peds

It's a real shame that this thread was only bumped for some spam, and I, like all of you, am left dissatisfied and hungry for a resolution. But just for future reference, on a rock climbing harness, that black loop behind the 'biner joining the waist band and the leg loops is the tie-in point, and can absolutely be tied into directly. That's what it's there for. If you are reading this, TommyK from four years ago, just clip the biner on the left directly to the tie in loop instead of giving it some metal on metal.

True, but the hatchet has sat unhandled for over a decade, the Fermanagh potato spade probably at least twice that. They can sit and wait a while longer without causing too much hassle.

If it were left on for long enough the growth below the head would form a natural shoulder. Then you could wedge in from above same as a normal axe handle. Maybe.

Howdy, I'm about to replace a shaft on an axe, and I got to thinking about something a colleague was telling me a while ago about a little used and, possibly, rather pointless technique of replacing handles on various bits of kit, whereby you slot the hole in the metal over an appropriately-sized branch or sapling and wait a few years. I'm just going to replace the shaft on the axe as usual, but I'm going to give it a try on a few other old things I've got lying around: an old cheap fork that deserved to break, a rusty little hatchet I found, a forked hoe, a Fermanagh potato spade, and a forestry planting spade that had a bad day. I don't or didn't use these things on regular rotation, so I'm not that bothered if the end result isn't rock solid. It's just to have a go really, and see what the results are like. Anyone heard of this technique, anyone tried it, any obvious problems that you might encounter and what you could do to solve them? Obviously after waiting for the wood to fill the gap, harvesting, and leaving to dry there would be a bit of shrinkage, but wedging as usual should fix that, right? The oval hole in the little hatchet would take longer to fill out than the round and tapered holes of the garden tools, but that might actually result in a stronger finish... maybe? Probably going to use ash as I've got a fair few candidates available, but I'm going to keep an eye out for a decent bit of hawthorn as well, although that might take a good while longer to fill out. Interested to hear any opinions or advice about this.

I can dig it man, you're speaking my language. And with a historial name, among others, like "all-heal", I'll defintely be trying to spike a few seeds into my own trees as soon as I find a source (it's rare enough here in Ireland, I think). But it's not a plant that you hear much about with regards to people trying to propagate it. It's interesting to hear why people are into it. I hadn't of heard this. Suuuper interesting. "Female common cuckoos are divided into gentes – groups of females favouring a particular host species' nest and laying eggs that match those of that species in color and pattern." Incredible.

On a serious note though, how big is the chunk with the nest in, has it been processed yet? Get in touch with your local beekeepers association, there are people out there who'd pay for a chunk of hollow stem like that, previously used by bees. They are perfect for making natural hives or for people taking a hands-off approach.

Any bees left? I have an empty hive, shtick a handful in an envelope and I'll give them a home.

Can I ask why people are so keen on having it, or are willing to put so much time and effort into trying to grow it? Is it purely for sale at Christmas markets, or are some of you brewing tea with it to help with hypertension and epilepsy (or some of the many other claimed ailments it works for...)?

Yo, Still plugging away with it, it hasn't fallen apart yet. The discharge is annoyingly low to the ground, so I've taken to lifting it onto a pallet so I can get more through it before the pile of chip needs sorting. This wouldn't be an issue if I was firing it into a dedicated pile on hardstanding, as I intend to once the house is built, but at the moment I'm firing it into ton bags so I can drag it straight to the area that I'm mulching (location for future vegetable beds and polytunnel). I've removed the outer plate covering the discharge chute, as I'm fairly sure the manufacturers expect you to do, and it's a thousand times more efficient. There's also a rubber collar guarding the limb chute that lasted a couple of hours before it got dragged down into the chipper, it should have been taken off before I even used it. It claims up to 10cm, it'll defintely do that if the bits are straight as a die, but the size and shape of the limb chute really wouldn't cope with anything a bit twisted at that girth. I'd happily recommend it because after all the reading I'd done, it is defintely the biggest and most capable machine that was available at my price point, but it'll be interesting to see how long it lives. I'll get some more photos and video of it in action the next time I'm up there. edit The shredder up top asks for nothing chunkier than 1cm, but it seems to handle things a bit bigger just fine.

No don't stop, you can squeeze another three pages out of this, minimum. I say it's oak and I'll fight anyone who disagrees, though to be honest I'm plucking a choice out of my hole.

That's a good shout. How do they take to boggy soil? You would want to dig a few drains, but they'd do just fine after that. Stick a load of cranberries in the worst parts. There is definitely a profitable market for homegrown organic blueberries and cranberries, if you are interested in making a bit of money from the place. And they'd make a great cover for the weed grow op.

If you have acidic soil, grow blueberries. Stick some woofers in a caravan during harvest season and leave them to it.

Stick a few polytunnels on it and grow weed, you can make a bloody fortune.

Gert lush, fam.

This yoke right here? I do worry that this particular chipper might actually be too wee for this thread. I've only had about 2 hours on it so far, but it hasn't exploded yet... 15hp, chipper for branches up to 10cm in the side, shredder for bits up to 1cm on top. I honestly can't complain about it so far, obviously it takes a bit longer to prep what you feed it, but I'm saving anything bigger than 10cm for firewood anyway.

Has anyone got a significant length of time on a corded saw? If you look after them, will they last a lifetime? Obviously the cheapo Screwfix ones aren't going to survive solid use, but would a Stihl be worth the investment?

Sounds to me as though the problem lies with your research and expectations, not with the saw. I've a 200, love it. I'll probably get a 220 in a year or so, unless they end up bringing something bigger out.

Birth certificate?

Like I say, I'm not looking to chat about it here, because it's a little pointless. But the time for discussing whether or not the impending climate catastrophe was actually real was back in the 80s, before the huge wealth of data started coming in. In the 90s, we still had the chance to ask "How do we stop it?", but we wasted time by still discussing if it was real. Throughout the noughties, we should have been talking about how to mitigate the worst of the damage, instead of still trying to convince people that it's real, and happening now. For the last decade, the burning question should have been "What can we do to ensure mankind's survival past the year 2050?", but instead, we've had some of the most powerful and influential people on the planet still yelling that it isn't happening, when it is visibly destroying people's lives across the planet. Now, here we are in the 2020s, and the hot topic is... is the impending climate catastrophe real, or is it just a scam thought up by Big Keep Cup to sell more reusable mugs? You are absolutely right though, there is much more to worry about in this world... herbicides and industrial fertilisers are only the tip of the iceberg (whatever those are).

Because the planet absolutely cannot afford the environmental footprint of them, as will become increasingly clear over the next few decades, when huge-scale ecological collapse will bring about the deaths of hundreds of millions of people, followed by the death of billions more during widespread conflict and ongoing famine. No argument from me I'm afraid, I don't see the point in it. Just be aware that the most common causes of death for anyone born past, say, 1980, will be starvation or suicide, and there isn't a whole lot that we as a species can do to change that at this stage. Now, whether or not you using a bit of Roundup to treat that ivy stump or sprinkling a bit of NPK around your azaleas will save the planet isn't the question... but no one snowflake can be blamed for the avalanche, and we all have to decide what changes we can make in our lives. Not to change the future, because we are about 40 years too late for that, but for our own piece of mind, and to prepare for the world, if any, that awaits us. Sorry to sound like such a downer.

I mean... it is.

I have to say, I'm genuinely not sure what I'll do with all the free time I've gained since trying this out. Good stuff.

Stop beating around the bush and give the man a straight answer, for Christ's sake.

You haven't got a link to a guide for that process, I suppose?

All good information, thanks for your advice. I'll upload a couple of pictures when I get round to knocking it over, if anyone wants to follow the process, if I end up doing anything with it. From what I can gather, being on the West Coast of Ireland might work in my favour here, as our lovely moist air means things are pretty slow to dry out.