the village idiot

Aw you guys! I was more than compensated for my time with a very tasty cup of coffee and a rather splendid Treeshirtz hoodie:001_smile: And what Steve doesn't know is that I lifted his entire Justin Bieber back catalogue whilst he was busy in the kitchen. Result.

'General Gore Guts and the Grallochs' has never sounded sweeter Jon:thumbup:

Must be a blokey present, Mrs Idiot bought me one of those too. Great speaker, especially given it's size. She didn't stretch to the funky case though:sneaky2: Where did you get that Dean?

PM me your address Steve and I'll drop them in. Stowmarket is very close. Do you know roughly how tall your chimney is?

I would have thought so. I could drop them off for you to have a play if you wanted. If it doesn't work you could get someone in?

I've got rods and a brush if you want to borrow them. Needham Market.

Hi Steve, Unfortunately I'd have to charge you more than the resulting charcoal would be worth! What species are you coppicing and what size is the material? There may well be a better use for it.

10 ton is a lot, but do-able. It might be worth you getting the thoughts of Hertswood and LewisB on this forum, they have experience with other retort kilns that are more expensive but also more robust. I am tempted to question the ethics of exporting such a bulky product to Australia but it's a complex issue and depends on how you and the Australians are sourcing your raw material. You are of course more than welcome to visit the wood anytime you like. I haven't got much to show you other than the kiln as I don't really do much grading and bagging, however I do make a mean cup of tea:001_smile:

1: You would have to ask Robin at Exeter for up to date prices. I know the price has risen since I bought mine in 2012. 2: Ratio of wood to charcoal is about 4:1, so 100kg of seasoned Ash should produce 25kg of charcoal. Keep in mind that at least 10% of your final product will be fines. 3/4: You can put full lengths in but you will get significantly less per load than if you cut the lengths into 3 or 4. If your charge wood is arrow straight you might get away with it, but with the length of the burn it is worth packing in as much as you can. It will handle diameters up to about 6", bigger than that it would probably need splitting and would almost certainly give you a better return as firewood. Smaller diameters go at the bottom, larger at the top. Breaks up fine on unloading whatever length. 5: The most efficient means of packaging is to sell it ungraded in bulk bags to a bigger processor. Most people use homemade weird and wonderful contraptions to grade the charcoal into paper sacks. I have often thought that a rotating soil screener and potato elevator/bagger would make a good combination for doing bags. All mine goes wholesale. Hope that helps. Keep an eye on the development of biochar too. Huge potential if it becomes mainstream, and what the Exeter was originally designed to produce.

There is a thread on here which goes into quite a bit of detail on the Exeter. If you search for 'mobile retorts' it should come up. Any more questions, don't hesitate to ask:001_smile:

Cool! Can I come round yours and play. My mum says it's OK if your mum says it's OK.

Well said Mark, Try not to worry too much about what others are (or are not) doing. It's a waste of energy and emotion. Work hard to support your kin, and feel good about it.

Lots of your splendid photos David adorning the centre pages of the latest issue of Smallwoods magazine.

Every dumbo knows that! I've done my back in several times lifting the stumps. Doesn't matter how low I cut them, they always seem to be soddin' heavy

Wow!! Can you order another one, I'll be right over!

Splashing the cash eh Andy? Always got to have the latest model haven't you! Had to take mine to the garage yesterday, not driving as smooth as usual. Tracking's slightly out they reckon??

They're trying to ease us into the idea of petrol pumps here in Suffolk. Until recently filling stations consisted of hay racks for the horses. I caught Andyd1606 the other day trying to re-fuel his model T via the exhaust pipe!

Nedging

Not that rare it seems, there's another place that does it on my way to work. :thumbup:

Why so aggressive angrimog? Not helpful and not altogether accurate. I started out with with less qualifications than you Chris. The method I used to get a start was to explore my local area, finding woodlands that I felt were un or undermanaged, finding out who owned them (this can be tricky) and then approaching the owner direct by letter. There are receptive owners out there who are up for having management done in return for the resource. It did take me a couple of years to get everything settled so ideally you need to be working (ideally in a relevant field) whilst you are looking for a wood. Do you get taught about management plans and felling licenses at college? You may well need to offer this service to the woodland owner. There are grants available to the owner to help with this cost. There's lots of info on this on the Forestry Commission website. It is worth bearing in mind that not all woodland management work is resource generating. This would need to be factored in. It may be worth speaking to your local wildlife trust. They will know a lot of the right people to speak to and can help spread the word that you are on the look out. You can also offer your services to the trust as a volunteer, helpful to gain practical experience and potentially a reference to help with your pitch to woodland owners. Where are you based?

This is pretty spot on. Going into woodland management from scratch is a challenge but it can be done. I went straight from making ice cream to looking after 200 acres of ancient woodland and I had no forestry experience. You do have to be totally sure that it's what you want to do. It has already been pointed out that the main rewards are 'spiritual' rather than financial. It takes a good while to get up and running, and to get kitted out etc so working under someone else for a while to gain invaluable experience and a bit of money to help you through the early years. I started with no machinery bar a chainsaw and no savings and would have failed without a retainer paid to me by the woodland owner. I was extremely lucky to get this extra financial boost. I'm pretty sure it would not be offered by 90% of the 10% of woodland owners who would be open minded enough to give someone a go, so a bit of start up capital would be a really good idea along with some working experience to give you some credibility and to avoid a lot of the costly and time consuming mistakes and false starts that I fell prey to.

That is a mighty question Chris, and the answer would have to be 100 times mightier. Where are you based, and do you have an area of woodland already lined up?

Good suggestion but parquet is a little bit busy for me. Appreciate what you are all saying about DIY flooring not necessarily being worth the hassle, but it is something I would like to try and after speaking to the sage like Agg 221 I'm reassured that it can be done quite simply and cost effectively. Even with straight cut boards. Dirtybiker, your floor looks lovely!

,'Light my Fire' Kindling ?

Yeah, the good stuff always gets snapped up early.