Big J
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Everything posted by Big J
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Two sheets of newspaper, rolled together and tied in a knot and you shouldn't have any issue.
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We've just taken on a new yard with: * A 60x20ft barn for air drying timber, freshly resurfaced in rolled shale chips. * 1/4 acre of hand standing, also resurfaced. * New electrics in the barn. ....and we are paying £250 plus Vat a month.
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Can't really see the point in anything that cheap. You aren't going to get a reading that is anything apart from inaccurate.
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Yeah yeah yeah! I do miss the narrow back handle on the Stihl, but little else. It's things like the air filter constantly needing to be cleaned that bugged me. Basically, the MS260 cut wonderfully when freshly sharpened, cleaned, air filter cleaned and lovingly maintained. One tank later, you were back to slowsville, population 1! As I said, the 45cc 346 is definitely a faster saw. Pulls a 15 inch bar like the 260 does a 13.
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I did my first year in the woods with an MS260. It was a good enough saw, reliable and efficient on fuel. That said, switching to a 346xp was a huge improvement. Much much faster, noticeably lower vibrations and fumes. I now have two 346s, the 45cc and the 50cc. Even the 45cc is a faster saw than the 260. Jonathan
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Quick edit - reticence should read reluctance. Long day!
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I think that Stereo is onto a good point regarding Oak and it's reticence to form a bed of embers. Almost anything else will form a better bed - sycamore, cherry or elm to name a few. I do tend to burn one species and then another as I'll firewood one tree, then another. I had a lovely 2 cubic metre lot of Oak last month, but it wouldn't last overnight, even at 19-20% MC. The Elm I'm on at the moment would last 12 hours. Jonathan
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Less than 25%
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I just love how every manly angle is covered - crack out the largest chainsaw there is, and then just blow it up anyway!
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Then why not try the American way: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG8y5sPOFGM&feature=related]Exploding Log - YouTube[/ame]
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I think fundamentally Oak is one of the most unforgiving timbers to burn when it hasn't been sufficiently seasoned. Others (especially cherry, in my experience) you can get away with when the MC approaches 30%, but oak will just sit in your stove and laugh at you! We're well into the swing of things this winter now with our stove, past the 5 cubic metre mark, and so far the best by far has been elm. Nothing else has such a huge bed of embers and can be left for 12 hours and relit without kindling. 19% MC btw, felled and split green, stacked for 1 year.
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We had two days of mid twenties this year, but that was it (mercifully!). When it gets that warm I just put the saw away and go swimming in a river
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Another reason for attempting to get firewood under 20% is that up until that point, you are drying out all of the free water in the wood (ie, water stored in reservoirs within the cell - not a very good description but the only one that comes to mind at this time on a Sunday morning!). Beyond 20% you are then drying out the bound water (bound within the cell walls) which is very much more difficult as anyone with a timber drying kiln will tell you. It's also far slower. So I ask, when 20-25% is better than 95% of your competitors, and is absolutely fine for the job, why invest the additional 6 months in getting another 5% MC out?
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Some people just struggle in the heat. I am one of them. I honestly struggle to function when the temperature goes much over 24. Beyond 26 I just have to go home and sit in a cold room. Everyone's physiology is different - what is a comfortable temperature for one person can be unbearably hot for another.
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I have one. Very good saw indeed, especially on an 18 inch bar.
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I think that just as crucial as MC if not more is knowing how a fire should burn. Get a flue thermometer and make sure that it's always in the 'green' zone. I've met so many people that think that letting the fire 'tick over' (ie, smoulder) is fine. You get next to no heat, and it tars up the chimney, regardless of moisture content. Jonathan
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If you are consistently selling your logs with a moisture content of less than 25% you are selling a better quality product that the majority of 'firewood retailers' out there. I would be intrigued to hear what B&Q and garage forecourt MC averages were!
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My only personal experience regarding the pay disparity between public and private sector is my wife's profession - architecture. Council positions for architects have been advertised at £37,000. Private sector you are very lucky to get £30,000, and if you want to work for an ethical practice, closer to £21,000 is the norm. Additionally, public sector are on a strict 37.5hr week. There were times when my wife worked 80 hours a week up to deadlines with no overtime. And still the company folded. Don't have much sympathy for public sector, I'm afraid.
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I was going to say Steve, up here in Scotland there is no such thing as a hot day! Katie (collie/something cross) is with me most days at work (though not so much Monday and Friday, when my wife is not in town). We work almost exclusively within the estate, so all very rural and forest dominated. The trick to getting her to sleep whilst we are working is she's out all the time we aren't felling, and 'car walking' her onto and off site. 2 miles at 20-25 miles an hour you would expect to tire her out, but at 20 months old and as fit as a flea, she's not even panting!
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He earns the BBC many many many times that with the sale of Top Gear to 170 countries and a viewership of 350 million.
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Agreed. As much of an ass Clarkson can be at times, I must admit that I am a fan. I have become somewhat weary with the strikers. State run enterprises only exist because they are state funded. They are so inefficient that they can't survive without backup funding. Rather than striking, the public sector should do a job swap for a day with the self employed and business owners. That might shut them up!
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Sounds ideal - all movement should be well and truly done with now. Very nice job indeed!
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Tractor mounted, pto driven, Screw type log splitter, (poss hycrack) | eBay Not that expensive to make and that one looks very well used
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Very nice indeed! What sort of movement, if any, would you expect to see with that slab?
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This batch of elm will come out of the kiln around the 20th of January, so should anyone want any, it's priced at £28-35 a cubic foot dependent on quality. The burry lump above would be in the £35 category, and priced at roughly £55.
