Big J

I was supposed to have a chap calling me today about a burr log I was meant to be picking up, but it didn't materialise. I don't have much burr at the moment at all, but can probably find some. Is fresh sawn acceptable, or does it need to be dried?

The fact that they do work is not being disputed here. They are however a very inefficient method of heating your home or your hot water. You cite summer usage for hot water, but you would be far better (and it would be much cheaper too) to install solar hot water panels. The very best thing that you can do in this country (apart from demolish your house and start again - we really do live in some of the worst housing in Europe) is heavily insulate your house, sort out your air tightness and for us in the arboricultural industry, install a wood burner/wood fired heating system. My the practice for whom my wife works have been putting up extremely green buildings for over 30 years and they only ever installed one air source heat pump. It was never used. Jonathan

Pointless eco bling (looks good, but does little to improve your carbon foot print). Far, far better to invest in energy retention than small scale energy creation. Renewables just aren't economical on that scale.

I also agree with you for the most part, but I do have a great deal of respect for people who undertake vocational training/study, particularly as the financial rewards aren't great (and usually aren't the reason they choose that career path). My wife is an example - she is an architect, taking 9-10 years to fully qualify, and earns about what an average employed climber would get. She is extremely good at what she does, has led projects of up to £7m (for the Foresty Commission - Glentress Mountain Bike Centre), and is also the only one of her friends in architecture/engineering who hasn't been made redundant. The hours that she has done when a project has been busy are daft (80 hours a week were quite common) and there is no overtime payment as it's just assumed that you will do it for the salary you are paid. We have pretty good job stability in this industry. If we are reasonably competent and diligent, there is the opportunity to earn good money for something that requires very little training. The competence after training takes quite some time to develop, but it is worth bearing in mind that we are only regarded as a semi skilled profession (though I would at times disagree with that statement). I now have a couple of cutters working for me who have experience, though a little limited in places. They are however incredibly enthusiastic (which is infectious - I was ready to drop the forestry after Christmas, but was asked by my main client not to) and work very hard. When you get used to working with people who don't really want to be there, it's a breath of fresh air. At present I pay them a healthy training wage as I am there cutting with them every moment of every day. I will increase their pay incrementally as their skill and experience builds. Either way, there certainly isn't the money in forestry that there is in tree surgery, but I am very glad indeed that it's forestry that I do. The clearing up alone would drive me nuts!

A similar experience to my own I would say. Not working in the domestic market means that whilst the work is more regular, the potential reward is lower. I've had far too many cutters come and sub contract for me over the last few years, and each of them has gone the way moaning about wages/work. In fairness, I make so little from the forestry it's barely worth my time but I do it to basically cover our rent (I work for the estate we rent our house from) and ensure that the fairly specialised, delicate and highly publically visible work that needs to be done on the estate is done to a very high standard, by someone who has a vested interest in the place. I think that many people in the industry do have an over inflated idea of what they are worth. It's worth bearing in mind that you could do most of your tickets inside a month for a few grand. Compared to a university education in say engineering, architecture or medicine it's both a tiny investment of time and money. Climbers insisting on £200 a day should be reminded that in industries such as engineering or architecture, £200 a day wages is rare outside of senior management. For me, the amount of tickets or experience a person has is almost irrelevant. It's all about attitude and work ethic and these are qualities that you cannot teach.

A Fiat Panda 4x4... up Mount Etna - BBC Top Gear Very interesting article otherwise (I'm quite a fan of the new Panda 4x4) but scroll through the photos for the ultimate in public transport!

The semi chisel chain that it came supplied with Jon. I much prefer semi chisel really (more durable for forestry work - one sharpen a day is all that's required. Even then, it's perfectly sharp when it gets sharpened again) and I'm deeply intolerant of a blunt chain (hundreds of hours of chainsawmilling will do that to a man). Might try it with a full chisel at some point though.

I have a 550 on a 15 and I'm never left wanting for power on hardwood thinnings. It's extremely quick and a fair bit quicker than the 346xp as well as being 200g lighter (fully fueled with bar and chain - did weigh to check).

Common misconception - you mill the timber when it is as green as possible and then dry it after. Rule of thumb is a year per inch of timber, though in practice it's quicker in a barn with good air flow.

Very good stacking there! I'll not hold the species misidentification against you - the two can be fairly similar at times. It's the smell that distinguishes them more than anything for me.

I stand corrected! It's certainly better than I would have though it would be - my only remaining reservation is the healed pruning cuts and how much rot they introduced into the butt. Look forward to the milling pictures!

My favourite one was (and one I'll use with my kids when I have them) used in lieu of sympathy: "It won't hurt when the pain's gone"

Agreed. Several years back I nearly lost my licence (new driver so only 6 points available on my clean licence) due to an insurance technicality (drivers covered 3rd party if over 25 and I was a couple of months short - teach me to read the fine print). It's only by chance that I had quite a few good character references and my lawyer knew the procurator fiscal that the charges were dropped. Now that's an honest mistake that could happen to anyone (driving without insurance is an absolute offense, meaning that there are no excuses. You insurance company could cancel on you without your knowledge and you can still get done) and they go after you like there is no tomorrow. These thieving scum make a living out of destroying honest, hard working people's livings. They should all be locked up and sterilised.

You're on! These days, given the abundance of quite good quality trees, I generally won't touch anything that has more than a smattering of rot with a barge pole. That said, I will make an exception for a very good Elm or just about any Walnut (don't often find them here). The thing is (and it's something that I was told when I started out but didn't take so much notice of), it takes just as much time and effort to mill, stack, dry, kiln dry and handle a crap log as it does a good one. A good one will fly out the door whereas a bad one will sit there for ages until you drop the price enough to make it attractive to someone. Perhaps why I'm just going to focus on Oak and Elm, and secondarily extremely good quality Beech and Ash from now on. Maximum return on work!

A pair of horse, hiding in a lasagne. One said to the other - "They'll never Findus in here!".

Another thing that would worry me is that it's quite heavily buttressed, which again indicates rot in the heart. Compound that with the vigorous epicormic growth around the primary area of pruning and I reckon we're talking firewood here.

Didn't go see it in the end as I became inundated with large, good quality Oak locally. Thanks for your efforts though - much appreciated! That is definitely Ash there Si - I would stake my sawmill on it!

Unlikely. I reckon it is at best going to be 50% rotten, worst completely hollow. So many historical pruning wounds. Would happily be proved wrong though, and would be keen to see photos when it's down.

Delmhorst J 2000 with hammer probe. I got mine from Rob D here on Arbtalk.

550xp. Of the four 50cc class saws I've used extensively (MS260, MS261, 346XP and 550XP) it is by far and away the best. You are never left wanting for power in sub 18 inch diameter felling work.

That might well be true! I am a very friendly giant though!

Very good first effort - excellent quality milling. You stickering is good, but just requires a little modification. I am guessing that the boards are about 9.5ft long judging by the pallets. You want to have at least 7 stickers on a board that length, with the end stickers right at the very ends of the boards. You will get more movement there than anywhere else, and a well positioned sticker at the end of the stack will do a lot to prevent end shake. Here are some boards I cut last year as an example: Otherwise, keep up the good work and keep the pictures coming. Jonathan

I suppose that it is the environment into which they are installed. Scotland is a good bit damper than down south. Either way, I'll just pop them into the barn to dry. I've got a batch of 2.25 inch oak in there at present that was cut last April that is down at 29% already. Mantle pieces shouldn't take that much longer I suppose.

Delmhost with the hammer probe. £300 or thereabouts, but well worth the investment. I've never had anyone dispute a measurement and it seems to be very consistent.

My recommendation would be for a Husqvarna 560XP. The MS460 is indeed a very good saw, but I think that it is overkill for what you need. Especially given that you have been managing with an MS250 up to now. I started out with a 250 (which fell to pieces very quickly indeed) and progressed to a 260. After that I went down the Husky route and via a 346XP (lovely saw) I'm not on a 550XP (an even lovelier saw). In real terms, the 550XP is going to cut at least twice as quickly as the MS250. However, given that you are going to be cutting larger timber than I routinely tackle with my 550XP, go for the 560XP on an 18-20 inch bar. Another reason for it is that it's a much newer generation saw, producing far fewer fumes, using less fuel and with far less vibration.