sandspider

Thanks. It's a dryish patch of ground as it happens, and I won't be spending any money on drainage! I'll cut out the dead ones and see what happens to the rest. Shame.

Ah, that's certainly possible. There's larch behind our house, and it may well have phytopthora. Will Google the symptoms. Oh well, suppose there's no rush to fell the dead ones, it'll be everywhere.

Hi all Hoping someone can help. A few years ago I planted 10 sweet chestnuts in two small rows, trying to grow some posts for future fencing. One of them died, which I thought was due to drought, so I left it there. But I see that now a couple more are ill or dead. See pics below. I'm guessing they've got some sort of disease- any idea what? And I imagine I should cut out and burn the dead ones ASAP? Hoping I can save the rest, but it may be too late- though they look healthy for now Thanks.

I suppose they don't want people using the standard flue thermometers and melting their stoves getting the flue temp to 200C as the thermometer advises!

I've got a Bluedot (I think) one on my smaller stove. I don't have an IR thermometer to compare, but it seems to read low to me - only 100C ish when the stove is running nice and hot. My Burley stove manual says not to use them, as the stove is so efficient the flue temp is quite low - to get a flue thermometer reading in the healthy range would mean massively overfueling the stove. Maybe get an IR thermomemter instead?!

In a similar position to you (though a good bit less acreage) I ended up with an ancient (1970s?), grey import Yanmar YM1600 tractor. It's about 18hp, and more would be nice sometimes, but it's small enough to fit in the garage, sips diesel and is fairly simple if it goes wrong (which it does from time to time). It will carry loads, pull a topper and trailers. Doesn't have hydraulic outputs, but does have a good PTO. It doesn't have the weight for a loader or hedge cutter, but I don't really need either. (Though a loader is tempting...) It also has no safety features at all, and is a bit hairy on slopes - I have several, big steep slopes. Make sure your independent rear wheel brakes work independently, as it's hard to steer with the front wheels off the ground! If I had more land and a bigger budget, I'd probably have gone for an old International or similar, but it's too much for my needs. More bang for your buck, though, as compact tractors are pricey - you're paying extra for it being "hobby sized" I think.

I'd have thought if you've got reasonable wind your draw would be ok on the flue you describe. But I am in no way an expert, so maybe don't listen to me! Also, building regs may have something to say about single walled flue where people can touch it?

Do you live in a windy area? We live in a calm, still, cold valley, and lighting the woodburners is a bit of an art form due to the downdraught. Used to live on the side of a windy hill, and the draw through the flue was tremendous.

I'd be interested to see a thread on installation, please. Something I'm considering in future.

I use woodwool firelighters. Supposedly eco, and work well for me - lots of down draughts in our cold, damp valley.

I have a couple of the cheaper stove fans, £30 ish. They do move some air, especially from the stove which is tucked into an old fireplace. They certainly don't do any harm, nor cost electricity like a mains fan. I'd be interested to compare one of the pricey Caframo fans to see if they're any better - but I doubt they'd do 3 x better than the £30 jobs.

Burns well when dry, but really wants to absorb water, so hard to keep dry...

How do you lift the logs up to the level of the table? I tend to have my splitter close to the ground so I don't have to lift big logs high to get them on to it.

Thanks for your help, Stubbs! Useful input! 🤪

What's going on in Canada and the Netherlands, then?

I was thinking more of an all wooden bench, but wouldn't rule out something with bench ends. I'm waiting for an email from Gobby with some pics and price options

I dip my logs in bacon fat. They burn better and smell nicer 😃

Don't mention it, you're welcome.

Also stumbled across this, which might be relevant:

Fair. What does a litre of petrol cost? Logs sound far too cheap there, though I suppose there are a lot of woods about.

How does the heating oil price there compare to the UK, if the Scandinavians do oil hearing?

Thanks GP, will send you a message.

Excuse poor quality, took them off my facebook page.

I used to live on a hill outside Bristol, and when the red arrows came to do displays at the balloon festival and other events nearby, they'd fly low and fast over my house as they were turning to go back to Ashton court. I didn't even have to leave my garden to see them, will see if I can find a pic.