Jim B

Lack of sales, supply and demand. Warm winter, heating oil at 27p and far too many people supplying. The average customer buys on price. Firewood was the big estate thing here now the bottoms fell out.

Rabaud- unbreakable.

Turkey oak. Quercus cherries if I'm on the same page, is an impressive tree, however I understand it twists and cracks a lot drying and isn't good for firewood.

Never used or dealt with it myself..

It's good for firewood burns hot but takes at least two years when split to get down to 25% and must be kept dry as turns to pulp.

The photo has a fairly wide consistent ring width. I'm guessing it's southern French oak (sessile I would guess as it can grow faster). We have a lot of sleepers in the builders merchants here far cheaper than I can even buy the tree! As for red oak and turkey both are shocking out doors rotting within five years. But red oak is often the oak flooring in diy stores and is used a lot in America for timber framing (same strength as English/white oak). Turkey oak is used extensively in the med particularly for boat building hence being brought here but rots in our humidity.

Yes stag beetle grub. Protected species I feel.

Yup correct though the pick up is a fixed dimension it's the fact that each load may not be exactly the same, some may hold more or less and that's where the weights and measures are not happy.

Totally totally nuts.

Is that not why we heap to allow for settlement? How are the kilned packed crates affected by weights and measures, what about an attic load of cord sold by volume with air deducted is that recognised?

Does it not state "goods that you own, OR goods that you have used or will use in the course of your work"? It states OR not AND?

Which exemption is meant to apply?

The first one?

 

"material or equipment for the driver’s use"

 

If you are transporting logs, to sell to a customer, this is not for my use, me being the driver.

These logs are for the customers use.

 

Also, as previously stated by others, firewood is not forestry, so that exemption can not apply either.

You asked the same question and had it answered by Justme in the trailer deliveries thread two weeks ago. Firewood are goods that you own so are not hire and reward. Firewood is an integral part of a lot of forestry businesses and now to a large extent agricultural enterprises, I don't see many agricultural types worrying about tacho use when delivering by trailer around Norfolk? We have many college kids thundering round in 30 tonne tractors delivering maize for biogas who more likely to knock down the little kiddies!

Now you have thrown a spanner into the conversation! I often wonder if the 18" log customers are getting more than the smaller logs, but they do take less time to cut. Never weighed the loads we deliver.

Far more logs, the Land Rover really notices 4 m3 of oak so in my opinion and having weighed the loads you get more wood buying bigger logs, it works out about half a loose cube on 4 m3 of 18" but is half the time to prepare and deliver.

A trailer load of my 20" oak thrown logs weighs more than a trailer load of my 8" thrown oak logs.

Yes I have a winch dusty in the box!

Yes this is oak, it found it was better with holding the saw back from the cut and not letting the powerless get ahead but difficult as the weight of the saw moves it forward faster than the tip. I'm going to go with a slack chain thanks Alec it's annoying on the 3120 and 395 as no side tensioner so often just carry on.

Have been milling with the 3120 and hard nosed 36" bar. Am experiencing severe judder through the mill so much so that both hands absolutely kill by the end of the board. This is on a new chain so not a sharpening issue. Any ideas? Does a roller nose makea Any difference. Is a 36" 404 roller nose available?

Customers of mine who have tried it have always complained that it burns too fast, is there any truth in this and that kiln drying chemically changes the wood so burns faster?

I am not advocating kiln drying to receive the RHI payments - but as has been discussed many times before on the Forum, drying give the flexibility to react to demand and avoids the capital tied up in stock.

I quite agree with the benefits to large scale producers. What does miff me is the numerous adverts stating that kiln dried is in some way superior to my air dried product. Yesterday I took out air dried birch at 18%, hemlock and pine reading 17% tested on a fresh split face. The firewood market is full of enough hot air and guff without something else confusing an already confused customer.

It is.

 

Even if you are tacho exempt you still need to account & record ALL the working hours you do (even non driving ones) as you are still covered by the EU or UK working hours regs.

 

The record must be in the vehicle at all times. From memory the fine for non compliance is in the region of £5k.

But as long as I don't travel more than 50 km and do not drive over 3500 kg for more than four hours in a day I would not have to record the work?

Here's a retrenching oak I saw in a country park in Suffolk earlier today, where the lower crown is attempting to find an equlibrium of root growth/foliar energy production

 

Surprised it appears to be maintaining as wide a peripheral branch growth as it is, and not shutting them down as well.

.

David I would say that's a tree dying of AOD, check whether it's alive in three years time. It doesn't look to be attempting to produce a new inner crown.

The tacho regs gives an exemption for carrying your own goods even for sale. They also give forestry an exemption for carrying other people goods for haulage. Both limited to 100km RADIUS from your main base. If you want a radius tool look at this website HERE

 

Hire & Reward does not mean making or charging money. Its means haulage or courier / delivery jobs. Like Hiring a taxi or paying a courier. Delivery of your own goods is not hire or reward.

So I would become able to deliver by trailer my own wood without a tacho? And if so where could I find the info? Thanks.

As has been said this is an exemption from O licence, tacho still needed unless travelling to site within 100km and with tools and equipment driver will use on site.

 

Big question is which modern 4WD diesel has an unladen weight less than 2040kg??

Ok. The tacho forestry exemption states the carriage of goods within 100 km of the business base.

The dual purpose category generally includes cars, estates, pickups (with a second row of seats (crew cab) only), and domestic 4x4 vehicles such as Land Rovers, Jeeps, and other similar vehicles below 2040kgs unladen weight

 

Taken from VOSA

Having just read the 1986 regs on DPVs again the seating makes no difference as long as the vehicle has four wheel drive and has an unladen weight (not kerb) of 2040 kg. Most people towing with a 4 x4 would be able to use this exemption. Taken from the DoT.

I have also just read within the drivers hours regulations vehicles over 25 years are now exempt from drivers hours. If you follow the flow chat most people will not need to keep records or have a tacho as they do not exceed four hours driving in a working day and the majority on here will be within the 100 km forestry or agriculture rule. Let's remember that this has not been tested in court so until someone refuses to pay the fine and let a judge decide it is just everyone's own views.

I do not believe that to be true. A defender is classed as a dual purpose vehicle regardless of the seating.

AND then the cost of driver cpc and tacho in the truck.................

Certain 4 x 4s are classed as dual purpose vehicles so are exempt from tacho law.

Can you find a link to that? Thanks

Not at present, it's one of the many useless snippets that have entered my brain over the years and then randomly reappeared. Will keep trying to remember, it was an FC report on wood buying and burning I think.

There was a report out by the FC stating that the resin creates a super hot gas causing a very good clean burn.