Muddy42

Tell me about it, the paperwork requirement for any type of land management is horrendous these days plus decent mapping software and an A3 colour printer. Its not just to get grants like these, but a lot of stuff you have to do by law returns that you can't avoid. Both of these squirrel schemes are part of larger land management exercises, so the bigger estates are normally doing the paperwork anyway and getting an employee/contractor to do the work.

I'm not an expert but I understand the traps are live traps and non discriminatory, so you need to check daily and release any reds (after they have had a decent meal!). Never seen a polecat and there are very few hedgehogs left after the badgers moved in 20 years ago (before that there were no badgers here). Here is all the Scottish government technical advice of the Scottish grant scene (£200 per trap pa if you are in the right area) which specifies the type of traps to use: https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-schemes/forestry-grant-scheme/sustainable-management-of-forests/grey-squirrel-control/grey-squirrel-control.pdf

Four years later.... Personally I use normal crosscut chain for milling. It means hand sharpening uses the same muscle memory for every chain I own. Plus I occasionally use my 36 inch milling bar for crosscutting logs. Plus I mostly mill bendy, knotty hardwood so some of my milling is actually part cross cutting, if that makes sense. I've bought 10 degree chains before but taken then back to 30. I didn't really find it made much difference, even the finish was similar if you are consistent with your sharpening.

I live in a red squirrel area so the greys get hit hard. There is a guy locally who volunteers for the work of reducing grey squirrel numbers. Plus there are various subsidies that the landowners can apply for. He has tunnel traps set during from Autumn to spring and then he cleans up any survivors with a powerful thermal spotter and a shotgun, before the leaves are back on the trees, so they can't really hide.

The only time I managed to get BT to jump quickly was when I noticed a mismatch between the wayleave and where the pole was. They had put a pole just over a boundary wall and therefore on land they didn't have permission to use. They dropped the wire the next day FOC.

Thread revival! Well unfortunately I've come to the conclusion that this 1990 mower deck is finally on the way out. I'm no longer just patching the walls of the deck but reattaching the various brackets and fixings - 5 separate repairs so far and I've learned a lot about welding. The rest of the machine is fine, so I'm going to look for a donor deck from a breaker yard or similar and swap the four mounting brackets over (the wheels in the picture don't do anything). The drive is transferred by spring tensioned belt which hopefully helps with compatibility - worst case, I can just buy a different length of belt for a few quid. If anyone has done this, or has any suggestions about the replacement deck or other tips that would be helpful. I'm after a fairly robust non-collecting, mulching setup for rougher areas and an orchard.

Yes that Oregon mulching balde is awesome, but you've hit the nail on the head with the issues with blades. I find because they work so well in thick stuff, eventually something wraps around the shaft, you can't see the cutter and you smash into a stump or rock. This sends huges shocks through the system and eventually something wears or goes off-centre. I was forever replacing spacers, cups or blades. I now use 4mm square diamond edge string with a fixed oregon jet head which is almost as effective, but the string provides some 'give' if you hit something. I can normally go for two tanks without replacing the string - about an hour. Don't get me wrong blades are great for the odd job or to get results out of a medium powered engine, but for the kind of jungle clearance I often do with my 50cc strimmer, the extra wear wasn't worth it.

Ah sorry, I misunderstood. Yes of course, different guage

And they are compatible. A .325 chain is a .325 chain whether its on a light bar or standard bar. Its no harder to pull a chain round a standard bar of the same length - that’s where the dealer is talking bull.

I won't drink it on principle after how they bullied their staff and evicted the residents/gamekeepers of the highland estate they bought for rewilding purposes (and their project has failed epically). Virtue signalling muppets.

The dealer is wrong and probably just trying to sell you the more expensive light bars. I don't think these are necessary for short bars lengths and the lightweight-ness must come at the expense of durability. My MS261 has a 16 inch bar that originally came from my 028.

Sorry just to be clear - is this a rainwater leak, only appearing when its wet? Can you share a photo of where the flue leaves the roof, this needs more than just an extra layer of felt.

It looks like you can get a pick under the hot plates to remove them. This might help you manouvre brushes from below in the firebox and then up the flue. Sorry I don't have one but this is what I'd try. Just try and disassemble as much as you can - take your time and video it to help reassembly. That said I would want an access hatch to the chimney.

No "grease in the head" - that should tell you they don't have a clue! As above if its chocking during high revs I always think of this as something restricting the 'throughput' put of the system - basically fuel needs to get in to the engine and exhaust out - so check the fuel filter, fuel tank air vent (which stops air getting into the tank to replace the fuel) or blocked spark arrester. I sometimes try removing the fuel filter or leaving the fuel cap half screwed on to let air in (with a clean tank) to help with the diagnosis. You can 'tune away' minor issues to a certain extent but if your settings need to be way off default something else is going on, like a major or inconsistent air leak (which requires a pressure and vacuum test).

Thanks both. I guess its good to know that its the cap that is at fault (and easily replaceable) rather than the whole blooming fuel tank.

Ah OK, will try that.

I might, its just I'm not sure anything is wrong with the cap. Looks fine.

I have owned this machine since new, about 3 years. Its been great but the fuel cap has gradually got very tight. If I only tighten it normally by hand, it then leaks petrol. I need to use both gloved hands and apply some serious force (but it then still weeps fuel a bit). There is no obvious sign of cross-threading, missing washer or dirt in there. It almost looks like the plastic of the fuel tank (male) is too large for the cap. Its tight to turn from the start, and stays tight over several turns of the cap, if that makes sense. It gets used so much in the summer that I use regular E5 ethanol fuel in it, but flush it out with a tank of aspen in the autumn. I have heard reports that ethanol can make some plastics swell, but is this just another ethanol-old-wives tale? But before I use sandpaper on it, I thought it best to ask if anyone else had found this to be a problem. I could also try adding an extra washer on account of the leaking. Thanks

Thanks. The welder didn't come with suggested settings, so I used one of those online calculators (where you enter your welder's min/max power, what you are welding etc.) to print out a table which gives power and wire speed for certain metal thicknesses. I followed the table a few times with various thicknesses before realising more power less speed was required for the thicker metals.

If milling, I would consider the bigger 120cc saws aswell. Milling is extremely tough on an engine and you can never have too much displacement

Ha. It would withstand my knee but that test weld was no match for a few thumps with a 10lb sledge hammer!

I put high and low screws out by 1 and a quarter turns on everything, then fine tune. If I've done that and can't get the tuning to respond and settle down, something else is wrong, probably an air leak. Is the carb genuine, what was the reason for replacement or symptoms beforehand?

Agreed. What are the symptoms of not working? I have several of these and just run through the basic tests first. Water or muck in the carb is pretty common.

I'd have a think about cost/benefit before doing this - cost of new corrugated iron sheets someday in the future (£15?) which wouldn't have holes in, versus cost of paint and cost of your time. Corrugated iron takes a fair bit of prep and is awkward to paint. I've painted them where they are already bolted onto a roof (with inbuilt labour to get them there) but I'm not sure I'd bother with loose sheets?

why hold the pole saw at all, when you can use a drone?