Squaredy

7 minutes ago, SbTVF said:

Why aren’t we incinerating all our household waste to create energy instead of landfilling it?


That is exactly what happens in Cardiff, but sadly it also has its problems.  The air pollution caused in Cardiff has been a huge local concern, and now they are sending all the waste ash from incineration to England (2500 lorry loads per year) as it was causing so much dust and distress in the Cardiff landfill site that was taking it. 

Incinerating waste is not the simple neat solution it at first appears.  

11 hours ago, Billhook said:

When we were first together (some time ago) a suggestion of a bit of nookie would soon warm things up. 

Doesn't seem to work any more!

And I am pretty certain nookie is carbon neutral.  DEFRA should encourage it.  Maybe a RHI (Renewable Hump Incentive) if you have enough of it.

59 minutes ago, devon TWiG said:

It all depends how much you want the wood !!   do you have a use for it yourself ?  or are you planning to  mill/process and sell on ?  I would of thought the owners would consider £50 derisory as I suspect they consider them valuable and can see more value in them than £50 for firewood !!    Also if you are after Yew wood when will the next opportunity to obtain such lumps come along ?...

Yes the owners may well think £50 is derisory, but that is because they are thinking of the value of timber, milled, dried, and maybe even turned into a finished product.  Which is the same as thinking that a barrel of water is worth a lot of money because it could be made into top quality whisky.  

But yes, of course, if you place a high value on it and want to offer more then that is up to you.  But the real commercial value is very low.

27 minutes ago, Bustergasket said:

Ernest bennett saw blades have always done me a great deal and have reps all over, they are based in sheffield, we have done some one off specials and got some great results, seem sensible on price too hope it helps

Yeah Bennets sawblades are superb.

3 hours ago, Haironyourchest said:

I have a couple containers, very bad condensation problems! What about insulation the inside, tarring the roof for longevity, and painting the outside to look like a shed, with painted windows and everything. A friend did this, and it actually looks lovely.

One other way to stop condensation.  Firstly make sure there is good ventilation all round and top and bottom.  Secondly spray paint the inside with Grafotherm (http://www.grafoproducts.co.uk/).  This is a British made very heavily textured paint that stops any slight condensation from dripping.  If you don't really need insulation this is a much cheaper and quicker option. 

12 minutes ago, Big J said:

If you need more elm, Andrew and Ross at my old sawmill have loads (at least 50 tonnes) in stock in the round. 

No more Elm needed just yet thanks Jonathon.  Maybe in the future....most of what I had from you is now drying in my sheds, but a few lucky customers got to pick a few bits as we stacked it all...

27 minutes ago, Rough Hewn said:

Green or seasoned?
Got lots of sawlogs here.

I am mainly after seasoned milled timber.  I also have plenty of sawlogs.  Having said that I am always looking for sawlogs, and will need some in a couple of months maybe.  Feel free to PM me what you have and prices.

Anyone sitting on a stock of good milled hardwood they want to shift for a wholesale price?

I am looking to buy decent quality UK grown hardwoods, and will pay between about £10 and £15 per cubic foot, so about half retail price.

I will buy Ash, Beech, Cherry, Elm, London Plane, Oak, Sycamore, Sweet Chestnut, Walnut and a few others.

Quality has to be good or interesting if that makes sense.  In other words good clean timber is good, but interesting, characterful, pippy wood is also good.  A few splits are fine, and of course a few big knots also.

I buy whole packs, not just a few boards, so I do not expect to go through your stock cherry-picking the best boards.  If the pack looks decent I will buy the whole lot.  Thickness is not too important and neither is width, as long as they are at least six inches wide.

I mainly buy logs in and mill them and dry them but at present I could do with more dried stock so maybe this will help some of you who have good stock but don’t really have the time to sell it.

You will need to be near South East Wales, or able to deliver to me.

Feel free to PM me or reply for more information.

37 minutes ago, Rough Hewn said:

The one on the right is no good.
Too much lean, it'll warp and split when you've milled it.
£50 for the one on the left,
IF it's solid and clean is generous.

Yes I totally agree.  Yew logs are worth usually about £60 or £70 per cubic metre, and that is delivered to the sawmill.  So the real commercial value of the log is roughly zero.  A hobbyist might like to come along and buy it or wood turners might come and hack off bits but this takes lots of time, advertising etc.  So, yeah £50 is a fair price for the tree owner.

If they think this is a rip-off they have always got the option of paying someone to mill it for them, to dry the timber for a couple of years, advertise it, deal with all the enquiries, and eventually I am sure they would sell it all and hopefully make more than £50 profit.

1 hour ago, Big J said:

I don't understand why on this windy, wet little island that we don't take greater advantage of what is widely abundant - wind and hydro power. I have no problem with looking at wind farms, and much prefer it to the unsustainable rate of timber felling at the moment. Scotland is incredibly wet, with vast amounts of rainfall on the west coast. Plenty of potential there as well. 

 

Producing 'green' energy from wood on a large scale is labour intensive compared to wind or hydro, which require no fuel to be brought to the generator. Wood is ideally suited to small scale, domestic and small business heating needs, and given the lack of supply in the UK, using it for anything else isn't sustainable. 

Yes but Jonathon, you are using logic and common sense.  They really don't come into it in the real world it seems.

Wales is also ideally placed for large scale hydro power.  Electricity from rain and hills....sounds perfect to me.

7 hours ago, Backpain said:

After 8 years selling firewood it would appear the end is near.  I've no shortage of customers, in fact we just get busier evry year.  But for the past few years its become more and more difficult to find local hardwood. We've had to source from bigger wholesalers just to get hold of coredwood. The price has literally doubled and I see no way of increasing retail price to compensate.  It's a hard job with many overheads and I don't see any profit int now or in the future.  It seems the only way to do it is to buy it standing and extract it yourself. So consequently I'm looking for a part time job driving a van which in reality will make me more profit.

You are very certain you cannot increase your log prices enough to make it worthwhile.  Maybe you are mistaken.  

Lots of things in life have become much more expensive in the last few years - yet people still cough up.  By your own admission you keep getting busier so maybe you could increase your prices usefully.  Maybe you will be surprised by the response.

If you lose a few customers, or even say 20%, overall it will mean you work less hours but more profitably.

Might be worth a go rather than just write off your own business.

2 minutes ago, Stere said:

Not being eating thoose apples don't they taste good? ?

Yea they are tasty apples....Discovery.  The bugs thought they were good too of course.  

Will have to plant a new apple tree, but a bit further from the house this time.

13 hours ago, skc101fc said:

On 13/08/2018 at 21:23, Squaredy said:

Well the water pipe is lead, not sure about the gas pipe...

A section of stump ground lead pipe will be just the excuse you need to get rid of it altogether and replace with modern safe alternative. Surprised that wasn't job no.1

Ha, yes I did think about that, but to be honest the lead pipe doesn't worry me.  We have hard water, and always run off some water in the morning or if the house has been unoccupied for a few days.

13 hours ago, Stere said:

Thats what I was thinking

 

Would an apple tree cause subsidence unless its giant one right next to house or something.....

 

How will they avoid pipes not knowing were they could be metal dectector?

 

This thread needs pics

Well to be fair the subsidence is mainly caused by the extreme dry weather and shrinking clay soil.  But the point is I guess that even a small tree near the house is making the drying worse.  As the house has indeed started to subside right next to the tree I think there was really no choice but to give it the chop....sadly.  The distance from house to apple tree was around 1.5 metres.

And yes I agree photos would be good.  So here they are.....to be fair not that exciting, but showing the apple tree and privet hedge before and after removal.

13 hours ago, Stere said:

Thats what I was thinking

 

Would an apple tree cause subsidence unless its giant one right next to house or something.....

 

How will they avoid pipes not knowing were they could be metal dectector?

 

This thread needs pics

The owner of the Yew trees has been chasing me asking who was interested in doing this job.  So if the two members who expressed an interest are still interested please let me have their contact details so I can pass them on, or give the customer a shout on the number I supplied!

Thank you in advance.

3 hours ago, Thesnarlingbadger said:

I would certainly speak to someone from the tree firm via text or phone call. If you leave a message it may get missed no matter how obvious it is. If you actually speak to them then they know. However I’m aware that they have probably already come and gone by now.

Thank you for your reply.  Yes the job is done now.  After all that they turned up without the promised stump grinder, so it was not an issue!  So I guess I will remove the remaining stump using old fashioned methods, or maybe just leave it to rot.

1 hour ago, woody paul said:

Why didn't you tell them when they looked at job .

You could drop them a text warning them about it 

 

They haven't looked at the job.  A building engineer assessed the damage to the house, and at the same time condemned the apple tree and part of the hedge.  Then today out of the blue we have a phone call from a tree surgery firm saying they have been instructed to do the tree work and can they come the next day.

So we weren't really prepared for this and the only professional who has been to see the job was an engineer appointed by the insurance company.

I spent half my evening taking all the lovely apples off the tree in readiness!

17 minutes ago, manmountain said:

I have  9 or 10 boards 12' long by 2 and a half inch Deodar that I felled and bought a chainsaw mill to plank it because it was too good to ring up for firewood. Sold a bit via Gumtree but have about 40ft3 left if anyone is interested

I am always interested in buying quality dried boards such as you have.  Where are you though?

Well the water pipe is lead, not sure about the gas pipe...

27 minutes ago, Steve Bullman said:

Yes you absolutely should 

26 minutes ago, eggsarascal said:

yes, you should tell them.

3 minutes ago, monkeybusiness said:

Why wouldn’t you tell them (unless you love loud bangs!)? 

Thank you for your replies.  It is not that I would have kept it a secret, but I will not be around when they arrive, and my wife may also be out.  The removing of the tree and hedge is a tiny job so they might be on the stump grinding before we even meet them.

What we will do is leave a notice for them warning them about the pipes and cable.

On reflection I am surprised the structural engineer didn't enquire about this when he specced out the job.

I have a couple of tree surgeons coming to my house tomorrow to remove my lovely Apple Tree  and a few metres of Privet Hedge as they have helped to cause subsidence to my house   and I have had to make an insurance claim.  Should I warn them that there are water and gas pipes and electricity cables buried somewhere underneath the tree and hedge or will they automatically check before they fire up the stump grinder?

Bear in mind I have no way of knowing how far down the pipes and cables are, and hopefully they are too deep, but who knows....?

Anybody got a stock of nice clean straight 3 inch Sweet Chestnut they want to shift?  I am in South Wales but I will travel a bit if needed.  I will pay £25 to £30 per cubic foot if it is decent, and been drying properly spaced for at least two years.  Need about 12 or more cubic feet.  Lengths can be anything over 2 metres.  If it is cheap I may just buy all you have for re-selling, but right now I am just trying to help one customer.

If you think you can help send me a PM.  Thank you.

Any takers?

The poor citizens of the USA think they are protecting themselves by owning a gun.  In reality in most years over 10,000 people are illegally killed with firearms in the USA and double that number commit suicide by using a gun each year. 

Even the number killed by accidental discharge is higher than the total firearms deaths in the UK.

There are not many things that make me proud to be British, but general lack of guns in our society is one of them.

I have been contacted by someone asking about felling 6 Yew trees, which sound as if they may have some decent milling timber in them.  It is totally out of my area so I promised the guy I would post on here to see if anyone is interested in felling them and possibly buying the stems.  I think he realises he will have to pay to have them felled, and I have advised him the timber will not be high value, so if you would like to contact him PM me and I will pass on his contact details.  It might be a waste of time......or it might be 6 nice Yews worth saving and milling.  Who knows?  Here is what he said to me:

I have 6, 25 feet by 1 - 1.5 feet wide yew trees that I would like taking out and removing. I live in North Lincolnshire, so it's some way from you but would you be interested in having/buying them? Or do you have any information that could help me?

3 hours ago, Gurrman said:

The matter is just - and there's a risk that this rekindles your belief in the non-validity of this post, lol... I fear that bringing wood that has been embraced by insects for a long period of time, if they bring that wood into their house (wood that I've split), that those insects will fester in their home? Or funghi etc.?

You don't need to worry too much about fungi as these will die once the wood is properly dry.  Most of the insects also will disappear, but it is possible some wood boring insects could remain, and maybe introduce them to the customer's home.

The best solution is to get it all kilned, but I am guessing this is not feasible.  So although there is surely plenty of good firewood in the logs you are referring to you are right it is possible this could introduce the odd pest or two into a house.  If the customer understands this and can keep an eye on any logs indoors  it is probably nothing to worry about, but if the customer is a little naive and would be terrified of the the thought of introducing a woodworm or two into their home it might be best to not get involved.

I hope this helps