chestnut

i agree bob - there are many log suppliers in my area - and most of them sell fresh cut, unseasoned wet logs at a cheaper rate - which is great for people who have a large log store and don't mind buying their logs years in advance we only sell seasoned dry stuff - that can be used straight away - and we are obviously going to charge more for it to be honest - if people don't like our prices and want to get their logs elsewhere then it is no skin off my nose - i would rather supply and look after our regulars and make sure that we have enough logs to keep them warm through the winter

well as others are sure to confirm - certain woods need little seasoning - whilst other woods need a long time to season - so it is not quite so easy as just building something out of pallets (although i personally like pallet structures, as they keep wood off ground and air through sides etc) do you know what woods you have by any chance? so other members can stick their penny's worth in - you might just get a sensible answer then

are your logs fresh cut and wet - so not currently burnable? if so - then by the true nature of seasoning they need to be exposed to the elements - to season

i am not an arborist (as such) but i work our copse, can use a chain saw and am damn good at climbing trees - and i love it having said that - in the copse i use knives, hooks and hand saws more than chain saws - and do more pruning and hedge laying than felling (my dad likes to fell the bigun's bless him - riddled with cancer and a frail 72 - he would put many a healthy man to shame at what he can achieve in a day) people (mostly men) are surprised that i love to work with and in the trees - as i am only a little girlie with no obvious "muscle" but i manage ok i would like to see more women working in this environment - lets face it - we are better than men in most things anyway :001_tt2:

do a search on the internet - all land agents worth any salt - should have details of what is available in your area online

i guess it would depend on how many logs you have to dry or season and how much space you have to do it in we have a small patch of woodland - so season our logs naturally - totally exposed to the elements - especially the sweet chestnut (which is the bulk of our log wood) and we leave that for 3 or 4 years sometimes we then collect them up and stack them during dry weather - then cover the tops with tin or tarp we just build log walls on the outer - then just throw the rest in to infill - cover with tin or tarp - job done we only have 5 acres or so - but it is plenty of space for having log stacks dotted all over for woods that don't keep so well - like birch, laurel, sycamore etc - we keep in cord (stacked) for short season and cover when drying - then log (or sell off) as required we have mostly s.chestnut - but because it has a tendency to spit (unless it is really old / from dead wood) we like to have the other stuff for people with open fires - and let the peeps with woodburners to have the chestnut

i think the saying goes - you get what you pay for - £500 sounds middle of the road sort of price to me as a guide - my domains (.co.uk and .com) cost about £25 for 2 yrs - so domain names are only expensive if you are going through a middle man a friend of mine hosts the site (for free) - i built it myself using very basic web publishing software - it's a simple site - but then it does not need to be flash - it does what it says on the tin

if it is lashing down - i just don't deliver (as we offer a delivery and stack service) and i don't like getting soaked

thanks steve - i'll give them a try the only possible draw back - might be when they ask for chainsaw tickets etc - as my old man at the ripe old age of 71 - doesn't believe he needs a ticket to prove that he can use a chainsaw

well i thought RAP would have been ok - but after a short phone call it appears that we can't get any insurance from them as there is a tiny pond on site (it is actually just a big hole where we have dug out gravel - but it fills with water during autumn/winter - so they class it as a pond so it's back to doing more internet searches

yes mate - i think that'll be ok we have quite a bit going on at the moment - so give me a shout maybe at the end of august - and i'll try and sort a nice load out for you

we have recently cut a load of laurel, birch and sycamore - all in cord - ready to go (should be ready for winter if the sun comes back) as for chestnut - well you know what's here

adam - my dad might be able to lend you some basic scaffolding - would fit in the back of your truck ok give me a shout if you want me to ask him for you

dad doesn't have house insurance (he lives in a mobile home and they are not easy or cheap to insure) i did contact nfu first off actually - and they said that they couldn't help anyway

thank you so much for the link - looks just what we need

i made calendars last year (for this year ) for another forum that i belong to - and that was to raise funds to keep the site up and running etc - it was a good fund raising exercise the forum is basically for veg growers - so instead of just pretty pictures and dates that you get on the usually calendars - i put in handy hints for each month - to remind bods what they should be doing i also did personalised calendars - with handy hints on specific plants in their garden i also used forum members photos - which was great i did actually mention it to steve (about doing one for on here) but i left it a bit late in the year to get them done) i have a small laser printer - which coped well with job - and i bought a small simple calendar binder to put them altogether if you would like any help with a calendar for here - just give me a shout

hi guys - my dad wants to get public liability insurance - specific to small woodland owners - does anybody have any contacts please i have tried the links in the trade directory - but none of them can help he doesn't really want a bolt on policy (and his current ins co doesn't do PLI anyway) all suggestions / links would be much appreciated cheers

i won't deliver to anybody that doesn't have a wood store re running out - last year we ran out of wood for open fires - but as we have a chestnut copse - we never run out of chestnut logs we have just started moving 3 yr seasoned chestnut into dry store - but there is mountains of it - so i reckon it will take us all summer to shift it - and we recently had to build another store

thanks - i hope so

no it is not the only access - or the main access to the site they have a great big access route - straight off the public highway - big layby type pull in - concrete road up to buildings and a huge amount of car parking space too and they have plenty of access points to get to the vines behind too the use of dad's track is completely unnecessary with regards to getting to their land

the covenant does not mention or grant an easement and it names the original purchasers of the plot next door as the beneficiaries of the rights of access - it does not suggest that the rights would run with the land the covenant states that "the purchaser paying a fair proportion according to user of the cost of repairing and maintaining the track" they messed it up and failed to remedy it - that was 10 to 12 years ago - in that time dad had no choice but to make good that ruined track so that he might use it himself the ownership hasn't change exactly in that time - but the adjoining land is now being "managed" by an investment company which is based at the other owners home address

the access granted is to named persons only - in a covenant on the deeds it is not an easement - so is not a right of access that would carry from one owner to another (i hope) it is very complicated - but i will try to explain: "a" bought land off "b" - "a" made the track for himself - he also made other tracks / access routes (none of which had permission from any local source - as far as i can ascertain) anyway "a" went bust and "b" got the land back ("a" and "b" are also best mates) dad had bought the main woodland off of "b" but had to get access through a convoluted way so "b" then offers to sell my dad some of the land - ie the area where "a" had made the track - basically giving dad much better access to his woods the condition was that dad gave "a" access along the track if and when he needed it "a" had used a variety of different tracks on his land - to access land at the rear (set up as vines) this is where it gets really "grey" as far as i am aware - the receivers took over the land but the receivers efforts failed to keep the business viable - but they did actually put in writing that the access rights should be altered (in dad's favour) the land next door sold off - the new (current) "c" owner also a good mate of "b" - although "b" is now longer with us "c" initially tried to keep the business going and i think they put in a manager to run the site - they caused the damage to dad's track - mostly with heavy machinery (tractors etc) then there was a foul sewerage leak - which ran onto dad's track - this damage was a direct result of their negligence they broke fences - ruined the track - made the site insecure - and as a result dad had many cases of vandalism and thefts etc anyway the business failed - but "c" still owns it i believe - and the place has been left empty and unattended for some 10 or 12 years an investment company - based at the address of "c" (so probably his sons) are now trying to bully my dad dad has seen a solicitor - one junior (not very convincing imho) and more recently a specialist solicitor (supposedly) who actually thinks that they have no chance in court - but i really don't want it to go to court - for dad's sake i guess i was just hoping that someone had some ideas of loopholes in the law relating to covenants relating to rights of access i have done mountains of research myself - and i think i have found a few points of law that will be very helpful fingers crossed that it works out ok in the end - as dad doesn't have much hope of many more years of action and i would hate for him to go out fighting in court as opposed to enjoying the peace and enjoyment of the woods

does anybody on here have any experience with dealing with access rights? i don't want to go into specific details - so will cut a very long story short: my father has a small chestnut copse - which has a covenant granting access to the owners of the neighboring land - as long as they pay for the make and repair of the tracks they never contributed anything ever - and made a right mess of the track my dad had to make the track good - at great expense - and has since refused access along it to the next doors the land has changed hands - and now they want the access rights reinstated - but refuse to reimburse him for the costs of repair etc he has spoken to a solicitor - but there seems to be no real legislation that covers this - and although the solicitor doesn't think they have much chance of winning - in all likely hood this could go to court i would be very interested to know if any land owners on here have had any access issues in the past - and how did you rectify the situation? also any pointers as to which laws or precedents might help - i have tried researching on the opsi-gov sites but trying to find what you want is like looking for a needle in a haystack any tips, help advice would be very much appreciated - as i fear that as dad is not a well man anyway (bowel and prostrate cancer) that any court case and all the hassle that comes with it will probably kill the poor sod

sweet chestnut for me

i make up bird boxes from hollow logs