Alycidon

You have to be very carefull here. A, The crates quoted at 1 cm, 2 cm etc are just that, ie that is the overall size of the crate including the pallet its on. So whats advertised as a 1cm pallet will in effect only contain about .75 cu m of stacked timber which in turn will equate to about 1.3 cu m loose. B, Crates are limited in size as they have to be stacked inside a container. C, Crates have to hold together in transport, getting a damaged crate really holds up the unload. D, Unless you are going to repack or tip it into a tipper trailer prior to delivery avoid the 2cm size as they are just to large to handle safely and are VERY unstable on a loader. E, Log length, no more than 250mm, moisture level the lower the better, certainly no more than 20%. You will need 2 people to unload a container, one in the container with a pump truck and the other on a teleporter or similar. Most of the better suppliers have sales staff who speak good english so you can always ring them up. A

Just to clarify, I assume this is a hook loader trailer pulled by a farm tractor, 26 cube should be under max weight dry but probably overweight wet, from memory max loaded weight for a rig like that is 24 tonnes., cargo weight about 13-14 tonnes depending on the trailer. So the buyer turns up with suitable tractor, takes trailer away, empties and brings back. Dry at £4 a cube is a good deal. A

All members asking for prices, dont forget that there are at least half a dozen people here making kindling in these sort of volumes. Therefore price is a sensitive subject, if you want prices then PM him as he is hardly likely to publicise them. A

I am an Esse dealer, given the size of room at 80 cum meters, poor insulation so divide by 12 = 6.5kw, then add on for staircase , especially if the staircase is within 3 or 4 m of the stove then it has to be the 200. While stoves are most efficient running pretty well flat out a genuine 5kw wont be enough. Heat outputs in stoves are nominal, like a car doing 60mph, more heat can be obtained by loading small pieces of hardwood or softwood or solid fuel such as anthracite, if you want less heat put less fuel in but keep the air supplies pretty well open. You could also look at the new Esse 700 Vista, thats about 10kw, might be a bit to much, or the Arada I600SLF, this is a big 5kw nominal with actual heat output range of 2kw - 9kw. Most 5kw nominal stoves run 3kw - about 7kw. Hope that helps, pm me if necessary, buy it from you local independant Esse dealer, NOT one of the online companies, support from them is zero in the event of a problem. A

Unless you have direct access to timber at the moment then import it by the container kiln dried. Then all you need in handling gear and a loader. A

When I bought a Posch I was going to have a winch, mainly to lift large lumps into place but it was a very expensive option. Not sure about the splitter that you have in mind but the Posch has a leg connected by a chain to the split head, so you roll a log in, then as you raise the head the log is stood up vertical for you. I have not missed a winch but if you need to pull big lumps of timber out then it may be viable. A

Look at what those around you are currently charging, but be aware of the volumes they are selling. A dumpy bag for example round here seems to be a 700x700x700 bag so about .35 of a cube. Dont be a busy fool, you are in the game to make money not be busy as hell and make nothing. A

Japa 700 likes fairly straight timber, up to 280mm but you can get away up to 300mm doing a cut, turn the log and do a back cut, the offcut then needs to go through the splitter twice as the top lumps certainly on my 4 way are to big. Rings up to about 350mm can be dropped in but again will need splitting a second time. Speed, single handed with a manual loading rack look at about 8 - 10 cube a day, including time to set up and take down/clear up. A

talk to a good agent, look locally at who is hosting farm auctions etc. A

They dont like being poked with teleporter forks though !!, all in all good bags though. A

In my days in the heavy goods industry I have seen some very dodgy things pulled off the M1. One trailer fully loaded with no brake shoes within the drums, a trailer axle only attached by the weight of the load above it. A 28 ton trailer load of Cyanide powder within 45 gal drums, unsheeted in the rain !!., one hell of a flap when a wheel bearing failed on the trailer. But the chances of getting a fine paid by a continental operator are remote, hence they dont seem to bother through road work speed cameras. I have at least 3 VOSA set ups within 10 miles, Kettering, Crick and Weedon yet have only ever been pulled by one north of Birmingham on the M6. Somebody commented about also keeping written records, is that of time driving or time actually worked including time not driving ?. Thanks A

In the Husky manual it did say use Synth oil but if using mineral oil to the Sthil spec use is at 33 to 1 ( might be 25 :1) as opposed to 50 to 1. The supplying dealer has sold me the saw and the oil at the same time, they had never heard of syth 2 stroke oil and they are a fair sized dealer for all the major brands. But have only used Synth since. A

My Husky 560XP seized using Sthill red as supplied by the dealer. They did as a gesture of goodwill repair it. They say use their green synthetic oil. A

I split some large lumps down maybe 2 years ago, then put them through a processor about 9 months later. This was a dead diseased Horse Chesnut of massive proportions, over 200 growth rings. The billeted lumps were stacked against a hedge in the open over autumn winter and spring, most grew spores on the ends. The following summer I cut the ends off ( the spores had all died anyway) and processed it. All the bark falls off and there is far more crumbling on the splitter knife than normal so unless you have a filter you do get a fair bit of crap in the bags, not excessive but somewhat more than I would expect. You do get some beautiful figuring under the bark, so keep your eye open. Once dry it burns pretty fast but in a stove puts out good heat. I put a good amount of it through my showroom stove this last winter. A

The whole machine with blade or just the 12 way blade ?, suspect the former. A

Hurt my left shoulder 2 years ago lifting 1m lengths, carried on as I only had maybe 10 days of work to do. Last year was the same but it never recovered properly, if now hurts to change gear in the truck. Legs and knees are fine for my age, not going to process much this year, just buy in from abroad, A

I used HSBC for over 20 years before I retired and got into the stove job. HSBC were sniffy about this buisness, Nat West had my arm off. Other than changing managers every year or so they have been acceptable. Their on line banking is easier to use that the HSBC one used to be. A

Actually we do, the English Bill of Rights of 1689. All laws made since then are so my friend says subservient to the EBOR 1689. However he has just been fined heavily and lost his RFD trying to fight a case brought by the authorities that started with untaxed vehicles. There were no vehicles in 1689, all tax ( not only road tax) only becomes chargeable if you agree to pay it. If you do not have a contract with the govt to pay the tax then its not payable. Thing is the authorities cannot afford to loose such as case. My mate is probably right but his pockets are not as deep as the state. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_Rights_1689 Avalon Project - English Bill of Rights 1689 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/WillandMarSess2/1/2/introduction Plenty to read there. I should say that while I admire his pluck I pay my taxes when due. A

Beautiful, thanks for sharing. A

I run a Posch 20 ton vertical spitter using an MF135 which is of a similar size to your Dexta, PTO powered. The downside of PTO type screw splitters is that they can do nasty things to your thumbs if they catch hold of a bit of knot in a log. So something that mounts on the three point linkage and PTO powered. A

Buy a proper kiln dried beam and an Easy Fix system from Focus Fireplaces. Easy fix is available separately but you would need to be able to machine the rear of the beam to take it. Available from you local stove shop. A

Big D has some elm but its fairly fresh felled I think, he would be worth talking to, have a look on the milling section to find him. A

What sort of volume ?, do you have access for an artic unit. I dont supply cord but you need to state this to qualify potential suppliers ?. I am maybe 20 miles from you and frankly have found reliable hard cord supply all but impossible. A

A farm got hit locally a couple of weeks ago during the daytime. Two grey vans pull in, out get 6 or 8 of the above and simply load up and steal anything they fancy. In the local case the farmer who was present was totally ignored. Seems to be a new MOA, be aware. A

No experience of Holly but knarly knotty hardwood lump can make a bigger splitter struggle. Therefore I would say probably not even on two way split. A