agg221

In order: The separating sticks are called stickers - I make my stickers from old pallets. I don't dismantle them, just cut down the line of slats at each end and rip to about 1" width. You can fit any mill to any saw, you just end up with more overhang. While Rob's away if you email [email protected] you will get me :-) Alec

Ultimately, does it matter if it goes further in, so long as it is free turning and will come back out just as easily? If you can bottom it out then it will give you something to stop it turning, but actually if you can get a drill to it and push fairly hard then it may well be enough to stop it turning anyway. If it's fairly loose then you won't need a very big hole. Alec

Do you reckon the other end is tight in there, or is it just a case of getting to it to make it turn? If you can centre drill it then banging in a long Torx driver can give you something turn. This is easier than a hex bar (Allen key). Alec

I have continued buying Bird Brand genuine creosote, which has remained available locally in 25l drums, no questions asked. Alec

I've got one which you are welcome to borrow if you want to have a play before deciding. Alec

There are two practical options for breaking the logs down - extract the logs to a single point and get someone in with a bandsaw mill, or use a chainsaw mill where they lie. If both are options for your site, and you are bringing someone in, the bandsaw mill option will work out cheaper (assuming you can do the lot in one go) and more efficient. If you want to do it yourself or it is better spread over time then a chainsaw mill is the better option. How many trees do you have and of what species? It's worth making sure they are suitable for the use you have in mind - it's a lot of time and effort for them to rot in a very short time. A heavy duty workshop type bandsaw works fine for breaking down slabs - it's just a bit slow unless it is a truly industrial one (comparatively low power in a single phase one). Up to around 8" cuts are possible but the wider the cut, the slower it gets and the harder it is to keep it straight. Assume you are making 4" x 2" you would want to mill 2" slabs and then cut 4" widths on your bandsaw, so the cuts are only 2" deep. If they are long, the slabs are heavy and unwieldy so you will need stands, ideally with rollers, and it is a lot easier with a second person. Don't forget that you will need just over double the length to mount it in (it will need to either be an old, heavy cast iron one or bolted down) so making 8' lengths you will need around 20' of space. Alec

Yep, that's the one. I believe it is obsolete (not surprising given the age of the machine) but if I can track one down somewhere, used or new, it would get the whole thing going again. Alec

With regard to value - you will get more for it if you process it into firewood than sell it intact for milling, but that's because you will have put in a lot more work. Like for like, if you sell it for milling you will get more for the volume than if you sell it as is for firewood, assuming you can find someone who wants it - I would have thought you will as it is a good size. If you are thinking of selling it for milling, I would cut the rootball end off clean, as close down as you can, as that will leave it long but confirm that there is no rot up the middle from the base. I would also strip off the greenery to show the whole lot. I wouldn't worry so much about the top end - anyone who wants it will either trim to size or confirm how they want it (some people want to mill the crotch for the interesting grain, others just want it gone to keep the weight down a bit). Alec

Worth talking to Dave Harris at Essex Wildlife Trust as if they are still working Southend they are likely to have some winter felled material which has not yet been cut up for charcoal. Whereabouts in Essex are you building it? Alec

Yes and no. Both are the same species - Juglans regia, the European or Persian walnut (disregarding the American Juglans nigra, the black walnut) so ultimately the timber is the same. However, if you grow from seed the time to first crop can be up to 20yrs and the nuts are random in size and quality. If you want rapid cropping (3-4yrs to first crop) and consistent quality you need to grow grafted trees of named varieties. These are expensive, so you want to minimise time to first cropping and maximise yield per acre. Weaker growing trees tend to be faster in to bearing and, much like modern apple growing, you get more yield per acre if you get in more trees. Both of these factors tend to mean that trees for nut production are weak growing and are grown on a very short main trunk (3-4ft) to keep them smaller overall. This means that the timber yield is very poor and usually not worth it. There are a small number of varieties which are a good compromise - they form large trees but still come into bearing at a reasonably early age. These include Buccaneer, Proslavski and Plovdivski. graftedwalnuts.co.uk is very useful on the subject, but has given up supplying after his entire stock was eaten by deer one winter. Alec

I agree, but 500 is far more credible. I am sure I have seen reference to a tree in the UK in what is now a public park but was previously a Tudor deer park, which would be around 450yrs old if, as is believed, it is part of the original planting. Unfortunately I can't lay my hands on it. Alec

Just to clarify. Softwood is mechanically graded, hardwood is visually graded. There is technically no grading standard for green timber (mc >20%). This is an oversight, but it means that if you install green hardwood you are not actually obliged to pass any grading standard. In practice, common sense dictates that it is a good idea to make sure that it would pass visual grading (by reference to the standards as per TRADA publication) but you do not need to either be qualified or have it done by someone who is. One caveat, this was the case 3yrs ago when I did it, but I have not checked whether this has been updated since. Alec

Yes. The oldest claimed is 'King of Walnuts' in Khotan, China where estimates vary from 500 to the 'official' 1365: Walnut Garden - A Thread of Silk I wouldn't say I believe the upper estimates, but the size alone indicates that the tree is considerably older than the norm. This reference is more scientifically grounded and mentions trees established to be 300-400yrs old: HEMERY, G.E. and S.I. POPOV (1998): The walnut (Juglans regia L.) forests of Kyrgyzstan and their importance as a genetic resource. Commonwealth Forestry Review 77(4), 272–276 This quote from a Guardian article may indicate the reason why there are not many olderancient trees known: "In 1709 there was a particularly savage winter and about two-thirds of all the mature walnut trees in Northern Europe died. Apparently a temperature of -20C to -25C kills this species." Alec

Walnuts can exceed 500yrs, so this is a youngster, although like anything some live longer than others. Extension growth is very limited. Any sign of damage at the base from the cows? If you are looking to help it along then a mulch out to the drip line with rosaceae chip and keeping the cows away from the trunk wouldn't do any harm. Other treatments could include sugar solution, but really David Humphries is your man for ideas on suitable strategies. I wouldn't be particularly worried about late leafing - some varieties will do this so it could just be genetic. It's an advantage in getting a better crop of nuts in frost prone areas. Alec

Thanks Barrie, It's a Wheel Horse 111-5. It dates from 1986 so I fear the part is no longer available but any help or thoughts on graveyards where such things may be had are welcome. It's a double pulley which drives the deck and the gearbox. It's the rim which has collapsed when the deck jammed suddenly, so no chance of recovering the existing part. Alec

It was. Alec

Oh yes, I want one! Alec

Very much so. As Jonathan says, the pippy/burry ones will be great. In your line of work, the fallen ones may be very useful. The timber may well now be a 'washed out' colour, although completely sound. If so, it blends perfectly when you are matching in replacement timbers in buildings (and takes any finish in the same way). Alec

Since you have now calmed down... Anyone happen to have any ideas where to get a main drive double pulley for a very old Wheel Horse? It's a good machine otherwise but currently languishing in a shed since the pulley collapsed. Alec

You're welcome Try not to think of the questions as biased - you are a bit smaller than many companies where funding gets implemented but not much (companies of 4 or 5 people are quite common for this). It's actually easier to achieve massive percentage growth in small companies - you take on an extra person and it's 50% growth; try achieving that in a company of 5,000! It's more that the questions address things which you don't normally need to think about, so the terminology is not obvious, but they are not meant to be trick questions. The key metrics are usually creating and safeguarding jobs. If you didn't get the investment and this meant you might have to downsize, this would be a reduction in headcount of 50%, which the funders really want to make sure doesn't happen. If it did happen, would it be you or your husband who went part-time or got another job? If it would be decided based on factors such as ability to get another job or productivity for example, rather than an automatic assumption based on gender, ie it makes no odds, and the same would apply to your hiring policy if you happen to be able to grow, then that is genuine equality, rather than positive (or negative) discrimination. Given your location, jobs safeguarded/created is going to weigh far more heavily than the gender question. Alec

The answer to the question is '(insert business name here) is an equal opportunities employer - see attached equality and diversity policy. The funding will enable ongoing competitiveness, securing current jobs and potentially enabling growth where the policy will be implemented in our recruitment strategy.' In answer to your other questions, this has nothing to do with the EU. They may be responsible for many things but this is not one of them. Questions like this get asked for a reason. The available funding is limited so you can't have it just because you want some. You have to think about the objectives of the funding body in making the funding available. If it is just to make a return on investment, go and get a bank loan. Grant funding is designed to engineer change which won't otherwise happen. Sometimes this is to enable development where the risk of failure is too high to borrow against, sometimes to create jobs in areas where there is a shortage, sometimes to address imbalances such as gender-based or ability-based job shortages. It is no good complaining about people sitting around on the dole if there are no jobs they can do. Funding of this type is designed to address this problem. If there is a real positive bias towards a particular target group, great. If not, no bias against them is fine. You could add a sentence about your company enabling access for women to forestry and state your current staff gender balance but it won't make a lot of difference either way. Alec

There is some very nice elm round my way too. Alec

That is one big turning - yours? Do you have the capability to turn something that big from solid? Alec

Worth using a 6" x 2" for this if you have one around. Also worth knocking off high spots with an axe to get a couple of level spots across the width. The plank will then stay pretty true. Alec

Slab up at 6", preferably with the log already pointing down the slope. If so, tip the top slab over the side of the log and stand it upright by leaning it against the remainder of the log. If you can't move the log round so it's pointing down the hill, at least drag the slabs round and rest them against the end of the log. The slab does not have to be perfectly upright - you just have to set the mill up on the rail square to the log. It is tricky, but can be done with a square to set it. I made the beams for my extension this way before I had the mini-mill. The rail I use for the first cut is only 6" wide and it is possible to keep wide cuts dead flat with care, so the width is not a problem. Once you have cut the flat face and the first 6" slice off the log, you are likely to need to raise it to stop it fouling the thing it is resting against. A couple of 6" diameter sections shoved under it normally does the trick, sometimes with extra wedges. Alec