difflock

Bethany, There is nothing wrong with Willow, IF it is dry, BUT it has shocking high moisture content when freshly felled, and then when dry it will be lower density and therefore require more frequent replacement in the stove. I have burned Willow with no problems. Even Ash needs splitting and drying, but it has a lower natural moisture when felled, and can therefore be burned straight after felling, in an open fire(hence its "best firewood" reputation) where it will hiss and spit as the moisture gets boiled off. Any wood has about 4kWHr of calorific value, based on bone dry weight, but the density obviously varies with species. Softwood actually has slightly higher calorific values due to the resin, but less dense(as per Willow) so gets a bad reputation. Softwood/Conifer is actually easier to light and the finer splintery pieces(IF DRY!) make good kindling. Some woods(Sweet Chestnutt for one) "spark" more than others, but if burned in a stove this is no odds. All wood dries vastly faster if split and exposed to the wind. Stacking in a tidy hand built fashion will really aid exposure to the drying wind. It is ALL very physical and time consuming and needs space to store both the unprocessed timber and cut/split firewood. It is also very messy/untidy! Good luck.

Scattered Cloud here yesterday, with about 6 pickles of snow blowing in the wind, then brilliant brilliant Sunshine from a piercingly clear sky. Only 30 deg in the garden room, while noticably colder outside. To be the same brilliant Sunshine today.

Apart from a pair of wild Duck, courting and seriously looking for a nest site on Sat morning, I disturbed a Coot/Moorhen this evening in the dusk, she merely flitted to the other side of the pond and disappeared in among the vegetation. Fingers crossed!!

We are old enough such that birth control is no longer needed! Why do you ask?

No!, Don't be stupid, I just showed her the video clip and asked her to explain the mechanics.

Well, DOH, kinda obvious innit. Pure applied physics. I even checked this out with the wife!

Ya couldnay mak it up iffen ye tried! N.B. Oops, I just went and read your OP Billhook, absolutely truthful, insightful and merits a serious discussion. But AINT GONNA HAPPEN! Thank you, Marcus

I fitted 2 Morso stoves in 1997, the first in the dining room was run 24/7(autum/winter/spring months for about 5 years until I finally got the floor laid in the living room) then the one in the living room was treated in the same way for about 10 years until I switched to burning conifer after which I let it go out at night and relit each morning, and then got another 5 years running like that, until we moved into the garden room in about 2017. So the middle Morso got 15 years of hot and heavy burning(like the flue pipe glowing dull red on a few occassions) and the CI carcase is still perfect, but it did need couple of alcohol induced replacment windows, perhaps 2 new baffle plates(I think) and a set of the side lining fire bricks, plus 1 change of the rope seal. But the stove itself is still good for another 115 years. And like with a car I would regard these items as normal servicing or wear and tear items. Except the 2017 Morso is fornicated after 5 years of light and gentle use, in that the top plate is badly cracked, so thanks East Germany for your shitty exported CI.

So what would it take to start and run a 30HP DOL motor, then add another 10HP DOL motor?

When we signed for our new single ph supply back in 1995, it was stated in black and white that NIE would only stand over the 230V at a heady 8kW loading. We were and are on a dead end spur from the village that was provided to supply 1 dwelling only, then others were subsequently added. Anyway I queried this since our Belling cooker could have drawn 13kW, plus lights, plus 2kW electric kettle a 3kW immersion heater plus 8kW electric shower. it did not add up. I did note when I filled in the paperwork for the 3Ph application, that they now quote 18kW instead of 8. But still . . . I will wait until I get the kit next Wed, and check out the motor sizes, to see what I need. It must be said would prob prefer the simplicity of an inverter.

How does your single Ph supply put enough juice forward to to drive a 30HP inverter? I just bought a couple of 3Ph items and need to source a 3Ph supply, options being 3Ph mains(and still awaiting the no-doubt eye-watering NIE quote to install same), a diesel engined genny, or a PTO genny, or a rotary inverter limited to guessing 50A(since it is only a time limited 100A fuse) at 230V=11.5kW, and at single Ph electric prices, even that sounds eye-watering expensive to run!

Except! One cannot MOT, or even PSV a tractor, not with their **hydrostatic steering(If I imagine I remember correctly) since Clive at work tried too 10 years ago, when H&S came down on us like a ton of bricks due to a fatality(due to stupidity) at another nearby Council. It was discussed up and down and round and round, though we did swith to clear diesel. But still driving on a car licence. **And having had 2 hydrostatic steering related failures in my 1984 DB1490, I can understand why. The first time, many years ago, a simple circlip popped off the end of the steering ram., which caused the tractor to only steer right, and right over the white line on a busy A class road, where I was "peeling off" right right at a "Y" junction. I continued right right over the centre line of the minor road and into the hedge across the wide grass verge, since this was the only way I could get the tractor off the public highway. The secod tme a hose ruptured just beneath the steering wheel mounted orbital unit, but at least not on the road, but again VERY very disconcerting. But I digress.

Felled thissun straight into the wee trailer. And 80 odd years of ivy, wind and traffic grit/birds nests and whatever else was hiding under the ivy, blunted me chain shocking fast again. Gerr.

Next week then Kriss. . .

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The Herons certainly think so! Rainbow trout are still alive after 4 years, despite said Herons. Frogs also well established, ditto. And a pair of wild duck drop in from time to time. Plus bats of an evening. And all, literally on our doorstep. Like 15m from the garden room. Mth

Prob about 40 years old, and the block of 7 slices has probably started to leak(or it could be the main lift ram seals) Regardless I was in the notion of leaving the 2 outrigger legs on the stripped down block of slices, while putting the other 5 functions on 2 new joystick control valves. Only I can't, since there will be 1 too many. So, do I use a button on the joystick with a 6 port solinoid valve to split between the rotator and grab , and what is the best way to pair the services. Main boom and dipper arm on one?. With the slew and rotater on the other, plus the grab on a button? Or how? Marcus

Sitting with a bottle of Titanic Plum porter, which is going down near as fast as the Titanic did. With these views, while the wife prepares lunch.

Ah! Ah bin forced to start eating my hat. Since after sharpening my already sharp chain(as he blushes), this Ash fair cuts like butter Sur! Oops!

I wonder is tractor cab glass now laminated as standard, could this cause buyers or users to imagine they do not need guarding?

I was really surprised at how hard I was having to work the saw(and I will be fettling the chain, despite the my eye telling me the teeth were all undamaged and the ball of my thumb telling me the teeth were still plenty sharp) to make progress. But in conscience I am used to cutting shitty Sitka Spruce. P S. What is the min dia/size of Ash to be worth milling? And what thickness to mill at? A pity some of the better bits were dropped in 4 and 5 foot lengths. But since not for structural use, no real odds? Cheers all, Marcus

Or so I conclude. Only Ash too. But I notice a wile difference. And the chain is sharp enough. P.S. A big stump for me.

That would obviously depend on the details in ones fathers will . . .

Those robot mowers are a work of genius, razor sharp blades cutting only millimeters off the tips, with no arisings to be seen, and it does not matter if the grass is wet. Simply genius.

My frogs are still fornicating in honour of St.Patrick. They even get all dressed up in green for the occassion. I suspect this has not changed for centuries. Ramble over.