Alycidon

Cant say I have, have put some split in 2 through, that came out OK. Presentation of the end product is important to me so thanks for the tip. A

Fixomatic is now standard across the range. Thanks for your thoughts on lift and winch. A

Suggets you have a chat with a couple of local farmers. This time of year is peak busy for them as they are trying to get all the arable fields done between harvest and drilling. A

Thursday is the day to go, get there just after opening, walk straight in, no queues anywhere, leave about 4pm, no queues out either. A

Will be ordering a new Posch Hydro Combi vertical splitter in the next few days having had a good look at alternatives at APF. I am simply needing to break down oversize cord into a size I can put through my processor. Max size usually about 500mm but I have some huge horse chesnut and Ash to go through. I would like to be able to split with a 4 way head, will a 16 tonner handle that or do I need to go up to a 20 or 24 ton. Not normally splitting Oak or Euc, Posch offer a hydraulic log lifter as an option, Simon (Wilsons) tells me that this is very rarely sold as most use the mechanical lift that comes with the splitter. If this is the case how do users get on with the mechanical lift?. Looks like you have to drop the splitting head, that drops the side loading arm, raise the splitting head and up comes the arm with log. How do you keep the head in the low position while loading the log?. Finally there is also a winch option, I have some massive lumps of chesnut to split, most are 2 feet + in diameter so am minded to spec the winch. Is this something you use if you have it?, I would have to rig an electrical supply as my elderly MF135 does not have a 12V trailer socket but thats not an issue. Thanks A

I have posted on this subject lots in the past, I sell stoves and firewood for a living. PM me if you want details of my web site, I have put a lot of info on their for new owners. In a nutshell, make sure the stove is the correct size heat output wise for the room. Have it installed and signed off by a Hetas registered installer. Don't buy cheap chinese crap, service life is very short and parts are generally non existent. Some well known 'British; brands are now having their stoves built in China. Pm me if needed, A

Flying down to Birmingham would have been faster and cheaper. A

BFGs have the edge on life but for all round use I prefer Grabber AT2S, Had them on my last 2 Discos, 120,000 miles if they dont get a nail in them, handle heavy towing and if necessary 90mph ( not at the same time !!), no noisier than standard road tyres. A

Sorry but I failed to find it Thursday, went by the TIMBERWOLF stand as well, I was relying on it being shown in the exhibitor info or on the you are here maps. Anyone gong tomorrow write down where it is or like me you will be knackered. A

Anything over 6 feet high gets it and dies, below 6 feet and its fine. So an Elm hedge is OK if kept trimmed but Elm trees are not unless resistant. A

I do more or less the same yet dont have the problem, odd that. A

Cant see it to be honest. I have a JAPA 700, very similar to your Palax, do about a cube an hour at 200mm long logs on my own. The only benefit I can see in the 70 is the ability to operate a log deck ( I think), that would speed up things a bit and certainly make it less tiring. Your machine will probably put a cut through a 200mm log every 10 seconds I would guess, the 70 wont be any faster just a bit easier to use. The 90 would be a step up but like all bigger machines wont cut small cord any faster than a small machine., might even be slower if the blade has to always do a full stroke like the Posch 350. Its heavy though so you will need a 50hp+ tractor to pick it up although a 135 would probably drive it. Quite a few of the bigger firewood companies keep a small machine for small cord and have a bigger machine for the bigger stuff. A

What do you presently use?. A

85% of my logs this time are Sycamore. Went into bags early spring having sat in unprocessed form for about 18 months. No mould at all. Are you putting into vented bags or builder bags, if the latter thats the issue. If the former I would suspect insufficient air flow through your stack. A

2.5k is not enough for a decent machine. Look at 4k-6k. A

Pile them into the bags loose, bounce the bag with a loader to settle the contents then add another 50 to level it up. Stack 3 high with the loader, cover top to keep rain out if in the open. Leave for 6 months plus. Stack mine 11 wide by 8 deep x 3 high, in bags like yours under an open barn, no issues with mold at all. Did some soft in April time, moisture was running out of it, now its ready for sale. A

Thursday for me all being well, see some of you then. A

As a school lever many years ago in my first job I always remember one of the sales reps telling me: "You know the problem with this company is they expect you to dig you garden with your hands, they then give you a spade and show you where the field is.". Give me a spade and I can dig the garden, then give me a tractor and plough for the field. You do need decent tools to do a decent job. As well as a processor you will need something to drive it, budget 3k for a half decent MF135 You will also need something to handle timber pre processing as it wont all come in nice 100mm -150mm dia lengths and something to handle the processed product. Storage of processed product also needs planning as does how you are going to deliver it and handle it at the point of delivery. I bought a similar processor a few years ago and it has done me pretty well, cost me about 5.5K from Fuelwood. I should really now upgrade it. But and its a big but the cost of buying in timber compared to the cost of buying in ready processed and kiln dried from the Baltic is not hugely different, by investing say 30K in a bigger processor and tractor to lift it I would be saving about £20 a processed cube at current rates. That takes no account of the days I spend processing, with a machine that size then its 6 - 8 cube a day allowing for setting up and taking down and clearing up. A 30k machine would manage my annual sales in a few days !!, that would cause a backlog handling processed product as the store is half a mile from the processing area. May well hire one in instead. So as a starter and you have access to the other equipment you will need then go for it, look to be spending 4k-6k for a tidy machine. Ideally buy it through a dealer such as fuelwood if a JAPA or the Hakki dealer if you go that route. Unless its really hot over the next few weeks it is now really to late to get freshly processed product dry enough for this winter sale unless the bark has fallen off. A

Nowhere like a cut your own exits to my knowledge, the thought of letting untrained hands onto a chainsaw is probably something company insurers would not be prepared to cover. Assuming you want logs for this winter put a request out here stating where you are in the country roughly and how much you want. We have members from most of the country here that could help. In the future you may be able to buy timber and process it yourself from members here or from local arb companies. What you cant do (legally at least) is wander down the sides of roads collecting fallen branches, they belong to the landowner who owns the tree. A

Head shots they are fine. A

Its not as though you actually get much for it. You have to pay additionally for rubbish away, a Police service that almost never turns up if needed, to busy catching speeding drivers. Its a tax to pay for palatial council offices and index linked civil service pensions. A

That has been on the cards for some years,, please explain a bit more about the demise of the Hetas approval scheme, this was being run by Woodsure. I am a Hetas approved retailer and was not aware of any changes in their firewood approvals. Mind you it was in my opinion a lot of tosh, calling 25% MC acceptable is frankly a pretty poor standard. A

A splitter will need to be powered, assuming you have no electric on site then really you are left with a towable splitter with an integral engine and hydraulic system. Others here will be better able to advise on brands/models etc. Wont be that fast though, are you looking to do this for home use or for onward sale. A

What is known as a dumpy bag is usually 800x800x800 (or smaller), thats half a cube. the add only says 'dumpy bag', and as it says 15 nets fills it recon maybe 15 logs in a net so 225 logs in total. I recon 500-550 logs in a CM bag once the sides have stretch a bit, yes I have counted them. So if you think about it that is half a cube, a 2 m stacked crate contains about 3 cube loose when tipped out, done that exercise as well, so 6 bags worth, so he is selling a 2 cube stacked crate in bits for 6 x 85 = £510, inc VAT I would think. So actually for what you gets its far from cheap. Having said that I would guess he is buying it ready netted rather than repacking it so will be paying probably £200 for the equiv of 2 cu m crate. Still good money though. If you look at the rates for bigger volumes then they are more realistic. So really its a con that just needs explaining to potential customers if you are competing with it. A

Never sold a business in this field but did sell one some years ago, heavy truck parts wholesaler, est 22 years from a zero start, staff of 20 so a decent business. Deals in my old industry were usually agreed around 3 years profits, its usually argued that as these can be adjusted then its pre tax. Stock is valued at historic cost price, anything held in stock for over a given period (say 2 years) has zero value. Machinery at current written down book value. Goodwill is included and the old owner is expected to continue to work in the new business for a month to two to smooth the transition. But its a matter of what a willing buyer will pay for it. A