Woodworks

I converted one for a client. As I remember I fixed some batten's into the profile. Used tech screws to fix them to the steel (the inside was lined so projecting screws didn't matter). Fixed feather edge boards to the batten's. Put a sloping box profile roof over the top that projected over the outer cladding.

Wrinkles front to back dont matter in the slightest other than lessening how much you can lap over the front but you want the sheet to stay as wide as possible. IBC are tipped in with a rotator. Good luck with it. If you are handy most niggles can be overcome. Still got some improvement ideas but never get around to them.

Very slow to dry and light when it finally is. Lovely to cut and split though.

Great day yesterday. Didn't get to site until late but cleared a whole wagon load of softwood by 18.00. Customer very happy. Not all recent jobs have been so nice though. Cutting up some orrible rotten carp last week and sticks for someone the week before. The sticks were down to finger size! Jobs like those I just have to remember I get paid by the hour and the customer is alway right.

Hand wind. Thought about using an impact wrench but dont fancy the noise.

Got to the bottom of this in the end. There is valve that gets turned off when the ram returns home but the plate that hits had got worn so when it was at "idle" it was still trying to push back into position. Was only slight but when it got worse I could hear the engine labouring and sussed the problem. Will see what Interfluid can do in the way of a cooler anyway as you work over the oil tank and in the hight of summer with an oil tank at 70+C it's not a pleasant job.

Thought I would make a separate thread for our discussion. Doing some deliveries today so taken some pictures of how how I use the Loadhandler. First off are the greedy boards which take seconds to attach. The front should really be improved but it's still hanging in there haha. I drag the sheet right out and lap it over the front board. Get some logs on this and then lap it back over and finish loading. This stops the sheet pulling out without the logs. The floor has a slippy sheet of HDPE plastic as my truck had previously been painted with a non slip liner. A loadliner would also work fine. The Loadhandler itself is fixed to a piece of steel which I have permanently bolted to the tailgate. 2 bolts is all that fixes it in place. To stop the tailgate lifting you would normally use a couple of straps which come with the Loadhandler and hook them onto the bumper but they dont work well on this Hilux due to bumper position. Worked fine on the Dmax. I have fitted a removable strut to hold the tailgate down and it's better than the straps ever were. You can see how much was left in after winding out 2 cube. Hope that all makes sense

Got an old Coronet No 3 myself. Does all you have mentioned and built to last so worth keeping an eye out for SH IMO Like this with a rotating headstock which enables large bowls to be turned. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/record-power-woodturning-lathe-coronet-no3-with-many-extras-IE-chisel-blanks/332771408006?hash=item4d7ab8b886:g:WBgAAOSwkzhbeb~5

Not the one that comes with it. The threads that holds the sections together are poor and will not handle too much torque. Easy to get some straight tube. If your ever down this way you can have some as had to buy a 6m length. The tube would handle welding I think. Considered getting an impact gun myself but it's not very sociable when delivering logs with your customer beside you haha. The handle works very well.

It's taken a few mods to get to work as well it does now. I run a single cab and the attachments would cover the handles on the tail gate. Not a problem with a twin cab or supercab as they have the tailgate handle in the middle. Logs can get wedged up behind the wheel arches. But having greedy boards set up at and angle this problem can be nearly overcome. The shaft the drag sheet winds onto is made up of separate pieces that screw together. I balls up the threads through overuse and fitted a single straight tube. The drag sheet frays on the edges and need a bit of trimming from time to time. Having said all these bad things I would not be without it. Just coming up to our 1000th load and all of them have been done with a Loadhandler. 1m3 in a single cab placed more to the centre will come out petty much perfectly leaving barely a log. 2m3 load generally there is a bit of log retrieval to be done but probably only a 20th of the load. Can take some pics next time I am set up for logs ie with greedy boards. We deliver to a lot of places where they want the logs in the garage. With the Loadhandler you can just back in and wind them out. You couldn't do that with a tipper as it would hit the roof. Days like today I am just using the truck as regular truck with a tonneau cover. No lose of payload capacity that you would have with the weight of a tipping back and rams etc.

I looked them in the eye and made a hasty retreat.....

Never saw the black bugs again but tonight every outside light is swarming with hornets. Never seen more than the odd one before but must be dozens if not hundreds around.

That's pretty depressing. Over on the other thread someone linked to a firm with the ready to burn logo on the page and claiming " All our logs are GUARANTEED DRY and have an average moisture content of 25% or less."

Woodsure are defiantly going for sub 20%. https://woodsure.co.uk/firewood-ready-burn/

Yes there will probably be ways around this. No it's not firewood officer the customer has ordered a 1m3 habitat pile

Are the boilers used for kilns Defra approved? Only one I have seen in action was belching out dirty smoke

That will be my fault. I thought we needed a catchy title to get as many as possible to fill in the questionnaire

The online survey is at the bottom of this page https://consult.defra.gov.uk/airquality/domestic-solid-fuel-regulations/

Completely agree but dont let common sense get in the way of bureaucracy

At least you have nailed your colours to your mast. Ban all air dried logs and leave it to the kiln dried suppliers. 16% is pretty much unachievable anywhere in an average UK winter.

Yes I know it sounds emotive but that will be the reality for many of us if the government get thier way as discussed here So basically we will have to sell logs sub 20% moisture content and that is pretty much impossible without artificial drying if you live in one of wetter regions of the country. Do you think this is a good plan and if not follow the links in the above thread to have your say.

If the average RH is above 90% logs wont dry to below 20%. It's not exactly 90% and varies a bit with temp but close enough. Here is a table for woods moisture content for any given RH https://www.woodworkerssource.com/shop/mois.html and secondly some weather data for the average humidity but bare in mind you could be in a dry area but if we have a damp spell and with wood being hydroscopic it will take up moisture again. This is live data but pretty much everywhere in SW is above the 90% RH mark. https://wow.metoffice.gov.uk/ Also you can see my moisture reading on that log and you have seen how I dry them. Do you think there is much more we could without a kiln? Yes my point was the rules will allow loads of more than 2m3 for people to do their own drying. 2m3 of fresh cut beach and oak logs will weigh about a tonne and the load has to be more than 2m3 to fit the rules. Most pickups have load capacity of less than a tonne.

Old Protimeter. Comes with a calibration thingy but it's never needed adjusting

As above. I work on a tonne doing a couple of cube and a crate holds a bit over a cube so 45 sounds spot on.

If any of the Arbtalkers have the powers that be's ear please please please make the standard a bit higher than sub 20% Air dried hazel that was ready to go last winter and sat on the top of a crate in an open barn all through our best summer in 20 years. If this goes ahead as is our business is screwed