john87

I always keep the chain well sharp, as, like all cutting tools, a little sharpen often, and they last loads longer than waiting until thye are blunt and then grinding/filing a load off so it more or less feeds itself into the cut.. john..

Hi All, Although i have used other peoples saws for many years, it is only for the last few years that i have had my own. I have checked the bar and there are no burrs or sharp edges or sloppy grooves, so good to go?? Would i be right in thinking that if you always make sure the things are full of chain oil and use decent oil, the bars will last for a very long time?? john..

Thank you!! john..

Hi All, Just about to fit a new chain to my saw.. There is no sign of any wear to the bar at all, but should i turn it the other way up as is often done, or is doing this sort of thing a lot of nonsense?? Thank you.. john..

Yes, exactly, I had a Yamaha motor bike that was made in china, and it was great. My Husqvarna 525BX leaf blower was made in China and it is great too. It is like you say, you get what you pay for. If it is some chinese junk you buy on ebay, it will be crap. There is also a MOUNTAIN of counterfeit stuff about. At least if you get parts from a proper main dealer they are a LOT more likely to be the genuine item.. john..

Yes, but there is made in China and made in China.. john..

Funny how councils are very keen on enforcing laws that suit them, not quite so keen on laws that do not.. john..

Good for you!! The council's HATE having to abide by the law. they think they are above all that. I have a lot to do with social care, you would not believe the outright lies they come out with., AND they will all conspire as a team to assert that "oh, yes, that is what the law says" Glad you stuffed them!! john..

Hi there, I am only a newbie at all this. Was just wondering why it is better to wait until they are dormant. Would it not be better to plant the things when it is growing season?? john..

Very interesting stuff, It goes to show, that councils will try to lie as to what the law is and when you come up with the term "ultra vires" do not like it very much.. Nothing they can do though as no basis in law.. john..

Exactly.. Say your car tax is up at the end of the month. That is it, no if's or but's, it has expired.. Same for their six weeks, once it is up, saw away happily, and if the council do not like it, too bad.. The council taking longer and then blaming "lack of resources" is irrelevant.. Try telling a court; "well, i know my tax is up, but it is lack of resources you see" john..

The question would not arise, as after 6 weeks they would cut the tree down and it would be the councils problem then.. Anyone in that position would be nuts to launch complaints as it would drag on for ages if not years and there would be no need, the 6 weeks specified in the legislation would have elapsed and that would be the end of the problem.. john..

I am no lawyer, but i do have a lot of experience with arguing with councils!! Now, the problem is, the ombudsman is there to sort out procedural errors not legal matters such as civil torts which is what damage to a tree would be, "trespass to property" I could have told you that the ombudsman would not be interested in this, and it was wrong of the council to suggest this, UNLESS, you have come to the end of their formal complaints procedure, in which case the next step COULD be the ombudsman who would look to see if the complaints procedure had been carried out properly, and NOT, what its conclusions were.. What you SHOULD have done, is gone to the small claims court. HOWEVER, i can tell you that the courts usually want to see evidence of an attempt at "ADR" "alternative dispute resolution" [which can take various forms] The idea is that the two parties need to show that thay have made attempts to resolve the problem BEFORE resorting to the courts. Happily for you, you can now show that you have made every effort to resolve this in that you HAVE tried "ADR" in that you have tried the complaints procedure and the council MO and the ombudsman, all to no avail and that now you have no choice other than to resort to the courts.. So, as long as the date of "actionable cause" [the damaging of the tree] was not more than 6 years ago, you should be good to go!! You can do this by going to "moneyclaim.gov.uk" Bear in mind though that you will have to prove your case to the civil standard of "on the balance of probabilities" so you will need some sort of expert witness to testify on your behalf.. john..

The quality will now drop like a stone.. Instead od being a family firm that care what they produce, it will now be driven by bean counting accountants with everything outsourced to china.. john..

As the councils know that the ombudsman is not interested in what DECISION a council reached, only that they followed proper procedure in REACHING that decision, and it was not "unreasonable" etc, that they can send people there, knowing that the ombudsman will rule that it is not something he can deal with. The poor person will then try to start again, only to find out that the rule that you cannot complain about the same thing twice will be invoked.. You CAN complain about a decision using the complaints procedure, but you CANNOT go to the ombudsman because you do not like the decision that was made.. You can ONLY go to the ombudsman if the correct procedure in REACHING the decision was not followed in which case the ombudsman will find "maladminstration" and tell them to re-take the decision in the proper manner. The council will then HAVE to do this, but may well reach the same decision the second time. It is the way the decision was reached that matters, NOT what the decision was.. The entire thing is all as clear as mud and the council have vast experience at doing this.. I take it your complaint was nothing to do with trees.. social care?? john..

I know precisely NOTHING about TPO's but if the law is that you lodge an application and the council have 6 weeks from the date you lodged the thing to object or say no [i have no idea how it works] then, once the time limit is up crack on.. Nothing they could do, as no basis in law, so they could hardly sue you.. If it is 6 weeks FROM the date of receipt, then i would say; "today" [monday] you took it in. Tuesday .......... then six weeks till that Tuesday. Nothing?? Wednesday cut tree. In other words, you need to make sure a CLEAR 6 weeks have elapsed... If it were me doing that sort of thing and lodging "notices" i would not post them but physically take them there and get a signed receipt.. john..

What the council do is all part of their "game plan" They do this every day and use the experience they have to make things as hard as possible for you. I did not have to go to the ombudsman, the council caved in long before that. I cost them tens of thousands of pounds once [at the outset] and then MUCH MUCH more over the years that followed, and got EXACTLY what i wanted. I went down the complaint route with that one, and they got an external investigator. Despite them all colluding together as a team to blatantly lie to the investigator i STILL won.. Now, the thing with the ombudsman is, they will NOT investigate UNLESS you have exhausted the complaints procedure first, this is why they decline to investigate [usually] Secondly, i do not think the ombudsman will investigate points of law anyway, that is a matter for the courts.. Thirdly, points of law do not fall to the complaints procedure anyway, it is outside their remit. Not saying they will not investigate, they will, but just to mess you about, lead you down a blind alley, and try to wear you down. If you have the energy, you can then go to the ombudsman, but you will find that they are not interested in what the council did, so long as what the council did, was done properly. What i mean is, if the council followed procedure, but you did not like the outcome, too bad.. If however the council did NOT do things properly, the ombudsman will make them redo it, but they [the council] may still reach the same conclusion and there is nothing you can do about that.. If your complaint regarded points of law, you may well find the ombudsman says it is outside their remit too.. The council know all this and will use their knowledge to mess you about.. So, where do you go?? The subject of all this, was stuff surrounding TPO's, that had no basis in law. So, you have two choices, a judicial review, but in the past you would not get one of them on legal aid unless you had exhausted every other avenue anyway, and, legal aid has stopped anyway unless you are an illegal immigrant.. [so far as i know] If you chose to pay yourself it would be about £20,000 and what if you lose?? So, the best way is the monitoring officer.. If then they will not help, you go to the ombudsman, NOT with your complaint, or point of law, but alleging "maladministration" which the ombudsman WILL be interested in. You also need to jump on the council at the earliest opportunity, as the more complicated things get, the harder it will be for you.. You need to be able to keep things simple.. Council say they have awarded themselves another 8 weeks, straight to the MO. He will have to say it is unlawful, you cut the tree down. He refuses to act, you go off to the ombudsman with the MO's report and the act in question and you win. [it would be maladministration] I would go to the law society then and complain about the actions of the MO as he is a solicitor and has to act in a professional manner.. john..

Go straight to the ombudsman then. Remember the MO has a legal duty and to fail in that is classed as "maladministration" at the very least, and the ombudsman take a very dim view of that.. john..

Is silver birch any good?? Might have a load of that when the weather dries up.. john..

Thanks all!!! So really, all wood is much the same when dry?? Will logs dry outside, or do they have to be in a building, or would a lorry sheet over them be ok or does this hinder the drying more than help?? john..

I have to say i have never tried myself, just been told it is awful.. Perhaps it is ok after all then?? Any idea what laurel is like or wood from leylandi type trees?? john..

All very good, but you need to know what burns well and what does not, Willow for instance, is awful.. Here is a link to a place that sells firewood, interestingly though, in the section under "help and advice" they have a chart of different wood and what it burns like, You will all find this interesting!! Different Types of Wood for Burning and their Characteristics - South Yorkshire Firewood WWW.SOUTHYORKSHIREFIREWOOD.COM We would recommend burning one of the many hardwoods that are available in the UK on a wood burner or open fire -... john..

Ok. I am not sure i can because of the way it is formatted as a word document. But i will have a go together with some other stuff too. It was all written, not by me, but by a barrister in relation to social services, so you will find a few references to this in the written stuff. However, i have used this process myself in relation to various things and it works like a dream.!! 1, The monitoring officer HAS to take your allegation of unlawfulness, not even that, SUSPECTED unlawfulness, and decide whether of not your allegation is made out or not.. 2, They HAVE to give you written detailed reasons for their decision, they cannot just say, "do not agree" or ignore you.. 3, They CANNOT tell you to use the council complaints procedure instead, as the complaints procedure is not intended to decide on points of law. 4, The MO is impartial [or should be] and the very fact that you have gone to them will concentrate their minds no end as they will be more than a little unsettled that you even know of their existance. 5, The MO knows that next stop is the ombudsman, and given that the MO has a legal DUTY to decide on points of law and explain his reasoning for his decision, means that he does not want to be explaining himself in front of an ombudsman in the event that he decides to "overlook" the law himself... I will see if i can attach the stuff now, but, if it does not work, if anyone messages me i will email it all to them direct. Hope this helps.. john.. 1, List of monitoring officers.docx 2, What is this ‘Monitoring officer’ information for...docx 3, The Monitoring Officer's Role.docx

Every council has a person appointed as a "monitoring officer" They are a solicitor and they have a legal PERSONAL duty to make sure that the council obey the law. In fact, they are protected by law, so that the council cannot sue THEM, if they try to enforce the law [which the council is seeking to ignore] If any tree officers or anyone else tries making the law up as they go along, such as the eight week extension mentioned above, the monitoring officer will soon sort that out.. You see, there IS a council complaints procedure, but it is very slow and you will NEVER win, but, the complaints procedure is not intended to deal with points of law, that is the remit of the monitoring officer. Once you have made a referral to them alleging that a council is not obeying the law, they have to decide whether your allegation is made out or not. If they say it is, then you win, if they come up with a load of rubbish, you can then go straight to the ombudsman, [where you will win] and best of all, it is all free!! So, next time a council acts in an "ultra vires" [it means "above the law"] a quick email to the monitoring officer will sort that one.. I have a list here of every monitoring officer in the country if anyone is interested.. john..

Hi All, Anyone have one?? I bought one the other day and there is no tip protector on the end of the cutter bar.. When i look at pictures in the catalogue, they have them fitted.. If you have one, did yours come with a tip protector?? Should i go back to the shop and complain?? john..