Big J

Just a bit of fun. If you had carte blanche to plant a woodland, what would you plant? Me? It would just be birch and alder. It's something I've given some thought to. We do quite a lot of work for the estate I live on. First thinnings, second thinnings and so on in hardwoods. We seem to spend all our time trying to rescue crappy oak, sycamore, ash and beech stands. More often than not, we cut out lovely birch to make way for mediocre (or worse) oak. If it were me, I'd just look at it pragmatically and financially: Oak woodland: * Requires planting, tubing and staking * Requires regular pruning and pest (ie squirrel) control * Requires regular thinning to avoid tree death * No guarantee of quality saw logs at final harvest * High value final harvest potential, but at least 100 year turnaround Birch and alder woodland: * No planting required, simply spread seeds, allow regeneration * Requires little or no pruning as more or less self maintaining * Can tolerate irregular thinning and close planting * Can be thinned by harvester * Lower value final value product (although most firewood producers would trip over themselves for high quality birch/alder cord) but produced very much more quickly. * 40-50 year cycle time from planting to final harvest. Just my two cents really, but I really cannot understand this prioritising of Oak. In almost all instances (in my experience), birch make stunning woodlands and are so trouble free. So, what would you (or have you) plant (ed)? I would maybe include some cherry or ash as minority species for a bit of diversity, but I reckon I'd be planting 50% birch, 30% alder and less than 20% other species.

I have a fair amount of cedar cut to 1 inch, kiln dried and ready to go, if you wanted a cedar floor. Beautiful clear timber, with a stunning aroma. I think that I have about enough for 20 square metres or so at that thickness. All processing can be done here and boards supplied ready to fit. Jonathan

That first log is particularly excellent, though there seems to be a little bit of discolouration around the heart. Good luck with the sales.

That first log is particularly excellent, though there seems to be a little bit of discolouration around the heart. Good luck with the sales.

That's not a bowl - it's a blinking font!

That's not a bowl - it's a blinking font!

Not a fly fisherman, but just refinding my childhood love of fishing again. I always loved spinning, so that's what I'm doing. We're up in Ullapool for the weekend and I caught a couple of 9 inch sea trout and a minute coalfish yesterday evening. Really hoping for a mackerel or ten, but struggling at the moment. As a point aside, I'm getting sick of all rivers in Scotland being fly only. In the high wind we were having yesterday, fly fishing just wouldn't have been possible. Does my nut in, coming from Derbyshire where no such traditionalism exists.

Not a fly fisherman, but just refinding my childhood love of fishing again. I always loved spinning, so that's what I'm doing. We're up in Ullapool for the weekend and I caught a couple of 9 inch sea trout and a minute coalfish yesterday evening. Really hoping for a mackerel or ten, but struggling at the moment. As a point aside, I'm getting sick of all rivers in Scotland being fly only. In the high wind we were having yesterday, fly fishing just wouldn't have been possible. Does my nut in, coming from Derbyshire where no such traditionalism exists.

I limp and hobble - trapped nerve in back causing constant pain in quadricep. 5 years now, so not actually arb industry caused. Getting the nerves in that back joint killed off next month though - hurrah! I think manual labour will build a body that is more resiliant to the stresses of a physical job, but at the same time you are going to have aches and pains too. I can do a whole days log splitting by hand and do it again the next day, but it's still going to hurt. I suppose the difference is that office monkeys would be incapable of moving for a week after and probably tear a muscle.

I limp and hobble - trapped nerve in back causing constant pain in quadricep. 5 years now, so not actually arb industry caused. Getting the nerves in that back joint killed off next month though - hurrah! I think manual labour will build a body that is more resiliant to the stresses of a physical job, but at the same time you are going to have aches and pains too. I can do a whole days log splitting by hand and do it again the next day, but it's still going to hurt. I suppose the difference is that office monkeys would be incapable of moving for a week after and probably tear a muscle.

I use a combination of hand filing and the Granberg electric sharpener. Both have their place at different times for different saws. I use hand filing for all general sharpening of small to medium saws. I've always deburred my chrome edge, and find that a good edge will last me all day in hardwood thinning without ever feeling that I need to resharpen (today for instance). I use the electric grinder for sharpening my ripping chains (I run a 50 inch bar on the 088) and for recovering damaged chains. Even once recovered, I still sharpen by hand to finish off. As a point aside, has anyone else noticed that the performance of chains straight out of the box it poor? New chain on this morning, cut for five minutes feeling that it was slow and dull. Five minutes to sharpen and 4 strokes of the file on each depth guage and it was cutting like a dream, and all day too (6 tanks of fuel on a 346xp). I've found this to be the case for any brand of chain - even ripping chains. Why don't manufacturers put a decent edge on the cutters and take the depth guages down to a reasonable level?

Hahaha! Why is it that people attribute no value to good firewood sold by honest businesses, yet seem to think that the Leylandii hedge in the back garden is worth a small fortune?!

Seconded on the recommendation for the Makita DCS 7901. I've had one for about a year now (bought used from Rob D) and it's my favourite saw. Whether it's got an 18 inch or 24 inch bar on it, it's a fast cutter, especially with the 8 tooth sprocket. I've used an MS460 a few times, and would recommend the Makita over it.

Congratulations there Hodge! As has already been mentioned, he's a big lad! I was only 8lb 5oz and I'm over 6ft 7 inches!

Just stunning Steve. One of the best lumps of yew I've ever cut. Tom D - that was the one I got from you that was flattened by the larger poplar

Not a bad butt at all that. Bit of a twist in it, but nothing too serious. Milled and kilned a lot of cedar recently, and it's a joy to work with. The trees I bought were a touch bigger and I paid £60 a tonne roadside (had them uplifted to my yard).

Whilst I am sure that the kiln in the link would do a good job, I question the need to spend so much money. Update! Recently opened my first kiln load using a heat recovery unit in place of an extractor fan. Works in exactly the same way, bringing in cool dry air and pumping out hot wet air, but recovers a proportion of the heat lost to bring down the electricity cost. The results were very good indeed, with the most consistant moisture content that I have ever had from a mixed thickness kiln. Lowest MC readings were 8% from some of the inch thick elm and highest were just under 14% from 2 inch fresh sawn cedar. The cycle time has been reduced from 10 weeks to about 7-8 weeks and it runs at a higher and more stable temperature, whilst using less heat to maintain that temperature. I haven't had the bill yet, but I reckon that the unit (which cost me £290 off ebay, not quite new, but virtually unused) has saved me about £250 in electricity for this cycle alone. Additionally, the quality of the boards was very good indeed, not suffering at all for the slightly quicker cycle. It's a slow process, but I'm having a purpose built kiln built on site with a concrete base, thermolite breeze block walls and drive in doors. It means that I can take the air dried packets of timber (I tend to make stacks of 50 odd cubic foot of timber, 5ft wide - ideal for the forklift to lift and to stack in the kiln) and drive them straight in without the need to restack. Also, the air dried oak is now starting to come ready (1.5 inch stock sawn last October down to 26% MC) so the next kiln will feature it, along with some ludicrously quick drying 3 and 4 inch thick lime. That was sawn in February (and it had only fallen over the previous month) and is already down to 23% MC. As usual, anyone needing kilning help, don't hesitate to get in contact.

Done and done! Will be interesting to find see certainly - I must admit that I have never really given much thought to the files, but their efficiency is going to be key to chain sharpness.

You could send it to Helmdon Sawmills in Northamptonshire (not sure where you are though). He's cheap as chips for milling, and will accurately quarter saw it. I would be surprised if sending it to him, milling it and hauling it back was more expensive than milling it on site.

Oooh, very good! I like the combination of chainsaw mill, bandsaw mill and forklift. Means you can break down large logs and mill them with reduced sawdust. Keep us updated.

Thanks Rob! It's funny, I was doing deliveries last week and one chap I've been supplying for a couple of years has just opened a new gallery. Going in there to have a look, over half the pieces were made from timber of mine. I love to see the end product

My Navara (2011) does about 32-35mpg whilst dotting about without a trailer. Had over 40mpg on slowish motorway runs and down to 28mpg on long commutes when I'm late. Drops to 21-28mpg for towing, though never towing less than a tonne (empty weight of trailer). Don't ever buy a Navara though - comfortable yes, reliable - not a hope. New 2.5 Hilux's are very economical - my friends 11 plate does over 600 miles on a tank routinely on mostly road orientated ATs.

I intend only to sell a small amount of firewood this winter (about 30-40 cubic metres probably - as a result of offcuts from sawmilling) and you could get anything up to 14 inch logs. If they are too long, sod off and find a different supplier. I'm cheap, supply top quality logs that fit either of my stoves fine. If they don't suit, but them from someone else. Worst case scenario is I burn them myself, as they aren't really a core part of my business. Why anyone would buy a tiny stove is beyond me.

End of summer sale to try to clear the 40 odd tonnes of sawlogs I have bumbling around my yard. Most of my barns are full of sawn timber, I have loads of kilned stock and I need to shift some of the logs. So, having a sale to move it. About 20% off usual prices of green timber with many species in stock: Elm - over 10 tonnes of excellent quality stock available. Best logs are around 28 inch diameter with good figure and were mostly disease free when felled. In fact they are still growing in my yard! £12-16 a cubic foot dependent on quality. Oak - various logs, some beam grade, some nice pippy stock, some clean and straight, nothing too big bar one burred log that is hiding some metal in the middle. Very millable though as metal detector from Rob will guide me through it without hitting too much I hope. £12-16 a cubic foot. Cherry - couple of logs, one average quality, the other excellent. £10 a cubic foot for the lower grade, £14 for the better. Yew - Several good logs, up to 18 inch diameter and 4-8ft lengths. £15 a cubic foot. Beech - very clean 15 inch straight log. No branches, no twist, lower lengths have kilned very well. £12 a cubic foot. Ash - several logs up to 22 inches in diameter. Clean and straight, no branches. £12 a cubic foot. Cedar - quite a bit of cedar still kicking about. The best logs have been sold already, so more character grade stuff. Big diameters still, over 2ft, ideal for garden furniture projects. £10 a cubic foot. Sequoia - several tonnes available too. Excellent cladding or exterior carpentry wood. £10 a cubic foot. All prices are subject to VAT. Most economical method of transport is by double pallet. It can be very economical as we recently shipped over 50 cubic foot of timber to the south coast for about £120. I am more than happy to advise on setting up a kiln - it's easy to do and quite inexpensive. Jonathan

They certainly look the business. Nice to see a bar that starts off without paint - it just comes off anyway. Next time I need a bar Rob, I'll grab one from you to try. Jonathan