Big J

They'd only ask you to turn up the heaters anyway - bloody scroungers1

All my life I have been searching for a special something, not knowing exactly what it was - now I do. I require the ability to destroy things on a tiny tiny scale with an elegant little cannon!

You should have called them up to accept the quote, and requested a CD copy of the conversation! For that amount of money I would as a minimum a medium sized frigate insured.....

All the best for a quick recovery! Good spot indeed - a few hours can make all the difference.

It's a token advert to attract interest - he's expecting you to call him

Safe to assume a pub table is 4ft x 2ft 6" and 1.5 inches thick when finished? That's 1.25 cubic foot for the top and possibly another 1.75 for the framework? 3 cube finished, and perhaps 5 starting (allowing for surfacing and wastage). So 250 cubic foot is required. Oak or ash would be my choices as they are hardwearing and thus suitable for a pub environment. Ash would be preferable to Oak as it's much cheaper and easier to dry. Leave it with me - I'm seeing a chap tomorrow who might be able to source the logs. Earliest timescale for me is end of March. Jonathan

True true. I think the revolution for firewood production will come when the public starts to consider: a) Wood as a viable alternative to fossil fuels for primary heating b) Softwood as the primary fuel for the primary heating I don't have much experience with firewood other than my own personal supplies, but in my experience, the time is really consumed by awkward, non-uniform timber. Softwood is by it's very nature uniform, and is the only kind of woodland that Britain has in any quantity. If memory serves there is a chap here on Arbtalk whose entire business on the Isle of Arran utilises Spruce. If everyone installed Agas/Rayburns/Wood boilers and started burning softwoods, we'd have a far less fluctuating market. Jonathan

The representative from Scottish Woodlands, the guys that manage the estate I work on, has said that they are trying to move the sales of cordwood towards volume, rather than weight. This is inline with the European method of doing things and is fairer as volume is constant, but weight will decrease rapidly with time. In response to the original post, I'm not a huge fan of birch myself - needs to be well dried and not durable when exposed to the elements (will rot very quickly). Jonathan

Thanks for all the feedback folks! A lot to digest. I forgot to say as well that the trees are in Belper, Derbyshire. Here are a handful of photos of the offending trees - as usual, the photos don't quite illustrate just how close they are or their size, but it's the best I could do! Jonathan

Looking for some advice regarding a line of ten beech at the bottom of the garden of my mum's neighbour's house. The trees are all reasonably mature beech, with an average 18 inch dbh (though up to 24 inches), in a line perhaps 25ft long (very close together). They average 65ft (at best guess), but some are a bit taller. They are 40ft from my mum's and mum's neighbours houses, with some of the branches a few feet from my mum's windows. There is no line of fell, all would have to be sectioned and rigged. There is no access beyond a normal side gate, and the gardens are steep with lots of steps. The trees are TPO covered, and are actually in the garden of the house that backs onto the bottom of my mum's garden. As it happens, the trees are 150ft from their house. My concerns regarding the trees are: * Many of them lean severely * One has an extensive pocket of rot 2ft from ground level. Rot seems dry, riddled with woodworm, and is 3ft tall and 1ft high. Would estimate 60-70% of tree cross section is no longer structurally sound. * The ground level seems to have been steadily increased by 1-2ft over a reasonable amount of time. Oxygen starvation for the roots? No external signs of ill health to support this though. * They are essentially 70ft trees, 40ft from several houses. They are far far too close together, and I would say only one is a reasonable tree, in terms of form and shape. To complicate matters, the owners of the trees are putting their house on the market next week, so aren't in any hurry to do anything. In addition, my mum is considering moving (unrelated reasons). So.... * Given the proximity of the trees to the house, should they be removed (if it can be justified to the local TO)? I'm not a tree surgeon, but given the difficulties of access and felling, I would guess a day for each tree for a team of three. 10 days - £6-7k? * Who should pay? * Should my mum just move house?! Any advice greatly appreciated, can get photos tomorrow. Jonathan

If it were me, I would fell it all and process to firewood. A chap I was speaking to the other day at Scottish Native Woods said that a typically planted stand of hardwood can yield up to 80 tonne an acre. You might well have yourself 2400 tonnes of product there, and the way that things are going firewood wise, it might be the most profitable route to go down. After the number of threads that have popped up for cordwood, seasoned or green, I shouldn't think that you would have too much issue to sell at £25-30 a tonne? Where abouts are you? Jonathan

No power steering, no! Actually, the huge diameter steering wheel means that you only feel the weight when moving from a standstill. I'll get a proper advert up at some point, though I am in no hurry to sell. Jonathan

Could do, but a friend runs a business doing a lot of importing from China so I'm getting one for very little money. It might not last, but for the price I'll give it a go!

Haha! You are probably right though - it's just in an effort to share the workload of felling, sawing, splitting and stacking 30 cubic meters of wood in my spare time.

My unsplittables go into the workshop burner pile - it's a barrel burner so can take huge lumps! I second the vote for a good axe. We're about to get wood fired heating (Rayburn), so getting a splitter so that my wife can help split too. Her coordination (or rather lack of) with an axe is frightening.

It is more than likely that I will be selling my Mercedes 308D in the early spring (can't really justify running a 4x4 and tipper too). It is: 1990 105k 1 owner until beginning of 2010 Excellent condition A tipper Recently serviced All new tyres New glow plugs New universal joints on prop shaft Passed MOT in November requiring a bulb Taxed Will get new battery shortly £1300 Can deliver

M6/M74 was bloody cold a few days back. No functioning screenwashers. As far as road conditions go, pretty good really. Scotland gets a bit more snow so seems to be a little better prepared for it.

I can second this. The cheap meters are OK for firewood, but without the settings for species and temperature, they can be wildly out for sawn boards, where accuracy is key. Jonathan

Hope your neck gets better soon Jon! You have to be so careful with trips and falls and your back. My colleague tripped backwards whilst pruning in summer with nothing more than a pair of secateurs in his hands. Result - mangled and twisted L1-5 vertebrae and 3 months off work! Tread carefully folks! Jonathan

Oh dear God that must have hurt! They should put that on prime time TV as a public safety awareness video. Might give folk an idea that arb professionals are there for a reason!

Very sorry to hear that mate - all the best and strength to you and your family.

Just google it and select the image option!

I should imagine that the spear splitter is very time consuming compared to an axe? I haven't used one though, so can only speculate.

Haha! Now I just need an 8ft stove and Hiab to feed it and I'll be away! Great piece of kit though - I can really see the potential for supplying processors.

I had an MS250 when I first started thinning, and after about the first week it would not oil properly for love no money. I would strip it right down, clean it, and it would be OK for 1-2 days. Even had the dealer do the same. After a month I gave up, and they swapped me an MS260. That was 3 months ago, and no problems since!