Big J

Sawmill Woodmizer LT40 HD | eBay They don't come up too often - reasonably priced too.

Just wanting to get an honest opinion on whether you folks regard this as a daft idea or not. I have been thinking about starting to produce firewood in a more organised fashion than simply processing offcuts. I barely advertise the stuff and it's selling quite well. Demand exceeds supply. I now finally have the screw splitter up and running (will post photos) which is excellent in certain timbers. It basically won't handle knotty hardwood as it's belt driven and simply comes to a stop. However, straightish grained hardwood or most softwood it's very quick with. So the plan is to buy softwood chip wood and process it into logs. I have a new kiln under construction that I can dry firewood in too, so it gives me a market niche that is presently not catered for. I have worked out that I can produce, dry and deliver a cubic metre for £25. That's all costs included - labour, fuel, machine wear and tear, electricity for the kiln, yard rental costs - the lot. It also takes me a maximum of one hour to produce, load to the kiln, unload to the trailer and deliver a cubic metre. So if I sell for £55 a cubic metre (which seems quite reasonable to me), I make a clear £30 an hour after costs, and it means I'm around at the yard a lot more for calling sawn timber customers. Am I mad for even contemplating entering the firewood game?!

My weight has held at 98-102kg for about 3 years now (after getting up to 131kg weightlifting, up from 77kg 4 years prior to that). What I notice now is that my weight isn't moving, but my body composition is very slowly changing with a tiny bit of muscle wastage and a tiny amount of fat gain. That said, if I am working, I can eat anything I like and never gain weight. I also drink more than I used to (10 pints a week, though sometimes a touch more) but it's not made much difference. I appreciate that I am lucky, and well done to all those on the thread that have lost weight or are trying. Jonathan

Lycetts. I've got all my professional insurances with them and they are incredibly cheap. My truck insurance for instance - I'm 28 with 2 years no claims. 11 plate Navara, no mileage restriction, fully comp for any driver over 25, tiny excess, £690.

50-100 cubic metres a year is a fair work load if you are fully processing it from standing to firewood. I've a 346xp and it's a lovely saw. No issues with it at all, though it would be a touch slow on ringing up 15 inch hardwoods. I would maybe be inclined to get a 357xp or 560xp, though that might be a bit overkill on the felling. Stick to the XP range though. Jonathan

Best solution:

Leave the logs as long as you can as clamping/rolling/leveling etc is all the same regardless of size of log. In fact, short logs are a bit of a pain for leveling and clamping. Dimensioned timber always takes more time than through and through, even when cut thick. With a couple of guys on an 8 hour day I'd expect you to cut 3-5 cubic metres or thereabouts. 16-18 inches is about the right size for a manual mill in my experience. A good cant hook (peavey) will make life much easier though. Poplar should make excellent kindling. If you can get it the right size, lime dries quicker than any timber I know of so quick turn around. I'd be surprised if you had to wait more than a month for it to dry to less than 20%. Jonathan

The best way to calculate the approximate sawn volume of a butt is to use the Hoppus Measure. The hoppus measure is 1/4 girth squared multiplied by length (all in inches) divided by 1728. So as an example: A ten foot oak log has a girth of 120 inches - 30x30x120/1728=62.5 cubic foot. It basically gives an allowance for wastage in sawing and has been used since the 18th century. Pricing on the hoppus foot would usually be £2-5 for ash and £3-8 for oak depending on quality. Obviously burr oak would be much higher. Jonathan

People who moan about logs being too dry are simply uneducated. My experience of the majority of stove users is that they have no idea how to manipulate the temperature of their fire for an efficient burn. They either seem to have it blasting fully or shut right down and it goes out. It's not difficult, but so many people seem to struggle. Get a flue thermometer. Light your stove and leave on full blast until near to top of safe operation range. Shut down air incrementally (for me it's a case of shutting the door at the bottom, but leaving the vent open, then shutting the damper then shutting the vent) so as not to cause the temperature to dip too much. Hey presto, you have a fire that won't tar up your chimney or race through your firewood supply. It almost pains me to sell firewood to people with open fires - it's such a waste!

I've got shale blaze (the slag from shale oil mining). It can be a bit mucky at times, but it's quite easy to keep clean. You can plow up any sawdust without ripping up the surface. It's just a bit of a pain when you have a frost and it melts. It can leave a muddy slick on top. Very good surface for a standard forklift though - I almost never get stuck!

Never had an issue with overheating with the 088. The first kiln I filled I milled solidly for 7 days straight by myself without any hiccup. In all the hundreds of hours I've spent chainsaw milling, it's only ever once required workshop attention.

Best reduction I could suggest would be to just below ground level, followed by further improvement with a sawmill!

I was at a timber grading course last Friday and the chap running it has been in the business for 50 years. He isn't excessively worried about Chalara Fraxinea as he's seen dozens of diseases hit the UK that have supposedly threatened to destroy a species. Only Dutch Elm was successful in that respect and apparently they knew it was going to devastate a long time before it hit. Additionally, if it is as severe as is made out to be, control measures are bloody pointless anyway. If it can cross the English Channel on the wind, any human effort to control it's spread is like trying to put out a forest fire with a super soaker!

He was in ecstasy, with a huge smile on his face, as his girlfriend moved forwards then backwards......forwards then backwards......back and forth.........back and forth........in and out.........in and out. Her heart was now pounding faster, her face flushed as she moaned, softly at first........then she began to groan louder! Finally.....totally exhausted she let out an almighty scream!!! "Ok, Ok! -- I can't park the effing car! ----You do it you smug bastard!!"

I always like the idea of considering left field manufacturers. As it stands I have four saws: * Echo cs 280wes * Husqvarna 346xp * Makita DCS7901 * Stihl 088 So completely brand non loyal. I'm considering replacing the 346xp for no particular reason other than I fancy a change and it's a bit heavy on fumes sometimes (breathing through my nose the evening after a days cutting is a pain sometimes). The 50cc Dolmar sounds interesting though!

Oh dear. Perhaps for his next order give him a complimentary abacus.....

We have an old Rayburn that was fitted last winter by a friend. It's excellent and I now wouldn't be without it. Does most of our cooking, all our heating and hot water. It's 8 celcius outside and was minus 3 this morning and I'm sitting round in my pants and t-shirt as any more would be too warm! Jonathan

£250 a month plus VAT for a 1200 sq m yard (which includes two barns). Good hard standing and power. It will increase to £300 a month over the next two years though.

Only timed myself once recently. With my wife loading the block with a mixture of clean ash, medium knotty oak and stringy European larch, I did a cubic meter in 19 minutes. Without the larch it would have been about 16 minutes as it often takes two hits. We got 2 cubic meters split, into the crate and stacked with the forklift in 45 minutes.

They are out there, trust me! I've got an order drying at the moment that came through this week. He's a good and regular professional furniture making customer, and he's taking 36-40 cubic foot of kiln dried ash at £28 a cube plus VAT. If you can produce a high quality board (you need to be reasonably picky with your logs), the customers are out there. The professional furniture makers are the best customers as they spend less time mulling over boards and spend 5 times as much as the hobby carpenter.

50 inch bar - £250 or thereabouts Mill extensions - £100 or so Chains x 2 - £100 Aux oiling kit - £50 Total - £500 Revenue from first 3ft 6" diameter 10ft oak log slabbed at 2 inch sold at £15 a cubic foot (fairly cheap) - £1134 You know it makes sense!

I run my 088 with a 50 inch bar and that's sufficient for most logs. Gives a 42 inch cut. You always need more than you think!

Stihl 088/MS880. I don't actually know anyone that runs the big Husky for milling - seems to be fairly poorly regarded for that application.

It rarely is for general forestry work as the kind of rubbish that makes it into sawlogs rarely finds it's way into a forest grown tree. For me, the main application for a grinder is sawmilling with an Alaskan mill. 50 inch bar (never used in UK forestry), tied into a mill limiting hand file access and the need to sharpen very often (I sharpen every two-three tanks whilst milling) means hand filing is a ball ache. For the sake of £30, it's a cracking tool to have in the armoury.

Honestly 'Huck, in the right situation, it's superb. For instance, it's not possible to file a saw in an Alaskan Mill by hand unless you take the saw out of the mill. What takes 2-4 minutes with the electric grinder would take 15 or so by hand. On very damaged chains, they are fantastic for getting a rough edge back. Then hand sharpen for final finish. I would like to think of myself as someone who is quite proficient at hand sharpening (will happily cut all day on one sharpen, such is the edge I'm consistently getting), but there is a time and a place for grinders.