djbobbins

FWIW in your situation I would be minded to keep it up off the floor (pallets?) and either stacked with deliberate air gaps, or if it is already down to log size, deliberately loose piled so the air can get through it.

I had mine sawn and stacked outside (exposed to the elements on the outside face of the stack) for about nine months. I then split any bigger stuff and had it in my open faced log store for about another two or three months. It burns well, however once it is dry it is relatively low density which means either a big pile of logs on the hearth, lots of trips out to the log store or burning a shovel of coal every now and then.

I'm guessing it was in one of the delightful areas of Coventry (and by the fencing I'd also guess railway) so maybe Canley or Willenhall? Not one of those rough nasty areas like Finham or anywhere down the Kenilworth Road?

If he can do that with his teeth I'll be really impressed!

Still, saved them a few Rand not paying for a tree surgeon, eh? I reckon those marks will polish out with a bit of T-Cut... !!!

Someone once told me that the French equivalent of Sellafield is on the Cherbourg peninsula, right at the northern tip. Don't know if it's true or not, but if my geography is anything like correct, if anything ever goes seriously wrong there, it is London that's downwind in the prevailing direction... I tend to think of it this way - everyone wants cheap, green, reliable electricity. Cheap means coal (not green), green means wind, hydro etc (expensive and not necessarily reliable) and nuclear probably means a bit of all three. But it's got to be done right.

I always offer anyone coming to work at the house a drink; it's just common courtesy. Keep telling my missus to do the same and if I know someone's been round to do a job during the day, normally the questions to her when I get home are "did it go alright?" and "did you offer them a drink?" On another tea related theme, there was an old guy lived near where I grew up in a fairly remote farmhouse. No mains water, elec or phone. One day, one of his calves gets stuck in the quagmire of a yard. He walked down to a neighbour's place and got them to phone the fire brigade. Neighbour goes round to have a nosey at what is going on. Brigade come out, winch calf out, whilst they are rinsing their wellies off in the trough in the yard the farmer offers them a brew. They all accept, he goes inside, gets his kettle, comes out and dips it straight in the same trough to fill up....!

Cool as funk but I wouldn't want the fuel bill!!

I'm curious about something I saw today and wondered what anyone else might make of it. Should have taken some pictures but I didn't have a camera phone with me. To cut a long story short, there was a crew dismantling a tree est 60 foot tall, base adjacent to a busy B-road. They had the chipper, tranny and another couple of vehicles on the ground, so traffic was single file past the site. This was being done by hand, no stop / go signs and no traffic lights, What I thought was a bit odd (I wouldn't have fancied doing it personally) was that there was a climber up in the tree, saw on a strap, on the one large bough which extended directly over where the traffic was driving underneath. At the time I passed, he wasn't sawing but I was surprised that he should be stood up there whilst public vehicle were driving underneath. Just curious, that's all...

Hmmm.... I don't fell trees professionally but I reckon I could have done it with an axe in not much longer than that... and had a better hinge at the end of it. Am I the only one that thinks it's a sign of something very wrong when they can afford a video camera and two quads, yet the girl is running around with nothing on her feet?!

Don't know about birch wine but have just made some rhubarb wine and it tasted pretty good - although I suspect would leave you with a bad head if consumed in quantity. Appearance wise, the less links drawn to the word "sample", probably the better! How do you go about collecting birch sap then?

Just thought I would pass on the benefit of my experience over the last couple of weeks; hopefully some people might find it useful. My weekend / hobby / backup vehicle is a 93 Isuzu Trooper, 3.2V6 SWB. After the last MOT, one of the advisories was a minor leak on the exhaust, which on inspection turned out to be in a flexible coupling. The flex coupling sits in a wishbone shaped piece of pipe, which joins the two downpipes from the engine banks into a single pipe. Anyway, the leak has got slowly worse and my need for the car has got greater (change of job and company vehicle returned) so I decided to do something about it. My normal exhaust supplier said they couldn't get hold of the wishbone section of the exhaust, and that apart from the rearmost exhaust sections the Trooper exhausts are a dealer only part. Which sounded potentially painful in the wallet area. The second place I spoke said they could get hold of the part, but it was 200 quid. There was also a risk that, because in the past someone has tack welded the wishbone section of the exhaust onto the cat, I might need a new cat too - which would be another 300 quid or so. Eeek. My third call was to a place in Leek, Staffordshire (All Car Exhausts, shameless promotion for them but I promise I am independent and just recommending them because I'm chuffed with the outcome). I told them the problem, and the guy on the other end of the phone did acknowledge that the wishbone section on the exhaust would be "strong money", even without the risk of having to replace the cat. Just as I was thinking it was time to bite the bullet, he went on to say "But if you bring it in, we can cut the old coupling out and weld another one in its place. No need to worry about going anywhere near the cat." So, to wind up a long tale, 60 quid for a job well done and a nice sounding vehicle again, rather than at least 200 and potentially 500. If anyone else finds themselves in the same situation (and like me, isn't able to do the repair yourself) then I recommend doing a bit of phoning around and asking the question.

Jesus... It's even worse than the article they did on the 10 best stoves! So, let's get this right: 1) spend 800 quid on gear (according to their prices for a rechargeable chainsaw, a log store, a couple of axes and a splitter). 2) go home and either a) injure yourself or damage your property b) realise a rechargeable saw is no use whatsoever for felling the 50' euc in your garden, c) realise that despite your garden being "large", it's not big enough to sustain a plantation d) realise that it's all a bit like hard work, stick the saw in the loft with last year's veg growing kit, tai chi mats and other excessive consumer goods. Depending on your volume of logs required, either buy a net from the local petrol station or order a load from a supplier.

I was told that an old lad near where I grew up had a similar contraption, but adapted it to run a shaft drive off a PTO. PTO was running faster than the belt drive would have, saw blade gave up the ghost and embedded itself in him. I'd led to believe it did for him. This was donkeys years ago, but I still get really uneasy at the thought of people using unguarded circular saws, even when it is to do work they were rated for.

(IMHO) a bit brave to use the word "logs" in the listing. Describing it as a woodpile is fine, but if I'd written that listing I would be twitchy about a buyer turning up and expecting bits of wood the right size to feed a stove, rather than the size of a stove... I know the photo should prevent this but as someone clever once said - "The problem with trying to make things foolproof is that people usually greatly underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools". And as a complete pedant, are you comfortable with announcing that you are an uncut tree surgeon?! Or should it be "Tree Surgeon's uncut wood pile for sale"? Assuming that you're a bloke, I think our neighbours across the pond use the term "uncut" to mean a completely different thing... Sorry, am bored at work - normally I do try to be helpful, honest!

I'm completely with you - I wouldn't do it personally, but for someone with a strong aversion to 2-stroke engines is there a credible alternative when some sawing is needed away from a mains power supply?

Out of interest, what I had thought that would solve the recharging problems would be a 12v kit - to allow the saw to be run from a pair of crocodile clips on the battery of a running vehicle. Would solve my old man's problems of wanting to do bits and bobs of sawing away from a mains power supply, without using a petrol saw. See also a bit more info on cordless saws here: Cordless chainsaws tested and reviewed by Fred In The Shed

My father's got a B&D battery chainsaw; mainly 'cos he's got a phobia of anything with a two stroke engine. Something to do with the fact that he buys cheap things, leaves them with fuel in over a winter, then wonders why they won't start with the first two tugs... Anyway, the saw - battery too small and takes too long to charge, then will only cut for about 5-10 mins. Bar is mega short (about 4 inch). The one thing I could see them being useful for is climbing and lopping off branches, just because they are light and small.

I have an open fire and have similar problems in keeping it lit for extended periods. I would expect a stove to be more controllable (airflow into and flue out?) but if that's not the case and you do decide you need to keep it hot for longer periods, I can propose two potential options. One is cheaper and not guaranteed to work, the second more expensive but I'd hang my hat on it: 1) Buy some slack. I get mine for £2.50/25kg. The particle size is much smaller than housecoal, therefore a shovel full will form a more solid layer of fuel over the top of your fire, reducing airflow and slowing the burn down. I normally put a shovel of coal on top of a log and a bit of housecoal. 2) Buy some "Homefire". It's a hexagonal smokeless fuel and is the mutts bits as far as a slow hot burning product is concerned, IMO. I had a few odds and ends of it mixed in with some coke from a bunker a work colleague was clearing out. I had to separate the ashes out for cooling, because the bits of Homefire were still glowing red. This was about 6pm, when the fuel had been put onto an open grate about 9:30 the night before. It's not as cheap as a standard coal but might be worth a go. See fourth one in this list: Clews Recycling Ltd

That's why you don't plant a euc in your garden!

Have you thought about getting the Rangie lpg converted? Okay, so the mpg won't improve, but the cost of the fuel would go down by about 40%. Alternatively, what about something like this - better mpg, still 4x4, not too dinky: 2001 JEEP CHEROKEE 2.5 TD 60th Anniversary 5dr Sw Special Edition

FWIW there are people out there researching the production of synthetic coal from algae, as a power station feedstock. But I'm guessing that wasn't the basis of the question in this case?

Blame isn't under discussion at this stage. Severn Trent and my insurer resolved between them that my wife was not at fault. If it had been decided that my wife was to blame, my insurer would have footed the costs of the repair above and beyond the excess, and I would be liable for the first £350. Job done. Since the decision on ST's liability had already been reached, and ST had paid my insurer, the remaining step was for me to be re-imbursed my £350. The reason I started the thread was to ask what experience anyone had of going through this process, since I had a suspicion it might take a while. I was pleasantly surprised, therefore, to receive a cheque yesterday!

Interesting... as I said, I'm not scouting for the work - I am not a pro arborist, just an interested amateur with a bit of woodland to play in. The reason I asked the question was because I've seen a plod at the side of the road before now, trying to cut through about a 6" diameter bough with what looked like a 10" (or so) lopping saw / silky. Putting myself in his position, I'd have wanted to get on the phone to someone with a chainsaw to get the tree off the road.

I'd be very interested in finding out if that is set out in written guidance or regulations somewhere...