ThrustSSC

Here you go: Let me Bing that for you! You want the link with the logs, not the pretty waxy things! :-)

Not yet - I was working it hard the other week and it was terrible for hot starting, but it's not been needed since. Time to give it a really thorough clean, plug change, etc. then. Thank you, sir!

Thanks, mate. That explains why it was SO much harder than the sycamore and birch I did last year - with a lesser saw. Will go do some shopping :-)

Anyone got a tip for the same problem with a 576 also with AutoTune? The devil of a job to start when hot, and of course no primer bulb on that version :-(

Folks, Just wondered if anyone's got any tips on chain types or sharpening style that might help. I was making some Swedish candles in ash last week and while the saw (Husky 576AT, not that I think it makes much difference) was fine across the grain as usual, as soon as I tried to do the vertical slots with the grain, it really made heavy weather of it, producing dust rather than chips. Just wondering if there's an approach to this that would be easier on me and the saw?

Worse than that... Her daughter needed some petrol, so the mother decanted some with a jug on the worktop. She was next to the lit gas stove. She will bear the scars for the rest of her life, although clearly no-one else is to blame.

Oil and gas are 20% to commercial. Wood is still 5% to commercial (e.g. a pub). The silly bit is that it's really irrelevant - as you pay it to HMRC and they reclaim it! How many businesses consuming lots of firewood are NOT VAT-registered?

How far did it have to come? And how hard did you negotiate for that price??!!!

It's 5% to the end-user, 20% if you're planning to resell. Hence all us woodcutters are wise to be VAT registered. Once all the consumables and hardware is taken into account, you'd have to increase the value by at least a factor of 5 before you're making net contributions to HMRC. Note that unlike oil, logs are 5% to all end-users.

That's great to hear, Steve :-) PM on it's way...

The temptation to reply to the original question: "What do you need from your kindling supplier?" with the one-word answer: "Kindling!" is almost overwhelming... :-) That said, thanks for asking. For me: - High-quality, very dry, consistent, softwood kindling - Packaged in boxes or nets in a size that would retail for around £5 Appreciate you don't ship - and not a desperate problem for me. But for me almost as important as the above would be the service: if I travel some distance with the wood trailer to collect from you, can we agree a date and time that you will commit to as well? Hope this helps, Steve.

I haven't had such a laugh since I fitted a new plankton my decking...

Thank you, sir!

18 stoner, out of interest, what dimensions have you gone for there, and how do you find it for vehicular access? Forklift, tractor or telehandler?

Weeeelll... Two roof panels are blown off the log store - which was empty anyway. When the wind dies I'll have to get the long ladders out and nail them back on. The mice are all drowned out of their nests and trying to invade the house. Found a dead one on the Aga yesterday morning. Looking for places to put the traps where dogs, cats and little fingers don't go. The rain is keeping me from getting in the field to saw up some more rings - and when I do it'll be 'interesting' trying to drag the trailer out again. But don't worry about that rain on your 20 cubes. It'll only be surface water that will evaporate again. It won't get to the core, which is what your 6 months of seasoning will have dried. Or would have dried if it had been summer months!

Definitely a tendency for folks to light a fire in the evening now rather than turn the central heating on and hear the whole house. Good news for us... Incidentally, took my first order for Winter 2012/3 today!

Hmmmm.... I can understand why you're upset, but he's not actually named you, which makes it all really difficult. The lawyers can advise further on that front if you choose to go that route. But to me, as a bystander with no axe to grind, it reads as an ego having a sounding off about how clever he is, and you're the innocent 'collateral damage' in his wild shooting spree. He wasn't aiming at you, but you still got hit. Not unusual for hacks wanting to make a story for their column. If they didn't have egos, they wouldn't be writing columns. I think you can make a good opportunity out of this. Having protested to the editor, and I think you should also protest to the columnist, you have the chance to educate the writer about the wood business. Make sure he understands all the costs and effort you go to. Make sure he knows how long you stack your wood to season after sawing and chopping before delivering it. Make sure he realises you don't just cut it up from large logs (which can stand for 5 years and still not be seasoned!) the morning before you deliver it. Make sure he understands all the things you do to meet his needs as your customer, and those of all your other customers. Offer him some references to happy customers that he can use. Then suggest he writes another article about why a diligent local woodcutter is a blessing for the community, about how hard you work for your customers, and about how you are great value for money compared to a big national who will just deliver a big bag of very expensive logs via Palletline. If he's half the hack he thinks he is, he'd be happy to work with you to set the story straight. And the editor will be very happy to give you a LOT of free advertising space for some time to come ;-) After all, if one of you loses a battle over this, even the victor hasn't really gained anything. Whereas a win-win could be great for everyone - including the most important people in this, your customers.

I think I'm right in saying that CW played a major part in defining the HETAS firewood spec. Certainly when I read it I was struck at how it suits a large business producing enormous quantities of firewood using automated machinery, and not a small business like mine that produces different sizes and grades for different customers. Time will tell if customers latch on to it for the reassurance it provides (at a cost), or if they recognise that their local woodcutter offers better value, a better product, and a better service. Educated customers are your friend. At least they are if you produce a quality product and offer a quality service.

Sorry to be negative, but given that my Fiskars (X27) would go through any of those logs in one swing - without all the chest expander action stuff - I can't see the point. I can't see the swivel lasting long when bashing through some knotty hardwood rings, either. I won't be investing...

My meter's never worked well, so was checking this thread and followed your links. Mine is one of those cheap ones! It dies every time you stick the pins in a log hard - a dicky contact somewhere. I took it apart to see if I could fix it but it was clearly a really cheap job inside. So sorry, but my recommendation is to avoid!

Still sold out, Jon. Same as last month. And the month before.

Hmmmmm... The South Pole is the Antarctic... ;-)

Got mine about a month ago, Jon - keep it sharp and it just saws and saws and saws. Rips through anything from 6in to 3ft without stuttering. Amazing tool. No regrets on investing in it.

LOL :-) Managed to axe 4m3 of 8-10" rings today in under 2 hours, including some dreadful knotted stuff. My new Fiskars axe really makes all the difference. At this rate I'm going to need another 26 tons delivering... Can't see what all the point with these processors is ;-)

Nope. Looks like there's plenty of us :-D Best way, too. Makes that cold beer at the end of a day feel well-earned!