Alycidon

I am surprised the figures are so low, depreciation is the major cost. I used to use a trade mag that broke down all company car and van running expenses. In over 25 years of running diesel cars and a fleet of usually 8 or 9 vans I sell my vechicles at about 300,000 miles. I have only once or twice from memory replaced a gearbox and only lost two engines, both those were early 1.6D Ford in Escorts, plastic cam pulleys exploded, both within 5 minutes of each other about 80 miles apart. They were 2 months out of warrenty, Ford would not touch them under warrenty so I bought Vauxhall Combo's for the next ten years. My last Disco ( a 200 auto, one of the first) I had 11 trouble free years and sold it at 274,000, the current one ( TD5) has about 225,000 on it so far. My depeciation this year will be about nil !!, ie with that milage its only worth 3 or 4 k maybe, be worth that next year as well. A

Harvesting, then autumn cultivations and drilling etc, see you November. Forget about the log stores this winter, make some next spring for winter 12/13. A

http://www.certainlywood.co.uk/online-shop I think there is some money in it, pallets for the base, frame, roof and some sort of rainproof mesh as per arb bags to let wind through but keep rain out. A

They need educating about the differences between hard against soft, moisture content etc. Some around here are selling a hard/soft mix with no indication of approx percentages. A

Did not feel it on Tues when I was processing fresh cut lumps of oak, sycamore and beech. I would have said oak was the heavyist followed by Beech but it is difficult to be precise as the lumps were slightly different sizes. A

Transit has ( or did have when I worked in the motor trade) a carrying capacity of 35 cwt. That will be reduced in the truck in the pic due to the weight of that tipper body. I would guess his legal carry capacity wont be more than 20 cwt, ie a bit over 1 cu m. Looks like a stitch up, its not to far from me so I could do a bit of digging I suppose. If its anyone here can you please put your hand up at least to me. Thanks A

Anybody got any feed back on these trailers, they used to advertise here but dont seem to be here at present. galvanised trailer body ¦ tipper trailer ¦ tipping trailer ¦ galvanized trailer body I would like an Ifor Williams but the tailgate only hinges at the top at present. Dont want to be messing about taking rear panels off every time. Looks like the Atlas would do the job but I am a bit worried about durability and back up. A

No it wont work. The fan needs to sit directly on top of the stove. It has a metal base, a sandwich element and a metal top. The temperature difference between the metal on top and the metal below the element creates a current which drives the fan via a small motor. Having said that I suppose if the shelf was steel or cast iron it might work after a fashion, just depends how hot the shelf would get. Dont forget the minimum combustible clearance above most stoves is 600mm so no wooden mounting brackets etc. A

I bet that when you cut and split it the moisture content on the freshly split face will be 25% - 30%. If it was cut a split earlier in the summer it should be OK. Invest in a moisture meter, £36 inc VAT and tax deductible to boot, you then know exactly where you are. A

There have been several threads recently requesting a supply of cord. Are you all planning to process it and sell it this winter?, I assume thats what you have in mind but hardwood simply wont be dry enough for optimum results. I have been processing stuff over the last few months that has been felled for between one and three years, the soft will be ok but the hard wont. I tested some Silver Birch, end grain of logs about 6%, in the center once cut and split was nearer 40%. A

Ceiling height is also important. A friend of mine puts them on stoves in narrowboats, no fan and only the first 15-20 feet is heated, put a fan in and the entire 40 feet of boat is warm. A

I find that I can get softwood to 500+ easily but hardwood is a bit of a struggle unless ultra dry. A

Ah I see, 500 deg is pretty hot, I usually run mine at 400-450. As you other lads will note as long as the outside of the stove is at about 200 degrees the blades will continue to turn and do their work. A

That looks nicely positioned on the stove, should work well. I have sold 30-40 in 18 months, only had one problem when a motor started running slowly. Calfire collected it and replaced the motor at no cost. My showroom one works for about 8 or 9 hours a day, 5 1/2 days a week, it has run for 2 winters with no probs at all. The thermometer on your stove is designed to measure the temperature of the flue gases and is best positioned about a foot up the flue pipe. However if your flue pipe is stainless steel (like mine !!) it wont stick do leave it where it is, it gives you a pretty good idea of whats going on. Whats that fog clagging up your glass ??. temp shown on your thermometer is hardly hot enough to start the fan so I suspect it might be condensation. If so I would be concearned about rust in the stove. A

I am afraid it does, the smaller 2 bladed model (E800) does need 9.25" of clearance between the top of the stove and the bottom of the chimney opening or the bottom chimney sealing plate. A

It starts when the outside of the stove gets to about 200 deg C. the hotter the stove gets the faster the blades turn. A

I am a local agent for Ecofan. I have one on my showroom Morso Panther 8kw stove. This sits on the rear of the stove and push's hot air rising from the stove in front of it out into the room. It creates an airflow in the room ( but no draughts!) that silently brings the hot air down from the ceiling. I have 10 foot ceilings in the showroom and the stove is the only form of heating. Without the fan I am cold but the ceiling is roasting, with the fan the heat is evenly spread. You wont see the best of it without a big or rear flued stove, a normal top flued 5kw stove will not normally have the room for the Ecofan to sit on the rear of the stove and for the blades to clear the flue pipe. The two bladed one has a smaller blade diameter which might help. Putting them in front of the flue pipe reduces their effectivness. With a low ceiling height again the effect will be reduced as the room warms from the ceiling down. Thats why some people love them and some dont. I usually allow customers to borrow one for a night to see for themselves, usually they remain sold but not always. Please be aware that fake chinese copies of Ecofans have recently been found in the UK, http://www.ecofan.co.uk/fake-ecofans.html the genuine importer is Calfire Ltd, you should be able to find your local stockist here: Ecofan - Find Eco fan stockists through the UK distributor A A

I have had a tour of a wood pellet producer near Newark a couple of years ago. They cut and chop using a heavily modified John Deere forage harvester, store in piles for 6 weeks, that takes moisture down to about 25%, it then goes into a drier (fueled by dried chips) to take it down low enough to be ground and then pelleted. A

Willow is commonly used as a source of feedstock for wood pellets. It is cut and chipped with a modified forage harvester, stacked in the open for a couple of months to dry then fed into a processing plant. A

seems a fair offer to me, A

No its pellet only but does have a facility to add an oil burner at a later date if required. Got a grant on it but I would be pretty sure that sticking an oil burner onto it would upset the grant people if they ever checked it. Putting a boiler stove or wood boiler into an energy store is fine but you cannot put a boiler stove into a pressurised system without a cold water tank to vent excess heat to in an emergency. Here are a series of drawings using the Esse centeralizer manifold, all feature either a cold water tank of a bulk energy store. http://www.esse.com/pdfs/Centraliser.pdf Having said that Broseley have developed a system called SWCS that does allow boiler stove and condensing boiler to run together however they will only supply it to companies who have qualified plumbers who have been on and passed to Broseley training course. Here are the details: Innovation In stove design | Broseley Fires A

Downside is that it needs regular stoking, shoving a wheel barrow full of wood into it twice a day soon pales I can assure you unless you get your wood very cheap. Just not viable in my book if you are on gas even with the grants, I have a wood pellet boiler, filling that up twice a day in winter is no fun when you have a foot of snow around. A

Sounds like a true gent, A

I had a customer in last week who we installed a 5kw stove into a 2 bed bungalow in a village without gas this time last year. He said the stove had saved him and 3/4 of a tank of oil and had paid for itself in one year. He said it is the best thing he has every bought. A

The Nottingham Energy Partnership web site will give you all the comparative costs of energy, price per kw and CO2 emissions per kw. Energy Cost Comparison | Nottingham Energy Partnership I did try and paste the chart here but it just merges all the numbers together. In round figures paying commercial rates for logs (see the additional info for log prices paid on the bottom of the chart) the cost per kw will be about the same as mains gas at present. We know that the price of gas it rising fast due to govt taxes and most of us recognise that hardwood will need to be £120 a cu m pretty soon if buying wood from the likes of Tilhill etc. Again govt taxes will come into play if they have not already. At least by buying a big stock of wood you can 'fix' your energy prices. If your lady has a source of cheap wood then her costs will be somewhat lower. Be aware though that burning used pallets is not advised due to the preservatives used on them. These are harmfull to human health. A