Squaredy

I am afraid the planning laws we have in this country, combined with steadily increasing population mean every little bit of land in a built up area is likely to be seen as a potential plot for a house.  Inevitably this will cause conflict.

I remember as a child growing up in semi rural Surrey being dismayed at how many beautiful large houses with lovely large gardens were being developed into modern tasteless executive houses.  Indeed the house I was born in was built in the extremely extensive grounds of a small stately home.  But that was a little different as it still left a huge garden.  But in my nineteen years living in the area the number of houses must have at least doubled, always at the expense of nice open green areas.  And that was an area with a blanket PTO.

I have recently been looking in Monmouthshire to see if I could buy a building plot to build my own house.  Forget it.  There is almost literally nothing.  Plenty of farmland near me being turned over to housing - but nothing for the little guy like me to build one house.

1 hour ago, James Gardner said:

Good Afternoon All,

Gardner's Trees Ltd, Tree surgeon based in North London, our first saw mill, from a 150 year old cedar, 8 blanks at 2.5 meters long, looking for advise to sell or company's that produce tables.

Very nice.  Which type of cedar are they?

 I’m afraid selling them is like selling anything.  You need to invest time and effort and money to find out what they might be worth, then more time effort and money making sure you dry and store the slabs properly, then more time effort and money putting the word around of what you have on offer.

 Asking on here is a start, but there are already many people on here trying to sell such slabs.  
 

If you list them with good photos on Facebook marketplace or eBay you may get takers, but are you willing to ship them to customers?

1 hour ago, Steven5140 said:

Thanks I will have a look at them. What model do you have if you don't mind me asking?

I have the LT15 classic wide, electric model.  Maximum width of cut 900mm in theory (a bit less now I have fitted the debarker).  Great machine; cost around £9700 including VAT, but may be a bit more now.  The petrol one is of course more expensive.

From memory I believe the Woodlands Mill ones are also well spoken of on Arbtalk.

Carey.

Are there really harvesting heads which also strip bark?

All the years I have been buying logs for milling I have yet to be offered stripped logs.

 Is this just the government being totally out of touch with the real world?  Or am I out of date?

8 hours ago, Steven5140 said:

Have you got any recommendations? 

I can only go on my own experience.  I have used a Woodmizer for three years and am very impressed.  Didn’t break the bank, excellent UK based support, very efficient.

 There are threads on Arbtalk making other recommendations though. 

1 hour ago, Steven5140 said:

Hi All,

 

I'm looking to buy a second hand trekkasaw mill if anyone has one for sale? 

 

Thanks

 

Why not just get one of the modern narrow blade bandsaws?  Probably cheaper, brand new, and more efficient.

On 17/02/2024 at 19:09, spudulike said:

The joke is the current price of drinks in bars and pubs in the UK

Yeah twenty-five pence a pint.  But when average wage is £1 per hour that is actually about the same as today’s price.  Housing is the thing that has increased out of all proportion.  Food is generally cheaper now.

1 hour ago, Rac man said:

Bar prices in the 70's

What am I missing?  This is the jokes thread…

I guess there will now be a new market opened up of trendy vans with extra seats in which are classed as commercial vehicles and so do not attract benefit in kind tax charges.

Before they abolished the tolls on the severn bridges it was a similar thing there.  Is it a van or a large car with seats?  The point being the car was something like £6 to cross, the van (no matter how small) was about £12.

1 hour ago, GarethM said:

It might be cheaper per unit, it's not however correct as you need a base load which means more generation elsewhere this means more cost even with a connected grid to Europe.

 

Wind doesn't blow when you want it and there's no hydrogen storage to make use of it, so we turn then off when it's too windy which takes a surprisingly large amount of power.

 

Next you'll bang on about batteries, yeah battery runaways are so great for the environment.

 

And what fossil fuel subsidies in particular are you highlighting?.

I do agree we need better electricity storage.  Don't forget this has been achieved very well by pump storage power stations - the first one came online in 1963.  But wind is not the only answer of course.

As for subsidies, who pays for the cleanup when fossil fuel extraction ceases?  It is the taxpayer of course.  OK, the company behind it may make a contribution, but there are currently thousands of disused oil platforms which no-one really has a clue how to dispose of.    And what about the millions of land based oil wells which are not properly capped?  Why are the companies not made to cap them when they are no longer needed?  Instead they leak vast amounts of methane and the local authority tries to deal with the problem.  I live near the South Wales coalfield - it still costs many millions per year to manage the spoil heaps etc.  All subsidised by our taxes.  

33 minutes ago, GarethM said:

but only wind out at sea with ZERO subsidy.

Offshore wind is indeed the cheapest way to generate electricity these days.  No subsidy is needed.  Which is why it is booming.  And is why I get electricity at 75% off for my electric van.

What will help as well is to stop subsidising fossil fuels.

In fact government subsidies are really the biggest cause of all our current problems.  If the consumer had to pay the real cost of producing food we would all eat less meat and more veg.

30 minutes ago, GarethM said:

They're already classed as commercial vehicles, okay they loose out of a lower VED, but that's the same for all commercial vehicles including HGV.

 

The general idea being, they make it up with the large amounts of fuel used.

 

All you'll do is force companies to buy single cab versions and plonk a tool box on the back like the Australians.

 

Are single cab versions classed as cars ?.

I think what is being suggested is double cab pickups will no longer be classed as commercial vehicles but as cars.  This means if your business provide you with a double cab pickup you will get hit with a hefty benefit in kind tax.  Presently they are classed as commercial so attract no benefit in kind.

47 minutes ago, GarethM said:

Quick Google

 

A Defra report completed by Kantar shows on average stove users light their appliance for 29hr a week, so around 3.7hr and 4.5hr a day in the winter. In reflection, an HGV can be driven by the same driver for 9hr a day, all year round. Stoves mainly are only ever used in autumn and winter. Over the course of a week, a typical stove will emit 20.16g of PM2.5. A Euro 6 HGV will emit 271g of PM2.5 – so around 13 times the amount of a stove.

Yes, it looks as if the 750 times more emissions is actually a reference to the allowable limits on emissions; not on actual emissions.

 The other stat is that household burning of solid fuel is now the greatest contributor to particulate emissions, and about double that of transport.  This i believe is where this whole new movement is coming from.  Can this be true?

I would like to know if someone is doing proper research, or at least fact checking on behalf of the firewood and stove industry.

As has been said there seems to be a quite powerful movement against all forms of solid fuel burning right now.  Some of it no doubt is justified, but some is undoubtedly nothing more than hyperbole.

Anyone got any links to websites giving some real facts?  I for one do not believe that a modern wood burner burning dry wood produces as much emissions as 750 HGV diesel vehicles.  That is a stat I have heard quoted a lot recently.

5 minutes ago, Stere said:

Obsessive Tidiness Disorder or: How we can learn to stop worrying and love nature’s messiness

WWW.DOUGLASBOYES.CO.UK

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Why do we do it? It consumes countless hours of our lives. It must cost millions. Every hedge neatly trimmed, every verge...

 

You have a good point there.  The main ring road in my home city gets the verges and central reservation cut regularly throughout the summer and not only does it cost an arm an a leg it can only be done Sunday mornings as the road is simply too busy at any other time.  As I drive past it and see the gangs of men with strimmers and more gangs of men with traffic cones I do wonder that we haven't come up with a less costly way.

I sometimes wonder if they could simply reduce the cutting to just one a year.  Vast cost saving and maybe benefit due to wild flowers taking hold?  It certainly wouldn't be dangerous in my view.  Maybe a few bits would need to be trimmed more often to keep lines of sight clear, but for the most part it has no impact on safety - unless I am missing something.

10 hours ago, woody paul said:

Essex Suffolk  Boarder so a little to far for you I think.

Yes indeed; hopefully someone else will want it.

2 hours ago, woody paul said:

As a result of storm damage got a large cedar butt to sell for neighbour, it's 48'' butt end, 44'' top and 16ft long and clean. Right near road to hiab lift. 

Losted touch of merchants how would buy, anyone know of good buyers. 

I am a good buyer.  But you don’t mention the location!

You only have to look up the dry weight to realise it is so light it will contain very little energy.  Easy to dry though so makes good kindling.

And yes Leylandii is better firewood.

7 hours ago, Whoppa Choppa said:

Hi All. Thinking of letting out a former dairy which measures 70' deep by 30' wide. No electric, water etc, just a plain concrete floor. Tenant wants it for timber storage / light sawing. 

 

Absolutely clueless. 

 

Any hint of business rates on this is a killer I think. 

 

Whatya reckon?

 

Thanks.

 

 

Regarding business rates, make sure your contract with the tenant states he or she is responsible for any business rates payable.  As GarethM  said it may well be nothing to pay, but pass this problem (if it is a problem) on to the person who will actually be using the space.

I would also recommend getting professional advice regarding commercial tenancies.  You should probably make sure it is a license to share the area with you rather than an actual lease.  Otherwise you may well find you have inadvertantly given the tenant security of tenure, and can never get rid of them.  

2 hours ago, chopperpete said:

A matching army Harley Davidson motorbike in a crate would be nice too!

Dunno about that but didn’t we find a stash of crated spitfires in Singapore a few years ago?  I’m sure I remember seeing that in the news but can’t find it now!

For $50 each I would buy the lot!

2 hours ago, martyn said:

Full load as in a 25ton lorry load as cannot seem to find any local suppliers near to me thanks

Have you tried Eddie trading as valley timber near crosshands?  Not used him for a long time so he might not still be trading.

4 hours ago, Gabriel82 said:

@Squaredy ceramic tile stove is an old technology, swedes and russians used them for centuries(I think...). These stoves are simple,are made only of ceramics(the square plates you see outside) and 230x60x32 mm "bricks" wich will be fitted INSIDE the ceramic square plates you see outside, mud+sand ,some steel wires to hold it all together and no need for power(electricity) to run them. They do need good draught,so a good chimney. Never measured or wheighed the wood that is burned on one fire. But a 3-4 hour burn time from cold ,will keep the whole stove hot to warm for the next 10-12 hours. I opted for a blocking plate inbetween the actual stove and chimney. On windy days the draught can be regulated and when all burning is done and the stove is hot enough for the "user's liking" ,the plate can be closed to block all natural draught.wich is always present. A very important condition and test of the stove: it must have a draught always, regardless summer or winter! You get to the good chimney part, tall enough, big enough on the inside diameter, etc... 

I have friends with Wiessman gasification units that can burn anything ,inverted flame, etc... One paid about 7500 Euros just for the unit+fitting,etc... And when we load it up with dry wood and wood briquettes plus some bituminous briquettes from Ukraine(the GOOD STUFF,tried them myself) got it going ,temperature was up at 65-70 Celcius, everything seemed ok ,we went for a coffee, not far from his house. On return the damn thing extinguished itself ,whole neighbourhood smelled like coal... Smelled it from the car...

And it has double wall 316 stainless steel chimney that cost him a lot of cash again... Never figured out what happened then ,or next weeks... Nothing is defective as tehnicians confirmed but fire goes out once in a while(not always) regardless of fuel used... 

Needles to say I wouldn't wake up in the middle of night to relight the 10000 euros stove... 

He installed another central heating unit on natural gas since his house is too big and he "kind of" forgot about the Wiessman "episode"... 

Compare that to a ceramic tile stove that lasts decades built from new, burns almost anything ,doesn't need electricity fans or pumps and when it's broken you can rebuild it with just refractory bricks ,ceramic tiles some mud+sand... 🙄 Shocking to even think about it 😂 

And it stays hot all night ,or at least 10-12 hours. Plus it's a constant not too high "heat" when burning just dry hard wood. 

On my tests it will get a lot hotter on coal briquettes, wood briquettes or straight bituminous coal(no anthracite around to test it).

My opinion a ceramic tile stove is the best heating option if you don't have 500 square meter house or bigger. Even then, I still would live "small " in cold period, who needs 10-15 rooms 4 bathrooms, gigantic living,etc...

Found this video when I burned only hornbeam and birch. Got blue flame in the end from the remaining coals 😁 

That's why I'm curios how oak will perform in the stove when bone dry . 

Maybe I'll add some coal in there too just for fun

 

Fascinating, thank you.  Great video by the way.

23 minutes ago, Gabriel82 said:

@Squaredy this is how it looks, a ceramic tile stove ,small one,  burning wood briquettes , about to end burning .but still very hot. can't get it to make a better photo... 

Fascinating, thank you for that.  So different from anything I have ever seen.  This is where cultural differences are so interesting.

And I am guessing it does a good job?