Squaredy

Fair play you did a great job of that. I just have to say the plywood let’s it down. If you struggle to get a single wide board there is no harm in jointing several which judging by your skill level would have been easy. I sell lots of timber to people to make tables, but very few people tackle chairs. You should be proud.

Interesting. What is the other brand name if you don’t mind me asking?

None of you Arbtalkers got any experience with this clever looking product then? Surely Vespasian must be an expert on it....? http://ecograte.ie/

The best things in life come to those who wait....... Sweet Chestnut at 2" thick may be air dry after a year or so if you are lucky with the weather. A kiln would probably take a couple of months at a guess - never tried it from fresh sawn. Also it depends what you have in mind for the timber. I have sold completely unseasoned Chestnut for various uses over the years - like Oak there is some demand green. If it is for selling this is another option. Or if it is for your use it depends on what you have in mind.

I think it is worth pointing out that as a general rule when you kiln timber you do so after air drying - to get it dry enough for indoor use. Kiln drying from freshly milled is possible but very expensive and troublesome. Air drying will bring timber down to around 20% in most parts of the UK, and kiln drying then will take it down to 12% or whatever you want. You may actually find that there are plenty of people who are quite happy with air dried.

Anybody got any experience of the Ecograte? Www.ecograte.ie It is an Irish made product which looks like it simply sits in a traditional open fire and greatly increases the efficiency. Based on the manufacturer’s claims it will never rival a wood burner but will greatly improve the average open fire. Anyone got any experience of it?

I mill both Lime and Sweet Chestnut regularly. Lime is a wood with limited value - great for carving, but not generally valued for anything else. You can use it for furniture etc but it is usually a bit plain, very subtle grain, light in weight and colour and rather soft. Durability outdoors is non-existent. Unless you have a buyer lined up you might struggle to sell it. Sweet Chestnut is a durable timber not as strong or as hard as Oak but more stable and quicker to season. Look out for ring shake in the log - if present this can ruin the log and result in most ending up as firewood. More likely in large logs. Chestnut can be used as structural outdoor timber but also as furniture and many other things. Much easier to sell. Retail value a little less than Oak.

The RSPB also have a lot of experience in this type of problem, might be worth speaking to them. I read recently about a large development where they worked very closely with the developers to ensure local wildlife is considered at every step. Apparently hundreds of garden fences on this development have hedgehog highways running through them so the little guys can go about their business.

I think you are right it is a regulatory body, but also a company. The question I suppose is who owns it and if there are any profit distributions who do they go to. Maybe the reason their bank balance is healthy is that they do not distribute their profits. And as far as I know there is no connection between Grown in Britain and HETAS....

Have you spoken to the Woodland Trust in the area? I would be amazed if they didn't help, with contacts and possibly pointers to legal matters and possibly with publicity. They don't only protect the woods they own.

No.

Good idea. I would imagine they will be riddled with knots as they are fairly young trees sadly.

I was contacted today by a nursery in Suffolk trying to sell a large number of small Yew stems. They are not large enough for milling, but maybe would have a craft use of even fencing? Sounds crazy but Yew is really durable so what an interesting fence this would make!!! They are 12 to 15 feet tall so I guess the stems are 4 to 6 inches diameter, though I have not seen them myself. If anyone is interested they will be wanting to sell large numbers not just a few - there are hundreds available apparently. Sounds like their options are a bit limited but I thought I would put it out there in case anyone has a need. If you want details PM me and I will let you have the phone number.

I feel for your situation. NR are perhaps acting like bullies. They know they can scare you as the tree owners, but I am sure when it suits them they will just go ahead and reduce the trees. If it was impossible to trace the owner what then? Of course you and your neighbours are responsible if the trees are unsafe, but are they really unsafe? It is NR who operate a railway with high voltage overhead wires, perhaps they should come and sort the trees out. I have high voltage overhead power lines on my sawmill site. The owners send a helicopter on a regular basis to inspect them and then send out a tree team to trim all the trees within a certain distance. Have NR really got the right to force you to reduce these trees or are they just taking advantage of their large size and your small size? I am no lawyer but if I were in your shoes I would be doing some serious research. There are other threads on Arbtalk dealing with this - might be worth a read.

A full artic load of a timber lorry will yield about 42 to 45 cubic metres of split logs loose stacked. So that is from a timber lorry which can carry around 26 tons. A flatbed artic will take about 29 tons (as there is no crane) so half a load of a flatbed is a little more.

Turning blanks surely the way to go. Unremarkable as boards - just knotty softwood, but I think turners may like it due to the symmetrical knots.

Your accountant is the person to ask. But the answer is if it is wholly for business use then that should be fine. If challenged you might have to show how it is used in your business.

Here is a bit of lateral thinking.....how about horizontal waney (or square) edge cladding (Larch or DF) but with short wedges (say 200mm long and 25mm thick tapering down to say 6mm) cleverly positioned where they overlap so that each board is sticking out at the bottom and the boards do not touch. Not sure I have worded that well but what I am picturing will look solid from the side but will be full of air gaps if you look up at it from the outside. Like a waney edge louvre effect. Might need a little bit of inventiveness to get it right but it would give great ventilation and keep all the rain off even when windy.

I meant the risk if the tree is removed. Of course if the tree remains the risk is subsidence, but the OP was asking how to avoid heave if the tree is felled.

Yeah maybe a catch 22. Leave it there and perhaps get subsidence. Remove it and possibly get heave....

I think you are right to be concerned. The tree clearly has been there a long time. The house may well have foundations not very deep. You might get away with felling it without a thought, but it is not worth the risk. Get a professional structural surveyor involved and possibly an arboriculturalist. I would speak to the insurance company first - they may well recommend a course of action. After all, you are trying to ensure they don't end up with a multiple thousand pound claim, so they should be very helpful. My house is also built on clay and is the same vintage as yours and last year we had subsidence caused (in part) by a small apple tree. Your risk as you say is heave not subsidence, but equally destructive.

A bit more detail about the house might help. If it is modern with the correct footings it may well be a non issue.

Would you send a total stranger thousands of pounds on a promise, with no guarantee he even possesses a Lucas Mill? Sounds like you have realised the risk but many many people do not.

I am told this stem is now spoken for. I hope some beautiful items are made from it.

I was today offered what sounds like a really good Walnut stem. I would have jumped at the chance but it is way too far from me even for a nice Walnut. Single stem 15 ft long and 3ft diameter with very little taper. The tree surgeon who offered it to me seemed really nice and said access is good. If you are interested PM me and I will pass you his phone number tomorrow when I am back in work. I have not seen the log so bear in mind I am only going on what the tree surgeon told me.