Squaredy

6 hours ago, Husqvarna King said:

With a slight amendment this should be in one of the Land Rover threads…

It looks like it would be ideal for a sports bar where half the members were basketball players, and the rest were jockeys.  As long as they have separate sittings for the different sports!

2 hours ago, goblinlogail said:

HCC contractors were taking down a diseased leaning tree on the public highway right outside my house this morning, the log goblin in me was straight out there to ask if I could have some - they kindly obliged and left roadside about a cubic metres worth - very straight and easy to split already about 30% moisture rate so probably be good to burn next winter. I asked one of the young fellas what it was, and he didn't seem that confident but said Honey something, and a quick Google suggests this non-native species, can anyone kindly confirm?

Would you be able to find any of the fallen leaves from the tree?  That would settle it?

1 hour ago, Logburner said:

Hi Guys

 

Well, what do you think of this load, just dropped off for me by one of my local tree surgeons?

 

It's 7 tons, he says, all oak, from a tree that died some time ago, and therefore already part-seasoned. Delivered as 2 x 3.5 tons (but no delivery charges).

 

He knows I like to receive wood already part cut-up so my handyman can easily deal with the rest with a chain saw, and a pretty good log-splitter that we bought for about £600. That's paid for itself handsomely after less than a couple of years.

 

This load cost me £300 from the tree surgeon.  I was thrilled with it, but you may think differently.?

 

All comments welcome!  Oak delivery 21 Dec 23.docxOak delivery 21 Dec 23.docx

Sorry to say I think he saw you coming.  I might be wrong but it doesn't look like oak to me.  And certainly not part seasoned.  It could be willow, which at least is easier to dry than oak, but not great burning.

The bottom line is there are way more people making nice things than there is a market for.

 The end result of this is only the top one or two percent of sellers will ever do well.  
 

Making nice things is skilful.  Selling things is a skill as well, but most people forget this and assume their nice stuff will somehow sell.

1 hour ago, Mesterh said:

Ahh right, I think you're missing the point. The reason they want to give all kids free meals is because there are kids that aren't entitled to school meals but would benefit from them. Plus the stigma and negative effects associated with getting free meals and therefore being poor etc,etc. 

Well, yes I suppose we would all welcome even more handouts.  Trouble is it is always at the expense of something else.  And that something else might be providing help for (as an example) a severley autistic kid whose parents really need help.  Because from next year every primary school in Wales will have to make major cuts to apparently already squeezed budgets.

8 hours ago, Mesterh said:

Bleedin hell, who pissed on your chips!

 

It's about kids getting one decent meal a day. If the house is on fire you don't start asking who's fault it is, who's making money out of it you pot the fire out and ask questions later. 

 

This is the UK, kids should not be going hungry, if a free school meal helps reduce that then that's good news imo. Maybe some of the parents are idiots who didn't think it through or maybe a partner died or just fcked off, or they just fell on bad times, who knows. As long as the kid isn't the victim because of those circumstances then that's all that matters imo.

 

 

I think the point you are missing is we have been debating feeding ALL children in primary school.  The poorest already get free school meals and have done for decades.

1 hour ago, AHPP said:

 

See my reply to difflock on economies of scale themselves. Also consider this on the cost of doing something privately vs the cost of government "doing" it. The government way will always be more expensive. The labour, fuel, materials etc all costs the same on both sides of the equation but when government is doing it, you're paying extra for the extra layer of bureaucracy, politicians, civil servants etc. A government administered service is always more expensive, whether you can see the cost or not.

Agreed.  In fact both my kids used to complain about the quality of the bought in meals, and in the end asked for packed lunches, which of course was a fraction the price for us as parents.

1 hour ago, Steven P said:

 

 

Yup, if they got an increase in budget to cover the meals then all is good.

 

My thoughts on this is that you know 63 get free school meals, probably could identify which ones too, don't think we should be able to do this. At secondary school the 'free' meals got tokens, we paid in cash and knew who was 'poor' - I think this is an added pressure to kids that can be avoided by keeping payment or not discrete from the children.

 

If the catering staff are there and paid for regardless, the kitchen is there and paid for anyway, then the cost of a meal is just the cost of the food? So the paid for meals can be 'at cost' - and all can get a school meal (parents pay, school pays, state pays, however)? Economies of scale should make a school lunch cheaper than you can make at home.

Well yes; but of course in the long run we all know there is pressure on budgets, and something ends up giving.  And in the case of a school it will be lack of staff, maintenance, facilities

And no, many schools (certainly all the state schools in my area) simply buy in the meals from a large caterer so the cost is per pupil.  So in my kids old school the cost really would increase by £124,000 per year.

And these days the payment is online by parents, so the kids have no idea who gets free meals and who has it paid by parents.

2 hours ago, difflock said:

all school children from all backgrounds, should be provided with a hot dinner when attending school

Even if this means the school is two teachers short or has to teach in crumbling buildings? 

If budgets were unlimited I might agree, but of course the sad fact is that most schools are struggling to make ends meet, and every £ spent on giving meals to a child who does not come from a poor family is a £ less to spend on teachers, assistants, repairs.

The primary school my two boys went to has around 350 pupils and currently about 63 get free school meals.  When the Welsh scheme kicks in next year and they all get free school meals this will increase their yearly costs by £124,000.

1 minute ago, Mesterh said:

Well, I had no idea that it was up to those figures!

 

Scandalous to say the least.

 

 

And now the Welsh government have decided that every primary school child in wales should have free school meals.  That will cost about the same as employing 2000 teachers.  And of course the pressure is on for the schools to also feed those kids in the holidays as well.

I dare say this will reach England eventually.  And some people are daft enough to think that children go to school to be taught stuff!

9 hours ago, Mesterh said:

 It costs the nhs, and therefore us millions, probably tens of millions, actually I bet it's into the hundreds a year for drugs that cost feck all.

 

I would like to say that prescriptions should not be free as it would save at least a squillion pounds a year on wasters that only go to the docs for a day out and a gab but you will get those that really need medical care but can't afford to pay for it which outweighs the scroungers.

 

 

 

 

It actually costs Wales £630,000,000.  England’s population twenty times wales; so on this basis it would cost £12,000,000,000.

3 hours ago, PeteB said:

I just got back from the pharmacy - I got to take some stuff to help with a busted lung. I got the txt to say they were ready and went up there to collect. Name/address usual thing and she plonked the box on the counter and walked away as I whipped out the phone to pay for them. "You were 60 the other day so everything is free from now onwards" was all she said over her shoulder!

 

I knew I had got to 60 but I never realised that proscriptions were free! I thought that happened at Government retirement age!!!

And in Wales they are always free for everyone.  Which costs the Welsh NHS over 600 million per year.  That is the wages of about 15,000 nurses.

9 hours ago, Joe Newton said:

Who cares for a garage heater? Nobodies going to check. 

HMRC stopped my local garage selling red for a time as he wasn’t keeping proper records.  Now when he sells red he asks you for your name and address and what it is for.  

3 minutes ago, GarethM said:

It's a heater, 35 Sec heating oil is red diesel.

So this is legal for heating?

15 minutes ago, GarethM said:

Get yourself a 5kw vevor diesel heater.

Mine is exhausted through a brick wall, for less than £100 on eBay.

 

I should say as long as your running on red it's cheaper than electric.

But it probably needs to be pointed out that it would not be legal to run it on red (unless it as part of a forestry or agriculture setup of course).

6 hours ago, Stihl123 said:

@Squaredy

Thank you for the mention.  I could potentially be interested, but it is in Durham, so a hell of a long journey to even look from South East Wales.

5 hours ago, Whoppa Choppa said:

I have a small quantity (maybe max 150 tonnes) of very straight and clean poplar timber. As far as I know, it's either firewood or kindling. Bigger logs only fetch £70/t delivered (best offer so far) so just as well firewood it right? But then it's about the worst firewood going? None of it is much bigger than 16".

I buy decent poplar logs for milling.  I will pay probably £75 per ton delivered.  I am South east wales, so if you are near me give me a shout!

1 hour ago, Johnpl315 said:

Any demand for box wood timber? 

If you are near me I might buy it.  Are they big enough pieces to mill?

3 hours ago, angusmunk said:

hi woodcraft forum peoples. am keen to start carving abstract sculpture out of timber. I have a background in traditional furniture making and the normal set of hand tools that come with that. but i'm curious to know what is the best method to sourcing some timber and what to look for? cheers

I would say you need to develop relationships with arb workers in your area.   Also try and work out which species you want to work with ideally.  Some will be easier to work than others; and some will be durable for outdoors and some will not.

8 hours ago, sime42 said:

Wowsers!. It was neither an April fools nor bear baiting.

 

Why's it such a bad idea, why are golf courses so great? Or are there just more golfers than I realised? If we've got to build more houses I'd rather they were built on golf courses or brownfield sites rather than farmland.

 

 

Many golf courses have closed in recent years and some are indeed being built on.  Near me Dewstow had two courses - one is now houses; Alice Springs is also being partly developed as housing; and Oakdale is also now housing.

In my village 40 acres of grazing land has been turning into 1100 Redrow homes over the last four years or so.  There are now plans for a further 2500 homes on adjoining farmland.  Personally I value golf courses a little more than farmland.  I regard most farmland as an ecological disaster.  The golf course by me has public access through it and is a very pleasant backdrop for many local people.  The golfers can be very obnoxious however - it was so much nicer during the lockdowns!

8 hours ago, R Ashley said:

Hello, 

 

I have 125 Oak planks ranging from 3-6m, approx 0.5m wide and 2-3 inches thick. All sourced from the Uk, been air dried for 8 years. I am looking for help selling these, who would be potential customers?

 

I have attached 6 photos but I have photos of all lengths along with a spreadsheet giving all dimensions. If you have any further questions please call 07828808975.  Many thanks

Timber Inventory.xlsx 14.46 kB · 6 downloads

The first three pics don’t look like oak to me.

23 hours ago, Harry the Hatchet said:

Hi,

 

Can anyone help?

 

I am looking to purchase a bulk load of felled trees that I can cut up into firewood logs for personal use.

 

Does anyone have any info of who to contact? I live in North Yorkshire.

 

Thanks in advance

If you mean a whole lorry load (26 tons) then you need to contact forestry firms or contractors in your area.  Or even speak to lorry drivers.  Keep your eyes peeled for timber lorries nearby.  Also look out for forestry operations nearby.  
 

Of course you need to think about access .  Do you have a suitable site for a 44ton lorry to turn round?

 Maybe I have the wrong end of the stick, and you really just meant a couple of tons?

1 hour ago, Big J said:

 

Whilst it's favoured as a firewood species, it's regarded as a weed in forestry. It's never planted, and always regenerates in clearfells, meaning that it has to be cleared several times before the first thinning with clearing saws (to make way for the spruce and pine). 

 

It grows very straight and clean due to the fairly minimal wind and consistently sunny summers. 

 

I'm not really bothered what I burn personally. I prefer a mix.

 

Is it not milled or peeled for plywood?  Surely Scandinavian furniture is renowned for using birch? 

I understand that birch plywood here in the UK is really pricey.

I don't usually like seeing videos in this thread, but this one is worth it.  Be patient, it gets better and better...