An intruder on our strip

[PatMc]

5 minutes ago, Adrian Smith 1 said:

Pat, fortunately it's a disused pole.

That's good but a word of caution, the pole may not still be in a safe condition to be climbed. Best to site the camera at a height that can be reached by step ladders or short ladder unless there's an ex linesman who knows how to test that it is safe to be climbed. 

There used to be one or two accidents a year, sometimes fatal, involving linesmen who didn't check before climbing.      

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Take care then as it may not have been inspected for some years. Although heavily creosoted, these poles can (and do) suffer from decay eventually. 
 

There should be a production date 10 feet above the foot of the pole so you can gauge how deeply it’s buried and its age.  Check for rot around the base and further up - it should “ring” when hit with a decent sized hammer - look out for a dull sound.  If any suspect areas are discovered, a thin probe shouldn’t be able to be pushed into the wood to any extent. 
 

Sorry Pat, I hadn’t spotted your reply on this new page…but now it’s posted it might as well stay in order to reinforce the potential hazards of climbing an unmaintained pole. 

Edited December 16, 2021 by Martin Harris - Moderator

[Engine Doctor]

We have recently had intruder vandals .  They removed one of our fold down tables but in the process did considerable damage !

 

Had they had a brain cell between them then a simple philips screw driver would have undone one  ! Instead they used wire cutters and even a saw to try and  cut the  fence  post ?

 

Edited December 15, 2021 by Engine Doctor

[Nigel R]

Words fail, ED.

[Ron Gray]

1 hour ago, Engine Doctor said:

Had they had a brain cell between them

Then they would be classified as plants!

[Don Fry]

Plant evolution is interesting. Imagine, you are in a life and death struggle. And you  can’t walk away. Then evolution gets personal.

Thick equals loam.
But in fairness, you can’t insulate the fence, and charge it with a couple of hundred farads, to save a picnic table. 
See John Stones comments, rut runner iabandoned on the patch, above.

[Engine Doctor]

16 hours ago, Ron Gray said:

Then they would be classified as plants!

Hi Ron . Sorry can't agree,plant's are useful ?.

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

27 minutes ago, Engine Doctor said:

Hi Ron . Sorry can't agree,plant's are useful ?.

Yes I think they keep the 'vegans' alive,,,?

[FlyinFlynn]

2 hours ago, Paul De Tourtoulon said:

Yes I think they keep the 'vegans' alive,,,?

You call that useful?   now if you had said they keep the caterpillars alive..........

 

 

<only joking!>

[Megawatt]

On 14/12/2021 at 21:31, Adrian Smith 1 said:

The camera option would seem to work in our case as there is a telegraph pole almost directly in line with the runway and it can be located at a sufficient height so as to be unreachable. The trouble with a roller during the winter months will damage the grass apparently.

Please make

 certain that the telegraph pole is not an electricity pole carrying 11000 volts 

[Don Fry]

Or indeed 132000 volts. See above, dead pole. Before the digressions into evolution and disgusting dietary thingies.