coppice cutter

Interesting, that goes against everything I've read so far but since I seen your reply I've searched on it specifically and found a few other places making the same assertion. I've just planted out a couple of new Blenheim Orange trees which are a bit away from all the other cultivated apples but they both have a few crab apple trees nearby so it seems they'll be grand with that. Thanks. 👍

It's well known that a crab apple tree is a good pollinator for cultivated apples. However would it be safe to assume that in the case of a variety of apple which requires two other pollinators e.g. Bramley, Blenheim Orange, that two different crab apple trees would count as two different pollinators?

That was Phil Rudd, a drumming machine. Thirty years later and he's even cooler.

I assumed he was referring to them allowing Italy to be involved? Thus my previous comment.

I think the EU realise by now that Ms Meloni is not to be f**ked with!

Cherry.

In my experience bottled gas worked out a heck of a lot dearer than red, although if you were buying red by five gallon drum or similar it would probably push the price up. I'd say indirect diesel is the way to go, you waste a bit of heat out the flue but there's no fumes, and if it's for intermittent use loosing a bit of efficiency won't matter much. I picked up a 'portable' 250,000 BTU s/h heater on ebay a few years ago off a plant nursery in the south of England somewhere. It sits for months on end and does nothing, but if I'm having a workshop day and it's cold a flick of the switch and the place is warm in less than ten minutes no matter what the weather outside. The motor burnt out a few years ago but 100 quid rewound it, oil pump is driven off the same shaft as the fan directly from the motor and looks easily replaceable if needs be. I suspect the thing will outlive me if required!

Always had push switches on smaller angle grinders, used to be that just the way they were. Recently bought a new 40v 5in Makita and they do both on the same grinder so I was a bit stuck for which one to buy as it was something I'd never thought about before. Ended up being decided for me as Amazon warehouse had the push switch one at sixty odd quid less than anywhere else so that was that. Been paying heed to how I use it since I've got it though and push switch was definitely the way to go, for the smaller grinder anyway. 9in a different kettle of fish altogether though, always have to keep a tight grip of one of those buggers, and besides, they're so much bigger so that they suit the paddle switch design better.

Bought a Makita 40v stick vac a few weeks ago for £99.99 off Amazon. A few days after I bought it the price went up to £116.99. Had a look out of interest this morning, "Black Friday weekend" price - £99.99. So probably a good weekend to buy anything off Amazon or such like that you were going to buy anyway. Oh just remembered, Honey Bros had a genuine 10% off everything on their site this weekend last year and I stocked up on a few Silky spares for the cutting season. And I knew it was genuine as I'd been on their site a few times over the weeks before and knew the prices were the same but with 10% off. So things like that are worth watching for but probably few and far between.

Been using this crowd for years and always found their service excellent. Chainsaw Chains, Oregon, Stihl, Guide Bars, Files, Oils, Accessories WWW.NEWSAWCHAINS.CO.UK Chainsaw Chains, replacements from OREGON & STIHL. Low prices & FREE UK delivery from one of UK's largest suppliers... Can't vouch for what they're like dealing with problems because I've never had a problem with them.

Inspired by my own comment yesterday I decided to look a bit closer and the thinner stuff is definitely more dense than the larger bits which are much more open and coarse. Then again that could possibly be down to the willow itself which is all self-seeded, and I know that in the woodland especially there are numerous different types with considerable variations in both colour and texture. Although that having been said, all the thinner stuff does seem to be denser so maybe it just becomes more open and less dense as it ages?

I've found that willow burns much better as smaller branchy type stuff than as larger logs. Had a few larger willows that I cut down in an area I was clearing, ringed them up split them, let them dry well, but it was very disappointing as firewood. The thinner stuff, 2in and below though, never disappoints, but no idea why there should be a difference. Having acquired a s/h branch logger this year I'll probably still trim out some straighter poles to process in the sawhorse and keep longer but everything else will go through the branch logger. Same with the hazel.

Thanks, I'll have a look.

To be honest I've no idea as I don't use it for grafting, any grafting I've done i just used my no6 Opinel as I find the carbon steel blade on it much easier to get and keep really sharp. The grafting Opinel has the INOX stainless blade which I never found to be as razor sharp as the carbon steel blades. But I found the hook on the end of the grafting knife really good for clearing grass from around the base of fruit bushes and such like so I used it more like a mini bill-hook. That's why losing the hook rendered it useless for my purpose. Out and out sharpness wasn't just quite so critical either but the shape and profile of the blade was just perfect.

I broke the tip off my Opinel last winter (totally my own fault), salvaged the situation somewhat by grinding the blade straight and repurposing it as a sheep's foot trimming knife, but now I need a pruning/grafting replacement. The Opinel always done OK until I broke it, but anything else I should have a look at before ordering another? Thanks.