Alycidon

One thing he has not considered is that a log being Kiln Dried is not necessarily a guarantee of a low MC, it just depends how long it has been in a kiln, at what temp and to a lesser degree how big individual logs are. It all drives around the suppliers integrity,be it air or kiln dried. A

This is I would suggest a fake, DO NOT PAY. I had a similar thing again with a Defender in a part of the country I had never visited with said vehicle. Check if the form is legit, not sure who issues them these days but certainly dont call any number on the form. If it is legit take the Landrover to court, most JPs will accept that a Defender wont do much over 70mph even with the sale up. Even a Discovery would struggle to get that high, my last Disco a TD5 would JUST get to 100 on the clock after 10 minutes of wind up. A

These might help Combustion of Wood - Heat Values https://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/FR_BEC_Wood_as_Fuel_Technical_Supplement_2010.pdf/$FILE/FR_BEC_Wood_as_Fuel_Technical_Supplement_2010.pdf The FC form as you will see shows the calorific value per ton, BUT softwood at the same moisture level as hardwood is lighter so more is needed to make that ton weight, thats the key. I sell softwood as needing 30 min stove refills as opposed to 40 mins with hardwood but giving slightly more heat. Given softwood costs are lower than hardwood cost per KW is about the same or might be slightly favoured toward softwood. A

My first one was based on that, pallet tines were not Hardox thus bent.. A

Get an Allbut one, the other one on the market is crap IMHO, I had one and bent the forks within a few hours use. the supplier did not want to know despite me telling him exactly what it was to be fitted to and his written reply that it would be fine. The Albut has been no problem at all nit that I have used it much since, A

When they built the extension at the Milton Keynes shopping center some 15 years ago they built it around from memory an old OAK, buildings all round it within 40m and higher than it. Dont make a habit of going there but last time I looked at it then it was far from happy, A

The links dont work for me, but looking at the web site £94 a cube, suspect VAT and carriage will be extra and the MC is 20%- 25% so far from optimum performance wise. I suppose it depends whats in the bag as to the value for money. Mind you anyone that can sell hand selected washed decorative logs at £700 I take my hat off to. https://www.nottinghamshirelogs.com/collections/logs/products/designer-logs-8-logs?variant=7217130948 A

The problem we as stove sellers get is stoves not performing due to wet wood, we tell them both verbally and in writing, but sometimes they dont listen. Had one last week, been in 4 months, smokes when the door is opened but works fine otherwise. All that has been burnt in it according to the husband was a free net of KD birch that I supplied with the stove. Ceilings were black so something not right. We installed a rotary cowl and checked the flue draft, this was double what the stove had been tested at, yet it still did it. We then swept the chimney, bear in mind this has been in only a matter of weeks, liner was almost clogged with soot, his wife then told us that far from just burning the KD birch the husband had got hold of a load of fresh cut conifer and put most of it into the stove !!. So we know that if customers use KD that should be OK but I have had instances where KD product is not dry internally so does not burn through. Again as the stove seller we are called in to investigate as 'there is a problem with the stove ', it all takes time and money. There are some good supplies of seasoned wood out there yes, anything under 15% is fine for hardwood and about 18% for softwood, but many are trying to sell product at 30% plus. last week a major DIY chain was selling softwood as ready to burn, it was 45% !!. A

My 560XP seized using red Stihl after only a few weeks. I now only use the Husky synthetic stuff, saw works well with standard unleaded. A

As others have said condensation is a major issue in uninsulated containers. Insulated ones are not so bad though. A

That is the only site I am aware of the offers side by side comparisons of cost per KW and CO emissions per kw right across the market. Its my usual site of reference if a potential customer asks me for running cost comparisons. A

Andy Harrison of Kettering but not sure if its kilned. Andy Harrison - What sort of Timber and what it will cost A

Nick Channor who used to post here used to sell and delivery 24 ton bulk loads. He is somewhere around High Wycombe from memory. If nothing else comes up closer to ypu pm me for his number. A

I would agree prices in the market do need to rise but there are many busy idiots out there giving the product away, usually supported by timber they grow themselves or have acquired through Arb work. I am £25 a cube dearer than anyone around here, cant do it for less. Recently when talking to a competitor he was crying about being busy as hell but not making any money, I advised him to increase his price to my levels of he wants a reasonable return. Remember it costs £1.50 a mile to run a landrover with delivery trailer, plus your time. A delivery 10 miles away is a 90 minute job, I can only get three stacked crates onto my IFW. With Ash die back out of control over the next few years every farmers son with a saw will ( or is already) be trying to be a firewood merchant for beer money. I had a guy in my showroom today, he has been paying £60 for what he thinks is a cube of hardwood, ( I suspect its an 800/800/900 builders bag so about .7 cube), he was very angry that his supplier had the gall to increase the price to £70. When I put to him the amount of work involved in creating teh logs he simply said 'I dont care'. People need to be prepared to loose market share if necessary. A

I spec max 5% internal MC on 95% of the logs, this summer over several containers I only found a couple of logs at 15% internal, the rest were as requested. The are costly compared to some but quality and log diameters are excellent, 5 - 7 days in your yard from the day you pay usually. You wont get dumpy bags in a container, its always stacked crates, with my guy 54 per 40 foot container. If you want dumpys buy the bigger crates and fill your own. A

Kiln dried products should be disease free. Its the exchange rate that will control how much we import not the EU, there is at least half a dozen countries busting to get product to us, not all are in the EU.. For a stove retailer like me its just another product to buy and sell, I do enjoy processing as I think most of us do but I only have a little machine, 6 or 8 cube a day single handed. To upgrade means laying out 40k or so for machinery and a larger used tractor to power it, somewhat less buying a used processor and rack. With cord at £60 a ton delivered and logs being sold at £85 a cube delivered and including VAT at 5% I cant see any return, especially when you take into account the amount of storage and the rent and rates on that space needed to store perhaps 1000 cube to justify the capital lay out. Until the price of cord comes down to a realistic level then I will mostly buy in, I can store 3 containers worth, and have them replenished within 7 days from the Baltic, so smaller store, less outlay in drying timber, no major capital costs with equipment. But with RHI i cant see the costs coming down. A

Might take a week or two to get there !!. A

Like the meter, any details ?, A

WoodLots 50 cube in each butt they must be massive. A

Unprocessed dry wood, unless its dropped its bark it wont be dry enough to sell and burn now. If you are that short importing a container of kiln dried from the Baltic is the way to go, delivery is about 7 days after you have paid, door to door, you have 2 hours (3?) to unload 54 crates usually so a pump truck, forklift or tele porter and a fit helper is needed. I have a good supplier if you need one, not cheap but quality is excellent. 54 crates would equate to about 75 cu m if loose. A

Stoves with secondary burns are fitted with terciery air systems, this puts a third layer of air into the firebox to ensure that there is always enough oxygen available to ensure a clean burn. Terciery air systems on most current model stoves are not controllable normally and are fully open all the time. terciery is the green arrows here, What is a Primary Flow, Secondary Flow and a Tertiary Flow? - Green Homes Online Arada Farringdon and some new model Charnwoods MAY have controllable terciery, they have all their air controls on one lever. A

25% is just not good enough IMHO yet according to Hetas its fine !!. Logs at 15% would generate about 40% more heat, have a look here: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/eng-woodfuel-woodasfuelguide.pdf/$FILE/eng-woodfuel-woodasfuelguide.pdf If you cant naturally get the internal MC down that far then KD is the way to go, either yourself maybe with RHI or buying in ready KD logs from the Baltic. Under an open dutch barn in vented bags I can get air dried logs down to about 10% external in September having processed in April. Cord is usually a couple of years felled. I am in the midlands so have no sea fogs which I assume is an issue for you. Bear in mind that wood is hydroscopic so will draw moisture in from the atmosphere once out of the kiln. I have a customer driving 40 miles every week to buy 10 packs of my kiln dried Birch in small nets as he has no storage space for a large crate, in an Audi A5 !!. Another does a longer run in a Porsch 4x4. A

Yep and buying cheap stoves, some with fake CE markings and then doing self installs. I cannot ever see any form of legislation coming forward on firewood quality, the Hetas scheme is a non runner in my book as it allows moisture contents of up to 25%. I have spoken to Helen about that and getting it reduced but to no avail, A