tracteurtom

Have a drive around Zac, loads of Argicultural / Garden Machinery places about in Correze with 2nd stuff for sale. I personally wouldn't touch a 2nd hand strimmer, not worth the hassle.   Sit on mowers can be had new for around €1k, got to be a better deal than 500-700€ on a 10 year old 2nd hand one.  Not unless your after a pro machine ...... Surely that little nugget of info is OK posted on the Forum and I certainly cant be arsed emailing it !  [:D]  All for the want of a for sale / wanted section - again [:P]

OP, I think the MP3 player is one of the greatest pieces of technology ever invented if you like music.  You can get MP3/4 players these days with huge memory capacities for very little money.  You dont need an iPod, any will do, just pick one you like the look of.  Rip your CDs and any you can "borrow" from wherever to your computer, download MediaMonkey (a brilliant piece of FREE software) and convert them to MP3 format.  Then download your MP3s to the player and gardening will never be boring again !!!! Trust me, if you like your music, get into this, you WILL be amazed.

Depends what wood and age they are.  Old Oak or Walnut you ...may.... get someone interested, but anything else, pull them up and burn them.  Or get a man in with a stump grinder.  There's no shortage of tree stumps in France [:D]  There is a huge pile of them at the bottom of my land, just left there by the Mairie after they pulled a hedge out - all part of keeping things tidy they told me !

so what is gey about it then ? Well, it is a Toyota RAV4 [:D] Pillow Biters flame away !!!!!!!!!!!!

Google and Ebay are your friends  [;-)]

Will you 2 just exchange email addresses and do whatever to sort yourselves out and leave us in piece !!  I'm fed up of my mail box being filled with your secret love messages - go and find a car park somewhere  !!!!

[quote user="Russethouse"] Apparently the woman who holds the national collection of hostas uses a liquid she makes up by boiling 2 bubs of garlic in 2 litres of water, she waters it over the hostas but the downside is that when it rains you have to do it again. I'm trying to think of a way of incorporating the slugs hatred of garlic into a more user friendly method. Any ideas ? [/quote] [:D]  Pizza - but then the French dont but garlic on pizza [:(]  !!!! [:D] Its quite common to gut garlic and onion plants around more sensitive subjects.

Check out the Fiat Bravo 5 yr - 500,000 km (yes thats correct) warranty.  I know its not a van, but it makes you think.  Citroen & Renault  dont have a good name in reliabilty - neither do Fiat come to that !.  There's a reason every small town in France has numerous Renault / Citreon  garages.  Your mistake was buying it in the first place !!!!![:D]

Sony marketed the Video 8 and the hi bandwidth version Hi8 during the '90s before digital technology overtook it.  Try ebay. I'm sure you'll find something suitable there.  Be aware that you'll need a Hi8 playback machine if the tapes you have are Hi8.

[quote user="andyh4"]But if it has a plastic fuel tank - and most are - the staining will be there forever, or as near as damit.[/quote] and you can see red inside the confines of a black plastic fuel tank can you ????????????????????? as said, forget it, just use the van.  I always assumed that you had to be caught commiting a crime for the evidence to stick.  I doubt very much that slight traces of red in inaccessible places is sufficient evidence.  If questioned, just say the truth, it was the previous owner 'onest guv !  But then one should never make assumptions  [;-)]

Stihl make an electric one, so do Husqvrana (spelling ??).  Dont know how good they are though.  My experience of electric strimmers is of Black and Decker and there is no way I'd recommend one of those pieces of cr*p.  I would think that electric ones are not much lighter than a small petrol one, not as you'd notice anyhow.  The key with these things is the harness, get a proper one and hang it right, they are no effort to use, get it wrong and you'll be putting it back in the shed after 10 mins of use !  Also the ones with bicycle style handle bars are much much easier  to use, good exercise for the lower back !!  You talk of a field, I cant see an electric strimmer being practical here, but its your choice, and all that cable .... To help with starting, replace the plug and air filter regulary.  Always run the fuel out, never leave fuel in the tank for long periods as it goes off quickly.  When starting, pull the cord a couple of times to "loosen" the engine and then pull slowly until you feel the piston on its compression stroke, stop.  Set choke (if cold) and throttle to start position and push in the decompression button (if fitted).  Then pull the cord smartly.  Should start !!!!!! 

[quote user="Martinwatkins"]If all you want is basic standard definition TV from the BBC/ITV/C4 and aren't fussed about a detailed electronic programme guide (EPG) then a €70 dish and terminal numerique from Bricodepot/whatever will do fine.  Also gives you all the radio channels and a host of other odds and ends (some odder than other it has to be said). If you want Freesat itself you need to go back to the UK (or get someone to do it for you) and buy and actual Freesat box,  this will give you the same channels but with a better EPG and the interactive stuff will all work logically (which it may well not do on a Bricowhatever box). There are some software issues with the new Freesat boxes and they seem to be in short supply in some places,   so you could always get your dish working with the Bricowhatever box and enjoy that until the dust settles. At the moment it does look like if you want all the HD stuff then a Freesat box may be necessary but to be honest I don't think anyone's sure about  that yet.   If I haven't covered everything then please ask! [/quote] Many thanks Martin.  The BBCs Free sat sounds the way to go.  I'd love a HD PVR, even if its just to skip the adverts - but it'll be a cost driven thing.!! Dont know quite what the poster with 2 PVRs and 200 ++ hrs of recording time does with it all !!  I thought one of the reasons for moving to France was to do other things than watch TV !! On a tech note Martin, Whats the satellite for Free sat and its angle of dangle ?  Any special needs for dish / LNB ?  Thanks

[quote user="dave21478"]Its a paper cartridge type filter. This is all red obviously, as is the inside of the housing for it. The fuel lines under the bonnet are normally transparent plastic, but they are now tinged red. Yes, the red dye is to colour the diesel, but its job is also to stain the fuel system components too. In UK a determined revenue officer can tell approximately how many tankfulls ago a car was last used on red despite using normal fuel since, by looking at the residue of the dye left in the system. Whether they are this thorough in france, I dont know and dont wish to find out. [/quote] Well Dave I kinda agree with BobT24.  You said that the system was stained and thats why I replied as I did, but following an Apres-midi rotovating (my mind wanders on tasks like this !!). I thought, surely RD doesnt stain the hardware, its just the filter ??  I've 2 old tractors that have used RD since they were new (I assume !!) thats a min of 40 years and there is no evidence of RD use, except the filter of course.  I suspect that your tale of the Revenue Officer is just scare mongary, that or they need to get a life !!!  Any diesel motor requires air tight fuel lines.  The vac from the pump is quite powerful and if there is a leak, air will be draw in and thats not good - particularly if you have a rotary pump that relies on the fuel for its lube and can be the demon all of for starting problems.  So you could, justifiably replace all the flexible fuel lines.  This operation alone can transform an old nail into a swish motor, and it would get rid olf the staining you refer to.  I'd also run some injector cleaner though it !

Martin, Please could you explain the best way to get Freesat up and runng in in France ?  What hardware do I need to buy?  Is it best hanging on for a while yet ?  That sort of thing.  Not having ITV is no loss in my books !!!  But I do miss the BBC !  Thanks.

Has the system not been used for a while or has it had a sudden increase in load (Guests maybe?).  The bacteria populate the Fosse according to the amount of effuent they have to deal with.  So if the house is say a holiday home with infrequent visits, the bacteria will die off and then will ned restarting when the house is occupied again.  Or, if say the Fosse is normally dealing with a load of 2 people then all of a sudden its expected to deal with 8 people, the bacteria will struggle for a while and this will cause a smell.  This is very common in Gites were the load changes on a weekly basis with big swings from 0 people to 6 ++, always smelly !!! The drainage field should not smell, in fact it should be clean water that comes out of these pipes.  If it does, it suggests a problem up-line somewhere and as you have a pump, it could be that the pump is over flowing the fosse and forcing effuent out into the drainage field somehow ???  What ever, open the tops and have a look !!

Run some fuel system / injector cleaner through it.  Or some Biodiesel, that'll clean it up, but this could also find other problems (weak seals in the pump).   If you do run some biodiesel, change the fuel filter a couple of times and clean the fuel pickup in the tank as Biodiesel cleans like no other ! Re getting caught ?  I suspect there's many a Farmer running on their 4x4 on port wine and I would think the penalties are severe but it doesnt stop them.  Its your choice / decision, not that I recommend it.

[quote user="la firmiere"]Husqvarna are now independant from Electolux and concentrate on the industrial end of the market unlike McCulloch the DIY brand.  [/quote] Thats good news, I thought it was a catatrophe with Electrolux took them over, another great name gone into a faceless company, but from what you say, its not so.  I recently bought a Husky rotavator, but I cant find any where on it thats says where it was made ?  Its a nice pice of kit though [:)]

I know what you mean LOL, the grass is taking over and I cant find a clear period to cut it !! Spent hours howing the other day and it needs doing again !!

I'd be interested to hear what you come up with.  Its very important to follow a crop rotation programme Yr 1  manure and Pots; Yr 2 Compost and legumes;  Yr 3 Brassicas;  Yr 4 Roots and Yr5 rest.   IMO Insecticide is a must for brassicas and is the only sure answer.  You need to spray spray and spray.  Brassicas are very suspectible to insect attack and it can ruin the crop very quickly.  I keep a spray ready mixed to hand and use as required.

Here's another one for you, I read this last night - Slugs hate wood ash !!!  Spread it around the plants and it'll also act as a fertiliser.  Win win cant be bad.  Only problem is that you will have to reapply after rain.

You can generally find these things in Brocantes and Vide Greniers, but finding 2 the same is tricky. Lapere stock them as noted above, but be careful as there are 2 types, one is a working version as per the original design, the other is simply an ornament, to fit no doubt to a new window to make it look old - bizarre !

[quote user="sueyh"]Last year had one of these cages on our garden for six weeks, did not catch anything!!  Kept moving it around where we could see that the rabbit runs were - NOTHING!  Not one pesky rabbit!  And no we were not going to take the bunny on a holiday jaunt to another part of the country - we were going to give it to our friend to put in a pot!  And yes we do live next to a field with hundreds of the little breeders! Suey [/quote] Well at least you've got some sense Suey re not relocating it.  It beggers believe just want some people are prepared to do without thinking of the consequences.   I cant see the point in catching just one if there's a field full next door.  I think the key here is fencing or as your original question asks rabbit proof  plants !  Not a clue on those I'm afraid, except maybe prickly bushes and some rhubarb.  At least if they eat the rhubarb it should reduce the population a bit !!  It would be worth the trouble having a chat with the local Chasse.  They could arrange a shoot in the field when its hunting time again ?

[quote user="John Martin BRADLEY"]If you can't bring yourself to kill the rabbits, then what about using a rabbit  cage - which is a trap that does not harm the  animal.  You can then take it somewhere very far away and let it go.  I have found that carrots are the best  food to entice rabbits - honestly! [/quote] As I've said before this is a very bad idea and a practice that we hear of all too often, typically from townies who know nowt about the countryside.  My guess is that there is an army of rabbits in this patch.  and rabbits breed like well rabbits !  Moving them far far away will result in their deaths from foxes and roadkill as they try to find their way back home, disorientated, they are weak and exposed.  If they do somehow manage to reestablish themselves they will then be a problem for someone else and be at war with the local rabbit population.  Also mxamatoesis (spelling grr!) is rife in rabbits and you could very easily endanger other rabbits by spreading this diesease unnecessarily.  Very bad plan Mr Bradley [6]  Go and write 100 lines "I am a towny" !

Nah, its a terrier that you want, not a toy.  Only joking, BCs are brilliant dogs, but more suited to herding and playing ball than killing.   I was told that putting human hair around the plants will deter rabbits ??  Never tried it myself but worth a try.  Dog hair could also work ?? Try and improve the fencing, particularly from ground up to 500mm.   Its a big job, but if the problem warrants it, bury chicken wire all around the perimeter fence to a depth of 100 - 150 mm, that'll stop the buggers !

You need a gun and a dog.  That'll sort them out.  Cute they may be, but a pest is a pest.