Stereo

I bought some draper chainsaw gloves and am pretty pleased with them. For welding gloves etc I always go for cheap and cheerful silverline.

Bugger, not much sc here, yet. I'm going to coppice the oak anyway so will see whats inside. It's been in the sun all it's life.

I think a witch lives in every elder tree and as long as you apologise it's ok. Alder has a similar thing as it 'bleeds' when cut due to red sap.

I'm putting up a fence and want a good long lasting post for the gate. I have a young oak which is a bit close to another and is about 8" at chest height. If I fell it and make a post from the trunk, what will happen? Should you only use the heartwood?

My wood burner gets done once a year. It has a straight up and down ss flue and never really gets that mucky. My esse w23 stove gets done 3 or 4 times but that's largely down to the poor flue install which should be sorted soon.

I can see both sides. A good session with the maul is great sometimes but then other times a relaxed session with a splitter at a comfortable working height, constantly turning out logs can be quite therapeutic i find.

Most of my firewood is now about 3-4". I coppice it and cut in 4 foot lengths and stack in the open with no cover. Left out for a year and then logged on the horse it's dry enough. I usually log them into the shed and burn within the month and they make a great fire. Usually Alder, Ash and Hazel around here with some Syc and Oak. I now use anything down to about 1" for firewood. On the sawhorse you can cut 10 or so at a time and pack them in the stove. One day I will get a chipper and the small stuff will be for the chicken runs and woodland paths.

I need cold and dry for 2 weeks. Got so much DED elm to pull out of the wood for next years fires and so many billets to log up. Everywhere is just such a bloody mess and as soon as you start work it dumps another load on you. I only really need 3 or 4 full days on the ground but I can't seem to get one at the moment.

It's a funny one isn't it. I can see where you Guys are coming from but can see the other side. I have a multi stemmed big sycamore that is sprouting out of an ancient shed wall and destroying it. It maybe 80ft tall or so. I look at it all the time. Would be nice to remove it. I could do it myself and get loads of firewood but it scares me and I wouldn't tackle it. I'm figuring a team would remove it in a day. For maybe 400 or so but that's a lot of money down here in devon. So I keep looking at it. The other day someone told me of a guy who would remove it just for the wood. Tempting from my point of view. Pay 400 and get to keep the firewood (maybe £200 market value and i would have to log it myself) or just get some unqualified guy in and it will be gone ( unless he kills himself doing it). Your problem is there are just too many people willing to turn their hands to it. I'm. Not sure what the answer is. The fatality rate is probably not high enough to justify any kind of regulation.

I've been skint a few times and down a few times and to be honest, jobs are easy to get if you have anything about you. I would smarten myself up (not suit etc.) and walk up the high street. Usually would have a job by the time I got to the top. Driving a van on deliveries, cleaning up, night porter, recieving early deliveries, whatever. Part time usually but money in your pocket. Once you are working, at anything, you are credible. You have a few pounds to play with and you have a much better outlook on life. Plus if it's a basic job, it gives you time to think about what your next move is. 8 years or so ago, I was in a mess. We had just lost our first baby and it did me in big time. I got a job delivering flowers for a florist (the last thing berieved parents want is a sobbing delivery driver but that's what they got). But it kept me going and gave me time to think and plan without sitting on my arse all day. I now run a couple companies with a combined turnover of £1m or so (vanity I know, sanity is in short supply at the mo!). So my advise, is just get a job doing anything, then get something better. Work IS good for the soul. Be positive and out-perform, even if it's stacking shelves or whatever. Be better than your job and you will find something better. No excuses, just go for it. You need to convince employers that you will be a bonus, not a PITA. You will be punctual, honest, polite and friendly and do a good job whilst being prepared to learn (and be told sometimes) with good grace. Good luck. Chagford is pretty nice place to live.

Wow. That's pretty incredible. Good on you.

Can't beat hazel for a steeped down Devon hedge I think. Lots of elm around here as well. Some of our hedges are syc /ash and they provide fuel from coppice and steep down well to give you a stock proof hedge. Only problem with ash is that Cattle love the leaves. Plus the disease of course.

Bait = poison

Anyone got any ideas on this? I have a Villager A Flat which is a big old stove. If I fill the firebox we seem to get a lot more heat than if there is a smaller fire in the middle. I'm thinking that it's too big for the room now we have the Esse at the other end. The question is, do you get more heat from a given charge of logs if the stove fits tightly around it than if it's a big old stove only half loaded?

I've got an A Flat which is the same but with a flat top. It's a good stove all in although I don't burn it overnight anymore. I removed the flue damper from mine as it's never needed it. I replaced the bolt to seal the flue. With good dry wood I reckon I could keep it in all night with the vents shut down, at least to the point of having viable embers in the morning. You do also need the rights sort of wood. You are never going to do it with softwood and things like alder and so on will not last long enough. Elm is a good one, as is oak for a long burn.

We do a lot of hedgerow and coppice stuff so we leave anything under about 6" dia in 1m lengths and stack on pallets with no cover. Left out all summer it's just a case of through the saw horse in Sept / Oct and you have excellent logs. Anything bigger than 6" we tend to cut to length on site and probably split as well with a maul or bring rings back for the splitter.

I believe they are doing another UK tour soon? Will deffo be going. Last time I saw them was Stiff Upper Lip at the NEC. Best live band in the world.

I think you should fell it young. My understanding is that if the disease gets right into the root it can kill it. Fell it before it starts to show and the roots will sucker up again. Bit like coppicing I suppose. Keep the root alive. As has been said, amazing firewood.

They grow like weeds here but cop it when they get so big. We just harvest the wood at the mo.

Kill them all. Cute and cuddly but they have no place in the UK and must all die.

What stove do you have Carpenter?

I use a Clarke saw bench which you clamp a chainsaw in. At the mo I have a cheapo GMC electric saw in which is great. I like the electric as it only runs when you pull the trigger. No wasting fuel while you get billets or clear the deck. But if I want to take it out in the field I can put a petrol, saw in.

You might be able to justify an equestrian shelter. Then get a big plastic horse or a pantomime horse suit.

Yeah, goats seem a bit too needy. Pigs it is I think. Just need to get in and clear out the big dead standing elm as it might fall on them. Plus I've got a plan to make my own organic chorizo. Although combined with the planned cider orchard, I might not make it to 50.

She actually said 'Don't stand too close, you might get blown off'. So I think it's a general thing, not just aimed at him.