Not this Simon,
but a local man, actual name Yorgos, who took the nickname Simon. This can lead
to confusion in this tiny island, as we have other similarities, not least of
which is a love of machinery that extends to making strange devices. Yorgos has
the advantage of access to unlimited scrap metal and broken machinery as his
family has a scrap yard; the only one in the island.
In this yard he found a large hydraulic something-or-other
which had been part of a JCB belonging to his brother. He would look at this
longingly and finally his brother let him have it. Soon afterwards he announced
excitedly in the bar of an evening what he was going to make with it. ‘Yes,
yes, bravo old thing,’ I said. (In thirty-odd years in Greece I have got used
to people’s ‘going-tos’ and tend not to take them seriously.) But the fact is,
he’s done it. To do so he had to buy, from England, a special two-stage
hydraulic pump and various other bits and pieces. It has cost quite a lot, but it
doesn’t matter; it’s an amazing device and he is justly proud of it.
Furthermore, because of the big demand for firewood, it won’t in fact take him
long to recover the cost.
‘Go to’ (as they say) YouTube and look for Alonnisos09,
(note the spelling), where you will find several of Yorgos / Simon’s videos,
including one that shows his hydraulic log-splitter in action. The whole thing
is mounted on its own trailer so that it can if necessary be taken to where the
wood is rather than vice-versa.
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