Duffryn

Thanks I know Ash - Ill give him a call

I'm after a supplier and price for wholesale kindling - must be bone dry - 5kg bags. Would appreciate a PM with price / volume breaks delivery Hay on Wye area. Many Thanks Duffryn

50-60 tonne of hardwood for sale. Felled 18 months ago and stored in windy roadside location so has dried out nicely. Nice and straight , vast majority processor friendly size. Given its lost a lot of weight need £60 a tonne roadside. Mainly Beach and Oak. Can help with local transport if required. Viewing by arrangement welcome . Located LD3 0SU Near Hay on Wye

Agreed the key to getting the most out of a GF boiler is keeping the fuel below the secondary air vents. This rather defeats having such a large fuel chamber and means that you have to refuel on a regular basis but its the only way to reduce the smoke ( i.e by allowing the secondary air to do its job)

Yes but powering by electricity is "ouch" expensive and trying to recirculate that heat a major challenge

You would be loading it every 15 mins

Perhaps but i I was speaking in headlines to get the general point across. Point remains return on investment isn't there any more

I thought this additional high level info might help. In calculating out a return on investment 3,200kwh in a tonne of 20% m/c wood. It doesn’t matter whether this is softwood or hardwood there is roughly the same energy per tonne. Softwood will take up more space and need more refueling than hardwood Woodchip boiler 90% efficient so you will generate 2,880 kwh an hour, multiply this by the relevant RHI rate say 5.2p per kwh (current rate for boilers over 200kw in size and below 500kw) and you will generate £151 per tonne of fuel Batch fed boiler 60% efficient so you will generate £100 per tonne of fuel Fuel Cost If you are paying £40 per tonne for green biomass wood, then you are looking at closer to £60 cost per tonne once it has dried. Then you have to cut, chip and load it. My personal opinion Unless you can use free or nearly free fuel or even better get paid to take the fuel as waste then the return on investment is no longer there with RHI at current rates

Here is a quick guide for you Two methods of drying logs 1. Forced Air drier An insulated container or building with air heat exchangers at one end an some open vents at the other. A boiler heats water, which is converted to hot air via the heat exchangers and blown through the container or building to dry the logs. The effectiveness of this and the time it will take to dry logs will depend on how the logs are stored ( metal mesh stillages are best to ensure airflow), the temperature of the air and the amount of air passing through the kiln. The hotter the temperature the better so long as there is a reasonable airflow. All things being equal , in the summer when the outside air temperature is 20 degrees your drier will be able to achieve 20 degree higher temperatures inside the drier. The difference in drying time between 40 degrees and 60 degrees is huge. 2. A Traditional Kiln An insulated building or container with radiators in and powered vents that open once the air reaches a certain relative humidity level. At this point fans blow the wet air out and switch off, close the vents and the air heats up again with the process being repeated until the logs are dry. This is generally a more efficient method of drying logs - set up is tricker though. A Constant Heat and Insulate, Insulate , Insulate I cannot stress the importance of this enough. It takes a large amount of energy to heat the logs up to the point where the moisture begins to escape into the air. If you are only running your kiln 12 hours a day you are repeatedly having to do this and drying times reflect this. Keeping the temperature constant in the kiln rapidly increases drying time. Insulation is key, it costs next to nothing to insulate your container or building and makes a massive difference to the effectiveness of your kiln Boiler Choice Essentially two principle biomass choices that can power wither type of drying method. a) Woodchip Expensive to install, hardly any hassle to fuel, provides a constant heat 24 hours a day.so that temperature is min b) Batch fed (Logs) Cheap to install, requires regular refueling, about 30% less effecient, a nightmare to fuel over night to keep the temperature in the kiln constant. Best to turn the heat exchnagers right down to minimum so that temperature is maintained with as little draw on the boiler as possible. RHI Unless you are going to install a boiler of greater than 200kwh then forget any sort of real payback on your investment, even then returns are not what they were Drying Times These vary massively on the setup ( boiler type, boiler sizee, type of kiln, size of kiln, how the logs are stored, outside air temperature). My 10ft insulated forced air dryer, with 100kwh of heat exchangers on full blast ( wood chip boiler) will dry 10m3 from green to 20% in just two days in the height of summer with a temperature of 68 degrees in the container. In the winter when its freezing outside in may take twice this long. Initially I get the temperature up as high as possible and have the fans on a low speed, the speed of the fans is then increased as the logs dry through the cycle. Hope this helps

I know I am joining this conversation a bit late in the day. But here are my predictions :- 1. The EU was screwed prior to our decision to leave, leaving will just speed up the process. The attitude ( post our decision) of the five un elected EU leaders speaks volumes ! They haven't learned and will not learn. The EU is doomed. Getting out early, we will fair better than most 2. Post actual exit there will be little impact on trade - import or export. Ultimately, governments do not make trade, businesses do. There are stacks of examples countries outside of the EU that have achieved much better trade results than those inside. 3. Scotland will not leave the United Kingdom. They might have voted to remain in the EU but they did not vote to adopt the Euro which would be a prerequisite of any deal to leave and re join the EU. In any case as an independent they would hardly boost the EU coffers, as an independent they would be in a financial mess and hardly an attraction to the EU members. 4. Labour will self destruct, the conservatives may as well ( though less risk here) . The next four months will see a step change in the way that UK politics operates. The priority for the next four years is pre and post Brexit management and cross party allegiances will be formed that will then go on to shape our future political structure. 5. Populist politics will die, future leaders will learn that the risks of giving the masses the right to make important decisions when the vast majority of those doing so ( myself included) don't have sufficient understanding of the subject they are making the decision on - is a risk not worth taking. Should be an exciting couple of years, but if I am correct then don't rush into making any financial decisions as a result of Brexit. This will be a long burn and leave us in a better position than most.

You cannot beat that feeling you get the day a new bit of kit arrives. Time to get it dirty now !

I prefer the hydraulic hose positions on the Geith to the the bucket warehouse version that I have, less chance of them getting caught on something

I ummend and arghhed about this. I liked the longer flat profile for grading work but ditching work is a big part of the machines use so I decided to play safe and order a std version bucket. Eddie is probably your man for this question..........

Thanks Eddie - I called your mate but he couldn't supply the Geith quick enough so I went for a double rammed version from Bucket Warehouse, looks really well built and for the cost, as you say its an absolute no brainer. This is going to save me hundreds of hours. Anyone who uses a 360 should buy one I promise you, you wont go back. For my application and use I couldn't justify a tilt rotator but you don't have to sell me on the benefit, it would be huge

Just had a tilt bucket fitted to my JCB 8080 and had a play this evening. What an amazing bit of kit. Speeds the job up two fold and does a much better job than a normal grading bucket. I just wish I had got it years ago !

Thanks Peter and Eddie

Hi Eddie any suggestions on where could buy an electronic diverter value (not sure this is the right name) so that I can switch between thumb and tilt bucket without having to leave the cab and manually turn taps on the boom ?

Yes tried that , legs down !

Thanks. Yes tried that an hyd fluid is coming out. Bugger sounds like wont be a quick fix

My extending arm is stuck in the extended position, moves back 6 inches but nothing more. I've tried switching hoses around on the block to discount the block and no luck there. It wasn't under load when fault happened, ram isn't bent and neither is arm. It wont push back in either. It's under warranty but want to see if there is an easy fix. Has anyone got any suggestions ?

If you can get one with a winch on it. Especially with a small trailer it saves so much time in getting those logs that are just out of reach

I'll go an hour each way with mine, after that its a low loader

A great example of why listening to someone that knows a great deal more than you before splashing out on kit pays dividends. This would have been so much better than the thumb I purchased

If you only buy one bit of kit for your excavator buy a hydraulic thumb. Got mine from RSL engineering, cheap and a great bit of kit that save hours and hours of work. If I had my time again I would opt for a wider thumb

Couple of pics from this weekend with the JCB 8080 and hydraulic thumb. Clearing track after thinning work and reinstating camber Clear rides of brash