Flyguy

I appreciate that this is a bit of a long shot, but if any forum members are working in the S11 area and need somewhere to dump 10ish cube of green unprocessed arb waste then I would be happy to come to an arrangement. Hardwood preferred, but any shape/sized gnarly bits welcome... it all burns (eventually) cheers.

Your quite possibly right ! But I also don't live my life crowed by what some slimy insurance company says it might cover. Especially as they will try and weasel out of anything anyway. Also, please remember that its NOT illegal to own and use power tools. Or to do favours for friends and neighbours. Maybe its old fashioned, or naive or even mental. But personally I think it makes for a better world. FG

I am in a similar position - on the lookout for wood to process into logs for my own stove. Although the professionals here will be understandably cautious letting someone loose in 'their' domain, I have found that many other people are a bit more relaxed. As word get round that you are after wood neighbours and work colleagues pop up wanting small garden trees taken down or larger sticks felled by tree surgeons cup up and taken away. Ive also had a local private school and horsy folk wanting rid of wind blown branches in their fields. Basically, you need to use your common sense and keep your whits about you. Be aware that a chainsaw is a potentially dangerous beast and that trees are heavy and potentially lethal. Get a reasonable saw and learn how to use, maintain and sharpen it (Youtube is a goldmine of advice). Get yourself some basic safety gear (chaps, helmet, ear protectors & visor) and work well within your comfort and experience zone. You'll probably not save money when you price in the cost of all the kit, but it'll be satisfying physical work that will ultimately keep you and your family warm for years to come. As long as your suitably thankful for the wood, clean up after yourself and are not a complete numpty you should be able to scavenge a fair bit. I've been lucky enough to not have to buy any wood at all for the last 5 years and have at least 2 years worth stacked seasoning in the garden now. Just my own personal experience... FG

I got one of there a few months ago to split wood for own consumption: 7 Ton Hydraulic Log Splitter just reduced from titan pro, order a new 6 Ton Hydraulic Log Splitter today While initially sceptical, its turned out to be surprisingly effective and only rarely gets bogged down. Done a good 8-10cube so far and no major problems (table tends to vibrate itself loose - but easily tightened up again). It runs fine on an extension lead, but will however occasionally trip a 16 amp breaker - although I understand that a 'slow blow' breaker would get round this I havent yet got round to putting one in. I'm certainly not missing the physical punishment of wielding a maul !

The fact that it burns poorly with little flame is also consistent with Horse Chestnut....

Good post ! Not only will the amount of such unburnable mineral content vary from species to species but also from tree to tree depending on the soil conditions they grew in. Just one of those things I'm afraid....

I agree that willow and poplar are fine when dry (and kept dry!) - its just that they burn up fast. So all in all you end up investing more work for a given amount of heat. However I have never had anything but disappointment with horse chestnut - even after 2 years in the woodshed you still end up with a lump of wood reluctantly smouldering in the fire with hardly any flame.

There are too many to go into specifics but in my limited experience: Good: Beach Ash Sycamore Birch Oak (eventually !) Bad: Horse chestnut Willow & Poplar (not inherently bad - just starts wet and end up very light) Although, as has been said before. Wood is wood and it'll all burn. FG

As a research scientist by profession I sometimes deal with unexpected results. And while the unexpected does occasionally happen (and is very exciting when it does), the burden of proof required is higher if you want to contradict a long standing dogma. Given this, I'm sure you agree that difference between a heated dry room v. a cold draughty barn (especially given the recent low temps and the misty damp weather we had a couple of weeks ago) is very surprising. Is it at all possible the two samples could have been mixed up by accident at some point ? If you are confident that these initial results are correct can they be repeated ? This would be both on multiple sticks in that bag [known as technical replicates] and whole new bags split now and stored in office / barn repeated from scratch [experimental replicates]? Do you have controls of known wet and known dry wood you can use to confirm that the moisture meter is giving sensible readings ? Please dont get me wrong - I'm not trying to be antagonistic ! Just trying to be scientifically thorough so that we can shed some light on the mystery. Cheers, FG

I'v only ever burnt it in a wood burner so cant comment on its acridity. However in my experience its a dense wood that burnt well and long.

A bit cheeky as I'm just a 'hobby' logger looking for wood to burn on the fire. However, you are welcome to drop rings / logs off with me in S11 if you need rid of them. Sorry, cant help you with the chip.

Sounds good Windfall. Where are you based and how far are you willing to travel ?

Some years ago I saw a timber yard / sawmill in central Germany with a need setup. They had set up a wood trying kiln (insulated 40 foot shipping container) heated by the waste heat from a small diesel engine driving a genset. They ran it on on a heat demand system using locally pressed rape seed oil and fed the electricity back into the grid under the German eco feed in tariff scheme.

I use chainsaw dust for guinea pig and rabbit bedding no problem. However bear in mind that it will include a small proportion of chain oil. Not a problem for pets / livestock etc but maybe not such a good idea if you want to smoke food for human consumption.

As a small scale 'own consumption' firewood producer I'm really starting to feel it in the back and joints after a long session splitting with the maul. As such, hiring a splitter for a weekend sounds appealing....... Where are you and how much would you want ? FG