Saw-sick Steve

Mick, if you want to know about a ''home grown'' hero, google ''Paddy Mayne'' - and just imagine how many Hollywood blockbusters the Yanks would have made about him. Sad fact is, our kids are more aware of American ''exploits'' (don't get me started on U571:sneaky2:) than our own.

Unlikely, as most productions are funded by Yanks, or with the American market in mind. As they call the shots, you're highly unlikely to see Brits involved unless they are portrayed as incompetent, upper-class twits, or they're playing Americans - as in ''Band of Brothers''. While we're on the subject, it's about time the Soviets got a bit of credit for winning WW2. Do you realise for example that D-Day doesn't even make it into the ''top ten'' battles of the European theatre?

You lot are so posh in the Home Counties, are you sure it wasn't just the initial 'B' that had dropped off the lettering?

What tractor you running the Palax on ?

Yeh, but how did you recognise it as Ash?

I've often wondered about the perceived differences in moisture content between winter felled timber vs spring/summer felled. If a tree is like a plumbing system, surely the same amount of moisture is present in the phloem and xylem throughout the year, the only difference being that at certain times of the year it's under pressure? Or does the emergence of leaves significantly increase the amount of sap in the system? If so, where does it go other than in new sap wood, which would be a small %age of an established old tree? Years ago, when they produced charcoal in industrial quantities, most of the Oak down here was summer cut as they wanted the bark to be tannin rich for the leather trade. What little I've cut in summer seems to season just as quickly.

Russia, there's thousands of 'em! Went to a wedding in Slovakia a couple of years back and made a holiday of it in the Tatra mountains. Spent a fair %age of it watching crazy Slavs extracting with Zetors and Zils in extreme conditions, alternating between applauding their neck and driving skills, and shaking my head at the complete absence of any H&S compliance. Would have spent more time spectating, but kept getting dragged off by the rest of the family, who didn't seem to share my enthusiasm.

Yeh, piece of p*ss, regularly shifted loads like that during the recent cold snap. I know its on 'level' ground, but how would you brake that, as even the slightest decline would cause it to gather speed? Great shot, CJ, love your horse loggin' porn.

Why don't you mix the willow in with the rest of your seasoned logs? It's still a hardwood.

Advanced topiary?

Village People still big in Plymouth, eh? I'd be wary walking down Union St. sporting one of those...

Not if dried down to 9%.

Shouldn't worry unduly, Andy, 90% of the stuff that goes on my stove is conifer - including Leylandii. 12yrs and counting, never had an issue. As has been pointed out here time and again, if wood is well seasoned you'll have no problems.

Whats stamp collecting got to do with anything?

Just read an article about the Australian bush fires of 2009. 12 consecutive days over40C, strong drying wind, the humidity - er, ''just 9%''... Looks like Yorkshire for me holidays this year boys!

Why do people persist with this myth? I'd no sooner pass of green Ash as ''fit for burning'' than any other green timber. All this talk of moisture meters, yet green Ash is OK? Got a new customer this season who had a small load off me for a trial, as she was unhappy with her current supplier. She phoned me after a few days complaining of a smoking wood burner. To cut a long story short, after getting the sweep out she discovered that her chimney was tarred right up.Turns out her previous supplier had been selling yep, you got it, GREEN ASH, which, apparently, everyone knows is OK to burn!! Anyway, worked out in the end, as I've not only got her as a regular customer but 3 other households in the village.

It's easy to give up. So easy in fact i've done it 3 times! As Monkey sez above, you've got to really want to do it, will power is the way. If you think any of the stop smoking aids will help you then go ahead, personally they weren't for me. To be honest, I actually did find it easy once I'd really got my head around the idea. The hardest time was in the pub, but the ban removed that little temptation. I still miss it to be honest, I always think of myself as a smoker who's stopped rather than a non-smoker, but I've no inclination to start again. We all know the health benefits, but what shocked me most was something my wife brought home from work to show me (she's a heart failure specialist). It was a paper detailing research on lung capacity as you age. Basically, after 40 your lungs start to decline. If you smoke after 40, the decline is acute. In a job such as ours, where fitness is important, this little nugget worried me far more than all the more commonly known health risks. Keep strong, and like me you'll have a great excuse to be a grumpy old git. It really is worth it, and if you've got kids, think of them. Good luck!

Thought about getting one of these, but I've managed for years without one so why should I change now? Where exactly are you supposed to check a log? On the outside edge? Or do you split one in half and test the centre? And which log to test? One from the top, middle or bottom of the stack? Or every tenth log? I've just got visions of advertising a load of logs at <20% moisture content and having some pedant checking every log with their own meter, before triumphantly 'phoning up to claim a refund having found one at 21%.

On the ''not easy being Green'' forum they have a section devoted to woodfuel. Under the thread entitled ''Recognising firewood - Ash'' they have some nice shots of some seasoned 'Ash' logs, only problem being - they're Oak!

Great pic.! I'm half expecting Wallace and Gromit to emerge from that...

Does sound like something is causing you to worry, either conciously or unconciously - possibly the lack of sleep thing itself? Normally, if I have a problem sleeping, its due to lack of being physically tired, or stress/anxiety. I used to get to the stage of looking at the clock every 10mins and thinking ''must sleep now!'', and the later it got the worse I became. Now, on the rare occasions I have trouble sleeping, I don't worry about it and think I'll catch up tomorrow . I'm always wary of going down the tablet route, mainly as I'm aware that 90% of addicts in this country are on prescribed medication, but whatever works for people I s'pose. You don't drink or smoke, say you're ''totally clean'' yet are happy popping pills?

I use a very similar system but just stack into drying sheds rather than a polytunnel. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd always assumed that the whole point of using polytunnels was to accelerate the drying process into a period of months rather than years (what do you need to season for 4 yrs?), using one for final drying seems redundant - surely you can achieve that with a drafty barn or lean-to, why bother with an expensive polytunnel?

Depends on what timber yer processing - arb waste, hardwood, softwood, delivered in, thinnings etc... I mainly use coppice timbr, plus some softwood thinnings, put through a Palax and a recently acquired Hakki Pilke 60 OH. I prefer a saw blade to a chainsaw, less waste, but I'm not handling lots of gnarly old bits. Generally happy with both machines, but theres things I'd change on both - nothings perfect!

Sounds like a loose connection causing a short if the solenoid is getting hot. Take off and wire brush all your connections and tighten, especially the earth. If its still sluggish and the battery is OK, looks like the starter. The joys of running old gear!

Is it hell! I'm just warming to this, pull up a chair.