Big J

I once heard that a lot of what determines whether the bark stays on is the time of year that it's cut. Summer (ie growth period) felling means the bark is more inclined to hang on, winter felling, it's more likely to fall off. I might be completely mistaken though!

An 8kw villager stove and predominantly Larch, though moving onto hardwoods now as they dry out. The fires on 24/7 though, hence the consumption. Probably around 30 odd logs, aye. I often wonder about selling the logs and buying oil for the tank!

46.3mpg according to the official figures, and 5.7 to 60. Might not quite get that in real world situations, but it's nevertheless the car I want if I make millions!

I've been told by numerous people that Rhododendron is excellent as firewood, so I've got 4 cubic metres stacked from a clearance job I did a while back. I'll report back next winter with a verdict!

I've been under the impression that LPG has more or less died a death - if you look on Autotrader, less than 0.1% of vehicles for sale have LPG. Modern diesels seem to be quite extraordinary in terms of combining epic economy and performance. Take the new BMW 535D - 6 seconds to 60 and 45mpg. Why even bother with petrol?

I'm not a (commercial) firewood producer myself, but do you ever find folk moaning about loose thrown loads condensing into not much when stacked? Whilst I appreciate the huge amount of work involved in firewooding (I've 40 tonnes for the house), a level load with the Mercedes tipper is 3 cubic metres but stacks to less than 2. If I were paying £70 a cube for it, I'd be burning £210 a month for 7 months a year!

979k miles - damn impressive!! I read a good while back that the recognised highest mileage car still in operation is a 1974 Mercedes 220D operating as a taxi in Athens with a little over 2.8 million miles. Incredible what proper care will get out of an engine!

A point aside really, but one of the tenant farmers on the estate lost each and every one of their poly tunnels to the snow this year. All in, about three acres of tunnels shredded! Not as bad as the haulage company down the road whose aircraft hanger style storage shed folded like a line of dominoes!

I've had two saws from Ebay - a Husqvarna 350, which was terrible, and a Stihl 088, which has been superb, and has completed hundreds of hours of milling. I'd buy new if buying again though. Jonathan

Australia would be a wonderful place to visit (I hear the watersports scene in Brisbane has to be seen to be believed), but I find summer in Scotland too hot at times. Chainsaw work and temperatures above 5 degrees celcius don't mix!

Excellent stuff - completely contrary to the daft health and safety culture we live in, and as Andy Collins says, completely necessary to teach kids respect for sharp tools. I would love to see you set up a little wood chopping demo at a primary school and watch the teachers and other parents have coronaries as your 7 year old swings the Gransfors!

Not sure if it's relevant to your situation, but my 1990 Mercedes 308D (MWB) tipper weighs 2140kg when fully fuelled without any cargo or drivers/passengers. Removing the sides and back does reduce the weight by 140kg though!

FA - I had the little Makita top handle for some time (DCS230T, if memory serves) and I would rate it very highly! It is a bulletproof little saw, using next to no fuel and weighing about as much as a spare chain for your 361. They aren't that much to buy, though a bit more than the Ama. Jonathan

Thanks for the responses folks! Lots of interesting points of view and figures to go on. mendiplogs - you aren't the first person to say that the fire box is a little on the small side - designed for coal and anthracite apparently. slasherscot - that's dry tonnes presumably? I would say that there is perhaps 25-30 tonnes in the stack when dry, as there are some very suppressed trees in there. Had one ash I felled the other day at only 14-15 inches diameter (under a large Oak) that was around 100 years old. Weighed a tonne! windfall - might be issues with airtightness on that individual stove perhaps? Justme - two years was what I was gunning for once I'd finished filling the last stand (another 6-7 cube), though that was taking into account occasional use of our existing woodburning stove. skyhuck - a small scale biomass powerplant seems excessive for a house! Tom - it's not a modern one. It's being given to us by a (very kind) friend who has put a bigger one in (their house is larger than ours). It's 1970s I would guess, and matt black. He could well be fitting it too (he's fitted his last two or three) if I can ply him with some sawn oak for renovations! I would be delighted to pick your brain about it though, as I'm very keen to find out other peoples experiences with them. Our friend doesn't use an accumulator tank for instance, meaning a simpler system but without the ability to store the heat. Keep them coming! Jonathan

We're being given a Rayburn for the house, and I'm trying to figure out what sort of wood consumption to expect. I cannot remember the exact model, but it will heat the hot water and do 5-6 radiators (it's dimensions are 30 inches wide, 19 inches deep and standard height). It would be running from the end of September to end of April minimum (7 months) and would be heating a 3 bed cottage. I already have about 45 cubic meters stacked (though not split - it's all very anally stacked in meter lengths, continental style!). It is, at a guess: * 3 cube larch * 3 cube willow * 12 cube sycamore * 4 cube rhododendron * 7 cube ash * 2 cube poplar * 3 cube elm * 2 cube oak * 9 cube cherry Are the Rayburns fairly efficient - how much do you put through yours? Any issues to watch out for? Very excited about getting one, though wanting to do it right as it's going to provide all our heating (bar the oil taking over in winter whilst we're away to stop pipes freezing). Thanks in advance. Jonathan

Can't say that I climb, but I do sometimes chainsaw mill one handed with the 088 and 42 inch bar - where's the option for that, eh?

For Christ's Sake - outside a funeral! It truly makes my blood boil. Best of luck in the search for the pups and the Landie. I hope they bury the thieving scum alive. Jonathan

Hehe! I like the fact that it seems to have a smiling face and looks like an extra from the film Robots! For some reason the make has eluded me, but the estate has a 30 inch chipper strapped to a monster Renault forwarding tractor.

Beautiful gates there lads! It might just be me, but £125 doesn't seem like that much for a gate like that.....

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