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Took the dogs out to a far field today for the first time since the gales. 2 Huge old Ash trees lying on the ground. I would never have felled them but now that's my heating sorted out for winter 2012/13. Work starts tomorrow.

We used to sell quite a lot of the Draper models. Cheaper end of the market but no issues with them from customers. Karcher seems to be the name though.

If anyone down here in Devon is interested in coppicing, a trip the nature walk out the back of Paignton Zoo (next to the lemurs) is well worth it to see it in action. They have a couple acres of old hazel coppice with mainly ash standards which they have regenerated (used to be used to fire lime kilns I believe). Worth having a nose if you are ever at the zoo.

I've looked at this but thought about standard stock fencing. Deer fence would be better as you could get much more in and not have to worry so much about stacking. The only question I have is how do you get them out of the bottom when you need them? Do you leave an access hole or something?

Probably best to leave it until the trees grow enough to shade out the brambles. Rapid bramble growth is the first sign of the woods reclaining land. Next thing to happen is pioneer species will pop up and start to deny the brambles shade and then the rest will follow along. We've got a similar slope we are looking at creating new coppice on. Various attempts with plough and mowers over the year have failed to get rid of the things so I'm not thinking we need to clear it, plant something like Alder and then gradually introduce Ash over the years.

I've still got my old Fibreglass Silverline one from yonks ago and it does most stuff perfectly well. Must invest in something a little higher end I think.

We use sage one which is an online system and it does everything we need. No worries about backing up and we can log in from anywhere. Even the iPhone as its browser based. Check it out. It's quick and easy to learn.

Our old labs take a sofa each and we always stoke up the stove before retiring. They have earned it and looked after us through their lives. If you don't like a smelly sofa, steer clear of my place. I care not what anyone thinks. We've always had working labs and as a kid I used to let one sleep on the bed. The only problem is they have a nasty habit of 'expanding' during the night so you wake up freezing with no covers while they are on their backs in the middle of the bed with their legs in the air. Like the opposite of a boa constrictor. Dogs to me are like oxygen only a bit more important.

Thanks. The sort of stuff I'm intially doing is maybe 6" dia x about 4' to 8' long. I'm looking to make architrave and maybe some other bits, coat racks, stuff like that. I had a look at the Alaskan and to be honest it seems aimed at bigger stuff. I guess with a band saw I can come up with some kind of fence system.

Is it either? Aren't those suckers? I can't see an ash having that smooth a bark at that age?

Light a fire under it and burn it to the ground. Only take a week or 2.

I'm looking for a way to plank up some small elm we are felling. No bigger than 8" diameter at the biggest and most is smaller. I've looked breifly at chainsaw mills and also the sort of demi pro bandsaws which Draper do etc. but not sure what to go for. It's not heavy work and not on a huge scale, just for my own use really and cheap is the key as it's just so I can knock up a few things like architrave for the house etc.

I've been watching some big trees over the last few days and I honestly can't see how they stayed up. A big old ash which was pollarded (probably unintentionally) about 80 years ago by the look of it, standing on the brow of a hill, on a hedgetop. I can't imagine the forces going through that structure but it was pretty incredible. As it would have fallen into our field I was kind of having evil thoughts about next year's firewood supply....Incredible tree though.

Interesting. Further reading turned up this on Wikipedia DED is caused by a fungus. It is primarily spread in three ways: By beetle vectors which carry the fungus from tree to tree — the beetle does not kill the tree, the fungus it carries does. Through connection of an infected tree's roots with a neighboring healthy tree. By pruning of a healthy tree with saws which have been used to take down diseased trees. This third method of spread is common and not recognized by many tree pruning and removal services. Arborists at Kansas State University claim that cleaning blades with a 10% solution of a household bleach will prevent this type of spread. Owners of healthy trees should be vigilant about the companies they hire to prune healthy trees. Blades need to be disinfected between use to remove dead trees and use to prune healthy trees. So I guess that means a disinfectant dip after felling each tree in case it is infected? Anyone else heard of this? Would be pretty simple to put into practice.

Also garden centres and nurseries. Plus those big b grade white goods outlets usually have a huge pile out back. Anywhere like that usually. Most have to pay to get rid of them.

This may be irrelevant but in my business we compete directly with all comers on branded products to a wide audience, online. We sell a LOT on ebay and anyone can get a product data feed from Draper, Silverline, Toolbank or whatever and have 25000 products listed in 24 hours. Most do. Most make a loss and have no idea. Most are gone within a year, having spent that year frantically packing orders at a loss. The ONLY way to compete is to actually offer a real service. In our case, it's the same product so we can only compete on actual service, after sales back-up etc. and we do this very succesfully. In the case of firewood, the product is perhaps as much or more of the picture than the service. So offer both. Offer a premium product all the time. When they buy from you, they know what they are going to get. No odd bad loads, just A grade firewood EVERY time. When their delivery arrives they know they can have a roaring fire within half an hour. I think it was Thrust who said about monied people and this is very valid. They have cash, good luck to them. They have a party or nibbles or whatever and they will pay for perfect firewood just like they will pay for a luxury hamper or the best wine. That is their right, be the guy who supplies them. Be open and knowledgable about your product. Know what species you are selling, how they will burn and why you have mixed them in the way you have. Think of ways you can streamiline the delivery process not just for you but them as well. Is tipping a pile of logs on their drive OK? Would a vented bag craned off be better? Would it pay to pay a teenager to help you stack the wood for them? Whatever. I'm not a log seller so have no real ideas but it's a fact that the principles of sound business are pretty much the same whatever you do. My main tip would be to not get hung up on price. Yes, you have to sell, I know that but you may be suprised if you are brave enough to have a great product and hold your price. Dunno, just my thoughts.

Photo of old pheasant pen. A bit rubbish but basically about 50 dead elms. To be cleared in the next month.

I've burnt a lot of it over the years as trees in our wood have died. Usually I have allowed them to stand (maybe a big mistake) until well dead and dry and then they make the best firewood I have ever used. Pig to split in this state though, almost impossible without a power splitter of some kind. I think from now on I am going to try and remove all the dead elm from the wood as soon as possible and in this particular area, try to get some coppice going. May take a rotation or 2 to fill up the blank bits but better than seeing it decimated. I've got another pic of our old pheasant pen which is all dead standing and has been destroyed by this disease. I don't want the same to happen to this lot. My plan is to fell it all and stack indoors in billets, well away from any live elm. The dead stuff we will burn next year and the live stuff we'll burn most of and maybe see if there is anything to mill.

OK, ta. I'm thinking of making up a few bits out of the bigger stiff if the grain is nice inside. Good excuse to get a small mill.

How about looking at the craft market? What I mean is selling seasoned blanks for things like walking sticks, coat racks etc. I know of a guy selling 5 hazel blanks for walking sticks, seasoned and straight for around £30 a go!

That's what my thought was. There are a few other broadleaves in there as well which should coppice well. Does elm have any value as timber or is it best as firewood? Most of the trees are fairly straight although not big. Is it safe to sell the timber with the bug or should it all just be logged up and burnt?

I have a small bit of wood which is mainly elm with some other stuff. The problem is that the elm are all dying one by one. I guess it's the dreaded Dutch elm disease. As it seems to be spreading, should we fell the lot and try to coppice it? Or should we remove any dying wood as soon as possible? Hopefully there are some photos attached.

Very sad. Rip.

Is there not a problem with mixing coal and wood? I heard that coal dust mixes with wood tar and sticks to the chimney to form a highly flammable business. I used to do this at our old cottage and managed to ignite it once resulting in 20 ft flames from the chimney and me chucking salt and water in the stove.

Funny, I was admiring an umbrella pine at Paignton zoo today. Not so common here!