sandspider

Would love to see a live hedgehog in my garden, but even living in rural Wales I have never done so. Did find a poo in my paddock full of beetle wing cases, and something had been eating windfall apples. I hope it's a hedgehog...

Robinia, black locust and false acacia are all the same wood.

Ahh, cheers squaredy, that's close to me. Will get in touch.

You may be right. I did try a 4t splitter and generally found my x27 better. Should be a fair mound of wood though, I hope anyway.

Hi all I live near Chepstow and normally process my own logs with chainsaw and Fiskars. I enjoy the exercise, but it can take a while. In a couple of months time I should have a felled ash tree or two to process - these will be cut into manageable lengths, and from 2" to ~20" diameter I think. I was wondering if anyone in this area does contract processing, and what it might cost / how long it might take to process all my wood at once? Or if I'll just keep doing it myself! Hard to say how much wood there will be in total, but the main tree is the nearly dead one in my pic below. There will be another large branch from another ash (12" diameter?) and any other bits and pieces I can gather. Access is a bit tight, but you can get a 7.5 ton van or Landrover and trailer to the house. Actual processing would need to be done in a paddock (up a fairly steep bank and under a tree through an ~8 foot gate), no hard surface. Any ideas on likely costs and times? I appreciate there isn't a huge amount of info here, but a rough idea would be helpful. Thanks.

Interesting! I'd want some guns mounted somewhere. And I wonder what sort of finish those wheels would leave on my lawn...?

The only ash I have (South Wales) with no (or very few) leaves at the moment have dieback. Your ash may be different, get someone who knows to check, but I'd fear the worst...

Thanks, good to see. I've been planting trees out for the past two or three years now; I'm nowhere near canopy closure yet, apart from in a few stands for coppicing which I've planted quite close together.

Looking good. How long ago were the trees planted?

For the price, you can't really go wrong!

Bit late perhaps, but I've got the SGS 52CC strimmer in your original post. (Or a very similar model anyway). For my needs (non commercial but an acre or so to keep on top of) it's been good. It's quite heavy, thirsty at full chat, and the line feed is fiddly to reload. So, I use it with the blade all the time, and it munches through anything, usually on mid revs. Starts easily, runs well, powerful, good price. Harness is a bit awkward, and it's not that comfy to use for hours at a time, but I'm not sure any hefty strimmer would be. I used to have an old Stihl of some sort, much lighter and less vibration, but much less powerful, and probably 4 times the cost. I like it.

We do have the internal space to insulate I should add, but a consultant suggested the cost of this would be so much it would take a long time to pay back in reduced oil bills. Maybe one day. That would be preferable to rebuilding, but I think it would be a lot of work to make it much more efficient.

Interesting question. I live in an old house, 1840s ish. Yes it's draughty and a bit of a pain to heat, partly because it's in a Welsh valley which doesn't see the sun from October to March! By the same token, it's beautiful and full of character. Also, the main components are really well built, unlike many modern houses which are built down to a price. (See various recent examples of huge snagging lists for new build houses). It does require a bit of maintenance, but considering the age and size, I don't think it's too bad. One day I may demolish it and build a wooden or passive straw bale house (like Ben Law). Not sure we'd ever be able to afford that, however. On balance we love it, but moan a bit more in winter when it's cold and draughty.

That's my thinking, yes - though possibly out of date now. 25:1 means a cheap, poorly made smokey 2 stroke. 40:1 or more means a better engine! And also means I don't need to mix up different ratios of fuel...

What petrol to oil ratio is it? 25:1?

No complaints from me! Thinking about it, it's maybe not as much as 70 cube total, but I do burn a good lot of wood and have done for years.

I've used a Spear & Jackson badged saw (42CC I believe, a Chinese cheapy of some sort, cost me £70 or so, not even brand new!) for the past 12 or more years. It's for personal use only, but it must have cut 70 odd cube of timber in that time, maybe more, with hardly a problem. The warm start was a bit fiddly for a while, but it seemed to cure itself! Never even had to replace a spark plug. Touch wood! Hope I've not jinxed it now. But for the money, it's been ace.

Cheers. Might have to raise my budget or take on a project then...

Thanks chaps. Bum. Guess I could stretch the budget to maybe 1k, but really can't go higher. Is that going to get me something worthwhile? What's the least worst option in my price range?!

Hi all As above. I'm looking for a ride on mower to do 3/4 of an acre or so of lawn. Some of it steep, some of it damp and some of it with long grass / vegetation (I leave parts as wild flower meadow for part of the year). It would need to be able to collect the grass. Ideally it could mulch too when required, and be diesel, but I can live with petrol if diesel is out of my price range - I think it is. Budget isn't much, maybe £500. Looking locally secondhand, my price range gets older mowers - MTD, Yardman, Wheelhorse, Snapper, John Deere, Lawnflite, Hayter, Toro, Alko etc. Are any of these likely to give me fewer problems? Or at this sort of price are they all going to be a nightmare to maintain? A friend recommended against Snapper, and I thought that Hayter were reasonably decent. Any thing to look at, or to avoid? Cheers.

Guess it's another word for a set? (Cutting of willow etc. to replant by pushing into the ground). To try and answer the OP's question, I think you'll struggle to keep em that long. You can store them for a few days somewhere damp and cool or even heel them in in damp sand, but for that length of time they'll probably be rooting and you'll damage the roots when you pull them out again.

Agreed, I have and do burn it on an open fire. Though I possibly wouldn't stand over the fire breathing in deeply...

I know that sea water driftwood burns with odd coloured flames due to salt & chemicals in it. Not sure I'd want to burn it in a stove myself...

Cheers all. Suppose I'd better do a proper job!

Hi all I've got a gap between the metal register plate and the chimney pipe from my stove, between 2mm and 20mm in size. I've also got some fire rope and some high temp (300C) silicone! Is this a good way to fill the gap, or is there a better one? I'm guessing the flue's not likely to get above 300C on the outside? (Single wall flue pipe IIRC, too hot to touch but not ludicrously hot). The flue is lined, but there's cold air leaking in outside the liner and through the gap... Thanks.