Doug Tait

Is it not likely the case that the council have had a trivial complaint from one of their 'customers' (as ours insist on calling people subjected to them) and will go through the motions of appearing to respond.

They'd need a full time department to deal with every case. Every other house has work vehicles parked at it, including NHS (sometimes tractors), Fire, Ambulance, Power, Water and yes, council vehicles too.

4 minutes ago, Moose McAlpine said:

 

When i worked for the AA (The other one.) i sang it on jobs where cars' wheels had come off.

 

Sometimes got a good reaction, often didn't. 😂

It would've cheered me up no end if that happened.

To save Tommy asking, it's 'loose wheel' 

4 minutes ago, Tommy_B said:

I'm going to need help with this one please

You picked a fine time to leave me... loose heel 

4 hours ago, harvey b davison said:

I haven't done any hedges, but I just want to echo what Gary said about the little makita saws, I have a little 32cc one, and it's an absolute joy to use. Light as a feather, easy to start etc, and again bought from shavey.

Thanks Harvey, much appreciated 

4 hours ago, Big J said:

Thanks for all the warm wishes guys. It means a lot. So many of us here have companion dogs that we see more of than our partners, children, friends or indeed anyone else. Nobody goes into dog ownership blind - we nearly always outlive them, but it doesn't make the prospect of that end point any less traumatic.

 

So to update - she's doing a lot better today. Much perkier, and she's somehow managed the convince the (obviously easily manipulated ) nurses that she only eats gravy bones. Her temperature is stable. Her heart murmur persists and her breathing is a bit laboured still, but it's a positive step and we can take her home tomorrow morning. With a bucketful of meds (to quote the vet).

 

I don't think that she's out of the woods, but she'll hopefully recuperate better at home. There will be lasting damage to her heart with the endocarditis and the recovery from that is 4-6 months usually. It'll require her to have a change of pace in life, but hopefully she's on the road to recovery.

 

 

Been thinking about her today, was dreading signing in but that's very positive news for you 👍

9 minutes ago, Big J said:

My 11 year old collie Katie is very sick at the moment. 

 

On Sunday, she was just was fit as normal, racing up and down a steep hill on Exmoor. Monday, she seemed a little tired, and only had breakfast (didn't touch dinner). That's not entirely unusual because she's a fussy eater and in repairing the forwarder on Monday, we didn't do much mileage, which usually dictates her appetite.

 

Monday evening I did notice that she was just a little bit jittery, which concerned me a little. Tuesday morning, her breathing was rather shallow, rapid and raspy. So we took her to the vets in Minehead (where I'm presently working) and they've had her since then.

 

She had a pretty epic fever on arrival (40.8c) which was brought down over 24hrs. She's had a little bit of food, brought it back up again but kept the latest batch down. She's had blood tests and X-rays and the vets are fairly sure it's endocarditis. She has a heart murmur, enlarged heart and apparent bacterial growth in her heart. She doesn't appear to be in any pain though and being a wonderful dog, has been entirely cooperative throughout all the testing and treatment (hasn't even needed sedation for the x-rays). 

 

The prognosis is uncertain at this stage, but isn't brilliant. If they can get the heart infection under control, it's likely she'll have at least some scarring. If they can't, then it's the end of the road. 

 

I've been getting regular updates from the vets (2-3 times a day) and after a long conversation with my wife after a long conversation with the vet (where I just about held it together), I'll admit that I found myself in the strange position of sitting half way up a hill in the forwarder, weeping. You spend 10 years with your dog, each and every day, watch your children grow up with them and even the notion of losing them wrecks you.

I really, really hope that this isn't it for her. She's been doing 50-150 miles a week of running with the machine all year and was until the weekend as fit as a flea. Maybe if she was a little older it would be easier to accept but she's only 11.

She's in the best place she can be now. The veterinary team seem to be really caring and attentive, and I'm hoping tomorrow brings some better news.

Sorry to hear this J. Hoping the best for you and Katie, she looks like a great dog and very fit. Good luck 

40 minutes ago, Will C said:

We use a battery saw a lot for laying mid size stuff and removing the heals, a petrol one with a ripping chain is better for laying large stuff.
Echo also do some good saws if he is on a budget, I’ve not owned one but the few times ive used an echo I’ve been impressed.

Thanks Will. How many charged batteries do you use in a days work?

30 minutes ago, Gimlet said:

Stihl or Husky battery saws are both good but not cheap options. And you need at least two batteries, a fast charger and an inverter to charge them from your vehicle. But they are very useful if you can't drive right up to the hedge you're working on and have to carry gear on foot for any distance. Much lighter and no fuel to carry. Also good for any hedge with large heals to cut off because you're reaching for the saw every few minutes with those and it's all too easy to leave a petrol saw sitting on the ground ticking over for hours on end which doesn't do them any good. I've burned out many plugs that way. 

 

If you go cordless Makita are very good value for money and well made but they don't have the run time or the power of the Huskys and Stihls.  

 

Ideally you'd have a couple of petrol saws -  a small 13" general purpose or top handle, and a bigger 18" for big stuff, crown lifting etc, and a cordless as well. Depends how much work you're doing. If you're just starting out, I'd get a good pro quality 13" petrol to begin with. 

I prefer Husky for bigger saws, but I think Stihl offer a better choice of small ones.

That's all very helpful for him thanks. He's been asking around and getting no help apart from stihl v Husky opinions so he'll be grateful for this 

28 minutes ago, gary112 said:

I,ve never tried battery saws for hedging Doug,but i had a little Makita(15") off Shavey(Andrew) for last season and it is great for it,before that i,ve used Husky 435s which were good or 550xp

He's probably used a 550 as there's one in the work truck. Will tell him about your Makita but I think having a dealer locally is what he'd prefer

5 minutes ago, AHPP said:

Although I don’t know a vast amount about hedgelaying, I’d be amazed if battery wasn’t the answer there as it is for loads of other tree work. If he wants petrol though, I have Stihls 170, 250 and 039 for sale and I’m not a million miles away from you.

Battery was my first thought when he asked. Used Stihl battery stuff a fair bit with a company I worked with and I liked them, think they'd be ideal but having never layed a hedge I may be wrong. Will tell him what you have and see if he's interested, thanks.

Wondering if anyone can offer some advice please.

Was talking to my colleague today who I've mentioned before is going to do an apprenticeship with a hedgelayer in the Borders.

He's looking to buy his first saw for use when he starts laying but isn't sure what he needs.

The feeling is Husky or Stihl because there's a local dealer and he likes the idea of having the dealer support at hand for spares and repair.

He'd consider getting a battery saw if they are suitable for the work.

Otherwise, any thoughts or suggestions regarding the type and size of saw, bar length or anything else useful would be very helpful.

That's good going Les, especially as there's been so much talk about the difficulties with exams due to covid. Well done to her 

4 minutes ago, Ratman said:

Got about 6 - 8 at our local council tip, been there breeding for years, ignorant sods they are! They come and stand in front of your car and put a parade on for all to see but wont bloody move for ya!!! Comical they are!

The one that befriended me used to sit under the tractor just metres away while I was chipping, giving me the beady eye

5 minutes ago, Tippin Alaybye said:

I would love to have these noisy buggers but my neighbours wouldn’t

Couple of years ago I did a lot of work for a farm partnership, the estate their office was on had them and the hen would hang around me a lot in the yard chipping. When it called out it put me in mind of dinosaurs, gave the dog the fear as well, he avoided it like life depended on it!

Saw two of these in a tree today, beautiful. Always amuses me to see something big high up in a tree. One came down to pose

3 minutes ago, gary112 said:

He looks like he’s walking on hot coals Doug.What breed is he?

He's a Kelpie, Australian Collie. Never used to be bothered by bridges but as he gets older he's becoming less confident. He now crosses them in slow motion, every footstep placed carefully. Sometimes he freezes in the middle so I stand beside him and he lays his head against my leg and we creep over together, then the final few metres he bolts for the end and barks with excitement that he survived it.

Santi has been feeling the heat lately, he's really a cold weather dog. Nothing better than a dip in the river to cool off.

He's not fond of heights though. Takes him a while to creep over a bridge and he needs the encouragement and support of the pack to be brave enough. He looks so proud when he gets over and worth it to get in the river.

Could be aluminium, I don't think it is magnetic 

4 minutes ago, Tippin Alaybye said:

 I love this woman!

Posing nicely for the new lens Tippin 

19 minutes ago, Paddy1000111 said:

Be interesting to see what you get with that. I've got at least £750 of those accumulated about the house 🤣

I don't drink Paddy so gave the ones I got to my mate, he was impressed with his delivery and now a loyal customer 

12 minutes ago, eggsarascal said:

I'm proud to say I have the same shovel I had when I did my apprenticeship, it's still like new.

I'm proud to have had this one for 35yrs. Inherited from grandad, it was his momento taken from a Military Police Landy, made in 1964 and still my go to digging tool

2 minutes ago, topchippyles said:

I bet who ever got that mewp stuck is a right muppet 🤪

I'm not keen to judge when I don't know the circumstances. Have plenty schoolboy errors under my belt, only last week I broke a key in the fuel cap of the bosses hired dumper, not a good day!

7 minutes ago, topchippyles said:

You would have got the shite shovel out and dug it out eggs. Spoilt lot these tree guys musch 💪

I don't think eggs is the type to have a shite shovel les, bet he's got an excellent one 

2 minutes ago, gary112 said:

Yeah can’t rely on anybody these days Doug 

It's the thought that counts.

I was taken to a classic vehicle rally once, so excited that the red arrows were doing a display, they didn't turn up because it was cloudy and I've never forgiven them

2 minutes ago, gary112 said:

not very good pictures but just had the red arrows fly over 

Did you organise that for Betty's birthday celebration Gary? They're a bit late, thought these pilots were good at timing!