Marko

We clean both our own flues once a year. Fitted an access point on the outside of the chimney wall just above the sealing plate which makes brushing very easy and stops any chance of making a mess in the front room.

Depends how much you value your time (and your back!). Getting a living out of it will be down to how you get your wood. Getting a good living might be a bit harder.

Dean, I took a 21' by 80' two years ago. Gave £250 for it, kept it one year then decided it was too big for the garden and sold it on ebay for £600. It took half a day to take down and another half day with digger to extract and shift the concrete around each post and clear the site (part of the deal). Note that the older ones as in your picture have alot of unusable space, the newer ones have straight sides upto 1 meter. It makes a massive difference especially if you are thinking about stacking pallets of firewood in it - less so if you are growing stuff in it.

Just in case anyone in West Lancs has 500+ tree guards kicking around we could really use them. Happy to collect at your convenience. Thanks.

A few months ago quite a few forum members contributed to a buyers guide and also a sellers guide. It was not possible to get anything like agreement and the resulting debate made it quite evident that the firewood industry is unlikely to be ready to adopt industry wide "standards" in the near future. However we did try and get close to establishing "Best Practice" Buying Firewood: A consumers guide to buying logs and firewood Firewood Selling Guide - suggested best practice for the firewood industry Any further comments welcome!

When I got a small chipper I got called a gardener! Can I now apply for a promotion?

A good range at various prices can be found on Amazon.co.uk: Moisture Meters

We don't need to season for 4 years - we just like to have good stock in place for when the demand is there at the right price and then we can really go for it. I find it really hard work and am not prepared to break my back for peanuts. I would sooner keep it another year rather than muck it away. I have a polytunnel - I have not got a barn but if we just used the poly tunnel for seasoning wood it wouldnt be big enough to cope. It is just right for finishing off stuff brought in from outside. Once in finished lengths it is moved by machine in and out of the polytunnel so there is no more manual handling. Spud boxes and metal stillages are used so everything is off the floor. Nothing has left the yard for less than £100 per cube this season.

I use a poly tunnel with mesh sides and it still condensates but the water generally runs off down the sides rather than drop down onto the wood. As others have said, if you put wet wood in it will go mouldy quickly unless the through draft is thorough. I also find that anything in a builders bag suffers unless it was absolutely dry when it went in. Even a seasoned log damp with rain will mould quickly if put into a builders bag in a poly tunnel What we do is split into meter length billets and stack them outside on pallets, ends into wind with a folded tarp over the top to keep the worst of the weather off but still allow the wind to blow right through the stack. Once seasoned for (2- 4) years we processs the billets into logs and store them in 1m3 crates which remain outside but are covered. This stock is then used to keep the polytunnel full (uncovering it when it goes in) and by using it in rotation we can ensure delivered wood is bone dry and charge accordingly. Many suppliers are far cheaper than us but people keep coming back for more.

They are very good. I haven't used the gas ring in over 2 years since I got a Kelly. It makes just enough boiling water for a big brew/cuppasoup with enough water left to wash the cup and spoon. I have to say that even as one who considered becoming a professional arsenist, I have had more trouble lighting it than anything else ever. It is a bit of an art form. Any tips?

Good one!

£25 a year. Firewood - seasoned logs and wood fuel for woodburners, log burners and wood fuelled boilers We are only a small operation but had to stop taking new customers on Christmas Eve in order to protect supplies for our regulars.

Please remember that the hedge will not last long if it doesn't get any light.

Even if you don't really understand the bulk of the report, if you are paying for any online advertising then the refering sites section is an essential read before you renew any ads. This report allows you to get behind the hype of the sales pitch and and find out who is actually really delivering consistent, quality traffic to your website. Invaluable!

A photo of a similar tyre solution at the very bottom of Light My Fire - The Coed Cae B&B Guide to sustainable heating with wood

Had an order placed on Friday for half a cube. Delivered Saturday but they had changed their mind and didn't want it - firing me off in no uncertain terms. They had sorted a 'big load out with someone who was far cheaper'. I've no problem at all with someone being cheaper but there was no no need for the nasty edge to the way this was proudly announced in the street. Happend to go past their house again later on Saturday afternoon and laughed out loud when I saw the pile of freshly cut unsplit lumps of leyllandii complete with plenty sawdust and general crap tipped on their ornamental stone chipping drive. Phone rings this morning... Them.... they have changed their mind and would like a big bag after all and could they have it delivered today. Me.... Sorry, we had a busy day yesterday and now have only only enough stock left to look after existing customers. Silence.... Them... Am I interested in buying a big load of logs? Me... No thankyou.

When we did nets we used one section of a builders rubble chute pushed right into the bottom of the net and then slid out when full. This prevented snagging and was fairly quick as it was easy to get the net on and off the chute. I seem to remember a previous thread which had a picture of a flexible sheet of plastic which was curled up and overlapped into a cone inside the net. Looked like a cracking cheap and chearfull idea.

Looks great. We had rain (no change there then) and it is no where near as much fun on a quad.

The world population is predicted to grow from 6 billion to 9 billion by 2050 (http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/longrange2/WorldPop2300final.pdf) all of whom will need feeding, clothing, housing and playstations. I personally can't see how paying additional green taxes, changing my light bulbs, recycling cow farts etc etc will make enough savings to accomodate the impact of population increase never mind achieve a reduction in overall CO2.

Be aware that for half that amount and for less effort you could have had a listing on Firewood - seasoned logs and wood fuel for woodburners, log burners and wood fuelled boilers Leaflets might well be more appropriate for launching your business but it might be worth a try on the website especially if you are in an area with no one else currently advertising.

The exruders are a big investment - even for a crap one - and I understand maintenance costs can be a bob or two. I do think that an engineering type could come up with a "newspaper press" type of device to fit in a hydraulic log splitter - feed in a mix of of wet newspaper (as a binder) but the bulk of it being sawdust and splitter shavings. A decent splitter should get the bulk of the moisture out and press it hard enough for it to hold together. Waiting for the briquette to dry would be no longer than for a log to season?

A way of automating the manual device shown on Pressing Matters - The quest to turn garden waste into fire Briquettes for a wood boiler would be good. Has anyone ever made something to make briquettes using a hydraulic log splitter? If something could be made to fit into a standard splitter it would be a good seller.

Our logs measure around 20% at point of sale. We won't sell at above 25%.

Impressive log stack. Good work!

If The Hucks KWh numbers are correct then he was right, gas is cheaper and by a good chunk. BUT.... perhaps people make the big saving on their gas bill not replacing gas KWh with wood fuel KWhs directly but by only heating the room they are sat in (like the good old days). I have the gas CH left switched on so it kicks in if the log burner in the living room is not fired. Believe me there is no greater incentive than to light the b@gger when I hear the rumble of the Central Heating starting up.