chestnut

a member on another forum i belong too is keen to purchase locally produced charcoal - they live near Ashby / Coalville - if you are in that neck of the woods and would like a new customer - pm your details i will gladly pass them on for you

i have had an request for 250 chestnut posts - but we only do local stuff and this guy is in notts area - if anybody has some posts that they want to shift - let me know and and i will pass on the chaps details to you

did you sort something?

my contact only got back to me today (been away with kids or something)

and they wanted the chip

i know this is going to sound terrible - but try the insurance company linked with tescos - i actually bartered with them last year and got a very good deal on my vehicle (they were a few hundred quid cheaper than my then current insurer - when i changed vehicles )

i make wine not cider - and made 5 gallons of apple wine last year - but i used a juicer as it was small scale

presses vary so much - and it really would depend on the quantities you want make - just to give you an idea of uk costs and of the standard (domestic) designs - here is another link for you

Wine Presses & accessories : Art of Brewing Wine Presses & accessories UK

i have an idea - but i need ask someone first - it is a bit late now to phone anybody - so i will give them a shout in the morning

what sort of sized load do you think it will be ?

although i am near andover too - the woods we have is near romsey - and am sure you'd be able to drop a bit of chip off there (we could lay it on the wood tracks etc) but it is probably a bit out of your way

pm if you can get to romsey

we sell hardly anything else as firewood (once we have sorted out the good stuff for splitting up for fencing etc)

i don't think any of the hooks and knives we use are less than 40 years old - many are much older - they certainly knew how to make a good blade

depending what soil you have - you should be able to scoop up a big clump of them then pull them apart / split them up

draw out a trench with your digger and space the saplings out then refill trench

better get a move on though - as the weather is about to change - and it is likely to get very cold soon - so the ground will probably freeze - and you don't want to be digging anything in or out when it's frozen

we sell mostly chestnut - and my customers love it in their woodburners - fresher stuff will spit - so we don't usually sell chestnut to people with open fires (although i have one chap that prefers it to anything else)

we season our sweet chestnut for 2 or 3 years - but it will burn ok with less time (but not as well)

don't forget that fresh cut chestnut is going to be extremely heavy - so i don't know if you will get a good deal by buying it in by weight - much better to buy the cord by volume

we have lots of laurel on site - and it is a great log for burning

it dries quickly and burns hot - also makes excellent charcoal

it will spoil if left outside for too long though

hazel is also excellent as firewood and for charcoal

as for laurel giving off cyanide - it does - but we burn loads on the bonfires - and have had no ill effects - but then i don't tend to breathe in the smoke

have noticed deer seem to preffer stuff like hazle ash maple more than chestut think it fairly bitter

and holly - they do love seem to love the stuff

sounds like a weird deal to me - and we deal in almost solely chestnut

you either buy it at cord at volume at a set rate (be it seasoned or not) - or buy it by weight - at a set rate per ton

no way should you agree to take it - process it - then split the divvy (unless you can't afford to buy the wood in the first place) - or you have been trying to do a deal with my dad

just because chestnut has been cut a while - don't mean it will be seasoned properly, to burn well enough for joe public (they need to have a bit of a clue about wood that they burn - and most don't unfortunately)

chestnut has a decent value - outside of firewood - so you might want to speculate that way - if you can use a hammer and wedges to split it into post 'n rail etc

i would not dismiss doing a deal with the guy - but you need to have a good look at the timber - and see if it would be better sold as something other than logs

for regular posts - either split or in the round - you want about 7 ft length (although 5ft 6 to 6 ft will be fine)

for rails - the better money comes from them about 8ft - 10 ft long - clean split

if all the wood has been cut up short - and stacked - it ain't going to be much good and will be a buggar to split if it's been down for a few years - so i doubt you could even get palings or hand cut boards or shingles out of them

so with all that to consider - i would say that the bloke is trying to take the mick - and i would leave it be - unless you are really desperate for wood

by the way - we don't process as many logs as the majority of guys on here - but we don't need a splitter or any other fancy machines to process our wood - we do it all by hand (and chainsaw) as chestnut splits like butter with the right splitting axe

we have done a fair bit of felling on our little copse over the last few years - and we don't use anything for protection

we do have proper deer fencing along on side of the copse (roadside) but the remainder of the copse is easily jumped by the deer - so they do get in in out quite easily

tbh - we haven't had much deer damage to the chestnut - nor from the rabbits - biggest problem with the rabbits is trying not to break your leg or neck by going into one of the many holes

the new poles have grown well over the last five years or so - and they are straight enough for the yurt maker to come and harvest

hi steve - i have just done a random search (by region) for firewood in dorset, hampshire and wiltshire - but there were no results at all

i know i didn't pre-order - but i can't believe that nobody else in the south signed up

we always season outside

and our sweet chestnut is out for at least 2 and more often 3 years - then put under cover whilst it's dry

not milling - but if you want to be shown how to cut shingles from chestnut, by hand - and are near hampshire - i am sure my dad would show you all the techniques

i look after 300 acer of woodland so got load off fallen trees and got to thin a load of trees out so i got more than enough wood

where is the woodland ?

i'll let you know if i hear of anything going over our way (by the woods) dad has a few mates that look after decent sized patches of woodland over that way - although it might be too far for you to go in the tractor

for my resolution - i have decided to try and stop saying yes to people when i really mean "No, not on your nelly mate"

and i would like to try and quit smoking - but i just don't have the will power for it

that book is excellent

the faggots should sell ok - and they are quite easy to make - once you have got the hang of it

we use birch tops for pea sticks too - and i also make large climbing frames for plants out of birch tops - they are like obelisks - and are great for clematis / sweet peas / beans etc - i have sold quite a few of them in the past - but as we don't have much birch left in our copse, i usually just make them for myself nowadays - as they usually only last one season

i have even bundled tops of them up (wrapped around old plastic bottles) - to make bird boxes to pur around the copse

also sold large quantities of birch tops to a local florist before now - they love the stuff for using as decoration etc at big events (like spring weddings)

birch tops are great - shame to burn it as brash

i always ask the client what size their grate is for starters - then i ask them what sort of log store they have - then how often they use their fire / burner - like is it for show or is it actually for main heat in the room

we tailor make our deliveries to suit client needs - so they get what i think is best for them

if i get it wrong - i don't get a repeat order - but if i get it right - well - i am their log angel

no sweet chestnut on your list ???

we sell s.chest to wood burners and hardwood mix to open fire clients ( our mix is actually limited - as we don't buy in, it's just what we have available from previous years fellings etc - and that is usually ash, sycamore, laurel, birch, hornbeam, oak - maybe fruit like wild cherry or wild plum)

we season sweet chestnut for 2, 3 or more years (we have a chestnut copse so space nor stock is really a concern to us)

laurel, birch and sycamore are lovely on open fires - and take only 6 to 12 months to dry out for a good burn - but they do decompose very quickly if not treated right so they are not a good medium to hang on to long term (ship it in and ship it out) - the chestnut on the other hand can sit on the wood floor for 20 yrs or more and burn as bright as anything - that's why we will never run out (for our client base anyway )

we still have plenty

when we start denting the stack too much - we just cut down a few dead woods standing - to top it up