Big J

I probably will just quarter it and chuck it on the mill. I deliberately sold both of my MS880s and the longer bars to try to discourage me from taking logs like this. I do however have a cross cutting machine coming which uses the Makita DCS9010 and a 74" bar, so I can use that to quarter it. It would be too tall if only halved.

Sorry - missed the posts on this thread for some reason! No luck finding anyone to mill it. Can't tempt you with it Mark?! We're not that far away!

Personally, I've found that all and any piles are deeply unpleasant. That being said, the idea of square ones fills me with terror!

It was years ago, but when my uncle got dragged backwards (as you say, overrun brakes aren't much use) it was on a very steep road in Luxembourg. There are many - it's a surprisingly hilly country! Devon is not that dissimilar with it's inclines and I think it's only a matter of time before you end up in a sticky situation. Someone coming in the other direction, blind corners, black ice, diesel slick, could be anything. My feeling is that whilst pickups, landrovers, landcruisers and other sub 3.5t 4x4s are designed to tow, they aren't designed to tow at full capacity all the time.

I think I'd be happiest with something like that for transporting 3 tonne every day. MAN 8-136 4X4 Ex Danish Army Truck | eBay

I missed the post about him already having the kit. In that case it makes a bit more sense. I stand by my comment on the small sawmill, especially if there is going to be estate timber. A lot of useful wood to mill, and you can always firewood the rubbish.

If you are going to be transporting 3 tonnes day in, day out, I'd possibly consider a large vehicle than a 3.5t class truck. First off, you're always going to have a trailer heavier than the tow vehicle, which can eventually end in issues (my uncle in Germany, the best driver I know, was dragged backwards down a hill in Luxembourg towing a 3t digger with his 90. Total loss of traction and somehow managed to control it - he always tells me to move past 3.5t class to something bigger). Secondly, I wouldn't like to test the long term performance of a modern pick up with that workload. I had a Navara for 5 years (and whilst it was a bad one, I do not think anything of them) and I did not work it as hard as you are proposing to work it. It pretty much broke down continuously and had I had to pay for the warranty work it had, I'd have been £10-15k out of pocket (best guess). If it were me I'd either get a 7.5t class truck or a Landcruiser.

I wouldn't bother. As has been already said, you can make money at the very small end and the very large scale end of the business. Inbetween is very difficult. The large scale end requires huge investment and a lot of faith in cold weather. The small scale end is back breaking and I would not recommend it. Worth remembering an adage regarding firewood - "You're selling the unprofitable to the ungrateful". Every customer has different preferences regarding their logs, different standards and a great many misconceptions. Add to that that almost no one wants to take anything other than bone dry firewood, you've got a complicated business proposition. If you are looking for a part time occupation to add a little to turnover, why not consider a small sawmill? £5k will get you a small manual sawmill, and you can make more money for less effort. A sawmill is more useful than firewood anyway - constructional timber becomes extremely cheap to produce and interesting bits of garden trees can yield some nice boards which sell quite well assuming you find your market. Cabinet makers, joiners and hobbyists are much easier to deal with than firewood customers!

My experience of older generation Japanese engineering was a 1989 Mitsubishi Shogun and it was fantastic. Having experienced newer Japanese engineering in the form of a Nissan Navara (I'm glad that no one has mentioned the new Navara in this thread so far), I'd say go for the Landcruiser. The endless electronics and the huge power extracted from such small displacements doesn't fill me with much confidence for longevity. Also, the very high gearing is an issue. I drove a D-max and my Citroen Relay van across the same stretch of field and the D-max trundling across on idle in 1st was the same speed as the van on idle in 2nd. Why do they gear them so bloody high? I'd hazard a guess than the LC has much heavier rear suspension too. With my new Relay I specced heavy duty rear suspension and it's made a big difference for towing. You now don't notice the trailer, regardless of weight or load distribution. I found towing with the Navara awful, with it bouncing and wiggling constantly. Anyway, on the basis of no personal experience or expertise, I say go for the Landcruiser!

I fully understand that the efficiency of systems with a tertiary air supply is superior. However such systems have an inherent level of complication (especially if a boiler is used with a buffer tank) that I find unappealing. I just like having a massive stove that I periodically lob 2ft logs into! Given that restricting air flow is a form of heat storage (deferring heat output until a later stage in the burn cycle), what else can be done to even out heat supply during the periods when the stove/boiler is not being refueled? We've not lit our fire for several weeks - just restoked it.

That's crazy. For someone like ourselves (who operate a stove 24 hours a day over winter - sometimes the stove doesn't see a lit match for 4-6 weeks over winter) we need to be able to shut the fire down in order to moderate the heat output. With large bits of firewood, 4-8 hour stoking intervals are fine. How could you do that if you always operated the stove with full air?

With our house (127 square metre, late 18th century detached cottage) we get through about 1200 litres of oil a year (hot water mostly, and is being topped up on Monday for 35.5p a litre, which is quite reasonable, I thought) and around 35 cubic metres of firewood. At the moment we are easily a cube a week. House is warm though, and trousers are rarely worn in the living room with the stove! I'm mixed hardwood/softwood, so would be about £1800 a year if I bought my wood. Oil is another £500, though I'd think we'd get through another £2000 worth of oil if we didn't use wood. The economics of heating your house with wood rarely stack up unless you have a cheap source. I say that with the proviso that that applies in the present market. It may change.

It is! Earlier in my sawmilling career I would have tackled it gleefully with the chainsaw mill, but these days I no longer have the appropriate gear or the reckless disregard for my wrists!

Hi all, I've a 6ft diameter crotch piece of elm in the yard I'd rather like to see milled. It's about 10ft long, and is the main trunk of an open grown tree, going from the base to the fork. Some burr, though not much. Would anyone like to mill it for me with a chainsaw mill? I can't be bothered to hack it up to fit it through the band mill. Payment would be in timber, and would amount to about 40 cubic feet of the stem. I have forklifts to move it, and can provide someone to help if required. If traveling from greater distance, I can stretch to 50 cube payment. It's good elm and 6ft wide boards are possible. Jonathan

In the past twenty years, 40% of the Presidents elected have been the candidates that did not win the overall majority of the vote. This is not democratic. There are no other industrialised nations that operate Electoral colleges, and like the imperial system, the US needs to realise it's out of date, confusing, counterproductive and needs to be replaced!

Hence the need for us to move towards proportional representation. Our system is still better than that of the US. For the winner to be the person that got fewer votes than the loser is nonsense. The Electoral college system means that the candidates spend nearly all their time and money in the swing states and barely visit the safe states. It doesn't strike me as being democratic.

But the popular vote in the UK still chooses the government (and our first past the post system isn't ideal). Out of the past 5 elections in the US, the popular vote has twice been defeated by the Electoral vote.

So Hillary got nearly 1.7 million more votes than Trump. Doesn't seem desperately democratic. To our American friends - is there much hope of ending the Electoral College system in the USA?

Our present thinking may be inaccurate or indeed just plain wrong. That is not the point though. The point is that the most intelligent and learned people of our time continually push the boundaries of our knowledge and rationally theorise what lies beyond. This process is fundamental for the advancement of our species and is in my opinion utterly vital. All of this is entirely opposite to religious teachings which are regressive, scientifically baseless, morally corrupt, written by authors with agendas and revised by others with different agendas. The only thing books such as the Bible, Koran and Torah are any good for is lighting fires. At best complete drivel, at worst a mandate for discrimination, hatred and murder.

You say no definitive proof, I say no proof at all. Either way, the conclusion is the same.

Surely the absolute belief in something for which there is no proof whatsoever is the cornerstone of psychosis?

Yep. From an evolutionary standpoint, religion is beneficial (which is delightfully contrary). Religion is a social cohesive, and it has been demonstrated that religious people tend to live longer. In earlier times, the presence of a cohesive mythology would have provided an evolutionary advantage, giving you and your offspring a better chance of succeeding in life and procreation. Personal and societal benefits would have included an explanation for incomprehensible natural phenomena (why does the sun come up etc) and giving the ruling classes a doctrine with which to instill fear and control the masses. It's remarkable how cruel you can be to your peasants if an eternal life of endless happiness awaits provided they are good and subservient. All of this belongs in the past. Whilst social cohesion is as important as ever, I'd like to think that we are done basing it on one of the various fairy tales the world religions ascribe to.

It is not narrow minded to point out the folly that is religion. Religion is a belief structure that relies not on evidence but on faith. Science is a belief structure that relies on continually challenged and updated evidence, subject to the rigorous scrutiny of hundreds of thousands of experts in their respective fields. What we presently believe might not be what is eventually proved to be correct, but at least we are seeking to understand our natural world as best we can, and in doing so, we continuously improve as a species. Faith in religion is the precise opposite. We are denying progress, denying the evidence that supports the theories of how we and our world came to take the form that is does today. We deny the rights of just about every minority according to the tenets of religious doctrine and we resist every advancement in the modern world that challenges our antiquated and anti scientific world view. To be continuously critical of a religious view point is not narrow minded. It honestly an effort to try to bring the religious person into the 21st century and try to impart an understanding of a scientific world view. I believe that many people are religious as they are unable to reconcile the nature of human existence. It is short, pointless and for many, needlessly cruel. Acceptance of that fact won't necessarily make you any happier, but it will at least be realistic!

I have four forklifts: Manitou MLA 628 LSU - plated to lift 2.8t, lifts 4.1t and it's nearly always got the grab on it for roundwood handling (except when loading lorries - it's handy as the whole lorry can be loaded from one side). Being artic steer, it's fairly maneuverable but it's big. Coventry Climax - plated to lift 2.5, lifts 3.8t. Exceptional four wheel drive system on it (goes a lot further off road than the telehandler) but these days permanently has a 1.1 cube bucket on it for sawdust moving and firewood handling. Nissan 2.5t lifting counterbalance (lifts 3.8t). This is the workhorse and I've had it over 4 years. Not the worlds best cold starter, but it's maneuverability is amazing and despite having worn, solid tyres, gets most places in my yard (which is fairly hard, but has some inclines and cambers). If it gets stuck, one of the other machines pulls it out. Some massive old Lansing 5t plated counterbalance(not yet found anything it won't lift) but the odd massive log. Has large pneumatic tyres and goes just about everywhere. Some days all four machines are used. There is no such thing as a do it all forklift and I'll always jump on the counterbalance rather than the telehandler. For rapid handling, it's much much quicker. Also, at about £2.5k, very cheap. I'd say get a telehandler and a counterbalance.

Cold and frosty for the past few days. Just below freezing presently. It's nice, though a little premature. We've had more cold weather so far this winter than most of last winter. Certainly more frosts.