muldonach

Without wishing to be contentious are you felling with crosscuts and axes, snedding with axes and using horses for extractions? Digging ditches around fields does not stop run-off it - it concentrates and accelerates and accelerates it. The problem on the somerset levels is that most of them are actually below the level of the "rivers" Cheers mac

A load of old tosh written by an extremist and carefully slanted so as to miss the point and push his own agenda forward. Nobody has ever so far as I know claimed that dredging would have prevented the present flooding, what they have said is that dredging would have mitigated both duration and extent of the fllooding. The somerset levels are an artificial environment - the watercourses have been deliberately altered and engineered to turn what would naturally be a swamp into a large area of productive farmland. In recent years the EA has prevented ongoing maintenance from taking place as a matter of deliberate policy - if that is the policy then fair enough - however to see that policy through they will need to relocate most if not all of the population in the affected area. Cheers mac

To the best of my knowledge nobody does blam the government for the rain, many people have an issue with the EA refusing to maintain - or allow others to maintain - a managed environment.

It would be a brave person indeed that put a cargo of roundwood on a barge in Barcelona for towage to the UK. Barges are intended for use in inland and sheltered wateways, which Biscay and the Western Approaches are not. Cheers Mac

There are any number of ports in the UK or ROI that will accept a bulk shipment of roundwood. In order to handle it efficiently you may need to hire in specialist equiment - normally a long reach wheel based excavator fitted with rotator and grapple. Such equipment is not difficult to locate and hire, and most logistics operators round ports will be able to source such kit. You (or your consignee) will also need to arrange onward transport and/or storage of the cargo, most ports will have plenty of laydown area available and some will be able to put the cargo under cover if necessary. However temporary storage and handling on to wagons for transhipment will be another cost in the equation. When you say a boat load you do realise that you are talking about a consignment between 1000-3000 tonnes? I would think that the main difficulty you will face (apart from finding a customer willing to deal in such quantities) will actually be in consolidating and storing the cargo at or near the loading port. You will need the entire cargo to be available before the vessel docks, either within reach or close to the loading equipment. If the vessel is delayed through non availability of cargo things get expensive real quick, similarly if the vessel is delayed and you are left with kit / labout on hire standing by then you are exposed While bulk shipping is inherently more economical than individual containers you are also significantly increasing the factors you need to control and hence the financial risk involved. Further, assuming you take care to maximise the space or lift capability utilisation of a container I would be surprised if the cost per tonne for delivered firewood would be significantly different, but perhaps you have already researched the point? Mind you given the apparent demand for and shortage of hardwood cord you may have an idea worthy of development, it looks like there is a market there if you can locate someone willing to take a punt in the UK. I suggest you need to work up some figures and come up with a cost per tonne on the dockside in the UK. Your potential customers can then look at onward transportation to thier premises. From Barcelona you should initially look at shipping to the English West coast - Mostyn used to import sawn timber regularly from Portugal and Avonmouth was if I remember correctly regulary used for West African logs, however I suspect that you would be better focusing on smaller ports with less pressure on berth space and maybe more negotiable as regards storage time etc. As stated above there are plenty of ports - you need to find a focal point with reasonable communications to maximise your customer base and minimise haulage Regards Mac

Where on earth are you buying wire from? 9-12mm wire costs a few 10s of pounds per 100m not hundreds.

I am sitting looking at a Hunter 20 which covers 4 bricks wide in the chimney recess - very similar to the stove shown except we do have an air control and a chimney baffle - I would think your stove rating is at least 14 and probably 20Kw Cheers mac

We mark all our kit with this stuff:- Products and label it accordingly

If you do not use pallets then you will effectively make a solid block which will restrict air circulation quite a bit although having 3 open sides will help. We avoid trying to stack neatly and deliberately leave gaps between rows to promote air circulation (We do not stack vertically but put one on two if you follow), with pallets between levels. I think you may be surprised how dry the logs are under the outer / top layers, I'd be tempted to move them into the barn and build the present outer bags across the windward end, leave spaces between rows etc. I would also look at moving them in in stages i.e. take some into the barn and let them get dried off before building them into a stack and fetching some more in. Bit of a faff maybe but think it might help Cheers mac

What grants are you referring to Steve?

Barbe wire is of no earthly use against a jumper - its purpose is to discourage leaning and scratching. If your are not containing cattle but do have jumping sheep then a HT bottom strand with the net lifted a couple of inches higher than normal and then two strands of HT at 6" intervals above the net should assist. If you cannot keep fences taut then you are not going to contain sheep. Trying to contain raking sheep by use of a hedge alone is the route to a loss of sanity and a shortage of bedsprings and pallets. Sorry but I will have to disagree with others here - in my view hhedes are of no use whatever as practical long term low maintenance stock barriers for sheep or cattle. Our forefathers used hedges and drystone dykes because they had not yet invented wire. We encourage all our former hawthorn hedges wherever practicable - but we back them all up with a net and barb! Cheers mac

Talk to your local FC Office and tell them there is a sett in the equation - ensure that the sett is actually in use first - and take it from there.

Just across the water from you and we have plenty of them in an old mixed policy wood - they will do fine but do tend to shake and spiral as others have already commented Cheers mac

See comments in blue Cheers mac

Comments in blue

We live in an area where power cuts are both frequent and prolonged - the above is standard practice. A 2.8kW generator keeps the lights, tv and freezers going

Like several others here forestry etc is my second occupation - here is my day job at the moment Cheers mac

500Kg is not a lot - but it will be plenty for small timber - having read through the thread you seem to have your work cut out on this site. Others may disagree but it is difficult to make skidding or winching uphill efficient and almost impossible if you are a one man band. A 500kg line pull will shift 1-1.5t of timber without much hassle - until the butt catches on something. If you want to work on a small scale then get an engine driven capstan - not a winch - you can get them for landrovers but they are rare - I have only ever seen one at auction. Use low stretch fibre rope not wire since it is a lot lighter and easier on the hands - the advantage of a capstan is that the line pull stays the same regardless of length and you do not have to spool the line back out. As others have said a high lead pulley is a good idea - lifting one end of the log off the ground is half the battle won. Forget any ideas about pulling logs up or across steep slopes behind small machines - it can be done but it is both slow and dangerous

At GBP 30 per cube delivered I would take his hand off! Nick how on earth can you deliver at that price?

This has been debated at some length previously - if you are dealing in firewood there is a bit of an anomaly since you can reclaim VAT on inputs (at 20%) but can charge only 5% VAT on the output (for domestic use) Turning to the normal charging scenario you are obliged to charge 20% on outputs but also entitled to reclaim VAT on inputs. Picking some figures out of the air if you are not VAT registered and you presently do GBP 100 of work of which GBP 80 is costs i.e. 20 stays with you Then for VAT purposes you should be able to reclaim up to 13.33 so your costs can reduce to 66.67 Add your 20 = 86.67 add the VAT = 86.67 * 1.2 = 104.00 Obviously very simplistic but the point is that your quote to a non registered end customer need not rise by 20% just because you are VAT registered If you are dealing with a VAT registered concern then you may be able to improve your margin since it is only the nett cost that will concern him. You are obliged to put VAT reg no and VAT amount on invoices - you are not obliged to show VAT on quotes as far as I know

Was at a fuelwood forum a few weeks ago - chap there was mentioning that they did not get logs in the middle of the stack to dry as quick as they would like - he had a shed filled with 20 bags along length of shed, 8 deep front to back and 3 high so 480 bags in a stack with pallets only on bottom. So I would say yes - you need a pallet between every row, if you want to stack them neat then fill them with the bag in a frame and kick the edges of the bag to settle them in, then give the bag a bit of a bounce with the fork truck or loader and level it off again To be honest if you are stacking them 4 high I would say you are doing ok, also we do not stack vertical but staggered.

If you are planning on towing 2.8t digger regularly pay close attention to rear cross member and chassis rails. We are on 4th landy and have changed this section in all of them - some of them twice! They are big mechano sets so easy to work on 300tdi defender mechanically complete but rotten chassis available if anyone looking for bits or rebuild project

Split them now or as soon as you possibly can, get them off the ground. If you put them in ventilated bags put the first layer on a pallet and put a pallet between every layer, do not stack them neat and tight - try to let the wind through and keep the rain off.

We are looking at selling some timber (self Harvested) and I believe you are correct. It is unlikely that you will get much if any premium for FSC accredited fire wood I would think - but stand to be corrected.

I picked up a little lug-all at an auction - its been a godsend and is light to carry around takes up a lot less space than a tirfor (which we also have) but obviously is intended for lighter use. Horses for courses but for a little pull in the right direction they are hard to beat