john87

Problem is though, as i expect you professional arborists will see all the time, is people set out with good intentions.. They plant the things and then trim them a few times.. Next thing they mean to, but not now, next week i will do it. Next week never comes, and before long the things are getting too big for them with their step ladders and electric hedgetrimmer. Then they sort of give up as they think it will be hugely expensive to get someone in to take them down.. Next thing, they are 65 feet tall as you say. Before long i have to remove 5 silver birch trees.. Some idiot planted them alongside a path 7 feet from a building, thinking they were "little shrubs" no doubt, but then just left them.. Now the things are about 35 feet tall, [and more] and have caused the building to subside, along with terrible damp problems caused by blocked gutters etc.. Do you think that mostly this is caused by muppets that have no idea what they are planting?? [the sort of idiot that lives in a tower block and buys a greyhound] john..

Yes... You are probably right... john...

I'm not, just finding out what can be done first. However, i have stood in front of both, and i know what was the warmest.. If open fires were so bad, why did they persist so long? Huge efforts were made towards the design of locomotive boilers, so they were not daft in them days. One thing they knew about was engineering, heat, and building.. Look at say Bristol templemeads compared to the modern corrugated tin sheet rubbish.. They were not daft.. If someone had come up with a stove in the 1900's that was so much better than an open fire, they would have sold hundreds of millions of them, but this never happened. Why might that be.. john..

Let me put it like this.. i will DEFINITELY be investigating them Rumford things. Where would i get a drawing?? They sound just perfect for what i want.. Brilliant idea you had, the pipes in the floor to let the air in too!! One like in the photograph in your link i could easily build myself.. The victorians used to have cast iron firebacks, what if i made a rumford shaped one from stainless plate all TIG welded together [i am a properly qualified welder as it happens] and built it in to the existing fireplace That would reflect the heat back in big time.. Thanks for the brilliant idea!!!! john..

That sounds reasonable enough.. That is all i wanted, a proper explanation as opposed to what the makers would like you to believe.. [Remember how CD's were going to be practicably indestructible etc etc] john..

I am just asking before i decide... To be honest, all of the woodburner i have seen have been crap, might as well have had a radiator instead, or a 70 year old rayburn. An open fire blasts out heat like nothing else.. john..

I do not understand.. If you burn the same amount of fuel, you need the same amount of air, and you have the same amount of products of combustion too [which go up the same chimney] and it produces the same amount of heat.. How come the difference, ESPECIALLY as the flue gasses from a woodburner go up a tin pipe to warm the sky whereas those from an open fire at least warm the flue on the way up?? If you try to reduce what goes up the flue, you will merely have incomplete combustion... john..

Thing is, "Woodburners" need exactly the same amount of air to burn the same quantity of wood, so would not the amount of air drawn in be the same?? john..

I think so... Something wrong with the government. Sell off all the power companies to foreigners, then make it illegal to have any sort of power other than electric.. Lunacy.. [but minister, is that not why we have a deficit?? I mean, every time you turn on a tap or switch on a light, money literally flows out of the country..] Brainless morons the lot of them.. john...

Apparently as from next year it will be illegal to sell coal.. The world truly has gone completely insane.. john..

I can remember getting up as a 5 year old, that cold that the nets had frozen to the glass and going and chopping wood amd lighting the fire.. Used to take about hour and a half to get warm.. Had the luxury of a gas poker mind!! john..

Yes, i have done that, originally [many years ago] there were two small ordinary fireplaces that had been bricked up, now i am back to the builders opening as you say, but what to put in it... I know people think open fires are crap, but they used to warm your whole house as the flue all warms up inside. Had a chimney fire once, flue warmed up then ok!! john..

Hi All, Ok, it seems that everyone and his brother, have, or want a "woodburner" Now, i have this house that i am refurbishing. i have two large fire places about 43" wide and 40" high. Not very deep though at about 14" Why would i want to buy two "woodburners" instead of me lining the brickwork with steel plate [on the back especially] maybe firebrick on the sides, and just making a large open grate arrangement?? Is this a possiblity or am i missing something, little knowledge a dangerous thing and all that!!! john..

Well, let me put it like this.. You leave them, and in 20 years it will be the house that is unstable, never mind a little wall.. Cut them down and be done with it.. john..

Well, there you go.. They would just be trying to do what the VAST majority of hirers would basically have tried to bully them into doing.. You would not believe the state the machines would come back in either.. The firm i worked for, they would keep the machine on hire to you until such time as it was repaired [at your expense] and sue you for the money.. Saw it many times.. In the end they had a blanket policy of not hiring the stuff out to demolition firms.. john..

There are some bits i will have to lift [branches overhanging buildings] so i was thinking a pulley would be best as i did not know quite how much drag the rings would cause.. BUT, i did like the idea of installation from the ground, but to be truthful, i would prefer to climb up and have a close look at any prospective rigging point before i go dangling weights from it!! More great advice!!! Thank you.. john..

I did not mean you!! i meant in general.. You discovered the next thing in the world of powered access; The so-called "engineers" are none too bright either.. My role in fixing the things was limited to welding up the cracks and stuff.. Would i go up in one?? No chance.. john..

I know, you could not make it up.. The things have tilt alarms, so if you try to go up on uneven ground the thing will not let you. These are there for a reason, but do the operators care??

Exactly.. As i said, i used to repair these things for a firm, who at the time were, so far as i know, the biggest operator of a fleet of these things in the country. I can tell you that the hirers did not care a crap about either the machine, or their own safety. Even when they had been told not to use a machine and a new one was on its way, the muppets would wait until you had cleared off and carry on regardless. Worst offenders were those involved in demolition, they would demolish the machine while they were at it, [with them in it presumably] john..

My climbing rope and split tails etc are all Marlow and i am very pleased with them.. john..

The point was, that ISC say the changed the design. How many times have you been in say, Tesco, and you have seen stuff about recalls saying that "there is a remote possibility that" etc, and all stuff is recalled. People falling out of trees is apparently not serious enough.. The makers changed the design, perhaps they would be good enough to explain WHY and what they did?? john..

Does not alter the fact they should all have been recalled.. If it were a car tyre say, it would have been recalled, it would not have been a case of you should take the wheels off and inspect them every trip, so not our problem.. If they know this type of failure is possible, they should all have been recalled john..

When you say "three strand" I take it you mean the blue polypropylene stuff?? I have used a LOT of the 10mm, [roping and sheeting lorries!!] and that stuff is amazing.. The 16mm version would be all but unbreakable i would think.. [turns out the breaking strain is about 3.5 tons or 35Kn for the metric types!!] It is also silly cheap.. john..

Take a look at this... I was SHOCKED How ISC did not recall them all is shocking.. I for one will NEVER buy a product of their's and i would urge others to do the same.. Watch this... [Jump forward to about the 2:30 mark] john

Well, here is where the exemption does NOT apply.. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (General Duties of Self-Employed Persons) (Prescribed Undertakings) Regulations 2015 WWW.LEGISLATION.GOV.UK These Regulations specify the circumstances in which self-employed persons will be required to comply with their duty... john..