County4x4

I've burned plenty of softwood of various species over the years and have no problem with it at all. To be honest I don't know why I had the idea in my head that this Leylandii would be next to useless - but it was there from somewhere. It's been a pleasant surprise though! Andy

Hi all, I cut down a leylandii hedge for my sister in law early last year, and rather than tip the bigger bits I thought I may as well hang on to it just to sort of pad out the firewood over winter. I cut and split a few barrow loads yesterday and burned it on it's own last night. What a surprise - it made a cracking fire and seemed to last a long time as well!! Burned well and then a stove full of red hot coals for ages after the flames had died down. Very little smoke and the stove glass stayed clean - and it really chucked some heat out. I chucked a single knotty lump on the embers when we went to bed and turned the air right down and it was still going this morning - ten minutes with some more on and the door open and it's away again. Must say I was surprised - I only kept it because I don't like chucking decent sized wood away - but I wasn't expecting much from it at all. A mate had asked about the pile of it next to the workshop and I told him it was just some rubbish I was hanging onto for the sake of it - think I've had a change of heart now! Cheers, Andy

Was that kiln dried or in a heated building or something mate? Only asking because 9% sounds drier than the average moisture content of the air in the UK. I'm sure I've read that even kiln dried logs if stored outside under cover will gradually re-absorb moisture up to around 15 -20% to match the atmosphere. Cheers, Andy

I used to sell a similar type of briquette a few years back and ended up having to tell customers not to pile them up like logs after one guy had a couple of them "escape" from his open fire!! The ones I'm doing now don't expand at all so much more relaxed! Andy

An awful lot of pressure mate - over 80 tons/square inch! Ours are pushed out of a screw extruder and get so hot they quite often char to some extent down the middle. The manufacturer had a fair bit of African hardwood waste from a furniture company once and that used to catch fire quite frequently until they learned to blend it with less fancy stuff. At the high pressures and temperatures involved, the lignins and resins in the wood soften and then act as a natural glue to hold them together when they cool - nothing more to it than that. Moisture level of the feedstock is critical though as if it's too wet you get steam flash forming inside the briquette and it blows them to bits. Too dry and they just don't stick together. Finished product moisture level is about 6.5% - though they do have to be kept dry - storing them outside in the log store probably won't be a recipe for success! Cheers, Andy

The Blazers are okay - but the ones I sell are better:001_tongue: Blazers are about 1.5 hours per kg burning time. Ours are about 2 hours per kg. So ¼ more efficient on burn time. Plus ours keep their heat value up for most of the time they are on the stove. Blazers tend to slip away after about an hour. So a fair bit more efficient on heat output. Ours keep their shape when burning so can be used very easily on small stoves, and broken into smaller pieces more easily than Blazers. So better on convenience and use too. Many of the briquettes produced in a piston briquetter tend to expand quite a bit once alight - if you poke them they turn back into a pile of hot sawdust. Ours don't move at all, and will still be recognisable after several hours. The good thing about briquettes over logs is that they have a much lower moisture content and therefore more available energy to give off as heat. Tests on the ones I sell came out with one tonne of briquettes having a similar energy content to just over four tonnes of seasoned mixed hardwood. And unlike chipboard of course, there are no glues, binders, additives, preservatives or anything else for that matter - just pure wood. Cheers, Andy

I've no idea if it's true - but wouldn't it be a bit odd for parquet flooring to be made of softwood?? It might be completely normal - I have no idea - but you'd think they'd use something pretty tough wouldn't you? I remember reading on the website of some outfit who sold sun dried African firewood to rich folks, that you would probably need twice the usual amount of kindling to get it started as it was iron hard. Once it was going though it was supposed to be hotter than hell and lasted for hours. I'll try some when I'm rich and let you know.... Andy

What sort of waste are you talking about mate? I ran a commercial recycling plant for a while, and whilst some of our stuff was exported, it certainly wasn't going to be burned - just going to countries that had a much better idea of how to recycle materials into useful products instead of chucking it in a hole in the ground and looking the other way. We often found that there simply weren't the businesses based in the UK who could take the stuff and do something with it, with a few exceptions like paper and metals, which were processed no more than five miles from where we produced them. Modern industrial incinerators can do a good job of producing energy from non-recyclable waste and emissions are low thanks to exhaust scrubbers and so on, but no-one here wants one in their neighbourhood do they? I'm not about to hold my hand up and say I've never done anything that's had a negative impact on the environment - I don't think any of us could do that. But I don't think the "other people do it so why shouldn't I?" argument holds much water either. I try to be a good neighbour, and I wouldn't want to be burning mdf or plywood on my fire for the smoke to be blowing round their houses and their kids. I'm well aware that my little contribution is not going to make a great deal of difference on it's own, but if none of us burned the stuff, surely it would help. The statement that "the planet is screwed so why bother about it" says a lot about modern attitudes I reckon. Homer Simpson would be proud..... Andy

Nick - how hard do you have to squeeze an emu to get the oil out of it:confused1: Or does she boil them up in a great big pan......? My YTS boy many many years ago had Ian Gillan style long curly hair. We were cutting back a boundary line in the back of nowhere and he was in front clearing the way, then I was 20 yards behind him with a chainsaw, and then my mate was behind me tidying up. Said YTS boy goes and treads right in a wasps nest, and it being back end of the year they were grumpy and set about him with some vigour! First thing my mate saw was this poor lad tearing towards him in a proper screaming panic with me and the saw chasing close behind him yelling at him not to come near us!! He thought I'd finally lost the plot big time:laugh1: Young Ian ended up with loads of the blighters stuck in his hair and about twenty stings - he was never quite the same after that. He was the same guy who blew himself up in quite a spectacular fashion some months later lighting a big brash bonfire - we had to take him to hospital for that one too once we'd stopped rolling about on the floor wetting ourselves. happy days. Andy

Not really that different for the neighbours and the rest of the planet breathing it in though is it? We have a guy down the street who burns plastic milk bottles because he can't be bothered to put them in the recycling bin - he's a grand old lad apart from that and his garden is an absolute showpiece. Him and his wife are out there from dawn until dusk most days - you'd sort of think he'd care a bit more. It's kind of a bug bear with me - I used to get narked when I was deivering to salad growers out on the marshes near Southport. They all flogged their stuff as healthy, natural, organic and what have you, and then they'd be burning great piles of old shrinkwrap and polystyrene to save on disposal costs. You could see the columns of black smoke rising for miles across the flatlands. I've noticed a few times that business sellers on ebay are offering crap like mdf and plywood offcuts as firewood - personally I reckon they should be stopped - and it's probably against all sorts of business waste regulations to sell it anyway. People will buy it though and that's half the problem. Cheers, Andy

The old CCA treated stuff should not be burned except in industrial incinerators - there are nasties concentrated in the ash which are only broken down at industrial temperatures. The new Tanalith E treatment contains different ingredients and is safer, but the manufacturers say: Personally I don't like burning any treated wood - I think we should take a bit of responsibility about what we're sending out of our chimneys for everyone else to breathe in. Cheers, Andy

Funnily enough - the ebay member "frankstrading2010" is "no longer a registered user" according to ebay.

I asked him if it would be okay for "a tree surgeon friend of mine who lives in Colchester to go and have a look at them" - and also how he was going to send 100 saws by second class post. Just got a reply: i would have them drived to u we order as we bye thay the same as are in shops as we supplier speedy hire any more q plz ask Yeah okay.... Andy Maybe someone in the know on trade prices for Stihl saws could ask him how he can sell them at £120 and make a profit?

Not doubting your method works mate, but I think you'll find it's the secondary air coming in from the top that goes down the glass to keep it clean rather than air coming up from below. I'm guessing you're using decent wood as well! Andy

:laugh1: Quality. Nice one mate - if you can get some details to me I'll pass them on to her. Cheers, Andy

Hi all, If anyone can put me onto a helpful supplier near Bradford on Avon I'd be grateful. A contact from another forum is new to living on a narrowboat at the marina there and is having trouble burning wood on her Morso Squirrel. Sounds like it's down to rubbish wood from B&Q/Homebase - unless she feeds it with coal as well it just goes out. With the fire going hard enough to keep the wood alight it's too hot and she's sitting round in a t-shirt and Spongebob knickers! Yeah - I thought that would get the suppliers beating a path to her door! I've given her a few tips about leaving a bed of ash and using the secondary air for the main supply etc - but she'll still be struggling without some decent seasoned wood and kindling. If anyone is in the area and could deliver a few bags to the marina that would be great. If they know a bit about using wood in a stove and could give her some hands on advice, even better. As she lives on board she would probably be a regular customer and recommend you to other boaters there if you can supply some decent wood for her. Cheers all, Andy

I just leave off emptying the ash pan so regularly when we're burning wood so it soon has a decent bed built up. Andy

Hi Badger - sent you a pm mate. Cheers, Andy

I'n not sure how it works but I think wind direction can make a difference in some cases. Probably due to turbulence over the roof tops or something. As far as ventilation goes, I think that all stoves over 5kW should have an airbrick in the room as a matter of course - certainly if they have been installed by a HETAS outfit. Under that output you should have enough from the room. Again, I'd suggest lining the flue - you should get a much better draw on the stove as there'll be a higher exhaust velocity in the stack, plus it will be a little warmer than an open chimney, and therefore and tars etc in the smoke should make it out of the flue rather than condensing inside it. Cheers, Andy

What's your band mate? You're not acquainted with the 10 o'clock horses are you? They hail from your sort of area - very good mate of mine was one of the founder members. Andy

I was up for work at 4.15 this morning - so I'm currently wondering if I'll still be awake when the boings go later! We've not been out for New Year since we had the kids - now 8 and 5 - but we'll be having a relaxing evening at home, and hoping that the kids will treat us to a lie in if we let them stop up late! Pretty slim hope though I reckon! Happy New year to all of you on here though - I do like it here! Much less bitching than most of the forums I belong to as well it has to be said! All the best to all of you, Andy

Might be worth bearing in mind that if your flue is unlined and you're only running the stove on tickover, you can get a lot of creosote and tar condensing on the inside of your flue due to smoke cooling on it's way up. Modern stoves have much less heat than old fashioned open fires going up the chimney - and this can cause problems later with nasties leaching through your brickwork into interior rooms usually upstairs. If this does happen it's tricky to remedy without cutting out and replacing the affected brickwork - which could make the expense of a liner look like a much more cost effective job. Build up of deposits in the flue can also increase the risk of chimney fires when you happen to have a roarer going instead of your usual slow burn. If I were you I'd run the stove harder and/or think seriously about lining the chimney. Both could work out cheaper than repairs should the worst case scenario happen. Cheers, Andy

One of the guys on the Transit forum runs Total-Ldv-Sherpa :: Index Might be worth joining up in case you get stuck with anything. Cheers, Andy

There are a couple more pages of even older pics linked from this page for anyone that missed them: home (hooktender) Andy

@Tonytree, I'm not picking fault with you mate, but if I'd spent £350 on what is to all intents and purposes a basic website, I wouldn't have expected to see spelling mistakes on the first page, or any other page for that matter! I don't know if I just have an eye for them but it jumped out at me as soon as I opened the page. I've not been through the whole site but there are obvious typos on several other pages as well. I also think £350 is steep for what you have there - no problems with the look of it but there are no fancy shopping carts or secure socket layers and all that techie stuff. As far as domain names and hosting go - I pay less than £3 for a .co.uk and can get hosting for under £3 a month. I know several people "in the business" of selling websites to businesses, and they all seem to think it's a licence to print money, as much of it is no harder than composing an email to someone. Cheers, Andy