Stereo

Back to the top of this thread. 1. I'm flogging off all my stock at bargain prices. 2. I'm worried I will run out before the season is finished, such is the demand. I'm not a log supplier and never have been. I have had thoughts of doing it as it's something I love. I have always been put off by the competition I would face. Competition who, on the whole don't seem to want to make any money. You can't compete with that. I really don't want to piss anyone off here but this thread makes me a bit cross to be honest. Supply and demand. Supply and demand. Supply and demand.

You cut the top off an Alder you are going to have a funny looking tree, just as tall in a year's time.

We sell tools on our website and use eBay extensively. But, we don't use it to make profit as such. We make a bit on eBay sales but the key is customer aquisition. That is what eBay is best at in my opinion. If you can list your product on there with collect only then you are likely to find new customers in your area. I have looked at the prices of firewood and it's pretty silly on there. But, if there is someone looking in your area, you may well pick up a customer or 3. We have picked up many, many long term customers from eBay.

Also look into the RHI initiatives with a biomass boiler and heat store. A bit more involved but looks very good in money terms. The only thing you don't get is that cosy glow.

Alder is a fine firewood. It dries quickly and splits very easily. The main thing is, don't leave it outside in the winter or it will hoover up an moisture it lost in the summer. Keep it under cover and it's a great fuel in my humble opinion.

We've got mainly oak, alder and ash around here Jon but I think softwood is the way foreword. It grows faster, dries faster and is ideal firewood in the right equipment. I feel we need to get away from this perception that softwood is some sort of con. We just pulled another huge fir out of the river and I reckon it's a years worth of evening fires for next winter.

We burnt almost exclusively Douglas fir last year in our old villager with the vents closed. The wood was bone dry and the heat output was incredible. It also lasted a good time, compatible to ash. I was mighty impressed and at the year end we just had some fine dry soot and no tar at all. The flue came up shiny with a quick sweep. The key is the moisture of coarse. But with the vents closed, I felt a lot less heat went up the chimney.

Put it on eBay for £5000. You might be suprised.

I'm with spudulike. Don't lie on your back. Lie on your front and get those shoulders up. There is a very good book out there somewhere called mend your back or fix your back or something. I had a bad back for 30 years and finally crawled into an NHS physio after a particularly bad attack. She told me it was basically all in my mind! She was right. She said I am 'hyper-mobile' and this makes it worse. Understand the way your brain deals with your back joints going beyond their limits and you have your answer. If you have some pain after a day's work, get on your tummy and stretch that lower back. If you have that digging feeling then go for a long, swift walk and make sure you breathe in and out fully all the time. I suffered with a bad back for most of my life. I would get that thing where it was like you had been shot and you go down like a sack of poo. The reality there is that you stop breathing and everything goes into lock down. Learn to deal with that. Breathe, move and get your joints working within their prescribed limits and you should be OK. If you need to work, get a sturdy support belt and get on with it. Just make sure you stay supple, relaxed and breathe properly all the time. Unless you have an actual injury or physical problem, back issues can usually be cured easilly. That NHS lady has changed my life and I have no idea who she was.

We had a combi installed first. The Esse and Heat store came later. We had to find a way to make the exsiting combi heat the tank when the Esse wasn't doing the job so a coil was the answer. Not ideal at all and as soon as HSBC have stopped raping me on a daily basis, it'll be sorted.

I've been a dad for 8 years now (oldest boy is 6 but we still count the one who didn't make it). Now got 3 boys and it's the best job in the world isn't it? My old man is a great guy but he never gave me a hug (boo hoo etc) but he brought us up properly. Different generation I spose. One day I'll give him a big cuddle once I'm confident he won't take me down (still puts me to shame with a shovel at 76). My boys get too many hugs but I don't care. I luvs 'em so much. My only fear is that I'm over-protective but once you've lost one it changes you. Hope they don't hate me for it one day.

We have a gas combi, an Esse W23 wood fired range with boiler and a Heat store tank. The water in the body of the tank runs through the underfloor heating and also through the Esse so is heated directly by the fire. As a backup, the tank has a coil which is connected to the gas boiler. This cuts in when the water in the tank gets to 40 degrees to boost it up. Domestic hot water is provided by mains cold which runs through a heat exchanger in the tank. In theory it's all great but there are some niggles. In our set up the Esse doesn't provide enough heat in the winter so the gas is always kicking in to keep the tank warm. Granted, the output is the output so we need more heat sources and we can also connect up a solar water panel and are looking at a proper wood boiler such as Eco Angus, especially with the RHI stuff. Second niggle is that to have domestic hot water in the summer time you need a big tank of hot water sitting there doing nothing. Our choice is either light the Esse every night to boost it or keep it hot on gas. Either way, it makes the bedroom it's in even hotter and costs wood or gas. In terms of cost, a solar panel would solve this largely as during the summer, it should heat the tank up every day. I would say go for it but be aware that a halfway house solution is almost as useless as no solution at all. Personally, the economic climate put the brakes on my system, leaving me with something which is not really ideal at any time of the year but I feel if I add a proper wood boiler and a solar panel, we can really become free of gas. At the moment we have spent a load of dosh and the combi is still cutting in every hour or so (except at the moment as I have turned it off altogether and we just run a pallet through the Esse every other night. )

I agree, HMRC are a good resource and are willing to discuss informally and assist where they can. You might get 2 conflicting answers though so it's good to get stuff in writing if it's important.

You also need to be aware of the responsibilities you have as a company director, especially if your company takes credit etc. It can all get a bit serious.

I heard you give oak a year per inch to fully season. I've got a big stack of it in the woods all logged up but I'm just ignoring it for a few years. Wet oak is a killer for flues.

One of my neighbours is like that. She gets guys to jobs and then sues them for damaging the house or garden etc. Well known for it.

I like ash as a fuel though. In our Esse it builds a superb ember base and will give out heat for hours, even if not refueled. I like to mix ash and very dry oak for the perfect burn. Can't always get it though. At the moment we are getting domestic hot water from pallets as we get loads through the business. Gas boiler is switched off so at least it's free. Got a big pile of oak, ash and some fir drying for winter but it's not ready yet so pallets it is.

That's hard. Hope they were insured in some way. A lot of work to go up in smoke.

Beech is superb as long as you don't let it rot and dry it well. Also, don't leave those lumps in the shed for a year or you'll be logging them up with the chainsaw. I had a stack of rounds last year which were dry as a bone but an absolute swine to split. Ended up with nice square logs!

Boggy land here so Alder is a good staple and grows like crazy. Ash / Oak are a bonus.

Yes windfall. It's on their site.

Planting trees for firewood Which trees are good for firewood? The best ones are ash, (ash wood burns well without drying) cherry, oak, birch and hornbeam. Many other native broadleaf trees are also suitable. That's that settled then.

Thanks. We are at the vague idea stage at the mo. I will get bens book. Was a big fan of the GD episodes he was in. I think what we are looking for is a bit of a lifestyle change as our business involves too much time sitting at a pc.

I have about 4 acres of woodland on a slope. It's mainly large old trees of the usual oak, ash etc varieties with some ancient coppice in places. We are looking at ways to manage it and gain some income but can't see what can be done with so many large trees and not much underneath. We are looking at grants and advice but what will they tell us. As far as I can see a lot of big old trees will have to come down. What do they usually advise with ancient woods?

If the firebox is full of gunk then the rest of it is likely to be as well and that won't burn off in a hot fire (until it finally catches of course and burns the house down). We do overnight our Esse but we stack it out with good dry hardwodd and make sure it's burning very nicely before we close it up. It will stay in for a good 5 hours this way and we still have coals in the morning to get it fired up again with pallet wood.