woodyguy

Few thoughts as I've been doing similar. Field maple is fine on acid as is whitebeam, just prefers alkaline. Firstly you're aiming to plant 1500 trees. You're starting very late and aiming to use tree guards, stakes and planting mats. Do you have an army helping you? I've planted 1200 on my own this winter, started in October. I'd ditch the mats and embrace the glyphosate. It is totally inactivated by contact with soil so no problem with run off. It is your friend against brambles. Trees don't like competition so you need to keep them weed free. So get lots of friends in, plant as quickly as possible and get on with it as they're starting to sprout. You can get sweet chest nut which is ideal for sand from 3fatpigs nursery very cheaply. Make sure you've got sessile oak and not English. Other species to consider - Sycamore or platanoides as grows very quickly and good logs. Wouldn't stick entirely to natives. With global warming, you are planting for 70 years hence. So robinia is a good idea and Italian Alder is ideal. Holly likes sand as does Larch, which is beautiful. Pterocaryia fraxinifolia is easy from seed and ideal for your soil. Red oak and palustris are worth considering as will thrive. Also if you're thinking sorbus then torminalis will grow well. Finally wych elm and small leaved lime are good. In addition don't forget that there won't be anything for birds to nest in for decades. So a few clumps of Laurel and half a dozen leylandii would be on my list and I'd make some nest boxes. Have fun!

If you store it with good airflow and a dry top it will be fine. I've cut about 8 tonnes this year, stacked in various places. The stuff stacked in the wood is rotting a bit. That stacked in the woodstore is great. The stuff stacked under a tree but not in the wood has rotted just a little. So yes it likes to rot but if stored properly is great firewood.

That was my thought that the depth of cut is way too small to be useful. Its the 18+ inch size that becomes useful. Pity as its good to see Brits innovating.

I'm sure that nobody deserves random gifts of beer more than you!

Yes it will sucker. They will cut them off. Problem solved. If you are already on bad terms, then I wouldn't worry. If you get on well and it's a posh lawn then I wouldn't plant them. Mine goes for 10 metres on the far side of the fence!!

I know it may not be a popular thing to say here but I suspect he has a point. Talking to people using briquettes, most of them got started when they'd been ripped off on a small load of damp firewood for the last time. Now I know that nobody on here would do that but in reality its a jungle out there for your average stove owner starting out to find firewood. Once you've got a reliable supplier, year after year, then you're going to stay with logs. But many, after a couple of bad experiences, start buying briquettes and before you know it they're hooked! Pity there can't be a proper standard or trade association of log suppliers that actually means something!!

Cordyline is not a moveable plant at that size. They cost a £5er and grow much faster as young plants. Wouldn't waste your time.

Daniel always maintained that what he did was zero risk. I think you've only got to look at the video to see that simply isn't true for ordinary mortals like the rest of us. He is very skilled and has done it hundred of times without one landing on his foot, but you don't have to be a genius to recognise that it is inherently dangerous. Don't think anybody will be teaching those methods on any course any time soon. I use them sometimes and they certainly do work but my trees are a lot smaller than his generally.

Surely the confusion here is that he is asking about a felling license when it is actually exemption from a felling license that he wants to test. I thought the idea was that a small wood owner could take a reasonable amount of timber from his wood ie 5cum per quarter without needing a license. But a big landowner would find this an irrelevant amount and with his say 200 acres of wood, would always need to apply for a license. So it reduces bureaucracy for small owners but gets correct application for significant works.

Interesting that the Briggs and Stratton fuel stabiliser was re-forumulated to work better with the 5% ethanol fuels that we all love to hate. I don't see anything to suggest that the better 2t oils have sufficient stabiliser in to make it storeable for many months. Or am I missing something?

I doubt whether there are any small wood owners who are in it for the money. The cost of woodland at say £10k per acre, then insurance and maintenance costs, it is more of a money drain than an earner. I did start to calculate the cost of each log that I produce for my own firewood, but quickly stopped as it was scary.

email them and ask them about it. They're helpful people who sell all types of chain so they know what they're talking about. I always find them very good to deal with.

Only other things you could include would be small leaved lime and wych elm

As you have found, there are lots of more scientific ways of measuring coverage. In reality, I suspect most people eye ball it and have a vague idea. I could have said "Open well-thinned birch wood to well spaced but not full canopy closure sessile oak wood", another way to put 20 - 60% but the numbers are easier although with a spurious accuracy.

Sorry, you are right. I planted 350 hazel maidens to establish stools in a coppice and standard arrangement. My mistake.

I've planted 350 hazel stools this winter in 30-60% oak shade in the Southern Pennines. I'm confident they'll be fine for wildlife but probably not for hurdle making! So I guess yours will grow fine.

As I said you leave it for 60 secs (my fs560 says) and seems to work fine for the chainsaws too. No bar to take off a brushcutter. But anyway if you're not revving it but just leaving it ticking over then it can't tell if it's got a bar and chain on or not surely??

I think you have to make a distinction between hazel grown for commercial coppice vs hazel growing for wildlife and diversity. Sure if you want rods to sell then 20% cover is best to get the top quality. But hazel is tough stuff and will grow reasonably well with at least 50% cover. yes you may not get 30 strong rods per stool but it will still grow well. Depends largely on what you're trying to achieve.

For Stihl, do you need to remove the bar and chain? I seem to remember the manual saying just start and not touch the choke lever and run for a minute then turn off. Seems to run very well that way on the two mtronics I've got. Do it every few months or if I've modded the exhaust!

Haemmerlin are great. Got a galvanised and a plastic one and they're both good value and well made.

Hawthorn whips for hedging are so cheap and quick, not sure I'd want to bother with any other way.

Got 6 tonnes of it for the stove this winter. Burns lovely. Dries very quickly as well. As someone said, bigger logs last a bit longer as it burns fairly quickly. Hot though.

I meant if my neighbour asked me to remove a tree because he is allergic to the millions of birch trees that put pollen into the air he breathes, that I'd decline to remove it, as it would make little difference. That's a pretty aggressive reaction to answering his question as to whether people are allergic to birch pollen. Still, have a nice day, I'm just off to hug a tree!

Birch pollen is a frequent cause of allergy. Not convinced though that removing the neighbour's tree will help his hay fever. The pollen is so light that it travels vast distances. I think I'd decline.

I'd suggest waiting to see how accurate the ebay seller is about its general condition when it arrives, before I ordered too many parts for it. Just a thought.