Alycidon

Looks like a 50mm ball hitch on the front, so is it towable with a decent 4x4?, I assume so. Serious kit that, serious cost to I bet. A

Spoke to the dealer this evening, they say they have been unable to get hold of anyone at Huskvarna who are also not returned their calls. He did then immediately manage to speak to Husky who want the saw back to inspect it. So thats over a week so far without a saw and no further forward. Dealer says bore is very severely scored, saw has never been run without additive, dealer supplied the additive and bar oil. Can only think its the hot start issue. Dealer has made no offer to replace saw, I have reminded them that as the retailer its their responsibility legally not Huskys. A

Nick, do you still offer bulker loads of logs? Thanks Ben At this time of year he is busy farming so does not normally do logs untill Oct time. A

[ If you could make 20 - £25 per cube just for storing it and delivering it would that be enough? £20 - £25 a cube would pay the cost of 10 miles of delivery only unless taking 2 or more out. A

What size and quantity. Nick will be busy farming until late October I would think. A

Tipper bodies on HGV and big trailers tend to be tapered so that once moving the load slides out easily. A

The above decided to disintegrate and vanish last week, small coil spring that holds the conveyor outlet winch pawl in place. Fuelwood say no longer available, have to replace whole winch with one that takes a strap, mine is a 2007 model with a wire rope. Anybody any ideas, I dont have the sample and Fuelwood say there is no info on it from JAPA. Thanks A

pm sent

240mm long and 150mm max diameter is fine fir most stoves, Some of the new generation of high efficiency stoves such as the Aarow I400S and Morso S81 are needing 200mm max length with an OD or not much more than 100mm. When I see the diameter of some of the logs produced using a 6 or 8 way on a 400mm long it makes me wonder if there are any customer complaints. They are around 200mm from tip to bark, thats a bit big even if cut short. A ring knife would be better. A

Friend of mine did that, sold a bit but not a lot despite heavy advertising. You would need a pump truck and a fork truck or loader to empty a container, that usually holds about 70 cubic meters of logs. Most people want their logs delivered. A

Couple of things to consider, With an 8ft x 5 foot body you will be very tight on space if you want to move two full cubic meter log bags. A 10 foot body would be far better. The weight of the crane will reduce the carry capacity of the trailer by the weight of the crane, however a couple of bags of Ash will be about 900kg so not really an issue unless towed by a small 4x4. Seems that the actual loaded weight of the trailer must not exceed the weight of the towing vehicle. I have fallen foul of this one without realising. A

Been looking at the whole issue of larger processors to cut the amount of time I spend processing. This year I have spent about 200 hours on it, all Sundays, Tues and some Weds. There are a lot of massive timber companies abroad who are busting to sell kiln dried in crates by the container. Compared to buying in cord, storing it for a year or so, processing it, storing the processed product for 6 months or more then the maths for buying crates instead of processing your own with a small processor do add up if you are buying in cord at £55-£60 a ton, so around £40 a cube loose. I have been offered 1 cu stacked crates at mid and low £70s delivered, 1.2 cu crates at high £70s. I bought some 1.17 cu crates last winter, when checked these equated to about 1.6 cu loose. So on that basis say £80 for 1.6 cube (= £50 per loose cube) of kiln dried delivered in to you by the container has to be worthy of consideration especially if your storage space is limited. You are loosing £10 a cube but saving lots of time and hassle. Of course if you are getting timber free (arb waste) then the maths mean processing it your self. Personally I will keep my small processor and see how things go. a

Thanks for that, might need that as some leverage if things get nasty. Hopefully it wont come to that. A

using saw last week, had backside ache with it when hot, wont run, seemed like a US spark plug or partly blocked fuel line. Tried new plug, perfect when cold but when hot did not want to run and eventually it died and refused to go further. Have taken it into the supplying local dealer who has diagnosed no compression and a seized engine, as such beyond economic repair. Using 50-1 mix (100mls per 5 litre of unleaded) with either Sthil or Husky 2 stroke mix. Saw has run for about 20 hours in total ringing up 300/400mm trunks. We currently await what Husky say. Is there any history on this?. A

On my credit card type licence it says C1+ E with a pic of a 4x4 and a trailer. Took me all day to get anyone at VOSA to talk to me, in the end I got a girl who gave me the normal number. This had a 45 min queue at 10am this morning and only opens till 12 midday. Speaking to an HGV operator this evening he thinks that as tacho is required then so will driver CPC. He doubts VOSA will advise, seems they usually say take legal advise or test the law in court. No reply to my Saturday E mail yet. A

For 30 years in a previous life I wholesaled oils and coolants. Morris, Comma and Tetrosyl were the main brands I sold. In our delivery fleet we used fully syn for the first 50,000 miles then switched to semi syn following oil companies advice. Ran 11 engines most of the time doing up to 70,000 miles a year each. In 22 years I only lost two engines, both with 10 mins, both shattered plastic timing belt pulleys. Gen Set Steve, you mentioned coolant breakdown, I did a weeks filter manufacturer course on coolant additives and what happens in a coolant system, pm me if you want a chat about it. PH levels are critical for long life of cooling system components and the prevention of piston liner cavitation. A

Thats highly likely, I have been towing trailers behind 4x4s for the last 40 years on the road, never had an issue. Been driving farm tractors pulling large grain trailers for longer. Quite how it takes 35 hours to explain how to do the job and its all classroom stuff is beyond me. A

Must have missed the CPC aspect, see regular posts on the need or not for tachos that i usually contribute to. As things currently stand I need a tacho but not CPC. Before posting this thread I did a search for CPC and nothing came up. A

My defender with a fully loaded GD85 trailer will come in at about 5.5 tonnes. Will advise further once I find out what Vosa say. A

A new one fell out of the woodwork this morning. Seems that from Sept 14 all people driving medium good vechicles needing C1 or C1+E for hire and reward may now need an additional driver CPC. This means big vans or 4x4s pulling trailers. Firewood delivery is hire and reward as you are getting paid for it. I have e mailed VOSA asking for clarification but it looks to me that anyone needing the above groups to drive will next month need a driver CPC on top. This entails 35 hours of training !!. Anyone done any work on this and care to comment, I run a LR Defender with a couple of IFW trailers rated at 2700kg. Thanks A

At 15% there is nothing wrong with the logs. Might have got wet if stored outside between time of delivery and use but that's all I can think of. Suggest you build you own campfire at home and see what happens, if ok then repeat on site with the customer taking your wood. Then build another with the wood you sold him. I did have an old lady who complained she could not get any heat from her stove, turned out she was floating her logs in her pond for a couple of weeks to make them burn slower. A

Posch 360 seems to be the flavour of the moment. A

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Get a moisture meter, go round to the house, split a log on site and test on the newly exposed split face. That will give you a pretty true moisture reading. It would be an idea to test some of the same batch you have left to get an idea of the real MC. I cut some 3 year felled Spruce timber some years ago 4% MC on teh ends, 25% a foot into the log. But 6 months later it was ready to burn. If it stacks up MC wise then it may be down to the appliance or the way its installed. Take some logs you have tested and know are at 16% or below and try them. Take a magnetic temp gauge if its a stove and pop it onto the flue pipe or door if inset, thats assuming its a stove. If they dont burn well which is unlikely then its the appliance or how its installed. If you want me to run you through what to look for pm me and i will send you my contact details and we can chat about it on the phone. At the end of the day if the customer is still not happy you may have to change the logs, the bacteria baloney is rubbish. It does sound like it could be wet wood though. A

Dragging the full bags anywhere will result in the bottoms being worn away in one trip. A big fertiliser bag laid in the bottom of a log bag act as a repair, these can usually be begged from most cereal farmers in April/May time. Some people empty the bags into their tipper prior to delivery. If you want to deliver the logs in the bags then ideally you will need either a tail lift or a IFW GD type trailer and roll them off using a pump truck down the tailgate. The beavertail is the most suitable thing you have but its far from ideal as the bags will tip backwards on the beavertail. I am finding that about 30% of bags are NOT returned for one reason or another, stolen, blown away, binned, lost, I have heard most things. Usually selling logs late in the winter when a customers usual supplier has run out means that the customer tends to go back to their normal supplier the next winter and you may loose the bag. I would suggest you will need to charge £20 inc VAT for a bag and pallet if you want to cover your costs and make a few bob. I am at the top end of pricing in my area so am tending to take it on the chin and press for bags back. I am now attaching a letter to all invoices advising if bags/pallets are not returned then a £20 charge will be levied. Buying in crates of kiln dried from Latvia etc is looking increasingly viable as the cost of cord rises, and the crates are not charged. Just don't get involved in the 2 cube crates as they cant be unloaded safely without a tail lift, rolling them down a tailgate is an accident waiting to happen. A