County4x4

Hi all, With all this talk of jetboils and MSR stoves, I wondered if any of you had ever used a woodgas stove? Could be ideal for you guys surrounded by wood and stuff all day. It's like a posh version of the hobo stoves you can make out of old tins, and uses a small fan powered by batteries. It will run on any old vegetable material as long as it's dry - twigs, pine cones etc. Only needs a couple of handfulls to fill it. Easiest way to light it is with a small chunk of firelighter placed in the top of the fuel - let it burn for a minute and then turn the fan on low or high depending on whether you want to simmer or boil up for a brew. I run mine on standard wood pellets - a 10kilo bag would probably last all year. I have to say I was VERY impressed with the performance of this unit. I've used gas stoves, Primus and other paraffin copies, MSR's and others, and this was just as good. First try with it I used a heavy cast iron pan full of cold water and thought it would take ages, but once that fan goes on it was boiling away in minutes. The flame looks more like a gas stove when it's running - and I suppose it is as it's burning woodgas. Without the fan you just have a rather ineffective smoky fire in a pot - with it there's virtually no smoke and a LOT of heat. There's a video of one in operation at Woodgas Stove Camping Equipment I have no connection with this site - though I used to sell these stoves in the UK a few years back. I do have one new one left for sale if anyone fancies it too. Cheers, Andy

Also, if you sell non-CE marked gear and someone has an accident with it, YOU can be held personaly liable. Found this out when looking into importing Indian built Lister engines which cannot be CE marked due to open flywheels weighing about 100kg each. Cheers, Andy

...and one day I WILL own one:biggrin: Andy PS - Have they got cheaper at Witham? Sure they were around the 7.5k mark last time I checked in there?

How come the HGV licence - they're only plated at 5500kg? Andy

I promised myself a long time back that one day I'll get an RB44 - just because I want one! My personal favourite is the Ford A series based version - there was one for sale on the Transit forum a while back but I had no room or money and I think it was scrapped in the end. That one had a 3.5 V8, PTO's all over the place, air and hydraulic take offs - you name it - hell of a truck. This one here - next to a Transit for comparison: Anyone ever considered a Gaz66 (think it's an 66 anyway) A lot of the Russian stuff will run on any old crap, like cross fuel quite happily and those guys put a lot of work into their military vehicles. Andy

Yep you'd need special wire for a gasless MIG - it produces it's own shroud of gas as it burns. If you're not going to be using it a lot you may find the wire will rust - it will do this in just a damp atmosphere - it doesn't actually need to get wet to start corroding. I reckon a stick may be better and keep the rods inside somewhere warm and dry when not in use. Andy PS - there's a very good welding forum that might be worth a visit:thumbup1:

We used to have a job getting pics to upload if we were using Firefox - which is our default browser choice. Never had a problem if we logged in again using Internet explorer - but Firefox seems to have sorted itself out again since and no bother now. Maybe it's just down to however many other people are trying to flog their tat at the same time as you?! Andy

The PDS thing is a hoax and has been around for years. Here's what Phonepayplus said about it in 2007: I always check the hoax sites when I get one of these email circulars, and haven't had one yet that has turned out to be genuine. There are loads of them around that are years old like if you don't delete a certain file from your computer your house will fall down etc etc - evryone panics and forwards the email all over the world and it's a complete waste of time and bandwidth. Andy

That's the point I was getting at mate - wholesale price from CPL IS cheaper than their retail - but 3 pence profit per bag doesn't strike me as a workable proposition! Andy

CPL will be happy to send you a wholesale price list which will suggest resonable margins around 41%. However, if you look at their retail website you'll find that you, me or anyone can else can buy direct from them, and get free delivery, for about 3 pence a bag more than their wholesale price! They give you RRP's - on which the margins are calculated, but they don't sell at anything like the RRP - so in effect they act as wholesaler AND the main competition for their wholesale customers! If anyone does have any contacts, I'd be interested too as I'm after coal and smokeless fuels for customers on the canal. Cheers, Andy

Well thanks very much Mr. Stockbridge - I've just kept wifey company all the way through 'Enders, and we still don't know! Who wants to be a millionaire can get to the point quicker than this! Andy

I've never run an Iveco, but have read some real horror stories about what they cost when they go wrong, and how dealers are about the only source of parts for them. I've had nothing but Transits for years, both 2 and 4 wheel drive, and never had any bother with any of them really that's amounted to more than a few quid. Plus they're easy to fix yourself and there are loads of aftermarket parts if you don't want to pay Fraud's prices for bits. It's only my opinion, and it's heavily biased - but I'd spend the money on a decent Transit meself! There's probably a good reason why there are still so many old ones knocking about...... Andy

Well it's going to be a bloody big bonfire round at your gaff if you're still sitting on that pile you posted pics of a month or two back!! Maybe we could float it round the coast to me down here.....? Andy

You have a pm mate. Andy

My old head forester wouldn't have elm in his house. "Elm hateth and waiteth" was what he reckoned.... I used to burn loads of it! Given that the rhyme is pretty old by the looks of it, I wonder if it was on about seasoned live elm, as opposed to dry dead elm? I certainly had no bother with it, and it seemed a lot less work than birch which we used to get tons of - lovely fire but needed a top up every ten minutes! Andy

Might have been preferable judging by the pic! Only my opinion mind. Not altogether sure about these "works of art" There was one on the canal down at Preston called "Gauging the ripple". Dirty great bloke withhis hands clasped looking down at the water. No-one knew it as gauging the ripple of course - everyone called it "The Ribble Piddler" After five years it was discovered that it was rotting and possibly going to land on someone so it was removed. Cost British waterways over 20k to install and about another 5k to remove - money that would have been much better spent on replacing leaky lock gates and plugging holes in the canal if you ask me - or 99.9% of boaters on the canal. Andy

I'd be careful of doing anything involving burning with them - shipping crates from overseas are often fumigated with nasty stuff like methyl bromide powder to kill any bugs that might be living in the wood. There are moves to try and get this stopped - or the chemical changed at least - but I know the last crate I had from India was treated with it. Might not be too healthy to bung 'em on the fire or make sticks out of them! Andy

Sorry for the off topic - but John - I sent you an email and a pm through Navitron a week or so ago - did you get it? Andy

The barge guys did it for me:biggrin: I seem to recall that their "winch rope" appeared to be lots of bits of old rope that looked like they'd come out of the river as well, all tied together! I do miss Melvin Lardy though...... Andy

You're welcome mate - and I know exactly what you mean. There's actually some divided opinion amongst boaters as to whether it should actually be restored at all. The worry is that now the link is operating, the canal could become very popular if boats can travel right up to the foot of the Lake District, and it would end up being like a watery M6! I'm guessing that quite a few of those against it are long term Lancaster Canal folks though who grew used to having this waterway all to themselves when it was isolated from the rest of the system. Having said all that though - there were an awful lot of people who said the Ribble Link wouldn't happen in a million years - and there it is. I think there's a local fella up here who owns an awful lot of land around the northern reaches and he's pretty keen on getting this project moving. Time will tell eh! So - anyone interested in selling me a heap of logs?! Cheers, Andy

Hi Buzz, Not quite in half mate - though it's cut several times by the M6 and the A65. The bit we have left is about 42 miles long and runs from Preston up to Tewitfield a couple of miles north of Carnforth. It's also the longest lock free stretch of canal in the country! To the north of Tewitfield it's all still in water (and maintained as a feeder for the main canal) between the culverted road crossings, before it ends at Stainton near the Hincaster tunnel. From there on, some of the canal bed remains though other parts have been landscaped into farmers fields. You find things like this: There is a lot of noise about restoration going on to take it back all the way into Kendal where it used to end - they've spent a lot of money on feasibility studies and what have you already, and the general opinion seems to be that it will happen one day - though whether we'll see it is another matter! Cheers, Andy

Mr Ed - PM'd you a few days back - not sure if you've seen it yet? I've been giving this some more thought and I think I need to be looking at the firewood to narrowboats thing as a specialist sideline rather than a mainstay. Reasons being it's obviously a fairly limited market, and the majority of them, apart from a few dyed in the wool eco-types are hardcore cola burners as they find it easier to keep the small stoves in overnight on coal. I reckon I'll consider offering the smaller logs to them and then just produce them as and when, rather than buying in loads of them and then maybe sitting on them for years. So - while I'm looking at stuff like diesel and coal supplies etc - I'd like to look at supplying firewood to home based customers, so is there anyone who would be interested in supplying processed wood in bulk in north Lancashire? Cheers, Andy

Hi all, A proper remap is a much better bet although more expensive. These tuning boxes work by fooling the ECU into simple over-fuelling right across the rev range, whereas a remap is a much more involved process that alters loads of parameters to give a wider range of benefits. Martyn on the Transit forum - who has been linked to in this post, has received nothing but praise for his work - he will sometimes will spend hours making sure everything is set up right. He will also use different maps and so on depending on what sort of changes you're looking for in your motor. Also - if you are not happy with the results he will return your vehicle to standard and give you a refund. He also offers postal remaps for some vehicles if you can manage without them for a few days. Well worth checking him out IMO. Cheers, Andy

Not sure what the problem with Transits is? Cheap to buy, cheap and easy to fix, probably about the same or better mpg as a pickup like you're on about, bigger, will probably outlast several L200's if looked after, will do starship mileage. I could go on! The bed on most pickups seems to be tiny if you're wanting to carry anything other than tools. Is it that you've set your heart on an L200 and now want some back up? Andy