Stereo

Thanks, I will.

I'm in South Devon.

Thanks for the advice, the brush I have is 7", it's really just the angle it's hitting the second bend at. When we had the install done, we did have the option of going straight up although it would have meant some minor building work. I now realise this would have been far better than the solution we have. I'm thinking what I may do is get the whole thing professionally re-done so it's a stright up and down. I have looked before for that return valve but couldn't find it on the Esse site. Maybe need to speak to them about it. We do have a stat on our thermal store so that it's kept at 50 degrees min by a gas boiler but I'm not sure if the water at the bottom is that hot and also it may lose some heat in the pipes I guess. I'm just a bit narked with the original installer as I could have done a better job myself and I don't really want them back messing with it. Hetas or not. I do take the point re. insurance though so will get someone else to look at it for me.

Hmm, been reading up on this and I have found a 45 bend with a door which looks the same size as my standard ones. This is on stovesonline who interestingly say 'We recommend that up to 1000mm of single skin flue pipe can be used, with an absolute upper limit of 1500mm. The reason for this is that single skin flue pipe is uninsulated and so will have the effect of warming the room but also of cooling the flue gases. When flue gases cool chimney desposits increase and the risk of chimney fire.' I've got a 900mm vertical piece, then a 45, then a 700mm diagonal and then another 45 before it goes to the SS converter. Overall this is 2000mm of steel single wall pipe and it's always the top of this, around the second bend which gets clagged up. The SS pipe is a doddle to clean, just dust which falls away but the top of the vitreous pipe gets that sticky goo on it. I know this from dismantling it last summer to seal the joints (part of regs I think, this was not done at all on mine.). The top bend needed attacking with a chisel to get the stuff off. I just think they used too much single wall to save a few quid.

This is what I have: Chimney sweep brush, chimney rods, flue brush

Which model of cooker do you have ?. W23 How old is it, did you buy it new?. 3 Years or so, yes. Did the Esse dealer do the install if new?. Yes. What are you feeding it with and at what moisture content?, this is CRITICAL. Mainly hardwood, 20% or less. Roughly how long is the flue ? At a guess, 8m Other than the two mentioned are there any other bends in the flue system?. Nope Do you have higher buildings or higher trees than your flue exit within 60 yards?. Yes, farmhouse next door. I have looked at various elbows etc and it seems to me that the problem I will have is that a door elbow is longer than a standard one. I just need to get a brush up there. I have a standard drain rod set and I also layed out on a fancy nylon flexy set with a brush with a ball on the end but no matter what I try, I can't get the thing around the second bend. If I could, I wouldn't have an issue other than my general complaints about the W23's tolerance of moisture which was not what they told me when I bought it (under 25% was what is quoted in the hand book). This will jam it up in no time. The issue is that I am pushing the rod up and the first 45 angles it downwards as it slides up the 45 degree section. So as it hits the second 45, it's trying to go down and it just wont go around the bend. I did buy a wheel attachment but the thread is drain rod size and won't replace the ball on the posh brush I have. Do you know if it is acceptable to have an access door put in to the second piece of vit? This is the bit at 45 degrees between the 2 bends. If I could put an access in this I could get around that second bend. I was thinking of just getting it replaced with a length that has an access door in it. I don't recall them doing a smoke test to be honest but they may have.

Yes, the new ones coming out are nearly 40% efficient compared to about 10% or so for old ones. I guess that means 4 x the output? No idea.

I need to change around the flue on my Esse range. The installer put in too much black pipe in my view. It goes up about 1.5mr, then 45 right, then another meter or so, then 45 left and then to SS and up through the roof. I think they should have gone to SS after the first bend. The main problems are that the steel in the higher section of black gets too cool and I get loads of creosote whereas there is none in the SS above. Secondly, I cannot for the life of me get a brush around the second bend from the access cover at the base of the flue. I want to put in a 45 with door at the first bend then convert to SS from there up. But, I'm not sure what brand the SS I have is. It's about 3 years old. Will any make fit to it? Is there a way to identify it? Before anyone says I shouldn't mess with it, I've already had it in bits to clean it and seal with cement as my Hetas installer did not do this and left gaping gaps around the joints all the way up.

I think the key thing and the thing that most sites fall down on is the lack of clarity in displaying their shipping costs up front. I actually asked a very similar question to the OP here a year or so back as we sell on the web and on eBay. On eBay we are all free p+p because that's what they want and to be honest, ebay buyers tend to mainly want one item and not big multiple orders. On our webby, we are price plus postage but one thing we learned from studying the traffic flow on our site is that just about every new customer has one thing in common. Before they start adding to cart they want to know the shipping cost. It's amazing how many sites hide this away. We made the point of smacking a big link on the home page and have a dedicated page on the top menu which explains our shipping costs and time frames in detail. We also run a simple shipping table by weight. I hate shopping on sites where it's plus 20p per kilo or whatever. Your courier may charge you that but it's just punishing the customer for adding more to their cart. Yes we have to cover our costs but I think the simpler the better. You win some and lose some. I have toyed with the idea of free p+p on the site for ages but can't bring myself to do it. Even though the majority of our sales are for one item and for those people, it may add clarity (unless they are highlands, islands, NI blah blah), we would almost certainly lose out on the many customers who buy in volume from us as the total price would be ridiculous.

I'm billeting all my wood now and leaving uncovered outdoors until the weather turns at the end of summer then logging into the shed. Last year I had piles of logs under tarps and the driest wood was the 3-4ft lengths I was using to weigh the tarp down! It's a bit unnerving when you get weeks of rain like now but a few weeks of late sun will dry them perfectly.

Been a few times but today really had chance to stop and look and there are some stunning trees there and some interesting arb work as well. A huge gnarly oak braced up and Massive hollow sweet chestnut must be 500 years old. Worth a walk around for tree fans.

Bit foolish running it up over the reserve if thats what was going on but it's usual for the auctioneer to keep taking bids off the wall until the reserve is met.

I would have thought that with so many stewardship schemes about, anyone who could work within and understand the requirements of such schemes would be very much in demand.

For that in South Devon you would be looking at £120-150k at least I would think. Small parcels near us have sold recently for £15k an acre! Not sure how it compares. In terms of income you would need to look at this carefully. Pigs may be your best bet, especially if you can go organic. It's not enough land to do anything viable with cattle / sheep I doubt. Maybe organic chickens for meat? You might also want to look at all the grants / supprt you can get for woodland development, rare breeds, going organic, single farm payments etc.etc. I'm no expert on this but you may have a land agent around who has a department for this kind of stuff. Other ideas may be survival skills as above, make some clearings and do yurt holidays, sell woodland products and so on. The question is whether you can raise the cash because you are unlikely to get much return off the land in reality. I'm looking at a similar idea as I have the opportunity to buy 21 acres of prime pasture and woodland at a discount for various reasons. The problem is I just can't make a case for saddling myself with that amount of debt unless I can get planning and cover it in log cabins which kind of defeats the object for me. My main concern is that due to current inheritance tax laws and farm subsidies, land may be in a bit of a bubble. If prices fell dramatically (low risk but possible) I could be putting my other land at risk by going for it.

No commision, it would be a public service.

If you do move it, take the opportunity to install a rambler trap. This is a simple device consisting of a conveyor and some rotating blades. They are designed in such a way that they only catch groups of idiots walking through the countryside in bright clothing talking rubbish as loudly as possible.

Just get on with it. These rules are made up by cretins who can't enforce them.

I'm also looking for a basic course which will outline the essential dos and don'ts for managing woodland in general. I didn't know the value of dead standing timber before reading it here. There must be loads more basic knowledge that would be valuable to know.

I'm A+ as I recall. I don't think my grades at school accurately reflected that. What's all this about furriners not wanting British blood? Talk about shooting yourselves in the foot. To anyone thinking about giving blood, even if you are a bit squeemish, it's really easy and usually painless. The last time I did fell a small prick but then the nurse did have a beard and kept winking at me. The bonus is that you get to answer loads of amusing questions about whether you have had relations with camels etc. I did once ask if I could see the bag of blood but they wouldn't show me as they said some people ask to see it and then freak out! So, go for it. It's easy to sign on and it's a little bit of time out of your life. It doesn't hurt and you feel fine afterwards, maybe need an early night. But it can make a total difference to someone else and one day it could be you, your parter or your kids. Or one of your work mates. Remember the dangers of the industry most of you guys are in and if you are fit and healthy, for god's sake go and give a few drops.

Yeah, we were aware of the risks but it was one of those descisions, also risks in hospital etc. With the second one, we didn't have much choice, he was out in about 20 minutes.

I remember the first time I gave blood I asked if it was OK that I'd had a drink the day before and they said that was no problem but I should avoid booze for 24 hours after. So I had to put that to the test. My advice......avoid booze for 24 hours after unless you want an experience similar to a bad acid trip.

Oh and to all new dads, the odd feelings are fairly normal although in Shaun's case, obvioulsy he's been through a hell of a thing as well as becoming a new dad. It's when the midwives and all the pro's go off and leave you in your house with this little baby and you kind of say....'uh...ok.....'. My third boy is now nearly 3 and all were born at home in the living room, kitchen and bedroom respectively. It does get easier once you've had some practice!

Thanks for this thread. I will get back in the loop. I used to give blood regularly but kind of fell out of the habit somehow, busy etc. etc. There are a lot of people who can't give blood for whatever reason so those of us that can should do so. It's not hard and you do get a stale biscuit for free! I'm going to check out the next session near me right now and get booked in. All the best to you and yours, quite a rollercoaster you've been on.

Thanks Graham, I'm going to give it a go. Could do with a little tractor that can pull a mower at least and skidding bigger logs would be very handy. I was trying to remember what it was like to drive and I can't remember if it was this one or our Massey 35 but one had a really high 3rd gear. It would be a little step up to 2nd and then you had to wind it right up and hit third. It would struggle for a bit and then the torque would kick in and you would be off like a rocket (probably about 6mph in reality!). Is your dexta like that? I found the plate for this one 226 MOD. Pity it can't be transfered to a car. Might be worth a bit!

When we put in a supply to our barn conversion we hired a digger and did all the trench work ourselves to spec. They even gave us the cable to lay in and all they did was come out, inspect what we had done, connected it at each end and supervised the back fill and warning tape etc. This was a while ago but it cost very little, a couple or 3 grand I think. On the subject of planning, my advice would be to link it in some way to some form of enterprise, especially if you can provide even temporary work to others. There is now a presumption in favour of sustainable develpoment and what that really means is that you have to show that you are bringing productivity and hopefully employment to your bit of the countryside. If you can throw in some form of public ammenity, even better. The best approach would be to do up a business plan showing why you need each cabin and why you need to live on site. Just buying a field and expecting to get a house on it is pie in the sky in most parts of the UK I'm afraid. I have a field which would be a dream place for a cabin and we are trying to plan out how we can do the above within the regulations. As a parish councillor, I can't just bung one up and go for certificate of lawfullness in 10 years time, tempting though it is. On that note, the law has been changed on this so that a certificate can be refused even after 10 years if the planners can show that you have deliberately concealed the breach (like putting it inside a barn or planting high trees all around it and then cutting them down after 10 years, so take care on that on. It's a new rule so not any precedents yet I believe. As for planners being envious busy bodies, I can see why people think that and surely some are but many are fair, decent people. My motivation for joining the council was not so much to tell people what to do, it was more to make sure we didn't get a council or people who had only moved into the parish 6 months ago. Our primary aim is to keep our nose out of people's business as much as possible. My final point would be that these cabins are stunning and I can see the appeal. But. 20 or so years ago, my Dad gave up farming in a big way and sold off a huge chunk of the farm. Many fields around us have ended up as 'smallholdings' or just people putting caravans, yurts, cabins or whatever on them and to be honest, 90% of these places look like junk yards and are a disgrace and there is little or nothing anyone can do. You cannot blame the planners for not wanting to see this all over the countryside. People dream of owning a couple acres and usually it ends up as a dumping ground with the mandatory shipping container, a knackered Landy and a few rotten tarps floating around the place.