Stereo

There is so much crap talked about firewood, even from people who should know much better. In a good stove, any dry wood will burn efficiently. Some may burn longer and slower, some hotter and faster. That's when you need stove controls / flue dampers etc. Willow is a fine fuel. Grows fast and dried quickly in the right conditions. The fact that it grows fast means it wet when green, very wet. So, let it dry and enjoy.

Sorry, should have explained. The bit up the hill from this is an old pheasant pen full of dead elm and this is due to be cleared and replanted with new ash or hazel coppice, yet to be decided. So one of these trees is going to be retained as a standard in a coppice with standards system. Most of the standards we have in the area are ash so I'm thinking a few oaks might not go amiss.

Got an ash and an oak about 3 ft apart. Both pretty young trees but obviously this isn't going to work in the long run. My thought is to coppice the ash as its south of the oak. Is there any future in the ash as a coppice stool? Or should I just let them get on with it?

APC the only dead standing I can see is Elm which has had DED. I would have to take advice on what to do with that. I would be looking to run this for the benefit of the critters as well as myself. Mainly for the critters actually, I will benefit from working there. It's a pretty place and would be a shame to see 30 or so scrap cars dumped in the stream in 2 years time. I just need to justify it a bit financially in order to take the plunge. I hadn't thought about insurance etc. They get in everywhere don't they?

It would be interesting to see some stats as to the use / injury / severity of injury figures for unskilled use of chainsaws, strimmers, brushcutters, grinders, circular saws etc. etc. I can't really think of anything you can buy on the open market which has more potential to damage than a chainsaw, especially the cheap chinese jobs with big bars which are probably a pig to start and have instructions in some kind of language nobody actually speaks. Thinking about it, I know of probably 2 major domestic power tool accidents among friends. One was a hot spark from a grinder in the eye due to lack of goggles which meant much pain but no lasting damage. The other was a mate in Plymouth topping off a connifer in his garden up a ladder with a cheap chainsaw. The top started to turn. He ended up on his back on the floor and the saw fell on him and removed his bicep.

I guess it's a tricky one. I used to drive a large vehicle for a living. I always said that everyone should have to drive a big beast for a month as it's an education in itself. So many blindspots that you are aware of every vehicle coming up behind, to the side etc. from 200 yards or more away. Driving something big gives you the skill to be able to create a 3D map of the road and vehicles in your mind and use it dynamically, all without realising you are doing it. It makes your driving much, much better. You learn to predict how traffic will flow and converge, knowing that you can't stop in an instant like they can. As for speed, I've never been done but that's pure luck. I'm now the kind of driver who I would have cursed as a 25 year old. I suppose as you get older you just learn what's important in life and getting there quickly usually isn't. If I got done for speeding, I would take it on the chin and not assume I am above such courses. I would go with an open mind and try to learn something I didn't know.

No deer as far as I have ever seen. People have told me they see the odd muntjack but I'm not sure. We just don't get deer where I am unless you head up onto Dartmoor a bit. If there are, I've got a .308 and find Venison very tasty so it's not a huge problem.

I can't afford it really, it's in South Devon and stuff is pricey around here. It's more a case of not wanting anyone (someone in particular) else to get it and mess it up or turn it into a dumping ground as they have done elsewhere. But I figure if I could realise some initial cash from the big stuff and also get some grants going, it may change the picture a little and make it not such a stretch. Plus land is a pretty good bet over the long term and can be liquidated fairly easily if need be. I wonder if a working coppice woodland is worth more than a neglected one? I suppose it must have some effect.

Thats the one. It was hard work on the arms but a good workout. This was a tree which was lying awkwardly with stuff sticking out everywhere and it was difficult to see where the weight was. Just nice to be able to stand out of harm's way and reduce it back to something sensible fairly quickly.

I love wintertreeID, have the normal one too but I've learnt much more from the winter one. Starting to bore people now by identifying trees in winter......

I borrowed this one for a few cuts but I'm tempted now.....

Hmm, maybe the title wasn't that well thought out. But you know when you get to use a powerful piece of kit and it makes you want to do an evil laugh? That's what I was trying to get across.

I have about 6 acres of woodland which I can purchase at a good price. It's a mix of ash, oak, syc and a few other bits as well as some well overstood hazel coppice and elm suckers on the fringes. So, a lot of big hardwood trees. Now, I'm aware of the grants etc. and my view is that I would like to turn this into coppice with standards, maybe hazel and ash coppice with ash, oak and syc standards (I like syc). There is also a stand of about 20 tall cherry trees (maybe 60ft) which seems to be seeding all over the shop. So, I'm going to need to remove a LOT of old standing wood. What would be the best way to calculate the value of it? It's steep but I'm happy to organise extraction myself. Should I be looking to log it all for firewood or do we go for getting the big lumps out in one piece and logging the tops. Is there a market for hardwood trunks?

OK, this is an arb forum and this is going to sound really sad but we had a big old Ash tree down in the winds and it was an awkward blighter with a big 'V' about half way up, all the weight on one leg and the other leg up in the sky. Been looking at it for days and trying to work out how to safely log it. So I borrowed one of them pole chainsaw jobbies and boy was it fun? Reducing the top leg back was like palying a video game. This is sounding all wrong but for some reason it was one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done.

All concerned should get a good talking to and it should be pointed out the cost tot he business of what has happened. The business that pays them their wages in these tough times......Get that point home. But, metal and plastic can be replaced or repaired much easier than skin and bone so I would count myself lucky in this position. I employ people and they do screw up but then so do I so you have to accept it. If it's an attitude problem that's different but one silly mistake, albeit costly should be forgiven as long as it's made clear what the mistakes were and that they are not to be repeated.

I expect Ann Summers do something in the way of chainmail Y fronts or similar.

Why do so many people need degrees these days? You see them later on bleating on the TV that they can't get a job and they've got a masters. There were a couple of them on last night. Looked like they had the combined common sense of a turnip. I didn't go for a degree because I didn't want to pursue a career which required one.

I could never understand why George W doesn't believe in Darwinism when the evidence is staring him in the face every time he looks in a mirror.

What the flip is this thing all about? I have a few lefty type anarchy type....err.. whatever type mates and they are all banging on about it. As far as I can see it's bad news. What's wrong with the interweb as it is?

Welcome to the countryside. Practicality rules. If its not on private land then it's fair game as far as I can see. Good luck to those grannies and may their feet be toasty.

That looks the business.

This goes on a lot around us. Farmers on leased land are instructed to leave any fallen trees. There are 5 or 6 veteran ash trees on the ground within 2 miles of me left to rot. I accept the argument for biodiversity etc. but there has to be some consideration that this is good fuel / timber. My view is that these people want to have their cake and eat it. We don't live in a natural forest and they want to drive their cars to the council office and have the central heating on when they get home but they are happy to bang out some random rule about wasting a vast human resource. Sure, keep some of the wood back to rot as most of us wit woodlands do anyway. I usually keep anything in between brash and logs and stack it between a couple hazel sticks to form a rot pile for the bugs. Letting a whole might ash, oak or any big tree to rot will surely be seen as insanity in the future.

I believe if you have 15 acres of woodland planning is not required for a building. Not sure if that is still the case. Get planting!

I'm going to need bigger truck.

Poplar is a fantastic wood, only wish I had more around here. My grandad tilled a tree when he was in his teens and it had to come down some years ago. It was huge and we got some pros in to take it down but I split it up and put it in the barn and it was fantastic firewood. I can see where it get's its bad name as I left a bit out and it just sucks up the moisture again. I wonder if it will still be given away in 2 years time.