Why are the public anti-softwood?

[Arbgirl]

Hi Andy,

 

Thanks for the info - its a Villager C so none of this chinese toot!

 

And yes, I do shut it right down and it ticks over happily, all ropes are serviced and restuck/replaced if necessary as and when required. I only have a small living room so I dont need too much heat, and when it burns too hot it just seems a waste of fuel!

 

The time it got so hot that I thought it was going to glow red hot was when a visitor who thought he was being helpful decided to light the fire using the briquettes! He put about 25-30 in the stove (its only little!) and then opened everything up! I swear if I had gone outside that flames would have been licking out of the top of the chimey!People seem to think that it needs to be roaring like a jet engine with all vents open to get heat into a room when in fact all the heat goes up the chimney! When I burn logs I get it going then shut it right down and leave it to tick over slowly so that the heat radiates into the room and doesnt go right up the chimney! Im also lazy and like it if I can get away with stoking it only twice a night! Also the briquettes arent cheap round here (even with my fluttering eyes and low cut top "discount") - I pay around £3 a small (10kg?) bag! They are brilliant for getting a fire going instantly - as i just bung in a few sheets of screwed up newspaper - add 5 briquettes and 1 log - 20 mins later instant fire with no faffing about! Works everytime!

 

I shall stop refusing softwood as I have lots of access to it at work - and it is free! I have been converted!!

[firewoodman]

andy

do you make the briquettes aswell as sell them???

[County4x4]

Hello mate,

 

No I only sell them - though I always seem to refer to them as "my briquettes"!!

 

I've tried all sorts of them over the years and I reckon I now have the best there is - AND they're made right here in the UK and not imported like much of the competition. I know a lot of small local outfits have jumped into the market using their own waste wood - but many of them are using machines adapted from other industries, and they produce much softer and smaller briquettes that burn too fast for my liking. I still think these are a better result than sending the stuff to landfill by the way - but I reckon "mine" are better!

 

Cheers,

 

Andy

[firewoodman]

Hello mate,

 

No I only sell them - though I always seem to refer to them as "my briquettes"!!

 

I've tried all sorts of them over the years and I reckon I now have the best there is - AND they're made right here in the UK and not imported like much of the competition. I know a lot of small local outfits have jumped into the market using their own waste wood - but many of them are using machines adapted from other industries, and they produce much softer and smaller briquettes that burn too fast for my liking. I still think these are a better result than sending the stuff to landfill by the way - but I reckon "mine" are better!

 

Cheers,

 

Andy

 

well???........................which ones are they then

 

i have trialled a few myself and have found TREENERGY's type to be the hottest, and i know what you mean by the softer ones

[County4x4]

We are in agreement then mate!

 

Andy

[renewablejohn]

Firewoodman

 

In Briquette terms you are comparing a Roll Royce to a Mini or a Swiss made SPM machine compared to a hydraulic ram. We all would like SPM machines but at 4 times the price most end up with either single or dual ram machines as a compromise. At the end of the day the price per kg is not significantly different to justify the more expensive machine.

[Highland Forestry]

I can't understand why the public have this fixation with hardwood logs..

 

I've been trying to tell people for ages now, ALL wood is good firewood as long as it's seasoned.

 

Even ash logs burn better and more efficiently when they are seasoned.

 

When you think about it, softwood should be the most wanted wood - it burns fine, there is loads of it about, it's much cheaper to purchase, cheaper to produce, cheaper to process, easier on machinery, lighter and so more volume if buying by weight and easier and generally cleaner to handle!

 

Having said all that, around here I have to say the birch is the king.. birch and pine is my personal preference.

[Highland Forestry]

As an afterthought, does anyone want to buy 200t of willow/pine mix in 3m lengths??

[davetaz]

We have been burning pine on our Rayburn 345W, gets hotter quicker than any hardwood and stays hot for long enough to do our cooking and hot water every day (3 hours burning).

 

So we sell hardwoods at a price that makes it worth doing it and use the softwoods for ourselves

[firewoodman]

Firewoodman

 

In Briquette terms you are comparing a Roll Royce to a Mini or a Swiss made SPM machine compared to a hydraulic ram. We all would like SPM machines but at 4 times the price most end up with either single or dual ram machines as a compromise. At the end of the day the price per kg is not significantly different to justify the more expensive machine.

 

sorry mate, you'll have to excuse my ignorance on machines, but i aint got a clue what you are talking about:blushing:

 

all i know is the products i have tried, not the machines they are made with!

 

but if you have the time i am intrested to know the differences as this is something i would like to do,

you obviously make these briquettes, so would you be willing to pass on this knowledge? it would be appreciated.