Squaredy

54 minutes ago, AJStrees said:

That is a nice sized tree. Might be good habitat for ecological purposes. 

Well yes, but I don't think the owner wants it to stay where it is as habitat!!

3 hours ago, caffeinehigh said:

Sorry yes here is a picture its not great but the best I can do at the moment. Apologies for the poor quality. I'll try get a better one. This picture is also old so the tree is a bit bigger now but you get the idea.

Let's see an up-to-date photo if possible.  Based on the photo we have seen so far it is ludicrous nonsense.  They might as well ask if a nicely cut lawn has damaged the house.  That will dry out the ground more than the tree in the picture!

And as Gary Prentice said what are they expecting the arboriculturalist to say?  "Yes the tree looks healthy."  He or she will not comment on damage to the house.

Are you sure it wasn't another issue the bank want investigated?  If the surveyor has identified a problem with the house shouldn't a structural engineer produce a report?

I have been contacted by a man today offering a large Sycamore stem, which judging by the pictures would produce some large characterful slabs.

He isn't after money, I guess he just wants it gone.  Whilst it is clearly not a nice clean milling stem I would think someone local with wide slabbing capabilites might appreciate this.

It has apparently been down for a year, and is 16 feet long and up to 5 feet wide.  Some of the smaller pieces in the photo are also available.

If anyone fancies it PM me and I will pass on his contact details.

3 hours ago, Woodlandmilluk said:

Hi there we are based in south wales pontypool and we are looking for training for 2 men on basic chainsaw cross cutting. We run a sawmill and cut logs to size that are clamped up on our loader and maybe do about 10 cuts a day . was wondering if there is a basic course for cutting the logs both men have full chainsaw ppe and have been using chainsaws i was just wondering if there was a basic course or training out there for them

thanks for the help 

We are also a sawmill and have used Didac of Bristol.  They do a crosscutting and maintenance course in one day and will come to your premises to do it - but you will need to provide a saw with correct safety features and all correct PPE and of course logs to cut.  The cost is around £500 and this is for up to four delegates, so it is economical - if they still do it.

It doesn’t matter what you finish it with, the cats will totally ignore it and scratch your sofa and stair carpet anyway.

48 minutes ago, richardwale said:

Been said before, just cos it’s been in a kiln doesn’t make it perfect to burn. Quite often the moisture is sealed into the log by high heat kilns. 

Freshly cut Oak logs take about a week or more at 70 degrees centigrade to really dry, right through to the middle.  Even then any oversize logs could still be a bit wet inside.  In reality as long as the huge majority of the logs are under 20% it will be fine. 

After all, a not quite dry Oak log is still mainly quite dry - just the middle portion which may be only a tenth of the log.

I agree of course that air drying is best, but you need to have the space to store in well ventilated conditions under cover (in the case of Oak) maybe two or three years worth of logs.

On 22/04/2019 at 00:12, samtheman365 said:

They have contacted me, are you happy with the logs?

Sorry for the late reply, but yes generally the logs are good.  There is lots of Oak, and if you split a large one of these it is not really dry enough in the middle, but overall I think the claim that average moisture is under 20% is probably correct.

Just to let anybody know who is interested, this has now been resolved.  I finally received from Surefire Logs a correct invoice which I have paid.

3 hours ago, gobbypunk said:

Hi guys , my new partners at my yard are just undertaking a D Fir timber frame build and I am interested in what he is doing he has a 6 mar span and is trying to use 6x2s but he has 3 joins that are just bolted with coach bolts as soon as I saw it I did say to him it wouldn’t work now he is trying to brace it up with like 2mm strips of steel , in my mind he needs to start again with some bigger beams what do you all think is there like any guide lines for timber frame work , if it was me it would be like 4x6 at least .

Bit difficult to comment without pics, but in my experience a 6m span is going to need a 9 inch X 3 inch beam with no big faults, and this is assuming it is taking no real weight - ie just roofing sheets and maybe some snow.  If it is a floor taking any weight it will need way more than this.  Their will be structural strength tables you can find on t'interweb, but it will be very complex and difficult to follow I guarantee.

55 minutes ago, Stubby said:

Waxoil chassis paint might work !

Would leave the end of the board impregnated with oil so yes it may work well but at what cost?  Best to not cut Oak in this weather or before the summer.

43 minutes ago, peds said:

Guys, I bought a cube of firewood the other day but I'm worried it's a bit under. What do you think? 

No you shouldn't worry.  It is definitely a cube.

10 minutes ago, ash_smith123 said:

I did give you a price last year if your still interested? we are now Ready to burn certified on hardwood and softwood. Only down the road and always happy to help

Thanks Ash yes I remember, but what you quoted me for was freshly processed.  When I received an email out of the blue offering kilned and ready to burn UK grown I thought it would be worth a punt.  I will happily give yours a go, but only if it is all UK sourced.  I thought I read in one of your posts that you are using imported these days?

5 minutes ago, scraggs said:

Bags are a nightmare

Did you take off 40mm for the seams ?
A 120 micon thick bag which most bags are has a stretch of about 15-20% but that is on soil, sand or ballast, not sure on logs.
At best I would think you have 0.6 in the smaller ones and 0.7 in the bigger ones.
We had all this getting the correct size bags for our topsoil, we now use thicker micron bags to limit stretch and a calibrated bucket to fill them.

I measured the internal size of the bag - ie the usable size of the bag.  The seller may have been measuring the bags including the seams as you suggest.  The point is he offered to sell me a certain number of cubic metres of the product.  It is up to him to ensure that is what I receive.  If the bag he uses will not hold a cubic metre he should either use a larger bag or more bags to make up the agreed volume.

It will be interesting to see what happens if I ever buy a walking floor lorry load from the company.  Will they measure the outside dimension of the lorry to calculate the volume......?

25 minutes ago, Wedgebanger said:

Are these volumes in bags just loosely chucked in, and did you empty each bag and stack it neatly in to piles to measure 

 

just asking for a friend that buys bags of logs and never stacks  just used from the bag..

No I am talking about loose measure as delivered and then when we measured.

1 minute ago, spuddog0507 said:

how do you get 0.9 of a cube out of a 850x850x850 bag which = 0,614125 of a cube if they are selling and advertising them as a cube, thats not right and breeching some trading standards some where, if i was in your shoes i would mention that and if they dont want to play ball just ask them to come and collect there logs, give em 5 working days then tell them you will be charging a storage rate,

Well the bags do bulge, and sag and stretch, so the smaller bags on the face of it would only give 0.512 cubic metre, but they are in fact yielding 0.73 or thereabouts.  I guess if they were using 1000 X 1000 X 1000 bags they would actually contain about 1.2 cube.

I will not lose out on this one as I am only going to pay for the volume they actually delivered.  Luckily I did not pay in advance.  If they are not happy with that they can take me to court, and I will go to court with all the evidence I need to prove my case.  I mainly just wanted to warn other Arbtalkers what to expect as I have no doubt some have been contacted by the firm offering their products.

Not an entirely new subject I know but the answer it seems is when you buy from Surefire Logs.

Up to now I have always processed and kilned my own firewood but I thought I would give these guys a go - wholesale log supplier already processed and kilned and even have the ready to burn accreditation.  It is a new venture from a company called Bicester Woodchip who also trade as Chip Chip, so they have done woodchip and retail firewood for a while and are now getting into wholesale.

The reason I was attracted to them is that the logs are UK sourced and they have a depot not too far from me.

I was going to get a walking floor lorry load but this wasn't feasible to begin with for me.  So I got a full lorry load of cubic metre bags at a cost of £71.50 per cubic metre delivered plus VAT.  61 bags on a curtainsider.  Nightmare to offload but that is a learning curve for me.

My real problem is they are not cubic metre bags.  I did not necessarily expect them to be 1000mm X 1000mm X 1000mm, but I did expect them to be large enough to give a realistic cubic metre when filled with logs.  There were actually two different sizes on the lorry; mainly 800 X 800 X 825 and a few at a slightly larger size of 850 X 850 X 850.  We have measured and the actual volume of logs from the smaller bags is around 0.73 cubic metres and from the larger bags 0.9 cubic metres.

So my expected 61 cubic metres of logs is actually about 45 cubic metres.  I have of course contacted Surefire logs and told them the situation, which they are partly accepting.  They are now trying to charge me for 50 cubic metres and I have assured them I will only be paying for the 45 cubic metres they delivered.

I am not suggesting they are a bad company to buy from but I would stay clear of the bulk bags.  I assume the volume would be much less open to interpretation for a walking floor lorry, so that is what I will try next time.  The logs themselves seem pretty good, but I am still testing samples for moisture.

Anyone else tried them yet?

1 hour ago, PeteB said:

the whole basis of the services is that you obey orders

Yes of course this is correct.  And this highlights why you should probably not join the military unless you really trust the politicians who tell the armed services whom to point their guns at.

I suspect some youngsters sign up with very good intentions and then have concerns over what they see.  

8 minutes ago, tree-fancier123 said:

Hacking is as bad as breaking in to a building and lifting documents from a file. Give him full open circuit

If I get broken into I would be very relieved if they only steal bits of paper.  But then I have very little to hide...

14 minutes ago, eggsarascal said:

Beacon of free speech, or a proper wrong 'un?

 

I've heard over the years what he's alleged to have done, but never taken much notice of it. I believe the charges of sexual assault were dropped?

 

He looked rough today, Seven years in an embassy, surely he'd have been better off going to face the music?

It is hardly surprising the establishment are working tirelessly to silence him.  He has released millions of embarrassing bits of information.  Trump loved Wikileaks when it was helping him find dirt on Hilary Clinton.  Now he has changed his tune.

Thankfully for us Wikileaks will continue even without Julian Aussange.  A little bit of truth can be very helpful every now and then.

Remember how hard our MPs tried to hide the truth of MPs expenses? 

41 minutes ago, farmer rod said:

it appears dry and sittable when most other things are still damp.

Is this because it is untreated and highly absorbent?  In other words the water has soaked in rather than slowly evaporated as it would have had to on a sealed surface?

15 minutes ago, warren said:

Tbh. No idea. Seems a waste to waste it. Yes I could get 10years of firewood from it. Where/how I sell it after is another question. So many questions. Bloody jobs giving me a headache already.

You can of course stack the milled timber and air dry it for years and then find lots of different customers, and this should get you the best price.  Or you might find a bulk buyer (like me!) who will take the whole lot unseasoned at a wholesale price - I would pay around £170 per cubic metre for milled Sweet Chestnut of decent quality (milled to my spec).  

1 hour ago, warren said:

Gents .. I've got 6*90' sweet chestnuts to come down . All straight. Be a shame to log it or worse biomass it. Is it worth getting a mill in? 

 Well worth milling unless it has ring shake as Mr Hewn said.  Post some pics when felled and we can check for ring shake.  If the trees are not too old you may be lucky.  What would you mill for, do you have a use in mind?

One year on from milling the Poplar I started this thread about, I planed and partly finished a board to show off the grain.  I think it is rather nice.  I have sold some and will certainly buy more logs for milling one day.  

38 minutes ago, peds said:

Yeah I know, knot exactly a tree, but you guys are just so bloody clever I know you can help with this.

 

I've just inherited the use of a polytunnel which has lain dormant for a couple of years, and a nearby clump of Japanese Knotweed has started to poke through the ground in places. It's not too bad, but the problem will only get worse, obviously. I'll try and get a couple of photos tomorrow.

I've got plans to move the tunnel in the future, maybe next season, maybe the year after... but for this year, what can I do to minimise the problem? I'm wary of cutting the stems out, but I'd much rather keep te ground that I have available instead of putting in raised beds or benches after putting down sheets or slabs or something, as I hope to move the tunnel in the future. How much of an extra problem am I creating by just cutting the stems now and pretending they don't exist for the rest of the season?

 

Thanks for any advice dudes.

This is the right time of the year to get a load of systemic weedkiller on them - Glyphos like Roundup.  Treat them each spring (and possibly later in the year if more shoots come up) and you will soon get them under control.

38 minutes ago, Rough Hewn said:

Cut lots of 1"square stickers for stacking. One at each end and one every 18-24"
Find a really level area, put a few clean pallets down first, then get a spirit level to make perfectly flat.
Best kept out of the sun and rain with a few ply boards.(or in a barn).
Don't sharpen a chainsaw or anything else iron/steel anywhere near your slabs unless you like blue flecking.
Paint the end grain with pva.

All sound advice from Rough Hewn, just one more thing to add.  Don’t get any nice warm dry weather for a few months as this will cause surface checking.