cornish wood burner

Certainly in an ideal world the outer insulation should, as you say be dug down a few feet to retain as much heat as possible. Perimeter to total area is key so not really cost effective for us considering glasshouse sizes. I don't think Dean has underfloor at present though, so insulating could be difficult for him as an add-on. However the thermal store effect should help and I agree the losses should not be too bad if the temperatures are limited to 25 deg assuming a dry base. I have installed some underfloor heating pipes where possible at home and can confirm it's difficult to beat a warm floor even if it does cost a bit more to run.

We use the same principle for heating our glasshouses. We insulate around the edges but just lay sheets of old polythene in the centre. I work on 100W/ sq metre for underfloor heating with 20 mm pipes 200 mm apart. 60 deg flow through 20mm polypropylene pipes give us all the heat we need.

Another option for you to consider is to put the heat store outside and just run the pipes to it. Underground pipe work, a boiler next to the store then no space taken up in the house. Solid walls are a pain to get through but anything is possible.

If the seal is too tight to shift with a self tapper then drive an old screwdriver through it and lever it out that way. Take care not to scratch the shaft or outer diameter of the seal housing. It looks like the splines are very close to running on the seal lip. When it's out check that or it will never seal.

You don't need to repipe your house. Install a heat store in the system and feed your chosen heat sources into it. Mine takes heat from, solar, wood burner, Rayburn and until recently oil. It would then feed your radiators, underfloor if you wish and provide DHW. You would just need to give some thought where you are going to intercept each circuit and site the store in the most convenient available spot for this.

Only problem I've found with using strong line in a conventional head is that if you get tangled in an immovable obstruction then it will rip your head apart. The jet fit etc heads are more robust.

My Nilfisk P150 puts works Karcher to shame, both have the same power but apart from seeming to have better performance the nilfisk is ergonomically far superior IMO. As I said earlier get one with a reel if you are going electric.

John Wottons Musmax certainly would put them and bigger straight through. If you need to contact him his mobile no is 07809 020358

I was going to say a nilfisk with a reel. After using my reel I wouldn't go back to winding the hose around the machine or disconnecting, but it won't better Bob's petrol washer.

Unless you really need to load onto a trailer, a 80+ hp tractor might tick all the other boxes. Power to drive your chipper, loader to fit a grab etc. Easily tow a trailer with whatever you want on it. Surprising how much ground a modern tractor will cover. For really fast look at JCB fastrac. Not sure a loader will go on those though. Depends how much you want to spend of course.

If its only a small job then it might be a bit far for John but I would definitely ask him. Agreed he has a very good chipper and with his new tractor he's quick. Best biomass chip I've seen and John is one of the straightest guys I know. I would have no hesitation in recommending him.

Shaft is 5mm square. However I believe the Stihl shafts protrude past the tube so there might be less engagement to drive using the Handy / Ryobi unless the tube goes in further.

I'm with Felix I've just been out and measured the handy shaft. The outer shaft is a slack 1 inch with a locating button that pushes in 32 mm from the end The inner shaft is square and about 4 mm across flats. About 10mm inside the end of the outer steel tube. My vernier is at work but I think it should reach in to give an accurate measurement tomorrow.

I was meaning the internal drive shaft but it looks like they may be different anyway.

I thinks that's more believable. Ryobi, handy,mcculloch are the ones that are interchangeable as far as I know.

If the Ryobi and handy shaft fit stihl then that doesn't say much for the stihl. I have a little handy machine but it feels like the shaft is twisting when using the chainsaw attachment. It has survived though to be fair but the stihl multi tool engine must produce more power so would stress it more. Do you not get problems with such a small driveshaft?

My Chinese 58cc has done ok for me, but only my own fire wood. All its work has been with its 20 inch bar ( now worn out) buried in 40 inch softwood. Now on a better 18 inch husky bar but still cutting bar length most of the time. I did some timed cuts against two other saws and it wasn't particularly slow. About what you would expect/ cc against two basic husky saws. Its seems a bit thirsty though.

As Bob says gussets and more bolts. Your problems would be compounded bolting through box unless you sleeved it. Any flex in the box would reduce the bolt preload and allow movement leading to a fatigue failure.

That was my thought as well. My first 20 tanks were full bar length used on big diameter wood cutting almost continuously. That must be almost as hard on the saw as milling I guess. Good move getting a better bar and chain BTW, mine was very poor. My only regret about the saw.

High tensile bolts take an incredible load, before they let go. What grade bolt? I don't see any washer or lock nut

If it's anything like mine then the vibes are very high. What mix are you using? I started off with the specified 25:1 for the first 25 tanks. After someone else on arbtalk mentioned he was using 50:1 I have also gone that way now. Seems to run faster with a bit more power but it's done the job I bought it for so I consider it a free saw now anyway.

Recently I have been using a 365, 450 and a £69 58cc Chinese deko. Seeing this thread I thought it might be an interesting comparison between the three. The deko had worn out its rubbish bar and chain it came with, so as it uses a husky small mount bar, I cut with the 450 then the Chinese saw using the same bar and chain. Times to cut the same amount of softwood were 365. 15inch bar 20 secs Deko 18inch bar 25 secs 450 same 18 bar 30 secs Vibrations were noticibly higher on the deko, 365 next and silky smooth on the 450. Deko feels flimsy and much lighter in comparison to the 365 but has been easy to start and reliable straight out of the box unlike the 365. The Deko has an adjustable oiler, a chain tensioning slotted screw which is quite soft so I will replace with an Allen bolt at some point. Definitely not a pro saw but if my experience is representative then for occasional use with a sympathetic user its worth a punt. All saws used 50.1 mix and were hot before the test.

That's a very good base for the plants to grow in and around. I'm sure that when the plants have matured you will be treated to a variety of wildlife. Like the waterfall, the sound and movement they add is definitely worth the effort if you have the chance to incorporate one. It's harder to do than people realise, but there is something about the sound of running water that makes it worthwhile. I know what you're going through digging by hand. My ponds are at the back of the house and access is difficult for a machine. With the three ponds and digging the foundations for the walls I must have hand dug at least 40 tonnes of earth over a few years. I was obviously younger, fitter and keener 25 years ago.

From the other direction. You can see the devastation from the spawning. I run the water through the mass of irises and lilies above the waterfall to help filtration

Great looking ponds guys. Mine is very tired in comparison