kscanes

Hi there, I'm new to the forum, I am looking into producing my own logs for personal use. Me and my brother are trying to reduce the cost of heating our homes by buying in the timber and processing it ourselves, we would be be looking at buying a full lorry load ( 25t ish of hardwood) once a year. We are in the north notts area, if anyone can supply us please let me know, cheers.

I've sometimes considered doing that. I'd be interested in knowing how you get on.

In my opinion as a plumber woodburners with back boilers are an inefficient way of heating, a solid fuel appliance with a constant cold spot ( back boiler) will reduce efficiency compare to just a room heater, also the c/h system will have to be old fashion (open vented) I would steer clear personally!

But ... is there a constant cold spot? I've heard this argument before and it always puzzles me. My hot water is rarely cold! Actually, it is probably mostly at a higher temperature than the air that surrounds the rest of the solid fuel appliance.

Apologies for slightly off topic but out of curiosity, what do the operators of the tree harvesters do? How long do their chains last? Do they re-sharpen them?

"I can dry 10inch hardwood logs from 51% to 20% in four days on the top"

Sorry if this is a daft question, but ... isn't that moisture going into the room, and potentially causing a condensation problem? i.e. is it actually good practice to dry logs inside?

Here's an Australian one:

Whitlands Engineering : Rex 700-900

but of course you'll need to make the rings first so you'll need one of these:

Whitlands Engineering : Rex Log Saw

Possibly JK FABRICATIONS - Products ?

I'm a user not a producer. I have never understood who the customer base is for little bags of logs at petrol stations. I buy by the trailer load. A petrol station bag wouldn't keep me going for an evening! Are they bought for purely "decorative" fires?

Is it worth looking at what the peat extraction industry use? Lot of twin wheel conversions, but also half track and full track conversions of agricultural tractors: Turf hopper machine...Ford TW20 tractor | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Images published in Technical Report TR08/CNV00028

Images published in Technical Report TR08/CNV00072, might be something available somewhere second hand?

Also they have specially built stuff

Peat Machinery - Mini excavator buckets, excavator rake, excavator quick hitch, pole grab, backhoe and loader buckets, skid steer buckets - Peat Trailer

Images published in Technical Report TR08/CNV00020

Images published in Technical Report TR08/CNV00051

sometimes adapted from land drainage equipment, which is another industry that has similar problems.

When we lived in a town we used mains gas, and I think we would always go for that if available.

When we moved to a village that did not have mains gas, moving into an all electric bungalow (what idiot thought that storage radiators were a good idea?) we had to make a decision. We rejected oil (on grounds of possible cost rises, (we were right!) and on grounds of smell, and we couldn't find anywhere non intrusive to put the tank. We rejected calor gas for similar reasons.

So we went for a multifuel stove with back boiler, feeding radiators in all the rooms, and making a feature of it in the living room. We do not regret the decision. We mainly burn smokeless fuel, ie coal derivatives, but also burn any wood we get hold of (pallets, woody garden waste, etc).

To make a comparison of cost and convenience we recently went for twelve months burning logs only, ordering several trailer loads well in advance from a local supplier. We found that it did not save any money, and was less convenient due to the large space taken up for storage, and we also had trouble keeping the fire in overnight whereas with coal there is never a problem. Also, with coal, we always feel we can get hold of it whereas we felt the need to have plenty of wood on hand in case the local supply ran out by Christmas.

So the simple answer is, we would burn wood if we had our own cheap supply, but otherwise coal wins in the absence of mains gas.

Not sure it is a good idea to use a scourer on glass... ? Check out your supermarket or ironmonger for the cream they sell for cleaning ceramic hobs.

Mottimaster seem to do an electric powered wheeled version which might overcome the problem of maneuvering the conveyor belt in. But from watching the video it does look to be rather slow in operation compared to the pto version.

Mottimaster

Bilke also do a wheeled version of something similar, petrol engine powered: Suomen Bilke Oy

Has any one used or seen a Sami Autochopper in action and if so what do you think of them ?

.Sami products /Log splitters

Sami autochopper being demo'd at Fuelwood open day 20/21st May, if anyone is interested:

Fuelwood Open Days

The one on Ebay sold for alot more than 2k!!!!!

This very recent one failed (at £2050) to make it's reserve:

Road Towable Firewood Processor Japa 300 Diesel Engine on eBay (end time 09-Dec-10 11:57:15 GMT)

(item no 220708035315 in case the link doesn't work)

....The safety system will work, but it can be uncomfortable listening to it during a power cut..

Hello, first post on this forum but been lurking a while. Do all back boiler systems make a racket during a power cut? (I worried it was just mine!) What is actually making the noise?