neiln

A Swede, asking for advice on wood? on a british forum? are you serious? Go on, i'll bite. wood with a bit of mold, fungus or insects, no problem to burn. it suggests its still damp an needs drying more though. rot isn't a problem either, just means it is wet and needs to dry and you've lost some energy...it'll dry very light. some stuff is hard to split, knots, twisted grain or just the wood type. you could try wedges and a sledge, or noodle it with a chainsaw.

dave has another good point, back up heat. gas central heating still needs he electricity for the boiler to run and although i thought power cuts in built up areas like London were a thing from the 80s I had 2 or 3 last winter. all short, 10-20 minutes, but it was nice to not be plunged into complete darkness as the stove's glow lit the room, and to know the house would be warm however long it lasted.

Positives: chainsaws are fun axes are fun fire is fun heat is sooo comfy heat is free stove shifts air an dries the house loads i get to feel smug using a sustainable fuel the stove look good processing wood keeps me fit ash is good for the garden negatives: feeding small stoves every hour or so for 6 months of the year starts to drag. stoves are expensive saws are expensive finding the CH has kicked in because i forgot/wasn't about to feed the stove the fiancee is scared of the stove/won't feed it fiancee doesn't like how much time i spend with the saw or axe scrounging up wood can be obsessive...nowait...that's a positive! dirt from the wood in the house

scrounged up wood from a local tree surgeon friend. I collect from him, buck and split myself, feed my own 2 stoves and my parent's stove, so I process 10 cube a year. Saws, PPE, fuel/consumable and axes are soon paid for, and its good fn and great exercise!

Jeez, not exactly falling over themselves to sell me this saw.... WOP refuse to price match....fairly sure from the tone the web team operative didnt realise I'd ordered 2 months ago and knew i had another month at least to wait...depite me quoting the order reference in the email title. Fastfix seem to have completely ignored my question via the website contact form...I'll have to ring them tomorrow. So £550 saw and neither seem to want to actually do much to sell it is the feel i get.

Those 'klingon knuckle duster' felling spikes are normal on the dolmar/US version, and from what I read they are awaste of space...or more specifically a waste of an inch or 2 of bar. I've read they are just too big. shavey, is that the dolmar with a makita sticker on it? Right, ive pinged fastfix a message, i'm guessing the stock (if they really do have stock) hasn't gone through the recall but I've asked. Since I paid WOP £10.56 more I've also messaged them....I want a better price or else I'm defo off. TBH, if Fastfix really have got stock that has been through the recall, WOP are going to have to offer a very very good deal to keep my order. the tenner saving will virtually buy a bar adapter and I'll pop into f r jonesy for a 24" stihl rollamatic, and a couple of loops of RS full chisel.

I messaed makita uk on facebook, got this answer which others may be interested in... 09:33 Morning Neil, Many thanks for your message. All recalls would be to do with a technical department so you’d need to contact them regards this. If you give us a call on 01908 211 678 and ask to speak with technical services they’ll be able to assist you further. Kind regards, MakitaUK

Thanks shavey, I'll contact them later to see if their stock has been through the safety recall. If it has, then wop can refund me.

yes paid. dont want a date, i want a saw! Being serious, I've had a date, then another, then another, and so on. the latest date is WOP expect the saw from Makita 1st September, and it will then be sent out to me. So I have a date, but based on the past 2 months I have no confidence in WOP/Makita. Its a shame as everyone seems to have nothing but good things to say about the saw and the price was very good.

This is my quandary! Belting saw, super deal from world of power, poor/slow support to address probs. Vs a lesser saw but from a local dealer who can provide excellent support. If the Makita will be ready by September I'd wait.... But so far or just slips month on month.

giving serious consideration ot cancelling my order....was nervous about buying a makita as there are no local dealers and this slow slow slow work from makita uk is hammering that home. fr jones just around the corner.....husky 365 for the same money....less saw than the makita but local support makes it very very tempting...oh and I'll have it this week instead of by christmas if I'm lucky!

I ordered a new 7900 from WOP at the very beginning of June. this recall pused delivery back to end of June, mid July, Start of August and today...September! I think Makita are struggling

I voted no, because with hind sight I'd likely pay a little more for a better stove. Although I'm not sure more expensive is better so I reserve the right to vote differently in the future if I experience more stoves and don't find a'better' one. Currently got a stocton 5 on a lined 8m flue, with smoke control kit. I like it, oodles of heat. My only dislike is that it could do with more control to slow it, but idk if any defra approved stoves can be slowed much more. Anyway, it was my first stove and I wasn't sure how much use it would get, I got it cheap at just over £500, and it seemed best not to spend more until I knew more. Now I'd spend twice that if I thought the stove was better. Nothing against the stovax though really, and would get one again if a deal came along or more research convinced me I wouldn't get 'better' . I should have voted ' I don't know!'. Definitely would get A stove again though.

Iirc steel starts to glow dull red at about 550C and that is getting into damage. The few times I've exceeded 400 I've likely been close to 450C but given the logarithmic scale on a flue thermometer and it's only a few quid so probably not accurate to 25-50C I don't know exactly how hot it gets. Top of the efficient range is marked as 290C iirc. I don't mind a short hot excursion, drives damp/creosote from the flue, but I try not to go past about 350C. I find staying below 300C with my Stockton, and my own very well seasoned wood, and an 8m lined flue giving a fairly strong suck, not straight forward!

Had it very hot several times, flue thermometer over 400C for a short period. Stovax Stockton 5 with smoke control kit so it can't be shut down. It's very easy to send it nuclear. Too much wood, splits a bit too thin, that abnormally knotty/dense or abnormally dry piece, or just leave the vents open for 30 seconds too long after loading and it's going to shoot well past 300C. Small firebox so it comes down again readily, and had done no damage so far. It can be a bit nerve wrecking though.

2 inch? That's a lot of matches on an artic

What rough said, mould matters not a hot, but likely more like 2-3 years to fully season Oak

Would I support tax payers paying (partly) for my new stove? Yes. If my older stove is fine I have no (strong) incentive to change, but government wants me to for improvement of air quality. Gov wants it, gov helps pay. The principle of differing taxation or subsidy to encourage/discourage behaviour is used all the time, why not stoves? If it can be done in practice. Big if.

Yes that is fair I think. You need to 'want' the stove as very few people 'need' one financially. Those that do will have heating bills that are uncomfortable!

Would I support it, in that if I had an old stove I was happy with would I swap it for a new one? Only if : 1. The financial assistance made the swap very painless 2. Legal changes made my old stove non viable/ would soon make it non viable. 3. I heated very significantly with wood and I was sure a modern stove would cut consumption and make life easier. in other words the pay back still needs to be there. If we think of the cost of a new stove, and the cost of install ( inspection of current flue and BC sign off as a minimum I guess) we are likely approaching a grand. The scrappage assistance is going to have to be a large part of that to make me swap for purely autruistic reasons.

I sometimes wonder how people break decent stoves, they are well built. Ok door rope seals wear but are easily replaced. Baffles have a hard life from the heat and any moisture coming down the flue drips on them, each year when I pull mine out to sweep the flue I notice a few spots of surface rust on the top of the baffle I assume from this moisture. I can see how easy it is to crack a fire brick or the door glass if a large log rolls, or a log is just too big but you try and shut the door on it not realising it's protruding. Door catches wear, even hinge pins, that I understand. However look on eBay at used stoves and you find morso, Franco belge and plenty of other good stoves with cracked and warped plates and burnt away grates. I assume this is total misuse and almost certainly coal not wood. I know if a door seal goes, or vents are left open the stove is going full bore and hot hot hot, but a small wood stove at least will burn through its load like that pretty fast, and likely before it does serious damage. Surely it needs coal to get serious damaging heat for long? Or a foolish user loading firebox after firebox after firebox full of small splits with the vents wide open.

Alycidon, I don't get your point. I self installed, and notified BC, but doesn't stop me using a stove with wet wood, or even from using a non approved stove. I can install a non approved (for wood stove). Inform BC, completing the paperwork to say it is suitable for smokeless fuel (assuming it is). Once BC are happy it's safe they don't police what I actually burn. I agree though that the current rules are pretty good but not often enforced.

Maybe with ir cameras looking for heat plumes from chimneys but not smoke so easily.... Most burning is an evening thing.... It's dark when the stove is on.

They can't do it it as a purchase tax as it would encourage people to stick with old stoves which are more polluting. That leaves an operating tax. A flat tax per stove/house would be unenforceable without lots of resource, so pointless. That leaves a tax on fuel. It may be possible to tax wood sales.... Easier above a certain volume maybe....vat registered ones maybe.... But again does this work counter productively? Would it make for more small boys, more tree surgeons doing a few cube on the side, and does this mean the less well area seasoned? Perhaps. A ban in cities seems more likely than a tax I think.

Forgot to say, I'm finding a m³ of mixed hard/soft seems to cut about £60 from my mains gas bill, factor in the warmer house and it must be worth £80-£100 readily enough if not more, it's hard to estimate. ,so heat from wood bought would be a similar cost to mains gas heat is my finding. Cutting and splitting scrounged ARB waste saves lots of money but is time consuming, I reckon I save myself about £8/ hour, give or take a pound. You have to enjoy saws and axes to do it for fun, and consider the saving a lovely bonus.