neiln

Look on hearth.com  search for solar kiln. There are several detailed threads.  Some by a guy called poindexter iirc.  He is some where very northern with lots of snow for many months but dried wood to something like 7%mc and did a couple of loads a year.   They work. 

A barstard file is better for sharpening a splitting axe. 

O just realised,  I have the x17 as my small 'shin splitter'.  The X 21 at 28 inches should be OK.... but wear toe-tectors.

This

Spear & Jackson Razorsharp Professional Chopping Felling Splitting Axe - 1.8kg

WWW.IN-EXCESS.COM

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Spear & Jackson; making everyday gardening easy and enjoyable through the precise and powerful...

and a smaller one that I can't seem to find are the 2 cheap axes I have.  You get what you pay for though,  I don't think these will last nor are they as good at splitting as the fiskars. 

As a 50yo home owner and dad of 3 young kids who take up all my time so I'm not a fit and active as I was....I share your pain.  One young lad who's a tree surgeon I occasionally get kids m logs from is particularly keen on delivering large rounds cut twice a long as the others.   I resort to running the legs m large saw in the front garden to buck these before shifting out back.

At 5'4"  I'd recommend the husky s2800 as your bigger but not the maul splitter and the first to buy.  Then the s1600 for a smaller size.   X25 and 21 are alternatives.  Be careful to bend your knees and ensure you'll hit the ground not your shin with the shorter option.   If you don't like the sound of that,  get a 28" handle and haft a 2.5 ish lb head on it as your light option.

I started out with the roughneck maul like you, then got an x27 for Xmas and boy what a difference!  I learnt lots of tricks, got quicker but just did more wood (12-15 cube a year) decided it was worth the investment in more axes....got an 8lb stihl/oschenkof maul for  the 'unsplitables' and an x21, that increased doubled or tripled my speed.  Then found the x21-27 gap too large, learnt to hang a head properly myself and got sent a true temper Jersey pattern head at just over 3lb.... that on 28" in easy stuff was sooooo fast. I only used a cheap haft though so eventually it broke.  At this time I was busy so just went online and bought cheap (very cheap,  spears and jackson) x25 and x23 ish copies. There is no 23, and the 2 axes aren't quite the right weight or length but you get the idea.   Those axes are rubbish compared to the fiskars but I use those 2 most as they are the right size for most stuff.   The x21 works BUT it's too short unless you're short.  This makes it impossible to use without a block and dangerous if you don't bend your legs..  2nd swing with it I hit my shin not the ground after a knot deflected the axe out sideways past my block... thankfully it was just stitches I needed.

Tbh, knowing what I know,  if buying fresh now, I'd get the husky/gardena axe at x23 ish size,  an x25 or s2800, an x27, and the stihl 8lb maul. Once you know how to split you'll use smaller axes most of the time. 

Oh and if you're any where near se19 you're welcome to come and split some wood for me....I mean try the different axes. 😉 

Wood heat is hard work.  Reducing the handling is a big help,  split beside the stack, split on the ground if the wood is straight grained.  I'd also strongly urge you to get 2 or 3 axes if different sizes.  A lot of easy splitting wood splits easily with a 2.5 or 3 lb axe on a 28-30" haft, what doesn't after a couple of swings try with a bigger axe. It's easier and quicker to swing a light axe than use a big one all day,  that soon gets tiring. 

Opposite to me.  I've normally got well through 12-15 cube by now but the scrounging is very slow this year and I've only gathered a couple. 

I get a lot of oak.  I split it all by hand and I am very pleased it is the most reliably easy splitting wood I've come across (except false acacia) Split it green,  it's easy.

Agree.   You'll not get loads very regularly. 

My experience is, a full (ie, somewhat over weight) transit tipper load equates to 2-3ish cube (once processed and stacked) depending on hard vs soft and how absurdly over weight its loaded.

Ish.

7 hours ago, Stubby said:

Depends on age and species . It does go off like concrete if left too long before splitting and if its got that helical grain that some have its a machiene job only . Burnt quite a bit over the years and it is great fire wood , in a stove that is , as it pops and spits like a goodun .

Is OK Green even with the spiral,  at least the stuff I had was.   I've not found it to spit either but then nothing does if its really well dried. 

I can't comment on growing them,  but I have burnt a fair bit of euc that I've split and dried myself.  I find it dried very readily in a season and burnt quite brightly. It lights easily and gives decent heat.  Yes it's not that dense but seemed denser than lime or willow.  I also found it split,  by hand,  very easily. It's a wood I'm happy to take if one of my contacts offers. 

My guess,  but just a guess,  E.gunnii.  not uncommon in urban gardens. 

Tend to agree, it looks to be burning lovely.

, I've only viewed on my phone but I think the stove has no spigot and the flue pipe has been cemented directly into the stove. Either because the spigot was lost or broken or because the installer wanted the sweep access visible and cut the bottom from the pipe to get it to fit there.. So no reduced diameter male bit to fit the spigot. A right frig.  The key damper is not ideal either but if the flue has a strong draw I can see why it's fitted.  These things don't affect the heat, but it makes me think the rest of the install might have some more 'special features'.

AHH I'd not seen them video.  Right. That flue thermometer might be way off, they are cheap and easy to get so might be worth trying another. It's also attached to the sweeping access which probably has a large circular 'felt' gasket behind so it'll read a bit low , try it on the side of the pipe.

Stick a few more logs in and if it doesn't get round to 'too hot' then the wood isn't dry.  It does look a nice hot burn though, hence I don't believe the thermometer.

The installation looks a frig. I can't really be sure but I think the flue pipe and the spigot on the stove have been played about with, possibly to get the sweep access where it is.  If it has been b*ggered about then I'd question what the rest of the install is like.  

My logic is jotul, excellent brand, it might be a bit old and not the most efficient but it'll be built like a perverbial brick outhouse and will be an excellent heater.  At 6kW nominal it must be about  9 or more max output, that's a lot of heat.  Is that a flue thermometer I see in the second photo?  If not get one.  Put so close to the stove, safe max would be over 300C.  Can you run it at 350-400C for half an hour and does it still not get hot?  If you can't do that there's something wrong with either the stove draw or the wood, if you can and it doesn't get the stove hot then we need to work out where the heat is going.  Is there a register plate?  You might be losing heat up the chimney if not.  

The room fan idea is good for testing the 'heat trapped in the fireplace ' idea.  I doubt it's that though.

On 20/02/2023 at 17:44, PC_Cambs said:

so went to local dealer this morning and bagged a Stigl MS 231. Didn't bother with the fancy CBE version as looked like more to go wrong.... that being said I'd of liked the fuel purge bulb as the Husky had one and its a bot more work on the Stihl without one but no drama at all. 

 

Spent lunchtime processing the 3 apple tress we had from a neighbour, dead standing so already very dry but none the less I was impressed with the 231s performance.

 

Big lesson I learnt today was I'd benefit from investing in a log splitter if I am going to start getting trunks directly from Tree Surgeons as using a splitting maul for that much in one sitting was a work out!

 

thanks all for the help and advice!

Don't use a maul the whole time. Take several axes to the pile, use the smallest, if that doesn't work after a couple of swings grab a bigger axe for that log then go back to the smaller one unless you are in a wood that you know always needs a bigger axe. I tend to take 3 axes to the pile with the biggest being the x27, the logs that doesn't split get put aside and when there's a dozen I'll do a short stint with the big 8lb Stihl maul. If that doesn't get them after a few swings then they get blocked up with the chainsaw.  In this way I hand split 12-15m³ a year mainly doing 45 minute stints in the summer evenings once the kids are in bed.

Cold spell for the next week or so...

Aaaanyway, back on topic. Will they tighten rules in urbanv areas? Yes I think the air quality debate will push this.  Do I think the policy they bring in will be fair? Well it will apply the same to all but will be simple and blanket and therefore feel like it punishes those that need the cheap heat and those that burn quite clean, while leaving bonfires and BBQ untouched.  (It wasn't a stove m'lud, it was a clear view BBQ 🤣 ) do I think it'll get enforced well and uniformly? No. Will it stop the worst offenders that jdgas and burn rubbish? Not many no. Will it work to improve air quality? Hmm, a little yes but not loads. How quick will it happen? I reckon we could see legislation next parliament, maybe someone will make it a manifesto pledge. And the complete ban by the end of the decade.  With luck it would at least be part of a domestic energy strategy....I can dream!

Given that the stove industry alliance don't seem to have any sway and neither do wood sure, it could be quicker.  Ulez zones have come along quite quickly and show that the care for those they can't afford better is.... Zero.

You don't want rot, that's calories gone and more water to dry. You can dry too fast though and trap water.  If you kiln green wood you can close off the cell tube (not the correct name!) Ends and seal the tubes trapping the water.  It's fairly well known for timber producers I believe, they will allow a period of slower drying first, then kiln, to prevent it.  However I digress. Sorry!

Oh and I've not received any comments about how bad I am for burning, most of my street see my front garden that looks like a landing from 'big timber' all summer and one (yes him) regularly complains about my chainsaw noise, but most are confused and clueless about what I'm doing as I burn so clean.  I regularly get asked what the wood is for! 🤣

Oh and like you I'm paranoid.  I don't get on with a near neighbour and wouldn't put it past him to dob me in if he could.  I make sure I burn clean so he has no reason to.

I don't qualify?!  I'm in London, inside zone 3 on the tube map (just)

We will have some new nuclear I believe. We will maintain our nuclear deterrent as without it we would not keep our permanent seat on the UN security council. Having a civil nuclear industry it's essential to maintaining a military capability...

Jobs/careers, material and facilities.

I agree that many operators jdgas

I know that, you know that but many owners of a modern stove still burn wet wood or worse, or burn as low and slow as they can. I strongly suspect many non exempt appliances can be run very clearly by comparison, dry clean wood and hot fires.