Quickthorn

If they didn't explain to you during this phone call that you would be charged, I'd contest it. No other business could get away with this.

Yes..I've read 10% on the outside of some logs, then nearly 30 % on the inside when freshly split. The 10% bit only went to a depth of half inch or so.

9%..I take it that was a damp meter measurement..was that the outside of a log, or did you split a sample and test the inside?

I've got a pair of the aquastops, like in the link. i like them, no real problems except the laces constantly breaking. I've replaced these with a pair of flat nylon (I think) laces, a bit like foootball boot laces. they haven't broken yet...

As above..they won't send a lorry for a part load..20 cu.m or so. has it grown as a single tree in the open? If so, that will reduce the quality of the timber, I'd have thought. I'd say value = negligible.

Well, I've carved a few stumps out of trees..I was quite pleased with some of them

In 10 years time, I think I'll have to be doing something different to this. I still enjoy a lot of the actual work, but the costs are going up each year, while the amount I can charge, and the amount of work around, seems to be flat. It doesn't seem sustainable. I'm trying to teach myself furniture making at the moment..although it's sometimes hard to find the time, as anything that pays money has to come first. Whether it'll become anything more than a hobby, time will tell. Ideally, I'd be able to get skilled enough to get some paid experience under my belt, then look for work in NZ - I know they're short of joiners and cabinet makers. That might be a big ask to do that in under 10 years - I wish I'd have thought of it 10 years ago!

I'd check your local market for price. Is this roadside? £28-29 / ton roadside might be good in the south of england, but it might not be so good in poorer areas of the country. That sort of price wouldn't be so great here.

It's pretty good..it's durable in the States, but doesn't last quite as long over here. However, it's good enough for people to use as a cladding for buildings..it tends to turn a silvery grey as it weathers. It is pretty soft and light, but still quite strong for a softwood.

My experience of TW has been pretty good. They bent over backwards to help me out, and that was with a second hand model. Pretty much any machine is nothing without decent backup.

That's some fantastic work there, especially if you've only been at it for 2 years. Is that castle thing hollow, then? It looks like you could go in through the door and climb up inside to the top.

On the subject of energy price worries, I think I'll be switching my electricity provider in the very near future. It's not something I've done before, and i don't particularly want to have to switch every 5 minutes just to get a reasonable deal. The favourite is ebico at the moment, because it's a not for profit company, and can offer around 14p kWh instead of the 25p kWh I'm paying at the moment. Does anyone else deal with this company?

Woodworm = furniture beetle..yes, it can be brought in on infested firewood. It depends on what timbers they have in the house, but I believe woodworm can attack any softwood, and will have a go at hardwood heartwood if it is moist enough. The adult beetle can also fly into your house on its own during the Summer. Woodborers

I've got an older 6" TW, and the only problems I've had were down to the previous owner's efforts at reconditioning. It doesn't come out every day, but when it does, I'll often put 6-7 hrs on it in a session, and it copes with that pretty well. When this one wears out, I'll probably get another TW. As well as performance, spares availability and the fact that it's made in the UK count for me.

I think I prefer this way.. [ame= ] [/ame]

Oil seems to be dropping recently..no doubt Winter will push the price back up again. The average seems to be around 55p/l, if this site - oil price history - is anything to go by.

That's a good link..funny you should post that, I've just been sitting here comparing different fuels to logs. People often compare wood fuel costs to gas oil and electricity, but the real price comparison to be made is with coal, and I'd have thought that the price of this keeps down the market value of wood products. Latest prices I've found are: Coal (anthracite) £10 / 50 kg bag ( set to go up by about £3 for winter) Oil 56p/l Gas 6p / kW h Logs £120 / ton Pellets say £155 / ton Electricity 25p / kWh Economy 7 4.7p / kWh. Put those into that link, and I think you have a fair comparison.

I think it depends on the Wildlife Trust. They seem to be very different from county to county, and it will depend on the person you actually speak to. Just in my experience, some of them are all for woods being worked to some extent, others are total non-interventionists who would have you fence the whole site off and never venture in there. Personally, I'd be giving the local Forestry Commission officer a ring, and see what advice they could give. The survey would help you find out if there might be anything in there that's protected. What is especially important now is bat habitats..you're most likely to disturb these when working a wood, and if you do, you've broken the law, regardless of any precautions you may have taken. There are other protected species, such as some types of newts and dormice. One thing that you might want to avoid is improving access to the general public any more than you are obliged to. I've seen woods where access has been improved greatly, but it has attracted an awful lot of dog walkers (some of whom drive there especially!), with increased incidences of dog muck, dogs out of control, noise and litter, and a reduction in the amount of wildlife in the wood.

Is this it?

Wasn't it Canada where they filmed it? I thought it was British Columbia. Typical of a Channel4 documentary these days. I was looking forward to seeing them fell the tree at the end, but the camera work was so poor, I couldn't make anything out, apart from the running away at the end. I agree about the Army woman..I think if I'd been that supervisor, I'd have told her to sling her hook, because she just wasn't listening. People who can't be told anything are dangerous. I bet she still thinks she did a better job than anyone else on site that day. I wonder why they leave the stumps so high over there?

The problem is there's only me, hence the bleed kit. I've just refurbished the master cylinder with parts I ordered a while ago. I put it all back together, and put in 1/2 pint of brake fluid..30 seconds later, there's 1/2 pint of brake fluid running down the servo, inside wing and onto the drive.. Looks like they've sent me the wrong parts..the new cylinder is 0.06 inch smaller than the one it's supposed to be replacing, but I didn't spot it until the very last moment..so now I've got to take it all apart..again! I hate working on brakes..

Why do you have to pay to get in?

I'd get in touch with your local Forestry Commission office and see if there's anyone there who can help you. The first step might be getting a survey and management plan in place. A cheap way might be to contact your local ag. college, see if there are any students who would do it as part of a project or dissertation. It sounds like the main task would be to start taking out a lot of the sycamore and either replanting with other natives that occur in the wood already (oak, ash etc) or allowing natural regeneration - except for sycamore. This is a good book for someone new to this.. Caring for Small Woods Top row, middle book.

Aren't most helmets supposed to be replaced every 3 years? If they change the legislation sensibly, they'll allow companies to replace helmets with the appropriate models as they go out of date.

Ditto the comment about pads and discs bedding in. I had a similar problem years ago, with poor braking at first which slowly improved with time. Did you have much problem bleeding the system? I'm about to do work on mine, replacing fluid and master cylinder seals. Even with a non return valve, I didn't get all the air out of the system, so I've now got one of those Gunson's easy bleed kits, that work off air pressure from the spare tyre. I just hope it works...