Alycidon

Husky have now inspected and returned the saw. Their report says: " We have today inspected and repaired the above chainsaw that you recently sent into our workshop and our findings are as follows. Upon initial inspection we removed the exhaust to find scoring on the exhaust face of the piston. The cylinder has suffered in the same manor, We removed the crank seals to check the saws main engine bearings and these were all OK. We removed the cylinder where the piston ring and circlips were all still in place, we also checked the saws fuel lines and carb and these were Ok also. We drained the tank and noticed the oil in the fuel was not Huskvarna Oil. As we could find no mechanical fault with the saw we strongly suspect that poor quality oil has caused the saw to seize. Poor quality oils such as mineral oils do not meet the specification of these auto-tune machines which then leads to failure. We strongly recommend the use of Huskvarna XP which is a fully synthetic oil and is specially formulated for this range of saws. On this occasion we have repaired the saw as a gesture of goodwill but we do stress the importance of using quality oils. As with other industries the technology and materials used in modern engines changes as does lubricant technology,which is why oils that may have been ok for older saws are not suitable for saws that are now running hotter and revving harder. " So the blame is placed firmly on the 2 stroke mix used. This was Sthil HP which is a standard mineral oil and was sold to me by the same dealer for sue with the saw. The 560Xp owners manual (P18) says: For best results use Huskvarna two stotke engine oil, which is specially formulated for our air cooled 2 stroke engines. Never use 2 stroke oil intended for use with water cooled engines. Never use oil intended for 4 stroke engines. A poor quality and/or a to high oil fuel ration may jeopardise function and decrease lifetime of catalitic converters. Ratio, 1:50 with Huskvarna 2 stroke oil 1:33 with oils class JASO FB or ISO EGB formulated for air cooled 2 stroke petrol engines. Checking the spec of the Sthill oil it is JASO FB. The mix in the tank at the time was around 1.33 maybe a tad higher as I had put a bit more in to see of that aided how in ran when hot. In fairness I had been running it at 1:50 other than that. Nowhere in the Husky manual does it say that using oil to JASO FB will sieze the engine in 20 service hours as has happened. The supplying dealer were also not aware of any requirement for the saw to only be run on fully synthetic 2 stoke mix. So while the job has been sorted I do feel that there is a whitewash going on. Any thoughts. A

Issue with Oak is that it is very dense and very slow to dry. Allow 3 - 4 years after splitting, hence it is usually sold wetter than ideal. I have some air dried Oak joinery waste, about 7% MC, massive heat output. A

Been doing two sizes, 240mm for most stoves with maybe 10% at 200mm for the new generation of smaller stoves, these have tiny fireboxes. No more than 150mm in any other direction on the 240mm and 125mm on the 200mm logs. That means quite a bit of second passes through the splitter. Last winter I did sell around 20 cube of crated imported birch at 250mm and had no issues with it. A

[ I would love to know how well this stuff would burn on a log burner? Regular feeding wouldn't be too much of an issue as I both me and the mrs still fight over who gets to play with it next... I bought 40 tons of Oak joinery waste this summer, I looked at chunking it but it the end put it through my Japa 700, that was a dreadfully slow operation. Test burnt some one wet day in May, temperatures generated were up to 650F, normally I get about 425F on hard and up to 500f on soft. Lots of space round it meant it burnt to the point were stove damage may be an issue. Am now recommending the use of a stove thermostat when burning it. Chunked stuff with the bark on will take a good while to dry properly as its not split, around 4 years I would estimate for an 8 inch long chunk as the moisture can only escape from the ends of the chunks. Therefore I would expect temp outputs to be much lower until dry, then stand well back. A

It is a skill that wants a lot of mastering but can be done. Many years ago I saw a 6 wheel rigid German Truck and 6 wheel 3 axles drawbar trailer reverse about 200 yards when a road was blocked by an accident. Dont think i would want one behind a 4x4 though. A

Farmers wont mind to much what you do with the margins. Have a look at the Countryside Stewardship schemes, your plot may be to small to qualify but you may be able to get some grant aid payments for your wild flower meadow. A friend has one. Grass can be cut for hay in the normal way but only after July 15th from memory and I dont think fertilizer can be used. I dont think getting the hay yourself is viable for what will be maybe 200 bales a year especially as the quality from the wild flower meadow wont be good. Selling seeds from the wild flowers may be another option. A

Very sensible advice. In Europe where wood burning is the norm in a lot of areas wood is usually stored for two to three years before being burnt. You see the log piles under the snow!!. A

Whoever supplies you with the boiler or boiler stove should be able to give you an idea of likely timber usage. This will depend on the units heat output and how many hours a day it runs. One of the other members here has put in a large wood boiler to heat three houses, it takes a cubic meter of logs, every day !!. Thats about 5 tonnes of timber a week. A

Single axle, with steel skip, I can see the job in the link being well overloaded if full of logs. A

A wood boiler will get through an awful lot of timber depending on its output. A few trannie loads wont go far. A

Most long range forecasts this time last year were saying a severely long cold winter ahead, and what happened. My log store is full so I am as ready as I can be. A

That is interesting, Section 2.3 here looks like you are correct if I understand it correctly. HM Revenue & Customs Personally if unclear I would rather over charge the VAT then undercharge and get fined + pay the back tax undercharged. A

20%. A

I have run Discos since 1992, just sold the last one, a TD5 ES with 262,000 on it, the 200 before it sold at 275,000. Now running a Defender. The Disco 4 (04 on) according to my independent repairer is a real money pit to be avoided at all costs. A friend has two, these run pulling big car trailers all the while usually containing Astons so not the lightest cars. Always running fast to tight deadlines and sometimes overweight, all over Europe. He buys new and runs them to about 200k, he loves them. My own thoughts are they are very heavy ( two chassis !!) and thirsty compared to my TD5 engines. Nice ride though. Just not sure I want to be parting with 1k each time it has an issue. A

Rang dealer today, saw is now at Husky but there is a 10 day backlog for inspection under warranty. Suggests rather a lot of gear is going back to me. Dealer quite a bit more friendly, he is now aware of the two major probs that cause engine seizure in these new self tuning models. A

Vat offices are very reluctant to make decisions. At the end of the day if the pub is the end user and burning the logs then its 5%. If they are selling them on then its 20% but this is unlikely, A

[quote name='Logsnstuff']you cant get a seasons logs in a boot, depending on the area you live a lot of people wont put logs into their boot, renting an old filling station is expensive with no client base to draw from. importing these logs is not excatly green putting 2-3k miles on them and for a lot of customers local sustainable logs is important.[/QUOte Most of my customers get through 2 cube a winter with a 5kw stove, some more. Be a pretty big boot to get that lot in !!. A

Thats a really good idea. A

Couple of ex school playing field 135s were sold last week by a local New Holland dealer, one had only done 1700 hours, 6k the pair I thought was cheap. Suggest you talk to your local tractor dealer reps, they know where things are and for a drink will line you up with one when it appears. Thats what I did when I wanted a 135 a couple of years ago. A

Dont forget that when vat registered you have to submit your returns electronically and pay electronically. A simple accounts package from sage or similar is a great help. A

Not quite all, some have been educated but for most its price price price. And of course the word Kiln Dried irrespective of how long its been in a kiln or what the MC warranty is. An awful lot of people out there have no idea at all how to tell one wood from another, hence a lot of people are getting away with slipping crap into bags or loads. And of course to many wood is wood. ie soft is the same as hard !!. The older generation who experienced fire in the 60s generally have a better idea of whats what. A

Using a Landrover and IFW trialer to deliver logs and stoves I have today received this reply from the DSA having laid out exactly what I am doing and the weights involved. I have a max train weight of about 5.2 tonnes. Thank you for your e-mail dated 1 August regarding Driver CPC. We can confirm that CPC applies to vehicles in the following categories C1, C1+E, C, C+E and D1, D1+E, D, D+E. From the information provided below your vehicle is below 3.5 tonnes and if towing a trailer would be driven on a B+E entitlement. A B+E entitlement is outside of the scope of the directive and would not require a CPC even if being driven for hire or reward. If you have any further queries relating to this matter, please don’t hesitate to contact us. This is info from the DSA, if anyone wants a copy PM me. A

400mm log on a eight way split will leave logs 200mm x whatever length you are cutting at. For most stoves that a big log ,for the new generation to big. A ring knife splitting 12 or 16 way would be better as two logs 75mm or 100mm x whatever length would be preferable to one big one. A

Send me an e mail of that pic please. A

Diameter of timber is always the key. Small 75mm/100mm and it can take an hour a cube even with a big machine if singlehanded. A