Ed Poore

@darthdicky? Aren't you and @Jon W doing BAMA just before Seven Sisters. Perhaps can drop off at @Gazzar on the way past as he's not far off the M4 route.

I think you still have the generous side of the deal so far. My plan fell through when Mum forgot (despite walking over) the panhard rod. But never mind it'll get shipped shortly.

Stage one complete. Found it! Conveniently the wrapping expert for the business (Mum) just showed up so I've delegated

Um you have you silly man. I've had a drill bit, mag drill and air hose out of you so far I think. I'll see if I can find it and get it boxed up tonight so the missus can get it in the post tomorrow as I'm away for a few days.

The problem it seems is partly lockdown hitting shipping but mainly Ukraine as a lot of the timber for the phenolic ply / Buffalo board came from Siberia (basically where the trees grow slowly). With Ukraine kicking off places couldn't get it from Russia so the Scandinavian countries have had to pick up the slack and because of demand they've simply sat on things and jacked their prices up because, well, people will pay for it.

Split tailgates like the Range Rover are a pain in the arse to use with telehandlers / forklifts - the upper tailgate usually gets in the way of the headstock. Perhaps they were thinking about it

I can't remember what the sizes here are but I know Chris tends to stock bigger than 8x4. Unusual if he's more expensive than others. It should last, just hope you've treated the edges if / where you've cut it.

I don't know but I know the ply is over £100/sheet down this way. Aluminium / steel might be cheaper but slippery and best with something under anyway on a trailer like that to spread the load. I used old scaffold boards with a 1/4" gap on mine but didn't need it to be "sealed".

How did you pick them up when you were bent over from paying?

I've got a surplus to requirements (pretty much brand spanking new) heavy duty adjustable one here you can have for nowt Stephen.

One of the benefits of "static" ICE generation is that you can tune the engine for optimal efficiency and you can better capture "waste" energy. For example (my memory is a little hazy so bear with me) my old department at Imperial achieved >90% efficient ICE electricity generation because they used I think it was gas inside (what used to be a) diesel engine. But all the excess heat was captured and used for central heating within the campus and the Royal Albert Hall which accounts for most of the inefficiency of vehicle based systems.

Careful - that cost Toyota a fair few million to fix an issue like that...

It'll just come in somewhere else and then just pool at your feet.

Not true for most lithium based technologies. To be fair the "battery packs" have the electronics to protect themselves and know the characteristics required so they tend to take care of themselves. The problem comes when people DIY the charging solution without fully understanding the intricacies.

I would if there's one that will tow a couple of tonnes for a few hundred miles in a reasonable time and carry on towing off-road in places like this. edited to add: I could probably use an EV for about 50% of the stuff I do (to be honest it would suit it since quite often I have to go out of my way to fill up) but at least 50% of my journeys are towing at least a tonne and a half these days on steep Welsh country lanes. There's only one road out from my place (there's four cross roads within 2 miles so not like I don't have a choice of routes) that's less than a 1 in 3 and that heads nowhere particularly useful before it becomes a 1 in 3 anyway.

I suppose another aspect is when you empty all the reserves in order to get going quite often modern ones can't be towed (may have changed) and you need to get it to a charger rather than just bunging in a couple of litres from whatever container a petrol station has to hand. I reckon half the breakdowns I've seen in the last two years have been people running out of fuel. Perhaps the kind of person but one would assume the mentality will transition to EVs as well and running out of charge.

What would be a major boost to facilitate the change over to EV is standardising the battery packs so you can recharge as quickly as an ICE vehicle. Yes I know it will compromise the design initially but being able to pull into a "petrol" station and have a system to swap out the battery for a fully charged one in the matter of a minute or two would be a major win factor in the eye of the consumer. For example the regular(ish) journeys that @miketomcat and I do to the Highlands and back are bad enough with 2 minutes at a petrol pump to refuel let alone an hour to recharge the battery to continue. It would turn a 13h drive into a slog.

There was an SL35Ti that came up for sale near me for less money than 200Tdis go for...

I think along with @Mo Murphy's issues it's a sign 200Tdis aren't long of this world anymore and everyone should be switching to V8s... (cue questions about when I'm going to get around to fit the 1UZ into the 110...)

Burning off in the pistons?

Why is it whenever you get some new toys I do too? 😂 Two three phase gennies, admittedly the Deutz air cooled one infront is for Dad because it has wheels and his digger probably doesn't have the lift capacity for the Ford one behind. And a considerable present courtesy of @FridgeFreezer. The irony is I'll probably have to use the diesel gennie to charge the electric forklift until I figure out another solution. There's also been an M18 plane and belt sander delivered to accompany the M18 table saw.

Pretty obvious, one 4" OSMUND pipe and a gas pipe...

You laugh, I finally gained access to our second cellar and one of the waste pipes from the downstairs cloakroom runs through the corner of it.

Bunker

You missed a trick with the forklift @FridgeFreezer. Bob mentioned that a mate of his has a similar forklift to the one you sent me - he cut a 10mm road plate and used it as a workbench in the garage because it tucked up neatly. If he needed the forklift he removed the workbench table and used it. Bonus was it was infinitely adjustable in workheight