sandspider

I thought they were told to piss afterwards to "wash out" their own bits, not to piss on each other's!! Whatever works I suppose!

A week's worth of splitting, or a week's worth of burning?!

Looks lovely, and good toys too. Nice one. That chap has a great 'tache!

It reduces the risk of sexual harassment from your boss!!

Good to see. Looking healthy. When I think about it, I'm surprised by how slowly trees grow. Planting a woodland really is a long term project...

Cheers. 16 ish hp? Do you ever find it underpowered, or do you just use bigger tractors for bigger jobs?!

Land legend?

Nice little Kubota. What model is it?

Thanks. Looking good!

Any pics of them coming into leaf? Bloody freezing here today, but my plum trees are suddenly covered in little leaflets, primroses are out and hopefully Spring is getting closer...

The modern Record vices are made in China I believe, and not as good as the old ones. I got an ancient one from my dad, seized solid. Took a while (heat, oil, hammer!), but I managed to get it going again. A decent well made piece of kit with another 50 years life in it I hope.

The best one of those I had recently started "PLEASE I AM SORRY IF I DO BULGE INTO YOUR CONVENIENCE" Made me laugh, at least!

I'd like to buy some woodland one day. I don't expect to make huge amounts of money from it, but that wouldn't be why I'm buying it. A bit of firewood, somewhere to camp / get close to nature / watch the woods change and grow, wood to mill to build sheds and fences etc. Maybe a bit of income from thinnings and so on. Having said that, it's unlikely that the value of woodland will fall over time. And I believe it's free from inheritance tax when you die (if commercially managed), and is subject to reduced CGT - on the value of the land only, not the timber it contains.

Got ya, thanks. Didn't realise they were that long - they look like about half that length!

Didn't know that! Thanks. Only burnt it on the beach, wouldn't be worth dragging it home for the stove anyway. What about driftwood that's been on the beach for a while and washed in the rain? Suppose it would still take a long time to leach all the salt back out again.

Nice bit of wood. Forgive my ignorance, but why haven't you kept the quarters the full length of the trunk? They seem to have been cut in half, which presumably will give you shorter planks when you mill it? Is that because of limitations in the length the Alaskan mill will cope with (or the length of the ladder you attached it to, anyway!), or is there more demand for shorter planks? Thanks.

Nothing I know of! Salty driftwood burns well on the beach, with unusual coloured flames..

Had a couple of plastic greenhouses over the years, first a tiny one (2 foot by 5 foot by 2 foot or something, £20), then a 4 foot by 4 foot by 5 foot (free). They all did the job, and I got good harvests of toms, chillies etc. But the covers never lasted more than a year, and the frames get tired after a couple of years. (If I'd dismantled them and packed them away over winter then they might have lasted longer). Last year, I bit the bullet and got a secondhand aluminium 6 x 4 greenhouse (limited space) for £70, to include dismantling and delivery. I had to lay a concrete base for it, but so far it's lasted way better than the plastic ones (even in the ridiculous winds), and it's been 45C inside in the sun already this year. It also dries wood pretty well. If I had more space, I'd have a bigger one. (Or perhaps a poly tunnel) So, if you want to give growing a try, just get a cheapy plastic one and a spare cover. If you're fairly serious, go for a proper aluminium job. I chose glass over polcarbonate as glass is much heavier. It's also more dangerous if you've got kids. Never had a wooden framed greenhouse, but while they look good, I suspect they need more maintenance than a metal frame. If you're handy with tools and have a van or big car, free greenhouses pop up if you can dismantle them and take them away. I'd have done this if I could, but I only had a little car so was happy to pay someone to dismantle it and bring it to me!

Thanks Steve It's not occasional moist logs, it's just that I've noticed a bit of moisture coming from 2 of the cherry logs I put on - dried for a year, and cracking, but still with a bit of residual moisture. Stove is still too hot to touch, and can burn through welders gauntlets when opening the door! When I say builder's waste I mean old roof beams (100 years plus) and that kind of thing. Don't think they were pressure treating then, though I suppose some of it might be. Does have a bit of crackle and spit from time to time, if I put them on to very hot coals. Does pressure treating trap sap in the wood or similar? I haven't burnt this volume of builder's waste before, so that could be a contributing factor.

Anecdotal evidence only, but I've been burning more softwood this year - mainly old conifer roof trusses / builder's waste. This is mixed with hardwood and whatever else I can find and dry (a fair bit of silver birch, some cherry etc.). I have noticed actual chunks of tarry clinker dropping out of the chimney / stove, and don't remember seeing that previously. I don't leave it in overnight, though it does idle a bit towards the end of the night when I stop feeding it. I say anecdotal as I'm not sure how dry the other bits and pieces I feed it are (still seems to be a bit of moisture in some of the cherry, though it's cracking), and I'm not positive there wasn't some clinker drop last year! Just seems more noticeable this year...

Tasty venison... Spandit, are there other woods / scrubland next to yours?

True. I like the OP's version too - wish I had the skill.

I think the head on the X27 is lighter, so it takes more downward force to split. The Toolstation maul did it more by weight.

I used a toolstation maul for a few years - Toolstation > Landscaping > Log Splitting > Hardwood Log Splitting Maul Personal use only, not huge volumes, but it did a fine job for the price. (£13!) Got a Fiskars X27 recently, and yes it's better, but I wouldn't say it was all that much better than the Toolstation maul for the difference in price.