Big J

I've a large, hollow burr elm coming down the road in the next week or two. Would fit on a single pallets, which would only cost about £70-80 delivery.

Lovely work! Is there anything you are going to treat it with to try to preserve it for a touch longer? I ask only as there is a fairly sizable hollow coming down through the root plate.

I think that the amount I take the rakers down (I use an angle grinder - it takes too long with a file), it would snag and stall too much if I didn't hold onto it!

Well, agreed. I actually think that if logs were well set out that a team of three (two on mill, with third in rotation for milling, setting up rails for first cuts and helping with lifting), you'd cut at the same rate with a chainsaw mill as a team of three on a band mill down to about 1.5". You'd obviously have masses more sawdust and wrecked wrists, but a double ended set up is rapid. We did 450 hoppus foot of sequoia in under two days, and 196 hoppus foot of sweet chestnut in 5 hours once (that was all at 2").

A precision grinder isn't really necessary - free hand it offers perfectly good results. I can sharpen my 56" chain in 2-3 minutes, which means more frequent sharpens and quicker progress. I've not tried the winch, but I don't feel the need for it. The biggest impediment to rapid progress is the depth gauges. For the MS880, the stock chain has depth gauges too high. For double ended milling, they are hugely too high. No amount of chain sharpening will help that. You want the chain grabby enough that it pulls along by itself. The thing to remember with a double headed set up is that it's far far more economical on fuel, oil and chain sharpens. I think a double ended MS660 set up would be very good indeed for someone who isn't a full time sawmiller. To illustrate it's efficiency - my friend and I quickly milled a 24 hoppus foot 7ft long 30" diameter dense highland oak log the other day. I can very close to getting through the whole thing on one tank (in each saw - which was left running between cuts and the whole endevour took 30 minutes), so 2.5l of fuel.

Legalities aside, I believe that the very worst thing about this tree is the fundamental lack of respect shown by the neighbours in this difficult time for the lady's family. The very last thing a family who have just lost a loved one want to think about is whether the neighbours are going to trespass and butcher any tree they deem to be unsightly. Time was that in such times neighbours would offer support, whether it be emotional or just a lasagne brought round for relatives. To come to your mother's house after she's died to find this is disgraceful.

I'd far sooner have a double ended set up with two MS660s than a single ended mill with one MS880. I'd be fairly certain that you'd achieve twice the cut rate.

If you are going to do any amount of milling, get an MS880. If you going to do any serious amount of milling, get two with a double ended set up with two MS880s. I cut some deodar cedar (one of those rare UK stems that Delabodge didn't manage to get to before anyone else) the other week - 13ft 6" cuts, 38" wide in 3-3.5 minutes. That is 3 times quicker than a single ended set up, if not more.

Hi there, You'll always get a bit of soot build up on the glass from time to time, but if it's too tough to get off with scrunched up newspaper, it's probably not running hot enough. Simple solution though - invest a fiver in a flue thermometer. I have my fire on 6 months a year almost continuously, and I honestly don't know how people efficiently operate stoves without them. You light the stove, leave all vents open until the temperature reaches the top of the safe range, close it down a bit. If the temperature drops too low (ie out the bottom of the safe range), you have closed the vent too far. You quickly get a feel for it and it becomes a very simple process.

Always very suspicious of any developments that regard the felling of ancient oaks as being OK. Surely it's crown could be reduced in order to ensure it's continuing survival, whilst accommodating aforementioned development. I'd bet my left nut that whatever is built there will be less attractive than an ancient oak.

Excellent work. Sequoia is a dream to cut, only I wish I got to cut it when it was still a sensible size. Done two this year - one at 5.5ft and the other 6ft diameter!

I've got a copy of that book you can borrow if you like Tom.

http://www.championstovecompany.co.uk Well (British) built, simple stoves at an excellent price. He will build bigger stoves on request. I have a 4kw stove in my office, my old neighbour has a 7kw version in her living room. Good friends of ours are about to get a 7kw stove for their new house, we have a 20kw monster in our living room at home and I'm about to get a 15kw version of the monster for a house we share with a friend up north. Highly recommended!

I only found the website at the end of last year, so the first one went into my office last October. They are heavily constructed (4 or 5mm steel depending on version) and beautifully made. It's all laser cuts and excellent welds. I have a monster 20kw version with a glass door - it takes 27 inch logs and easily lasts overnight on any wood species. A bargain too. He has been building stoves for 15 years and apparently not had any failures. I just don't see the point in spending thousands on a stove.

Highly recommend The Champion Stove Company. I have three stoves from Martin and one more on order. Biggest is circa 20kw. Great stoves, built in Britain and very affordably priced.

Aaah, I know where that is. That estate has some truly remarkable trees. First place in Scotland to have beech introduced I think. Is the giant (and I mean as big, if not bigger than the sycamore) sweet chestnut that fell over still on the bank just before the bridge still there? They had no idea what to do with it. If you have a moment Tom, have a look at the beech on the other side of the river from main drive. Perfect 3ft diameter stems, well over 100ft tall. A whole stand of them.

No need for a processor for that size of material. All you need is a frame that holds four posts in a square 18 inches apart. Load up the frame and then just chainsaw to length - that's the way that I do all my firewood at the yard. Would take you minutes to do a cubic metre with nothing more than a decent sized chainsaw.

It's much appreciated Rob, but I really need quite a bit more than that. All the best, Jonathan

What he says

Hi all, I'm in need of 25 or 50 tonnes of good quality western red cedar sawlogs, ideally 4.9s. Anywhere in the country would be considered, as if it's a good way south I'll send it to another mill to be cut. Many thanks! Jonathan

We used to have a lovely cat when I was a kid. Dignified old gent a tom cat. He still took his fair share of wildlife though. Had another cat as an adult, which was just as murderous and pissed in the house. It was rehomed and I've vowed never to have a cat again - they are just so very inferior to dogs.

Woodmizer: woodmizer lt15 bandsaw planks timber Woodmiser slabs | eBay Stenner: 1900 Stenner & Co 22' rack saw bench. | eBay

Yeah, Landies aren't really a comfortable option at 6ft 8"! Sounds daft, but cruise is a necessity for me. Partly because I'm very tall and have a buggered right side of back and right leg, and partly due to the newly installed average speed cameras on the A9. Can't imagine that you can get a 110 with cruise. A 7.5t lorry is no use to me as it's not sufficiently multi purpose. A vehicle needs to be able to tow heavy trailers, access rough tracks and fields, transport family whereever I need to go and negotiate snow and ice. A lorry only works as a timber delivery tool and nothing more. On the topic of tachos, beyond the installation of a digital tachograph, what else do I need?

Off cuts from the mill - probably 150 cubic metres a year, complete mix. Hate doing firewood!

That is something that I'd forgotten. My uncle got dragged backwards down a hill in Luxembourg in a 90 towing an excavator. I suppose with a Disco you are far less likely to attract VOSA's attention.