Wulbert

Saw on BBC news today that deforesting of Brazil's rainforests will stop by 2030. I'd be interested in forum members comments on the report and about professional logger Miguel's methods? Tree felling bit is at 11mins:15 seconds in. BBC iPlayer - BBC News at Six - 02/11/2021 WWW.BBC.CO.UK The latest national and international news stories from the BBC News team.

With all respect to those who express concern about yurts, raves and fairy lights etc in woodland, this is a well-developed, thoughtful movement that has been working for 10 years to bring back a once-commonplace and highly sustainable practice. Having a small, wooden, low-impact family hut is normal and ordinary for most other North European countries. I think it shows how disconnected we have become from the land when we see the countryside as only for animals and wildlife but not humans. Please have a look at the web site and perhaps it will change your pre-conceptions about what this movement is trying to achieve: https://www.thousandhuts.org/buildingregulationsforhuts

Wow! A lot of responses. Thanks. I've not read them all yet, in a bit of hurry this morning. A couple of points though: 1) This is in Scotland, where a successful campaign ( by a charity which supports "Re-forresting Scotland" ) has led to a change in planning law which allows small, simple, timber, off-grid, huts to be built, for year-round (but not permanent) leisure use. A new category of inhabitable building was created, the "Hut" ( prior to this all we had were "dwelling house" and "caravan") 30m2 max area, and no mains services, other than stand pipe for fresh water, must be removable with no trace at the end of it's life. 2) Appreciate the concerns about the effect on woodland. Bear in mind that every Hut application is subject to a planning application where all the necessary wild-life, environmental, amenity concerns are addressed. 3) Norway, with a population of 5 million, has around 400, 000 huts. Scotland, with a similar population, has around 400 existing huts, so plenty of room for more. 4) I appreciate that England has a higher population density than here, which may mean that your woodlands are under more pressure. Perhaps hutting could be used as a vehicle for creating more, new woodland?

I'm just making folk aware of this upcoming event which aims to increase the number of huts being built in, and from wood. I think that re-introducing* a culture of ordinary people having a simple, timber, off-grid hut in the country will be an opportunity for people who manage and work with wood and trees. E.G. as a small wood owner myself I have already employed a horse-logger, foresters and mini-forwarder operator to help towards my dream of a wee hut in my woodland. Next up I'm hiring a Woodmizer or Jet sawmill operator to turn Larch thinning into cladding boards. * I say "re-introducing" because it used to be more common in the past and most other Northern European countries have a vibrant culture of a family cabin, or Dacha, in the wild country. A place which stays in the family for generations. Hutters' Rally 2020: Making Huts Happen WWW.EVENTBRITE.CO.UK On February 8th 2020, Reforesting Scotland's Thousand Huts campaign will be hosting a Hutters’ Rally for around...

Thank you for the replies. Good to know that it may have some value ( been forking out a lot of cash recently) "Mantle Beams" ? As in fireplace mantlepieces? Hadn't thought of that. 3- 4 inch thick will be pretty heavy to move. 2 or 3 man job? Assume thick sections less likely to warp on drying? I have my own chainsaw mill but these are too big, heavy & badly placed to lift on.

I have access to a large ( 900mm diameter), felled oak. It's cut into 3.7m lengths. I'm considering hiring someone to mill it, with an Alaskan mill, into boards. The tree has a twist to it ( see pics) and I'm wondering if that would make the resulting slabs less useful as potential furniture making timber. It also has several side branches, which I know reduce it's value but may make it more interesting visually. I've heard that these twists are either genetic or a result of wind load but I'm not sure if it's regarded as a fault. What do folk here think? Worth paying someone to mill or not?

Might be an option actually. It is lying almost horizontal and 3-4ft off ground. If I thought the timber could pay for the hire etc. and leave a cube for my own use it could be a good wee adventure.

Big J, I hadn't heard of Japanese red cedar. I shall keep an eye out for it. The big DF will need to stay in situ I think, poor access for a vehicle and muddy ground. Or, as you say, chopped into 6ft-8ft lengths and not as attractive.

Hey Big J, Thanks for the advice. I've heard of Pol Bergius, got his leaflet somewhere. And thanks for the info re; value of tree butt. ( I'd forgotten what a great Forum this is, just returned to it as I'm looking for trailer info) I hadn't realised the huge difference in quality/perceived value of imported V homegrown timber. I do know that there is a movement (here in Scotland anyway) to use more local timber in buildings and an argument that (some of) it is not as poor quality as has been traditionally believed. I recently got some planed, Scottish larch, and it is lovely stuff and would make a beautiful internal cladding, however I don't know how much work it took to get that result from a local tree and when I wanted longer lengths, rather than 2.1m, it started to get trickier to source. I think I'll take your advice and do some proper planning; maybe hire a horse-logger to pull timber to roadside ( got lots of Larch thinnings too) and then hire a Woodmizer chap for a couple of days. I'm guessing there are many folk like me, who start off chainsaw milling and quickly realise it is a time-consuming way to make giant piles of sawdust! Good fun and good opportunities for DIY / side projects, but not viable for big projects or timber to sell.

Yes, a lot of money. This was from a timber merchant, so all timber straight off the shelf and ready to use. All their stock was in the £800 - £1000 /m3 + VAT range. I used it for (semi-decorative) purlins in a shepherd hut I was building. Needed the right material and needed it now, or build would get delayed. ( My usual sawmill had no DF). It's a funny thing timber, when you're selling it, it is worthless, and when you're buying it, it is as expensive as hell. Having milled and seasoned a few larch logs with a chainsaw mill, I can see that value needs to be added at every stage. There's a lot of work between, tree butt lying in a field and straight, dry, regular, knot free timber off the shelf in a warehouse. C'est la vie I guess. I'm interested in the DF post here because I have access to a large DF, recently felled about 800mm girth by 10m+ long. Wondering if I could slice it up with a (yet to be purchased) Alaskan mill and save/make some cash. The value given above seems disappointingly low to me. I had hoped to use my chainsaw mill a lot more than I do, but quickly realised that milling is the easy part, getting the logs moved out of the woodland and onto the mill is where the work/time/expense is. Running out of friends & family who will willingly help me cart logs around.

I recently paid £1,250/ cubic meter inc VAT, for kiln dried, off-saw American DF in 4.8m x 150mm x75mm lengths. So, should be a few quid's worth on your pile if you get it sliced up nicely and dried. Not sure if home-grown DF is regarded as inferior to imported stuff?

Thanks for the advice folks. It was fairly easy using a step drill method (going up in size gradually to 10mm) and plenty lube. It didn't seem to burn out the drills but they are good quality ones I got from an engineer friend. I'm very surprised at the suggestion you can drill through the centre of the sprocket; I assume that it must be a roller bearing affair and you are drilling through no moving parts? I avoided the radius of the sprocket and drilled about 6mm away from it. I was still able to mount the bar using this method. Looking forward to this milling business.

http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/members/wulbert-albums-bar-milling-picture7767-img-2387.jpg

Maybe some pictures would help?