How do I recognise ash?

[Mozza]

Where in the country are you?? Surely someone on here can sell you some seasoned logs??

[Joy Yeomans]

just caught this thread - ash has a creamy pink hew to it, but i'd say just stipulate to your firewood supplier you want :some decent dry hardwood with a low moisture content, that way youll get something thats good, ash is a bit overrated really it is a good wood but not worth paying any extra for and certainly no worse or better than any hardwood, but why not get any decent hardwood which is just as good, beech, oak etc all very good.

green ash is a myth, all wood needs to be dry.

 

get a reputable firewood merchant - ask around, word of mouth is always the best recommendation - if hes any good he'll have a moisture meter get it about =<25% and will give you what you ask for - ask for a sample, if hes any good he'll let you come and have a look or have a small net to try surely - i would try and get it around £60-£80 cubic metre - but ALOT depends where you are as prices do seem to vary around the country.

 

hope this helps - good luck with your search.

 

 

a good tree ident book may help with future log deliveries, but if you get a good supplier i wouldnt worry about ash.

Edited January 21, 2010 by Joy Yeomans

[gensetsteve]

A few months ago quite a few forum members contributed to a buyers guide and also a sellers guide.

 

It was not possible to get anything like agreement and the resulting debate made it quite evident that the firewood industry is unlikely to be ready to adopt industry wide "standards" in the near future. However we did try and get close to establishing "Best Practice"

 

Buying Firewood: A consumers guide to buying logs and firewood

 

Firewood Selling Guide - suggested best practice for the firewood industry

 

Any further comments welcome!

 

Best practice is when your customers take at least one load in the spring. This makes it possible to ease cash flow and re invest some money in cord wood when customer comes back in the middle of winter.

At the moment the customer waits until the day before burning in December and orders a double load. Joins the queue behind dozens of others. I think part of the reason for this is the country is juggling their debts on credit cards and simply dont have £145 for logs in the midle of the summer. Also alot of people think seasoning is some mystical art carried out by wood man in forests.

[Joy Yeomans]

Best practice is when your customers take at least one load in the spring. This makes it possible to ease cash flow and re invest some money in cord wood when customer comes back in the middle of winter.

At the moment the customer waits until the day before burning in December and orders a double load. Joins the queue behind dozens of others. I think part of the reason for this is the country is juggling their debts on credit cards and simply dont have £145 for logs in the midle of the summer. Also alot of people think seasoning is some mystical art carried out by wood man in forests.

 

know what you mean gensetsteve - we had one lady who bless her! was told by the stove installer to ask for 3-5 year old seasoned beech!

shes happily had our wood off us for this last season - no probs reported, beech cut and dried in vented bags for 12 months -

MC 18-25% Beech - lovely.

[Mesterh]

This forum is full them. Many of the guys on this forum spend most of their time slagging off their customers and moaning about how ignorant they are. Ho Hum. Identifying Ash..... If you are near Bristol, I will take you to the cherry wood project, where we coppice and do green wood work, all in a friendly way. if you fancy it.....pm me.

Once you have different bits of wood next to each other, you start spotting the differences. Eventually you will be able to tell by smell....(elm smells a bit like pooh/sick - oh yes).

Don't worry about the ignorant fools, there are plenty of genuine people pleased to help.

 

Thats a bit of a harsh broad sweeping statement innit! Although I do like to tar everyone with the same brush myself as it easier:001_smile:

 

Joking aside though, if you dont like what is being mentioned in a post, or dont agree with it then speak up:thumbup1:

 

I know that a lot of my views and opinions on matters have been wrong and although at the time you do think "%""$& when someone points out what a fool you are I do appreciate it because it can show you the other side to something that you didnt think of.

 

Anyway back on topic type "ash logs" into google and click on the images tab (top left) there are loads on there so along with all the useful posts:001_tongue: it should help.

[Dean Lofthouse]

Maybe you're in the wrong business then, if that frustrates you so much you feel compelled to have a pop at a complete stranger asking a reasonable question. Nobody forced you to post.Is that my fault? I'm just after a fair deal, not a free ride. Well, I asked two questions. One was about the amount of wood being offered, and the other was how to make sure it's what it's being sold as. Can't see how that's 'overboard.'

 

I take it you would be happy to pay for a pint of Guinness and receive half a pint of weak lager? No - because you can tell the difference and know whether it's a rip.

 

Actually you asked if a navara level load was a cube, you then went to the trouble of visiting the Nissan website for the spec of a navara, which you then presumably sat down with a calculator and worked out the volume.

 

You forgot to figure in the wheel arches so asked about them and how far they protrude, not satisfied you visited the local supermarket where a navara was parked and took a nosey to figure in this detail.

 

Still not satisfied you asked about airgaps in the load , then went on to phone the seller to ask if they were in the pickup or in a bag in the pickup.

 

Then you went on to start a whole thread on how you recognise ash because the seller described the load as "mainly ash"

 

What you have to have in life is a bit of trust and not treat everyone as they are going to rip you off.

 

Most of the users of this website are logsellers and if you take time to read through the numerous threads on logs you will relaise that most of them do their best to give the customer value for money, me especailly.

 

You come across as the typical steriotypical nightmare customer.

 

Have a little faith in people and they may have a little faith in you, you go through life with such deep distrust and it will come back and bite you on the ass.

 

BTW if you ask for a pint of guiness and receive half a pint of weal lager, complain. Something I'm sure you will excel at

[firewoodman]

Actually you asked if a navara level load was a cube, you then went to the trouble of visiting the Nissan website for the spec of a navara, which you then presumably sat down with a calculator and worked out the volume.

 

You forgot to figure in the wheel arches so asked about them and how far they protrude, not satisfied you visited the local supermarket where a navara was parked and took a nosey to figure in this detail.

 

Still not satisfied you asked about airgaps in the load , then went on to phone the seller to ask if they were in the pickup or in a bag in the pickup.

 

Then you went on to start a whole thread on how you recognise ash because the seller described the load as "mainly ash"

 

What you have to have in life is a bit of trust and not treat everyone as they are going to rip you off.

 

Most of the users of this website are logsellers and if you take time to read through the numerous threads on logs you will relaise that most of them do their best to give the customer value for money, me especailly.

 

You come across as the typical steriotypical nightmare customer.

 

Have a little faith in people and they may have a little faith in you, you go through life with such deep distrust and it will come back and bite you on the ass.

 

BTW if you ask for a pint of guiness and receive half a pint of weal lager, complain. Something I'm sure you will excel at

 

i hate weal lager too:lol:

 

i've been dying to put sarcastic comments on this for a while, but held off.

 

us pros do come on here for a bit of light relief though

[Dave Martin]

Actually you asked if a navara level load was a cube, you then went to the trouble of visiting the Nissan website for the spec of a navara, which you then presumably sat down with a calculator and worked out the volume.

 

You forgot to figure in the wheel arches so asked about them and how far they protrude, not satisfied you visited the local supermarket where a navara was parked and took a nosey to figure in this detail.

 

Still not satisfied you asked about airgaps in the load , then went on to phone the seller to ask if they were in the pickup or in a bag in the pickup.

 

Then you went on to start a whole thread on how you recognise ash because the seller described the load as "mainly ash"

 

What you have to have in life is a bit of trust and not treat everyone as they are going to rip you off.

 

Most of the users of this website are logsellers and if you take time to read through the numerous threads on logs you will relaise that most of them do their best to give the customer value for money, me especailly.

 

You come across as the typical steriotypical nightmare customer.

 

Have a little faith in people and they may have a little faith in you, you go through life with such deep distrust and it will come back and bite you on the ass.

 

BTW if you ask for a pint of guiness and receive half a pint of weal lager, complain. Something I'm sure you will excel at

 

:thumbup:

 

Thats exactly what I thought when he threw the dummy and rattle out of the pram.

[Joy Yeomans]

Actually you asked if a navara level load was a cube, you then went to the trouble of visiting the Nissan website for the spec of a navara, which you then presumably sat down with a calculator and worked out the volume.

 

You forgot to figure in the wheel arches so asked about them and how far they protrude, not satisfied you visited the local supermarket where a navara was parked and took a nosey to figure in this detail.

 

Still not satisfied you asked about airgaps in the load , then went on to phone the seller to ask if they were in the pickup or in a bag in the pickup.

 

Then you went on to start a whole thread on how you recognise ash because the seller described the load as "mainly ash"

 

What you have to have in life is a bit of trust and not treat everyone as they are going to rip you off.

 

Most of the users of this website are logsellers and if you take time to read through the numerous threads on logs you will relaise that most of them do their best to give the customer value for money, me especailly.

 

You come across as the typical steriotypical nightmare customer.

 

Have a little faith in people and they may have a little faith in you, you go through life with such deep distrust and it will come back and bite you on the ass.

 

BTW if you ask for a pint of guiness and receive half a pint of weal lager, complain. Something I'm sure you will excel at

didnt see any of this in the thread - are we all talkining about different threads? - anyway all this for one load of firewood - for godness sake!:confused1:i'm burning what some would describe as rubbish - to save the goodstuff for the customer!

 

try some wet larch & wet conifer - burns a treat, cooking on it, hot water, rad's banging!

all wood is good in my opinion!, if a bit wet, stack it next to your cooker/stove

if your supplier says hes got mostly ash on and a pickup for £80 go buy it sounds alright to me, especially if hes been patient and answered all your questions, if moneys that tight you can always pawn your computer:001_tt2:

[PeteB]

Colour, texture, grain, bark and smell generally gives the game away to species. A key way to ident fresh split Ash is it turning pink. Ash grown in a field of beast will soak up their urine and have a strong odour to it.