Marko

Nothing leaves our yard for less.

Like they said Gransfors.... I hadn't really thought about it before but I always buy big brand for edge tools but am less fussy for other tools. I tend to buy what looks ok but is cheap and then replace it with a better brand IF it breaks or wears out. If I tipped out the spanner box it will be full of all sorts of "rubbish" but I know there are a couple of snap on half inch / nine sixteenths in there. Equally I bought a 3/4 drive socket set primarily for removing dumper wheels 'in the field'. £40ish off ebay, dreadful quality but so far unbreakable despite the serious abuse it has had to put up with. I would not like to think how much a snap on set would be.

35 the floaters

I went for the pto pump - works a treat on a selection of tractors. Even a small Kubota can drive the pump even though it cant lift the splitter. Riko will tweak the pump to the hp you specify.

£32 the floaters

£27 the floaters

Worked for me - we had a surge in orders for 10's and 20's of ash saplings and could not understand why. Now I know - cheers Arbtalk!

Thanks for the tips. The bit of coat hanger is working ok but it does get hot so I need to sort something proper out soon.

So guys..... if you had mislaid the cabled trigger from a WARN 9000i how would you go about getting it going again. I got quoted £125 for a new warn one which seems a bit steep. What would you do?

We tend to burn anything that I wouldn't want to sell... which ranges from odd shaped bits of hardwood, all the crap from around the splitter, any connie & willow and even sawn up pallets. It is very rare that we actually burn any of our 'for sale' stock. Because we burn so much 'arisings' it was difficult to know how much we burnt annually and I wanted to ensure that we held back / had in stock at least one years supply for our own needs. Rather than just bring it home and use it, a couple of years ago I ensured that everything went into crates so it could be measured properly - we used 18 cubic meters but the winters have been a bit harder since then. The quality of the stove makes a big difference - we have a small 12 year old Yeoman in the front room - when lit (more for effect) it uses as much wood / hour as the Morso but ony gives out a fraction of the heat. As it happens, today we are burning sawn up packing crates that had indian stone flags in. 24 degrees throughout the house... and dog v happy roasting in front of it.

<<<<< This Morso which eats 20 cubic meters a year and leaves us with a very small gas bill for cooking and hot water.

Great thread and great pics. Has anyone else had any success striking hazel from a rod? I tend to limit cutting to Nov through Feb but then we have not got that much to go at yet.

Showing my pumpkin - all 1138lb of it!

PM sent

Cool. That is one clever way to pack a pallet. Are there any that you know of in the UK where a visit may be allowable?

So true. The people who call on a mobile splitting service have probably already had a go and know how hard it is. It is more often than not a one off hit for wood that they "own" so I see a splitting service as a way to get a long term new customer who, through their own efforts, appreciates that firewood does not grow on trees.

We advertise such a service but have only had two jobs this year, one was 'alot of wood' which turned out to be a lone cherry from the front garden but the second was 3 weeks work for 3 men.

No problem - a 'box' was the wrong word. Deano's "Booth" is what I should have said.

Bales around the edge of the building will help especially if you can steer the noise in a direction that causes less problems. Get a sheet of this FRFFB6 non-flammable soundproofing for noisy machinery and build a box around the engine - not too tight for obvious reasons!

Here's a simple fact My Santander Individual Savings Account (ISA) Statement Balance brought forward March 2009 £12,689.51 Interest £12.69 Balance at Close March 2010 £12702.20 Yes, that is correct, an interest rate of 0.001% on their flagship savings account. Has anyone seen this number plastered all over their shop window? It is all headline rates to attract new money but once it is in the coffers and your back is turned... and then they wonder why Joe public is baying for their blood. Scum. As they don't put the rate on the statement you have to work it out for yourself so if anyone else has a Santander ISA over one year old they should check the rate and really kick off if they find a similar stunt has been pulled.

It depends... A boggy ground may well sound like ideal for willow and it will probably grow fine. Harvesting in the winter would possibly be problematic though. Short Rotation Coppice is harvested every 3 years but this is usually chipped and burnt wet in power stations. I am trialing some SRC willow at 6 years to see wether it will make decent logs which can be stacked to dry to get the most out of them. I will let you know how I get on in 5 years and 364 days (I planted them this morning). Willow cuttings will strike very easily but you will find the growers of most SRC varieties have protected royalties so it would be best to buy whips from an authorised source. It might also be worth considering Alder. You can grow it easily from seed, it would like the ground conditions but would be on a much longer harvest cycle. Ash would be OK also. Spacings would be determined by species. No matter what you plant, it will be a bit grim dragging it out of a bog in winter though. The BCTV guidance would suggest 7.5 - 10 acres would be needed to be self sufficient.

Presuming you have permission, I would suggest selecting and moving 4-5ft ash whips between Nov and Feb/March. They are tough and should easly survive the move but if you know where you want to plant them then it might be an idea to Roundup a 3ft dia circle now in readiness for each tree arriving. A competition free patch of ground really does help in year 1 of a transplant. You will struggle moving oaks. For the lowest cost base it would be far easier to spray of a patch and plant an acorn or two. Good luck with your project

Neither. 130 if I was forced at gunpoint to choose between them

I only scanned it so may well have misunderstood but, from what I gathered, the paper was happy to pour scorn on the use of biomass as a fuel. I don't think anyone has claimed biomass to be the answer to the ills of the world but at least it keeps a few of us from making the situation any worse.

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