Squaredy

Yes I have a border next to my privet hedge and I put two plum trees in, and they have never done well. I tried putting daffs in on the other side in full sun but they died off in two seasons. Certainly difficult to grow much next to privet. Many times I have thought about changing it to something else. Yew would be lovely, but I guess takes an age to establish.

For the last 12 years I have maintained 20 metres or so of well established privet hedge. My recommendation would be to remove the privet bushes now whilst they are small, and erect an attractive fence. It does look lovely when freshly cut, but at this time of year it starts to look scruffy again in about ten days or so. Great hobby I suppose.

Ah thanks Andy. It turns out the Woodmizer ones were too small internal diameter, but for a while now I will be fine once I put the new bearings in.

Why sell in board feet? That is usual in America but not the UK. How about calculate the volume of each board and then multiply by price per cubic foot or cubic metre? If board is 2.5 metres long and 50mm thick and 250mm wide then it is 0.01325 cubic metres so if you charge £800 per cubic metre the cost is £25. Or if you prefer, use inches and cubic feet which I think is easier.

Well, I pressed out the bearings this morning - so simple, just use an appropriate size socket and hold the roller on the jaws of an open vice so there is a void for the bearing to go into; and whack the socket with a hammer. Can't believe I didn't try this years ago. Have ordered replacement bearings online at a cost of £4 each and it takes two per roller. Pressing them in will be a sinch so happy days and thank you for the helpful suggestions. Arbtalk comes up trumps again.

Thank you @bilke_user. Now I have to admit I don't think the bearings on my rollers will knock out so easily. I will look again tomorrow...if they do then that is the answer, as it is certainly only the bearing that has failed.

OK, thanks guys I will try some bearing specialists tomorrow.

Yes but it isn't just the bearing I am after, I don't fancy trying to pull out the old bearing out so I was looking to replace the entire roller.

I am needing to change the rollers that guide the blade on my Norwood bandmill. I am not even bothering with a price from Norwood agents as I know they are crazy expensive. I have in the past bought them straight from Norwood in Canada but this seems silly when they are surely an off-the shelf part and not unique to Norwood. I have tried Woodmizer and they are getting back to me to check the internal diameter, so meanwhile any other suggestions?

Glad you got it sorted Mark. My big thicknesses is still causing me problems. Motor rebuilt twice and still no good. I will be fitting a new motor now and hope that I will be out of the woods then. Had I known what it was going to cost I would have sent it for scrap.

Personal data I understand but cctv in a private yard? Or does it only apply if there is public access?

Elm is very beautiful timber but has traditionally only had a low value. These days it is difficult to say, as for most of the UK it is not available by the lorry load so most sawmills simply don't buy it any more. I agree with @agg221 that it is worth around £5 per hoppus foot,maybe a bit less. Personally I would be more concerned about shake (especially ring shake) than colour. My experience of Elm is it is all beautiful, but can suffer from ring shake which will cause a lot of waste.

It sounds as if a full management plan needs to be drawn up, which will eventually turn the woodland into a productive woodland with good ecological benefits also. But I suspect the cost of doing this will far outweigh the timber value. Felling and extraction alone may be £50 per ton if it is all done by hand and with a skidding tractor. The resulting logs once processed and stacked to dry for a year or two and delivered to many customers will then be worth maybe £130 per ton. And to achieve this you will need a large yard, drying sheds, many strong crates, forklift, possibly a kiln, not to mention a firewood processor and a delivery vehicle. If the landowner wanted to do this for his or her own use and to make a bit of pocket money then maybe it can be done with minimal equipment. Or if it is to be done to improve the woodland (rather than make money) then it could work. As a business, a neglected woodland with poor access is no more valuable than the stone beneath your feet. Yes it has value, but usually far less than production cost. You could speak to Coed Cymru the timber charity as they will give free woodland management advice, and will know if there are any grants to help.

We were in Stratford-Upon-Avon at the weekend. Many exposed beams on the old Oak frame houses, all grey cracked twisted, and four hundred years old. Oiling is a good idea, but as others have said cracking and movement is all part of the deal.

It is worth remembering that softwoods of this thickness will dry in no time at all. Especially Western Red Cedar - in this weather you could get this dry in maybe a week or two.

Well to do this you would have to apply for the established use to continue including submitting detailed plans etc.

Can you post a photo so we get an idea of what it looks like? I suspect you will be fine, but I guess it is a reminder that perception is everything. If it looks s bit much and looks s but like a business premises it might upset people. You could take the approach of asking the council what they think is acceptable. They can’t exactly say that no tradesman can park a sign written van on their drive, so can they tell you what the limit is? If they tell you that only one van is allowed then you will have to comply with that.

I charge the same as I do for Beech - £27 per cubic foot including VAT. Odd that so little Birch gets milled in the UK. Such a good timber for internal work.

It looks to me from the pics and video as if they are decent quality, but a bit small. Are they about a foot diameter mainly? To get the top price I would say you need larger diameter stems. £150 per ton delivered seems a fair price, based on the limited information I have.

All depends on the grade. You say they are planking quality but also contain shakes. Shakes can mean an otherwise good log is just firewood. Can you be more specific? The photo shows a couple of decent looking logs possibly, though one looks knotty and another a bit too small diameter. If the quality is mixed, and given this is the wrong time of year for felling Oak for milling I would say £150 per ton delivered is a fair price. My last batch was £130 per ton delivered, and was pretty mixed. If on the other hand they are mainly top quality logs, then yes that is too cheap. What you need to look for are shakes, rotten knots, too many knots.

Well yes, though I haven't seen it yet!

Yeah it is Oak.

Yeah, initially I thought my customer was measuring circumference, but apparently it really is 8 foot diameter. It may well be hollow of course, but I said I would try and find someone who can mill it.

One of my customers has a need for some on-site chainsaw milling of a log about 8 feet wide. I can do about 6 feet but not 8. Anyone near Pontypool want to offer their services?

It looks as if the diameter of the tree could be rather important. The easy and accurate way to measure this is with a cloth tape (tailor's type) and measure the circumference and then divide by 3.14. Then you will KNOW if any of the trees are over 150mm diameter. I don't know but imagine it would be "breast height" which would be about 1.3 metres above ground.