Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b89429c566825f6ab32bcafbada449c9.jpg

What did the postman bring?

nightfisher

By nightfisher
in The Astro Lounge

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 13.9k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

mikeDnight
mikeDnight

I had to pop out for a couple of hours around lunch-time, and inevitably a parcel was delivered while I was out. On my return I found this behind my front door.   I've no idea how this

Mick H
Mick H

I'm back after being away since last year. I had a tumour removed from my Pituitary Gland at the Neurosurgery Hospital in London, it was pushing on my Optic Nerve making my vision blurred. A

JeremyS
JeremyS

As a child of the Apollo era, it had to be done

Posted Images

JOC

JOC

Posted
Posted
On ‎03‎/‎09‎/‎2018 at 20:33, JOC said:

It's been an interesting day in the post today - no astro stuff unfortunately, but such an interesting collection of items I feel the need to share regardless - if you read my other postings elsewhere on the forum you might be able to guess the projects these are for:

A 2 tonne manual winch

10 litres of Vingar

12 x 5mm D Rings

A bicycle maintenance stand

10Kg Bicarbonate of soda

Oh, and my bro's made me a land anchor!

Just in case anyone had been intrigued - Today I finished off the collection with the arrival of a 1.5 tonne set of 2 leg 'Brothers' engineering chains!  It isn't actually all for a bicarb powered rocket bike (though I did laugh loudly at the idea!) The engineering stuff is to help me pull up all my stock fence tight so that I can then nail it onto the posts (Bro made me a fence attachment to pull against too).  We had a dry run with just the puller and my son on the end of it and locked it off with rope against a tree and it def. made things easier, but I also realised that the limitation was in how much we could manually pull the fence puller and how close I could get a tree and how tight I could lock off a rope.  Thus, I now have a portable set-up and it should all be strong enough - I didn't want something that was suddenly going to go twang!  Thus, I now have a set-up which runs - fence puller along length of stock fence.  The Brothers on each end (effectively top and bottom of the puller).  A free swinging link running along the length of the chain to keep the tension centred, then connecting to the winch and the land anchor behind the winch to provide the portable solid surface to pull against.   So it will be bash in all the posts and run out the stock fence.  Cut it to the approx. right length then attach the 'engineering solution'.  Heave with the winch and stand the fence up along the posts - then put in the staples and it should work without pulling out any of the individual posts because you won't have to tension specifically against any of them, which is what currently happens.  In theory (once the posts are up) it even becomes a one person job.  Or at least that's the cunning plan Baldrick!  If anyone doubts that it sounds workable or there is anything else to consider please let me know.  I know lots of you are engineering types as you build all sorts of astro things like observatories.  I can't design and build a electronic observatory, but I reckon I might have found an easier solution to putting up stock fence.  I developed the idea from some youtube videos and it's kind of a cross over between them.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Stub Mandrel

Stub Mandrel

Posted
Posted

I'm confused. It's a decade or three since I did any fencing but surely normal folks don't tension a fence one post at a time? You put in the strainers, put the intermediates in, tension the wires and net/mesh between the strainers then nail to the intermediates and clip the mesh to the wires.

Yuu aren't trying to do without proper strainers are you? That doesn't sound a good idea...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JOC

JOC

Posted
Posted
50 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I'm confused. It's a decade or three since I did any fencing but surely normal folks don't tension a fence one post at a time?

Oh, dear - the shame of it!  That's how I've done a lot of it recently ?. 

My parents used to have some old strainers that were used for single line wires that they used to put on the end of just the top and sometimes the bottom strand of long lengths of stock fence and nail to the posts once it was all tight, but I didn't know where they were and so I bought a Draper fence tensioner  like this one https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Draper-Fence-Wire-Tensioner-Strainer-Tensioning-Tool-Barbed-Fencing-57547/112824311655?epid=23021931502&hash=item1a44da5f67:g:E4IAAOSw87Ray1SS That gadget appears to work on a post by post basis (or at maybe at most two or three at a time as it doesn't have space to take up a lot of slack).  The trouble is as you tension on each strand of the stock fence - top, middle and bottom it is possible to get all the tensions different and it doesn't go up uniformly and the individual posts can move., and you quickly end up with big bows in the wire.  I knew there had to be an easier way and discovered videos showing people putting them up with brackets that run along the full length of the end the length of stock fence (as I described above) and pulled up with a winch or a 4x4 car (which I don't have and can't get to where I need it anyway).  On the basis of my last experiment with just the bracket this does seem the way to go - hence the new kit.  It's just a pity that I've already done loads of lengths with the old post by post method before finding englightenment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Stub Mandrel

Stub Mandrel

Posted
Posted (edited)

The wire and mesh shouldn't be firmly attached to the intermediate posts, so that there's no tension trying to pull out them out and if something (e.g. a large cow, landrover etc.) hits the fence the extra tension is taken by the strainers not the intermediates. Naturally that means you can only strain the wire to the strainers (the clue is in the name ? )

There's a guide here (I used to be a BTCV volunteer a very very long time ago).

https://www.conservationhandbooks.com/how-to-build-a-fence/

Note the picture of the straining device - you 'walk' it along the chain and can take up a good amount of slack, unlike some of the little devices meant for garden fences and the like.

Here you go, I'd forgotten we called it a 'monkey strainer':

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hausen-Chain-Strainer-Monkey-Cattle-Wire-Fence-Tensioner-Pull-Stretcher/202381876154?epid=21011029571&hash=item2f1ee65bba:g:PFEAAOSwRPhbh-FR

Edited by Stub Mandrel
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Stub Mandrel

Stub Mandrel

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, BeachBumz said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323436381391

Got it the other day, Still sorting through it all

Looked more expensive that new at first sight, but on reading the description you bagged a really good set of accessories as well so congratulations and it looks like you are all set up!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Alan White

Alan White

Posted
Posted (edited)

Yesterday evening the postman/person did not deliver, I went and collected and had a nice drive to the South Coast. (not ice as first posted!).
Stage 1, of my Dob quest, Orion Optics base for a 10".

IMG_3309.thumb.JPG.b9b16d0281d2e44859598a4c5ff0c678.JPG

 

Edited by Alan White
typos
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Stu

Stu

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, Ags said:

A fellow SGLer dropped off a Berlebach Castor; I have it on loan for a few weeks.

It's twice as big as I expected, but very smooth!

IMG-20180914-WA0000.jpeg

Lovely little mount Ags, similar to my Giro-WR. You will have some fun with that.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.