john87

Did not mean poking endoscopes in holes.. What i meant was do bats push out piles of bat poo or other things that one might find in the area?? john..

I loved it all. I was heavily into reloading too, and that is hugely interesting too, adds a whole new dimension.. I used to load hundreds of the things and then go and blast away happily a few days later!! I was lucky in a way, as i sold them all when i was saving for the deposit for a house, and it was only about 6 months later that they were all banned. Miss them though. I really liked the idea of metallic silhouette shooting, you know, the chickens, pigs, turkeys etc. My mate was going to have a set made but it never happened.. I fancied getting a blackpowder revolver, a Ruger old army they were called, my mate had one and that was interesting.. He was a registered firearms dealer and had piles of stuff!! There was loads i fancied though, a Ruger GP100, a Redhawk perhaps, with a scope on it too.. There was one bloke that had a thing called a Remington XP 100. It was basically a large bolt action pistol chambered for 308 Win.. Not so sure i wanted a go on that!! Someone else had a burst fire Beretta, which seemed amusing, if somewhat pointless.. There was a thing called a Franchi SPAS, a sort of combat shotgun.. all kinds of weird stuff!! I never had much to do with rifles though, as the range where i was a member was a pistols only one and in them days 99% of people did not have open certs and to get my mates farm listed on the cert would have been a load of hassle. I did fancy joining a different club that is near here that had permission for rifles. I was going to get an ex army SLR. They were about £350 at the time. I have had a go on a few rifles, as many many years later my landowning friend joined a club with a view to getting a cert for use on his land, and wanted me to go with him as i knew what i was on about!! The club people asked if he wanted a go, so as he was felling a bit nervous he shoved me out of line and says; "Here you have a go" They gave me a Ruger mini 14. It had been converted so it was not a semi auto anymore and you had to rack the think each time. Was fun though, although they gave me a big pile of ex military 5.56 stuff to let off, but i did not think that was a terribly good idea as despite what they all think, 5.56 is NOT the same as 223, the military stuff is loaded to a higher pressure.. Once he got his cert, i went with him as "personal shopper" We went in the shop and he said; "what should i get" As he got his cert for controlling foxes i suggested a 223.. He asked to see one, a Mannlicher it was, and bought it.. He whispered to me; "what about a scope" and pointed to some on display.. I said that they were Schmidt & Bender ones and terribly expensive, but he just said to the assistant; "i will have one of them" He asked what else to get.. I said a set of mounts, so he got them.. Next he asked what else would be good, what other rifles would be nice.. I said, well, a 308 would be great.. Within seconds he say to the bloke serving, "have you got a 308??" bloke says yes, another Mannlicher.. My mate says give me one and another scope and set of mounts... He must have spent £10,000 in about 2 minutes!! My idea of paradise would be to sit in a big field with steel gongs all over the place and a 357 and a 308.. [oh and a 44, and a 44 carbine, and a remington Xp100 and a center contender and a Barrett light 50 and a .. etc etc etc!! john..

Certified perhaps, but under the mental health act!! "A fast crossing pipistrelle with a hushpower and subs could be your local sportsman’s boast" ha ha!! You obviously still have the firearm cert then!! I let mine run out years ago.. Regret that now.. The shooting i did was years ago and everything i had apart from the 12 bore is banned now.. I had a Smith & Wesson M27 revolver with the 8 3/8" barrel. That was a 38/357.. [a 357 magnum can shoot 38 special too, as they are the same but 0.100" shorter cases.] I had a stainless Colt 45ACP clone [that was a pile of crap] I had a Ruger super single six. [A .22 single action revolver] And a Ruger super Blackhawk with the 7 1/2" barrel. That is a 44 magnum affair.. One of the nicest things i ever shot though was a Beretta M76 in 22LR. That was a lovely thing.. Not done much with rifles, but had a go on various 22's 223's 308's and the like.. All great fun!! john..

These bats... Say i climbed up the tree to have a look.. What sort of things would i be looking for, signs of bats i mean?? How many are liable to be in a crack in a tree?? Is it a few or loads of the things?? I do like bats though, interesting things and terribly hard to get with the 12 bore!! [JOKE!!!!!] john..

Yes, i would be very interested in that too!! john..

And less reluctance if the suppliers stopped trying to bully people into having one and stopped lying to people and trying to make out that; "you have to by law" john..

What happens in a situation where a tree is dangerous and to deal with the risk, it means disturbing the bats?? I know you say that the fines and whatnot would finish a firm off, but a firm has obligations under the health and safety at work act to provide a safe working environment for its workers free from the risk of being crushed to death, and everyone else has a common law duty of care to others, even trespassers on their land. Breaching these duties would finish off people/firms too.. I think a situation has been created now, where many people upon finding bats, instead of saying; "how can we deal with this?? What should we do??" will just wipe the things out as they know what will happen it they draw attention to them.. Nothing against the bat people [I presume you are one Khriss] but i think they have made the situation worse for the bats in many instances... What you think a farmer who finds bats in his outbuildings is going to do?? "Wheres me .410" My other half used to have a rented flat.. There was this funny noise.. Next thing there was something leaking through the ceiling and loads of dead bees in light fittings and ceiling roses.. We got someone to have a look and it turned out that there was a bees nest thing about 4 or 5 feet high in the roof. We arranged to sort this but the bloke that came along got RIGHT shitty at the idea of killing them. I told the muppet that if he was not happy he could either FxxK off and i would get another firm, or, if he loved bees that much, take the things home with him.. Hmm, not so keen then.. We all like bees, but i like my partner more, and i am not having her flat burn down cos of bees.. What is the answer to it all?? john..

Many years ago when i was younger and much more stupid [is that possible, i mean, climbing up trees now!] i used to have a shotgun cert and a firearm cert and was of the opinion that the function of wildlife was to provide a convenient target for sportsmen.. Now, being older and wiser i would not hurt a fly and i am learning more and more about natural stuff everyday.. Now, bats. Obviously nobody would want to disturb bats at all, they are harmless things and do good, BUT, there has to be limits.. The tree with the split.. IF the branch fell off and fell in one direction it would demolish some single storey buildings and kill the occupants.. Can this risk be allowed because of bats??? Bash the tree a few times and they would fly off surely?? Thre was some land near where i live that has been derelict for about 50 years that i know of.. Someone wanted to build a house, but a stop was put to it all because some expert looked at the trees and decided that although there were no bats at all, and no evidence of bats at all either, that they were; "the sort of trees bats like" and that was the end of that for many more years.. Funny how the local council go around putting TPO's on trees on land that is; 1, Private. 2, Enclosed on all sides by 40 foot high buildings. 3, Cannot even be seen unless you are a tresspasser. [that cannot be legal at all] Then they think it is ok to cut down scores of trees with nothing wrong with them, just because they want to. There were some lovely trees in the town centre where i live.. All cut down as presumably the council did not like to clean up the leaves.. john..

Ha ha!! I have certainly learnt a lot about trees though.. All this stuff about dead wood scares me though.. Seems that just as i am planning to climb up them, the tree is planning to fall to bits.. I have noticed that there are always lots of bits of, say, about 4 or 5 inch diameter branches laying about under the trees.. They are all mostly conifers, cedar, as i have learnt, and i think scots pine too?? Might be wrong though.. There are what i think are willow trees too, but always falling to bits they are. I would cut them right down and let them start again, but there are TPO's on them all, so pollarding i think it is called might not be allowed?? john..

I have never had a chipper before and never used one so i do not know what you would call blunt or normal blade wear. Anything not like a razor i would think wanted sharpening, as same as all cutting tools, it is better to take off a little often than loads later.. Here is a photo of the old blade on top of the new one so you can see wear and the edge of the thing too. Does this all look normal?? john..

It is a bit big for me, and whether it would be the right thing to do or not i have no idea, but i would reduce the limb down, leaving a vertical bit about 10 foot high i suppose. Idea being that birds and the like might like the crack, and, having injured the tree by sawing a bit off, well, at least the injured bit would be some distance from the main body of the tree, so you could always saw a bit more off if needed. It would obviously be better to do as little as possible as otherwise the tree would look very lop sided.. Wonder if rot could attack the tree from the crack though?? john..

Oh god!! what have i started!! Can i just say.. I think this is a brilliant forum. I have had loads of help and everyone is keen to help, unlike on some other forums i have been on.. As for the tree.. Yes i suppose the best thing to do would be to remove the offending part, but leave the bottom part in case there are bats in there, although i have never seen any. Why do people plant trees in stupid places?? Is it ignorance, or do not care, or intent to maintain the thing or what?? Why would someone that is supposed to know about trees and stuff think it was a good idea to plant something that grows to that size 20 feet from a building.. john..

They do! [and it is much higher than the bolt makers say...] john..

Lots of different ones.. The figures given are for lightly lubricated bolts. With grease of copper slip you want about 25% less so if the bolts are grade 10.9, so far so good, BUT a low head bolt [like timberwolf use] is nowhere near as strong and you would only be looking at 22 Nm and less with the grease... Metric Bolts - Tightening Torques WWW.ENGINEERINGTOOLBOX.COM Typical maximum recommended thightening torques for metric bolts

I tested the torque wrench and; 22 ft/lbs is really 20.333 30 Nm is really 28 35Nm is really 32 So, it under reads by about 7% which is a bit strange as they are supposed to read within 3%.. Tester might be wrong though?? john..

To be honest, i do not trust torque wrenches anyway. There is too much variation depending on how lubricated or not the threads are.. I just wanted to do it right.. If you google how tight am M8 bolt is supposed to be, the figure timberwolf give is far too high anyway if the bolt is lubricated.. I have already emailed them and i will tell you what they say..

Not sure how to quantify it.. Sharp, but the edge was not too good. I will take a photo and post it.. john..

I would not think so as they were the original factory fitted bolts.. No idea really.. I had tightened one, and that was ok, it was the second one that broke so i did not try the other.. They were all tight when i undid them though.. Just testing the torque wrench with this thing a minute.. john..

No, just got the torque wrench out of box and used it. Was only calibrated about two months ago so should be ok.. Torque wrench was a halfords one. I got it as i read some tests a while back, and halfords ones came out the best. Britool were just about the worst.. I actually have a britool torque wrench tester and when i tested the other halfords one i have, it was very accurate.. I will have to dig it out and test the new one too.. No, timberwolf say nothing about new bolts.. I expect they will once i have finished emailing them though!!.. john..

I know a meter reader.. He told me that the things are that dire, that they had continued to read them the manual way for two years as they were so unreliable... john..

Play nicely now boys!!! I had never thought of bats to be honest... john..

Hi All, More than a bit concerned... I have a timberwolf 13/75 chipper.. I bought it used. It was owned by a millionaire that bought it when removing a few trees on his land. Once he did that it was never used again and needless to say is like brand new.. Now, i was preparing to use it for the first time. I decided that i would give it a service first and as part of that i thought i would fit the spare [new] blade that came with it. So, the machine was on its original blade.. Timberwolf tell you to use a torque wrench for doing up the bolts and so i went out this morning and paid £85 for a decent one from Halfords.. I was fitting the new blade, and, as i did up the second bolt i felt it break.. It was nowhere near the 22ft/lbs they tell you to use and i nearly had a heart attack as i thought the thread must have stripped.. Turns out the bolt broke at the base of the socket in the head.. From looking at what is left, it appears that there was a fatigue fracture underway from a bit of very slight corrosion on the side of the bolt.. Anyone else had any problems like this..?? I will try to take some photos now.. john..

I do not think it is usual.. I have had three new three phase meters in ten years, not one was a "smart" one, but apparently they are available.. john..

Unfortunately greed gets in the way... john..

Once again, that is part of their deliberate lies... They work things VERY VERY carefully to try to make you THINK you have to have one fitted, whilst being very careful not to actually state that this is the case.. From ofgems webpage..