a part of a mixed hedge to a degree. The abandonment of proper hedgerow maintenance in favour of electric fencing has reduced the ability of livestock to nibble away at ivy leaves but it's not as if its starting to invade the fields! Ash dieback is certainly helping the visibility of ivy but its just a natural reaction of a plant being given a better chance to grow. What is this big thinking you speak of? To be honest, we're mostly straightforward hardworking people here and your style of language may come across as speaking down to some of us. A little less formality might help get you a bit further. In an ideal world minor offenders would be out doing the dirty work like litter picking, keeping overgrowth down on verges etc, then there wouldn't be this ivy issue you speak of, or a litter issue which is far more environmentally damaging. A lot of England is plain filthy. At least the ivy helps hide the rubbish.

But ivy doesn't go unchecked, it's constantly kept in check by arborists, landscapers, maintenance crews, farmers, livestock and by the constraints of nature. It's benefits outweigh it's negatives in the natural world so it should not be eradicated and its potential to cause damage is well known within engineering and construction circles so it is kept in check. Within arb it's well known to be a pita but also an intrinsic part of the ecosystem and is managed as such by most. If you want to discuss actual problems in arb or trees generally maybe a discussion on imported pests and diseases or the failure to plant adequately for the future? Ivy is,has and always will be. Its not gonna cross the road in the morning and invade your house and its not gonna disappear either. You could have the same argument about moss, It's part of nature's cycle. Out of interest what are you planning to do with the information you're gathering here? Fwiw you would probably have furthered your own cause more by just nipping out and cutting whatever ivy it is that bothers you the most rather than overthinking it on here!

Don't be fooled, she's out of control, been all over the country gettin up on everything so she has. Looks nice from a distance but up close she's dirty and smelly and any encounter with her will make you want to take a long shower after, followed by a stiff drink, red eyes and a bad itch.

Donkeys years old that. They're still going too, I heard recently they changed that van for a pick-up! As they say, you can only be as good as your worst employee...

Ah the game fair, great excuse to fluff up the ould cock and take him out in public for the afternoon. Does the old chap a world of good.

Once did two reclaimed pine beams for a client with the alaskan. Never again. Averaged about a meter between sharpening chains and used a full chain per beam, it was a ball ache. Full of old nails and gritty too. If you haven't already, run a metal detector over the beams and remove any metal you find. This may significantly reduce your costs and make the job more appealing to any miller's who may be interested. If they're dirty a quick blast of a power washer helps preserve chains or bands too. Hope you find someone to do it, some of those old beams look great when reused.

Funny this popped up, I had to put a new recoil spring in the 501 last night and after waiting 2 weeks for the part I started it and noticed that the anti vibe rubbers were on the way out, again. However apart from poorer anti vibe and the broken spring mine has been faultless. If it's a full day's cutting ill pick up the 261 for the extra power but I still like my echo! Never been hard started and once warm its one pull every time. Parts availability is what will resign mine to the shelf. Some dayit will break and I'll be in a hurry for a saw and just replace it, probably with a stihl.

This kind of thing? Edit. seems I was beaten to it!

Yep, once upon a time in the middle of lidl... It's worthy of a "caption this" imo!

Immigration?

Swap out the thermos for a pair of insulated cups (I've two "bodum" branded ones, I'm sure others are available) and stick these in the cup holders. Lunchbox under the seat. Job done. This also means you can have both tea and coffee or soup and vodka, for those long wet days!

Thanks to everyone who replied so far. So, I took a trip to have a look at the machine and saw it running. It's a well built piece of kit. The current owner had a remote control unit fitted, very handy for loading it with the digger. I had a good look around it, put a log through it and he even lent me a spanner so I could remove the covers for closer inspection. There were a few small issues but nothing unexpected. Basic stuff I can sort myself in a few evenings. My only real issue is the remote. The way it was fitted overrides the machines original wiring. The anti stress still works but the original forward reverse has been disconnected. (Before you all freak out its a crane feed only machine, the module used to be wired into the tractor) I guess my main question is if the remote itself were to be damaged or lost, how do you stop or start the rollers? I'm sure you could wire both to work together, leaving the wired module as a backup in case of battery failure or loss of remote but this is beyond my capabilities. As is anything beyond a 7 pin trailer plug! I spoke to a local auto electrician and he is willing to look at it but said an original wiring diagram would be a huge help. The old module is with the machine but there is no manual or diagram. Does anyone have a manual or wiring diagram for a 431 out there?! Or am I just asking for trouble here? I know some would run a mile from this but aside from the remote issue it's an honest machine and the seller was open and honest about it too. Any information, advice or completely irrelevant nonsensical replies appreciated!