Big J
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Everything posted by Big J
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Naturally drying cordwood down to 20% March to Nov???
Big J replied to cessna's topic in Firewood forum
Not possible. The estate I used to live on had huge stacks of hardwood thinnings (nothing large diameter - max 300mm) which they left off the deck drying for 3 years so that they could process straight into the trailer for delivery. Even then, moisture content varied wildly and was never under 25%. -
It's much damper up here. We're 1.3 miles from the sea, which doesn't help. Looking at the data from my weather station (s), the relative humidity averages over 95%, and can go a week or more at 100%. We're in a cold spot, so our temperature is usually 2c less than our friend who is 3 miles away. He has the same weather station. Average temperature since the start of November has been 3 celsius. As such, equilibrium moisture content is around 24%. Summer is incredibly wet here too, to the point that keeping the house free of damp is tricky. RH in the house is usually over 70% through summer and whilst we do get days of 30-40% RH outside, more common is 70-80%. At the moment, the sawn timber I have in the barns is sat at 20-21% MC but that has crept up from 17% over summer. It never goes lower than that. The yard is a bit less damp than home (further inland and windier).
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16% might well be what performs best but it's just impossible for anyone in the UK to achieve drying or storing firewood outside. Equilibrium moisture content up in Central Scotland is well over 20% during winter (about 24% here at home, as we are in a cold spot and relative humidity stays high). How would you suggest we that people in the north of the UK or on the west coast achieve 16%? Genuine question, not being difficult
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I think boiler stoves are much more prone to chimney fires than normal stoves. We've had our stove (Champion Stoves, Dominator 20kw) for 5 years now, put 35-40 cube a year through it (mostly softwood now) and I've not swept the chimney in that time. I've seen no reduction in flue performance in that time and seen no evidence of any chimney fires. We chuck all sorts of rubbish on the fire too (nappies being the main one) and it incinerates everything with no issues. Due to the size of the stove, it tends to always be burning on the hotter end of the safe range of operation, so I reckon the flue temp is high all the way to the top. It's a clay lined flue.
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I had two or three minor chimney fires when I had a Rayburn years ago and the contributory factors were: * Coal, and the associated soot build up * Lack of a thermostat controlling water flow to the water jacket, meaning that on occasion the firebox would be cooled excessively * Overfiring of the Rayburn, albeit only for a few moments. If the flue had become sooty due to the above two issues, leaving the vents open for even a fraction too long (so just too hot on the flue thermometer) would result in a chimney fire. It was easy to put it out with shutting the vents though
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Yeah, there is no way that I could have the hydraulic lines that exposed. It would need to be corrected.
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About £30k delivered, with tipping body, clam shell attachment and almost all of the other extras.
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When I spoke to Riko about 6 months ago it was about £42k plus VAT, and for that they'd chuck on lights and a few extras. The Kinetic comes in at about 2.1t, so a bit heavier. It's a nice machine, but out of my budget really.
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The one to have out of the Kranman range is the 10000 Pro but it's over £50k now. If I had that money to spend I'd be getting the Kinetic 8x8. Heading to Finland in 3 weeks to see the Logbullet. Much more sensibly priced and looks really nicely engineered.
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Great piece of kit but so expensive now. It's like they've just looked at the price of Alstor and jacked their prices up by 50%. Really frustrating as I'm in the market for a micro forwarder but they are asking too much for them now.
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Still 108kg.
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Well I went to gym and did what I could. Kept it light, kept the volume down but still got light headed towards the end. Squat, bench, leg press, horizontal row, triceps and done. Bodyweight 5kg down on 9 days ago according to the gym scales
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Not good at all. It's a chicken and the egg situation I think. I have no appetite because I've barely moved for a week, so I've no energy. I'll only get an appetite if I go to the gym, but that requires energy which I won't have until I build an appetite by going to the gym
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Hoping to get back into the gym tomorrow. Still a long way from 100%, but need to get back to try to feel human again. 9 days off with flu. Daren't weigh myself but feel seriously deflated physically. Going to do the first session at 50% weight and see how I feel.
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Not any more. Used to be able to do 140kg for a single on narrow grip, but I gained virtually nothing on the bench for years. I did 137.5kg wide grip aged about 20 and then switched to narrow to focus on tricep strength and only put 2.5kg on it in 3 years. Overhead went right up though, and I was able to do 115kg push press on both the bar and log.
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Where in Scotland are you planning to move to and where are you presently? House rents vary wildly according to where you are. We're around Edinburgh and it's really expensive here, and the wages don't match the cost of living. The reason why Dumfries and Galloway is so cheap is because no one wants to live there. Keep in mind that the weather is usually somewhere between unpleasant and awful, and that will mean more lost days to weather and the associated loss of income. If you don't want to be eaten alive my midges and soaked constantly, keep east.
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Does anyone have any tips for recovering from (proper) flu? The fever has gone now but I feel incredibly weak and I'm struggling to get even 2500kcal down in a day. I'm barely hungry and I'm taking a long time to digest what I do eat. I need to get back to normality as I feel about 85 years old at the moment. Even getting a barrow of firewood in this evening wiped me out.
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Reverse hyper extension and glute ham raises are best, but not too many gyms have them. Wider stance squatting will take the focus off your quads and switch it to hips, glutes and hamstrings.
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Excellent! Welcome to the fold Richard Form is the key thing. Learning to squat correctly means that you will build muscle and strength most efficiently whilst minimising the risk of injury. Move onto squatting with the empty barbell (20kg) for a session and go from there. Keep the rep range high, and work with a weight that you can easily do 15 at. You don't want to be challenging yourself too much at this stage as without the basis of good form, you'll quickly end up getting the weight up whichever way your body can, which can sometimes be ugly. Importantly, get someone with experience to watch your reps. Or take a video and post it here.
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There comes a point though where you burn out. I'm wondering a little whether me getting flu for the first time in 6-7 years has anything to do with squatting every other day for 3 weeks. Maybe not. Either way, you can still achieve valuable training results without going very heavy. 20 rep squat sets, speed work, the all important form work, paused squats etc etc etc.
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If you are able to squat every day as a beginner, you're not working hard enough. I use the term beginner to describe your experience with squatting. Seasoned profession weighlifters will squat near enough every day, but they've got years and years of experience under their belt. By all means squat regularly, but if you maintain a high volume throughout your cycle then make sure to have regular deload weeks. Otherwise, squat regularly, but don't go heavy too often.
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That parcel was sold, so still looking.
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Well the fever lasted all weekend, peaking at just over 40c. I've eaten virtually nothing since Saturday afternoon and if I'm able to do a bodyweight squat next time I'm at the gym, I'll be impressed!
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It couldn't really be further away though, on the Gower peninsula!
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Well found Steve. I'll call them on Monday. Thanks for that.
