the crafty weasel

Pigdog- staffie collie cross. Caleed Pigdog because for about a year he didnt know how to dig with his paws, so ended up using his nose instead.

Unfortunately I get my wood from an impatient farmer who wants it off his hedges NOW!, otherwise I would probably process in the field. I find stacking upright takes less space than horizontal, but does take more work in stacking. I have to handball because I only have a tractor and tipping trailer and no means of lifting or moving logs, so seeing as I'm moving them by hand I may as well stack them as tidily as possible. Upright on old corrugated iron sheets- they dont let water collect against the endgrain and the ends of the lengths lock against the corrugations and don't slide down. Here's the woodpile so far after 4 days clearing a hedge that the farmer is going to be knocking through. The horizontal stuff is trailerloads that have been tipped but not yet stacked

I made the mistake of storing willow upright with the ends against the ground once. Never felled firewood twice until then...

Sounds like you're the M&S of firewood; 'These aren't just logs; these are finest hand crafted seasoned logs, cut to your individual requirements to sit snugly in your grate' In all seriousness though, respect to you for taking the time to see what the customer wants, and sorting them out with a product that best suits their needs

Most of the prices are in the picture descriptions, but could get a price list drawn up for you. Haven't really thought about trade prices yet as I've only dealt direct with the public at craft fairs and markets etc and I'm not making much profit on the stuff anyway. Sure we could come to some sort of arrangement though

Could anyone who has a Facebook profile please take a moment to like my page? I've only been doing this sort of thing for about two months, so all the support I could get would be brilliant the link to the page is in my signature, once you're there just click on 'like' on the top right hand side of the page Some of you have already liked my page, I appreciate it a lot. This is by far the most friendly and helpful forum I have ever seen

Surely it's a case of striking a balance? The more surface area you have for seasoning also means you have more surface area for combustion. Logs burning too quickly might be an issue. If you split your logs into half inch thick shingles they'd season pretty quickly, but wouldn't like to try and keep a woodburner going with them. Could try using housebrick sized bits, only instead of cutting the log 8-10 inches long, cut it to 3 inches long and split it into blocks 3 inches by 8 inches (if that makes sense to anyone? does in my head.) capillary action would carry moisture along the grain, and because the grain would be shorter, should in theory take less time for it to escape. Hmm, I feel an experiment coming on with a moisture meter and the ash I cut today but haven't logged yet.. Disclaimer; I appreciate the extra work involved with cutting logs to three inches long, and splitting logs into shingles, this is just to try and test a theory.

Once you've got a management plan drawn up it might be worth getting in touch with local training providers about having it as a venue for certain courses. If it's an old woodland, especially oak, there'd be plenty of deadwood for climbers to have to deal with. I also agree with the crafty type idea (Not that I'm biased toward that sort of thing of course ) Bushcraft and that sort of thing are getting more and more popular, so may as well cash in. You could try getting in touch with local schools to see if they're involved in the forest school scheme, if so they might be interested in using the site. Local wildlife trusts might be interested in using the site to monitor certain types of wildlife, you never know there might be some funding available for promoting certain habitats within the area, ie nestboxes. We have an entomologist use the site I work on for bat and moth evenings, where the public can come along certain evenings, help set up moth traps and then study what they catch, as well as using bat detectors to see what bats are about. Apologies for how confused this reply is, I was just listing things as they came into my head

True, a Tescos or McDonalds uniform will do nicely

That would look amazing emblazoned underneath a coat of arms on the door of a Unimog

OK cheers for that, I'll get one ordered in the new year. Oh yeah, quite a torquey beast. Ended up using it all day today when one of the screws in the logging bar of my small Makita fell off this morning, and I'd forgotten what a beautiful saw it is to use. Decompressor would be nice though, my starter rope would last a bit longer that way...

Ive got a 1988 (I think) Husky 266xp with 20" bar that I use mainly for tidying up stumps and things, What's the maximum bar size that she would handle? The stuff I deal with isn't too big, it's just when I'm working on hedges and get to multiple stemmed ash and sycamore, the 20" isn't quite enough, especially if the bank is a bit awkward and I can't get right round it. Usually I can only stay at the top of the bank and cut from the top.

It's not a blocked tank vent is it? Could be building vacuum and then taking a while to get fuel back into the carb.

They make another more expensive model powered by a sloth in a treadmill... But seriously, 21 second cycle time? surely with a block that easy with no knots, they could just leave the blade hooked on and let it drop with the hammer? You could never make money with two operators working at that speed. Looks like a handy tool for fencing though

As Winston Churchill once said; Never before in the field of internet communication Have so many Been so angered By so few

Qualified as an engineer but got rather disillusioned with the jobs that were on offer, so went back to college and studied environmental conservation. Worked in a Spar shop while I was in college, but don't tell anyone... worked for the pembrokeshire coast national park cutting the grass in car parks and picnic sites for 6 months one summer, then got offered the job I'm in now, site warden at a reconstructed iron age hillfort. And so ends my rather short employment history.

Thinking about it you may well be right, and judging by the state of the kit there when I started it wouldn't be surprising. Nothing worse than starting a new job and inheriting badly maintained machinery. Didn't happen on my watch, I promise:001_tt2: I'll look into the price of a new piston when I get back in January.

Got a sawbench, but it only handles up to 3" dia what we tend to do is clamp the lengths in the logsplitter behind the tractor and cut with a chainsaw. With one person sawing and another carrying, we soon make our way through the pile. I'm faster using the saw than I would be using a sawbench, I'm just way too nervous around them. Smaller diameters, say below 2", we cut using the logsplitter if it's for our own use (cut ends look a bit untidy).

I use Stihl Two stroke oil, and the photo doesnt show it too clearly, but its not lean scuffing, something has gone into the bore, had a bit of a party in there then left again. the air filter was split when i started working there as well, which might explain something.

I just put it all back together and the saw still runs fine. Hoping to part ex it this year for a Makita 5301, so if it runs ok until April I'll be happy.

Had to change the anti vibe mounts and inlet gasket the other day on the makita/dolmar 5200i in work, so thought I'd pop the barrel off to see what the bore was like. Wish I hadn't now. Still got plenty of power though, which is surprising.

Finally managed to get into the fields to cut up and collect the stuff that I felled last Saturday. Another two trailer loads to add to the stack, plus some nice straight ash for gatemaking. Next comes the job I hate the most, stacking it in the main pile.