Conor Wright

More of a device than a tool I guess, but a great little thing. Charges from mains, 12v car charger or via usb Can jumpstart multiple times on a charge, so far it's jumped the neighbours loadall three times and the Kubota twice (without heat) and shows no signs of being low on juice! Can also charge the phone or tablet etc Has a built in light too. I really like the fact you could jump the car with it then use the 12v charger to recharge it after! Bit early to tell if it will last but it seems well made and robust.

Funny, my missus gave me a blower for my birthday.. nothing to do with leaves though.. Jokes aside, if you have a stihl kombi head just get the blower attachment for that, i have one and its plenty good enough for regular use. Or maybe splash out on a battery powered one? Quieter, less hassle to start etc.

Will the 455 drive a 60 inch deck? They may be interchangeable but check your clearance between front wheels and anti scalp wheels on a larger deck.. they may foul.

Exit holes of ? Don't leave us all wondering, I can't handle the suspense!

250. It's nearly as old as I am! I spent today fighting with it, it dislikes brashy material. The whitethorn I was loading into it was up to 10 inches at the butt and it absolutely eats it until the wider forks refuse to snap. I'll try get a video tomorrow, I'm on my own so it may not happen! Its a very efficient machine, I run the mog at 15-1700 rpm 1000pto and other than a puff of smoke the odd time a big bit goes in hard it doesn't know it's there. (There's no anti stress) You're welcome to call over to have a look at it. I can fire through a few bits here in the yard, show what it can and can't do, but only if I can have a look at your valtra sometime!!

Don't overlook pellenc as a brand, I demoed their backpack battery hedge trimmer and was very impressed. They are far more involved in the actual development of batteries than others seem to be. I would be inclined to say go for the backpack kit regardless of make, better balance, much better range between charges. Only if using a polesaw would I prefer to have the small battery fitted.

I wouldn't mind a small trailer with bolsters for moving logs and brash, but for my use, the bucket would be handier for bringing around multiple attachments, a couple of saws, clearing sawchip etc. Also it would still fit on the plant trailer! both will happen.. eventually. As for today, I'm beating whitethorn into a farmi chipper. It's not liking it. Wide forks.. Would be a good day to have the rotating shear!

Thanks! That yanmar looks the business. What do you make of the screening bucket? Is it viable or is it too slow to be a money maker?

Ah yes, the greenmech aquachip, used extensively for the removal of floating dead wood.. seen here in its natural environment, waiting for it's prey to float by before it strikes.

Some ringing and splitting of oversize and processing the rest with mog power. The rings on the right were handled whole, those on the left were halved or even quartered then split. Shed is 10 mtrs by 5.5 deep and full to the back wall.

A few pics of my mighty takeuchi. Getting old looking and somewhat battered but what a machine! Starting to think it's time to go for something with more hydraulic options but I'm too fond of it! has anybody retrofitted an electric diverter valve setup? Would like to change from saw to rotating shear and ideally swap out the blade for a hydraulic tipping bucket too.. what's in the pics is just the loader bucket off the compact tractor hanging off the blade.. a poor setup but it carries a few more logs than I can in a wheelbarrow!

Beautiful. Would love to see what they become in years to come. Timber like that is a rarity. Great to see the young lad involved too, you could hold back a board for him in the hope he takes up an interest in woodcraft in the future! Would make for good memories!

Do they work independently or do you have to use them through your phones?

Keeping it in the dark so it does.not bleach may help.. I wonder could you use an airless sprayer to apply a thin coat of lacquer? I imagine it would need to be down to approx "firewood" levels of dryness ie 20% ish.. much more and It may discolour behind the finish. Whatever you choose to do with it I hope it works, it's a top class piece! Much better on show than under the driveway!

Stihl Fs 90r, torquey at low revs, bull bar seems more accurate when working around delicate obstacles than loop handle, but each to their own. Had an fs 360 before it was stolen. despite it being larger cc wasn't near the power of the 90. Have never used the blade on it so cannot comment on that. Have it three years and its never failed to start or given any trouble. In between the two stihls I had an Active, big lump, about 50cc was a great brushcutter but overkill as a strimmer. Reliable but sadly not fireproof!

I have been asked for my opinion on this horse chestnut tree, the owners would like to keep it but as the path below is heavily used by the public they have understandable concerns regarding it's safety. My main concerns are the possibilities of serious compaction/damage to the roots and the colouration on the main stem.. I'll be honest, I don't know what it is. Anyone care to throw their own thoughts in? I think it would be a shame to have to remove it. Moving the path does not seem to be an option the owners are willing to consider at this time. ( it's a heavily used right of way) There was some work done to the rear of the tree i the past, by the convent nextdoor as it overhangs their wall. There seems to be decay developing in some of the old cuts I have a climber coming out to inspect it properly next week but am open to ideas and suggestions. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Nice piece. You could try raw linseed oil (dries glossy as it self levels due to its slow drying) mixed with a dash of 'japan drier' a mix of naphta and cobalt, it adds sheen, speeds up the drying and hardens the gloss finish, but be wary of adding too much as it may darken the wood.. it's a technique I have never used myself so cannot advise on the finer details but it should be sufficient to hold the woods colour and add a shine at less cost than a resin bath.

Nrm may be able to test it, have used them before for various soil and compost analysis nrm.uk.com. if you are testing for toxicity don't just test for glyphosphate.. test for other weedkillers too ie triclopyr, diquat etc

I had a juvenile cryptomeria on here for ident not so long ago.. zooming in on the leaves it looks the same, I'd say Japanese red cedar too.

https://www.donedeal.ie/gardenequipment-for-sale/stihl-complete-planking-unit-rare-had-from-new-/20879330 I know you just said you don't want a double head unit but I spotted this today.. he's looking plenty for it imo, but it depends a lot on the condition too. I've an old 070 on a shelf in the shed.. I'll be following your progress with yours if you do go for it, would like to make a monster out of it too!!

Not so long ago we had a few car parking spaces cordoned off. Cones, tape between them and even keep out signs.. Along comes missus I can't take it anymore and drives into one of the spaces, catching the tape and pulling three cones with her, she proceeded to get out of her half jeep non four wheel drive car thingy, look at the tape on the ground and simply step over it and head along the footpath, still within the cordoned off area.. I calmly walked over to her and said, "I don't mind you parking there in the slightest, but I can assure you that if you leave your car there it will not be the same shape as it is now upon your return" all i got was a wha'?! I then pointed to a decidedly dodgy looking lime and said " in five minutes I'm cutting that down and its going to be landing right there" pointing to her jeepcar non four wheel drive thingy. (A complete lie, it was being climbed, reduced and lowered in quite small pieces but i doubt she would have understood) a string of ohmygawds, whahammisupposed2dos and general sounds of confusion ensued, to which I suggested she may consider parking in one of the many other available spaces in the area, ideally one which had not been cordoned off for safety reasons.. she managed this with a great deal of huffing and tutting, lessened slightly perhaps by the presence of a 660 with 32 inch bar, which she hadn't noticed when parking either, or the fact there was a chipper, unimog, van, trailer and three people in hi viz ppe inside the area. To summarise, I don't believe that these persons are so depressed as to desire death by falling limb.. or irate arborist for that matter.. it may be the simple fact that there are those in society who are just fucking thick.

Removal and replanting with something more suitable (anything else basically) is a much better long term solution, as Mark says. The cost of regular maintenance over the years will seem small in comparison to what it will cost to make them a hedge now. They should not have been allowed to become so overgrown and will never make a manageable hedge now. Not what you want to hear, but removal is the safest, most efficient and cheapest route to go down. The cost of revisiting them in 3-5 years to trim up again would more than cover replanting the area with a semi mature hedge. Better long term plan imo. Make sure you use a competent company for the removal, if things go wrong there it's gonna make the news.

A little bit of processing for next year's net bags, yard looks nice in the sunshine!

Looks good, bit of making on it mind, my guess behind the two grabs is to make it easier to grip unevenly sized logs or multiple pieces.

Have to agree, parts are expensive! Constants on the hilux are ball joints and crosses on the drive shafts.. however it has never let me down on the road in a cloud of steam, had the door fall off, failed to start in the morning, let rain in, damaged my spine, splattered oil all about the place like a tomcat marking it's territory, turned the wipers on when I braked etc etc, as my defender did. Bleat bleat bleat Toyota bleat bleat!!