ThrustSSC

Superb! Love it :-)

What's happening here, Steve, is to do with moisture in the air. Because your office is unheated, and I would imagine it isn't the world's draughtiest place either, the air is probably quite damp. One quick warm up session isn't going to counter two weeks of that. Do you get a lot of condensation in that office of yours? On the other hand, the shelf in the barn is in a draughty environment so the air around the sticks - into which they shed the moisture - is getting constantly changed. The principle here is that two things dry wood (or clothes, people, whatever): warmth AND low relative humidity. That's where a well-ventilated polytunnel scores - it warms the air (lowering the RH as it does) and allows a change of air around the logs (removing the now-high-RH air). If it was not well-ventilated the air around them would get saturated (RH=100%) and it wouldn't matter how warm it got, they wouldn't season. Barns score on ventilation, but not warmth. A well-sealed shed or tarpauling fails on both - hence the mouldy, wet logs they produce. Hope this helps folks...

LOL :-) OK, I'll do the sums, you design me a nice big splitter that lets me sit with my feet up on a stump drinking tea while it does my work! :-D

Sorry, mate, but it doesn't :-( "2 metres cubed" means 2mx2mx2m, which is 8 lots of 1mx1mx1m, generally written 8m3. "2 cubic metres" means 2 lots of 1mx1mx1m, which is 2m3. (I know there have been a zillion alternatives put on this thread, and they're all different, but would you believe me if I said I had a degree in maths?!) Back to the original posting: either the customer was as confused as half of us here, or he was taking the mickey. My money's on the latter...

I think we're going to see more and more of this until folks become educated about green logs and avoiding them. I had a new customer come back to me last week for a second lot of 2m3. I commented that he must be happy with the ones I sold him 3 weeks ago and he said: "Oh yes. Much better than the ones from xxx estate." xxx is the local big supplier, an estate well known to many on here and that has a sawmill selling logs too. Back to my comment on cranking it up and getting it hot - it isn't just about having a hot fire to start with before your close it down, it's about making sure you've driven out all the remaining water before you close it down.

If it's not too late... What your fitter should have said is that if you go for the higher grade of liner (914 stainless) you can use smokeless coal. It's only a little bit more - especially when the labour costs are taken into account - and it well worth it for longevity. I've got a chimney that's part-lined - single skin flue half way up, then plain brick as originally built. The top half is getting lined with 914 flexi liner this coming weekend - in my case the 914 is so I can use a boiler stove which has greater tendency to produce corrosive gases.

As the above say... Put your logs in, get it really hot then close it down with just a whisper of air. In the morning give it a good burn-up to get rid of any creosote that has formed despite your precautions.

It's an odd season so far in Berkshire where I shift most of my output. Last year it was all "0.5m3, please" then another order later in the winter - everyone was budgetting month to month. As I ran out by December quite a few of these ended up having to look elsewhere and got rubbish. This year they've learned and orders are generally rather larger. I've not done any marketing so far, and have shifted over 1/4 of my stock already. I think I'll take a risk and not push it - if we get a cold winter, I'll be a happy boy. If not, I guess I'll be carrying stock through to next winter or having a spring sale.

Forecast says temperatures are going to plummet from Friday evening. Lots of cold air coming down from the Arctic... Keep Saturday free for answering the phone, I'd suggest! :-)

1/4 of my stock gone so far... Wondering whether to hang fire on marketing and see if a cold spell develops, or start pushing it. What is noticeable this year is folks buying for the entire winter, not a first small load with possibly another to follow. Perhaps more money around this year, or perhaps they realise the benefits of getting in early?

If there is any loss, it's minimal. And if the kiln drying is 'hard' enough, the loss is more than compensated for by the increase in efficiency of the burn. Given most kiln drying is relatively low-temperature, I'd dismiss this one as being bunkum.

There's a guy on eBay does custom-fit cargo nets. I got one for my 8'x4' trailer with tall mesh sides - I bungee it over the load and it does the job perfectly. It takes almost no time to secure or release, either. And on a wet day I can put it over the tarp to keep it secure, too.

Nice. Not seen them before, and I thought I was well-familiar with Fiskar's output - so I presume they're new. Would be good for doing stringy ash and knotty stuff. Love my X27 for oak, etc. but it loathes ash.

Agreed. Didn't last long in terms of sharpening ability :-(

Alycidon, Im sure you're right on some people using the stove as a primary heat source, but my point was that the normal situation we see is customers who use it as a localised source. Even paying top-end prices (e.g. Certainly Wood) for their fuel, it is more economical than gas/oil. As we move into the world of customers buying locally and smartly (i.e. from those of us on here who sell a reasonably-priced, well-seasoned product), the economics shift towards the world you describe, where wood competes head-to-head with fossil fuels on price. The CO2 thing will become ever more important to our customers as and when the world emerged from this deep recession (I note that everyone seems to be avoiding the "depression" word) and global CO2 emissions rise sharply again. Agreed on the usefulness of the NEP site. As for heat pumps, I believe they're an utter con - to get any decent heat from them you have to either have underfloor heating (that runs at a lower termperature), or you need to turn up the output so high the 'energy multiplier' drops to 2x or even less. At which point you're heating your house with electricity - the worst of all worlds.

The snag with this maths is it's comparing apples with oranges. Their gas/oil heats the entire house using the central heating. Their wood heats just the room they're using that evening, with some spread to other rooms by circulation and convection. That localised heat in the living room is where a key part of the advantage of wood lies. Then the romantic bit warms the bedroom, but that's another story... ;-)

No wonder the Arbtalk service tanked earlier this evening...

Is there a 'Like' button on here somewhere...? ;-)

Me, I just boil the kettle and cook stews and casseroles by putting those nice Le Creuset pans on the top of my Clearview Vision 500. Does the job very nicely. Saves wandering through to the kitchen when I want a cuppa, too :-)

Oh, hell. All that means is it's yet another scheme for passing on public (our!) money to their mates in the 'approved' firms :-( Joe Bloggs in the back-of-beyond looking to convert from expensive oil to local sustainable wood has suddenly been denied all hope of recognition of his efforts, while Clyde Ponsonby-Smythe in his mansion can convert to less-green pellets with a subsidy, buying off James Engleby-Jones who also does nicely. We should have known better than to leave the Civil Service to work this scheme out...

It does - and it's why I think that any investment in process improvement has to be carefully scrutinised from a PROVEN base cost. What's the point in getting a processor if all it does is leave you twiddling your thumbs because you can't work it enough? Anyway, to answer the question: in vented bags, on pallets, in my wood yard. Next year I'm looking to get a polytunnel installed. Cost works out at £2.50 to £3.00 a cube over 10 years, and will be more than offset by the premium it will allow me to put on the price for hard-seasoned wood. I've already validated if that premium will be workable with my particular customer base.

It does - and it's why I think that any investment in process improvement has to be carefully scrutinised from a PROVEN base cost. What's the point in getting a processor if all it does is leave you twiddling your thumbs because you can't work it enough? Anyway, to answer the question: in vented bags, on pallets, in my wood yard. Next year I'm looking to get a polytunnel installed. Cost works out at £2.50 to £3.00 a cube over 10 years, and will be more than offset by the premium it will allow me to put on the price for hard-seasoned wood. I've already validated if that premium will be workable with my particular customer base.

Agreed wholeheartedly that one can forget a zillion and one things! I did miss 'insurance' although one could argue that's included in the 50p/mile for the Defender. Accountancy - no cost as I do it myself (I have a bent for numbers anyway, so for me it's straightforward. My welding is less good. Others may be the other way round from me.) Banking - free (shop around!) Advertising - Facebook and word-of-mouth only. No need for more as I haven't the stock to sell. Phone - house phone, no incremental charge Insurance - covered Stationery - 1p as mentioned Consumables - saw consumables covered, printer ink in the 1p Motoring expenses - wife already has the Defender, extra running costs is the 50p/mile already covered I emphasise though that this is an exercise in a minimum-cost woodcutting business. To get 'bigger' would mean more equipment for greater throughput (processor, tractor, forklift), advertising, investment in rapid-delivery kit (crane trailer?), etc. But as the conversation started as a consideration of competing against benefit claimants doing a sideline, mine was an attempt at an assessment of the costs of a similar minimum-cost sideline business.

Agreed wholeheartedly that one can forget a zillion and one things! I did miss 'insurance' although one could argue that's included in the 50p/mile for the Defender. Accountancy - no cost as I do it myself (I have a bent for numbers anyway, so for me it's straightforward. My welding is less good. Others may be the other way round from me.) Banking - free (shop around!) Advertising - Facebook and word-of-mouth only. No need for more as I haven't the stock to sell. Phone - house phone, no incremental charge Insurance - covered Stationery - 1p as mentioned Consumables - saw consumables covered, printer ink in the 1p Motoring expenses - wife already has the Defender, extra running costs is the 50p/mile already covered I emphasise though that this is an exercise in a minimum-cost woodcutting business. To get 'bigger' would mean more equipment for greater throughput (processor, tractor, forklift), advertising, investment in rapid-delivery kit (crane trailer?), etc. But as the conversation started as a consideration of competing against benefit claimants doing a sideline, mine was an attempt at an assessment of the costs of a similar minimum-cost sideline business.

Opportunity cost: good point, but not in this case, I'm afraid. One good reason for finding a productive use for it Insurance: another good point. i forgot that one. £35/ann more on the Defender insurance - so 35p a cube. Time to deliver: included in the sums as part of the 2 hours Invoices: about 1p each Banking: free Answering the phone: part of the 2 hours per cube Accounts I do myself, ditto the VAT, etc.