TuscanPhil

Good stuff - keep them coming! I started my own thread about 2 years ago now - I'm using a 42 year old Homelite 84cc saw and a chillaskan mill. I have a 36" bar and lo-pro (or is it skip) chain for it but all my milling so far has been with the 30" or 18" bars and semi chisel chains (ground to 10 deg). I'm learning as I go (only home / hobby use) but the best thing I did was read the milling forum from start to finish (not every thread) to learn from others. I've cut English and American Oak, Sitka Spruce, Douglas Fir, Silver Birch and I have some Ash coming up and hope to do some Cherry as well at some point soon - oh yes, and a dirty great big (to me) Poplar that I bought the 36" bar for.

Neil, definitely consider a small electric splitter - I split and stack 15-20m3 per year - I have a biomass boiler so need seasoned timber logs for that. more info on this thread but do consider the Handy range, though I'm pretty sure they are all made in the same Chinese factory. I bought mine as an ex-display model through Handy's eBay outlet - mowermarket on eBay WWW.EBAY.CO.UK Follow mowermarket on eBay. Buying, Selling, Collecting on eBay has never been more exciting! and have now owned it since Feb 2020 - using it every few weeks for a morning or day's work at a time.

Won't the new house owner want a heating system? Why are you not leaving it in situ? I also have a biomass CH and DHW system and it wouldn't even cross my mind to take it out when we sell where we are living.

More info here:

Good question - deserves a good answer - but - I haven't got one!! It's not something I'd really considered, so I have not idea what it 'could' be used for or how to make it long lasting, but it seemed to be a waste to ring it up and split it for firewood, which is all else I'd have done with it.

Having promised (maybe) an update on 27th March, it turned out to be Mothering Sunday so I was otherwise occupied. I can't believe it is now pretty much 3 weeks on, but here I am with an update. The first 'stick' of Sitka Spruce is now milled to about 2" slabs. Not sure what they'll end up being used for, probably garden tables or benches sort of thing maybe... One of my neighbours popped round to have a look (I invited him) and he came with his early teens daughter who asked - would I be able to do that... so maybe there is a young miller in the neighbourhood... Any way, pictures paint a thousand words, so here they are:

And also a first cut of my Sitka Spruce (been felled for about 5 years also!!). Whilst it is a wider board, it was a lot slower to mill than the oak, but, I hadn't tickled the chain after the oak and I might have dulled it a bit on the small bits of metal and 'dirty' bark etc. Hopefully a bit more time tomorrow to mill some boards of the Sitka - gonna have to fit my new 36" bar and skip chain for its first use... watch this space...

Having been busy with house DIY, I've not had much opportunity to get out and go milling recently, but with a break from fitting skirting and architrave, I re-attacked an old American Oak that was 'half milled' Jan last year. 2 boards off at the moment, a brief stop for lunch and probably only 1 good board left to go. Managed to find a bit of metal in 2 places - must be at least 10 foot up the trunk, one seems to be solid (nail?) and one is definitely braid - never mind, these tings happen!! It's a 24" steel rule for scale, possibly down to 11" for the narrow bit. I've had a winch fitted for a while but never used it. I put some rope in it after the 1st board and WOW, what a difference it makes to how easy it is! Wish I'd not waited and done it sooner, I didn't realise how much of a difference it would be.

Two good ol’ rednecks boys are sitting in a trailer park supping some cold beers. After a while one says to the other “If I was to sneak over to your trailer on Saturday night when your out hunting and made love to your wife, and she got pregnant and she had a baby, would that make us kin?” The other guy crooked his head sideways for a minute, scratched his head and squinted his eyes thinking real hard about the question. Finally he says “Well I don’t know about kin, but it would make us even”

Having just registered today as a self-supplier (in receipt of the RHI), I did note this bit: Step 1: The woodfuel producers apply to the scheme and send us a sample to be tested. I was wondering if they were going to ask me to send in a log........ Can I put it through my biomass drying system I call my biomass boiler first and just send them some ash??

I've cut my post down to the relevant bit - ok, so it wasn't the very last minute, but I've bitten the bullet and have now registered as it seems I have no other option if I want to keep receiving the RHI payments I'm currently getting. Just waiting for Woodsure to email me my 'quality manual' as a self-supplier - so I know the wood I'm supplying to myself is of high enough quality.......

I had a chinese Longli branded 4 ton splitter very similar to what you linked - bought second hand from a neighbour but I doubt it had seen much use prior to me buying it. Managed to get about 10 years out of it (6 years easy use and 4 years hard use) before bits of it started breaking (return springs on the handles). Got rid of it and bought a Handy 6 ton splitter of the same horizontal variety - can't really tell much difference to be honest but it probably does split more than the 4 ton did. I've a similar use scenario to you - my own woodland for personal use - about 15-20M3 a year. If I was going to get anything else, it would likely be an Oxdale SE400 but this is quite step up in price. I did hire one in with an operator (only way to get it) and he struggled with some knotty Sitka Spruce that I wanted to try it on. It managed to get through it but he had to rev the engine a bit harder to get more hydraulic flow.

Cheers - does pitch pine have quite a strong fragrant smell? Even though it must be at least 70-75 years old, it still smells really strong when cut. It's not an unpleasant smell, but certainly nothing like cutting a new piece of stud walling 2x4 etc.

Well, not quite a year on, but a while since my last post. More pictures of a piece I've cleaned up. Any more suggestions or guesses?

Yes, mine has a clamp which stops the wedge returning the full distance. My logs are reasonably regular in length (I cut them myself), so I can set the stop within about 1" or so and most of my logs fit that. The splitting wedge then only needs to go into the log a short distance - a few inches - any typically the log will split apart or I can pull it apart as I'm throwing it onto the pile, thus I don't need the ram to travel the full log distance - makes for a quick operation.

We have a Mendip Loxton 8 double sided stove - been fitted now for about 5 years - but due to where it is, has not been used much recently (fitted between hall and dining room). When we were redoing our heating system, it was used continuously one winter, re-kindled in the morning, used all day, loaded up at night etc. No concerns about recommending it - we have ours fed from an external air supply (pipe comes up to the base of the stove where it directly interfaces with the stove air intake), so no nasty drafts when it is not in use. Loxton 8 Double Sided Ecodesign CAT | Mendip Stoves - Wood Burning Stoves WWW.MENDIPSTOVES.CO.UK Woodburner,

OP, no one seems to have asked you - how much are you splitting per year? You've said it's for domestic use, so are you looking at 5m3, 10m3 or 20m3 or more? Over the course of a year, I probably consume around 15-20m3 as I have a log boiler heating system and also a stove in my lounge. I've 'made do' with a 'small' electric 6 ton machine and this works plenty fast enough. You need time to move your unsplit logs to the machine, split them, then throw them into a pile. At some stage, you need to get more logs closer and possibly move or stack your split pile. You'll also want to stop for a coffee probably. ha ha. I use a Handy - 6 Ton Electric Log Splitter with Safety Guard & Log Tray - The Handy Garden Machinery THEHANDY.CO.UK Buy the The Handy Garden Machinery 6 Ton Electric Log Splitter with Safety Guard & Log Tray direct from the... Yes, I've removed all of the guards (before even firing it up!!), I've also converted it to single handed operation (I'm a retired 'safety' engineer so I fully know and appreciate the dangers etc). Every so often, Handy sell off their showroom models - I got mine direct from their showroom in Swindon for about £200 about 2-3 years ago, prior to that I was using a chinese Longli 4 ton splitter of the same variety. It's plenty fast enough for a single person to use, as said above, you've still got to move logs to and split logs away from your splitting area and this takes time. I tend to do about 1-2m3 per month (typically split over 1 or 2 days - a morning here, an afternoon there) over the course of the year, so not all at once, plus it gives a progressive seasoning to my logs and I burn from oldest to newest.

I researched a bit for a tabletop thicknesser - ended up buying the Triton TPT125 - got good reviews in this test of thicknessers.

I'm self-supplier - my own firewood for my own use - buy none in, sell none out, so when I registered via BSL (another £30 per year - will woodsure replace this?) all I did was tell them my annual (expected) usage (about 15-20m3).

I've just gone through the registration process to see what they are after - and it looks like it will cost £54 for the initial application - as to whether there is a annual recertification (likely) and what charge that would be...who knows... As part of the process I have to upload a quality manual and if I don't have one, they will email me a template of one that I can use (currently under construction!!!!!!) So I don't have to do anything until they do something it now means. I think I can stomach £54 and a few forms to enable me to get the RHI. I should have said - I will be leaving it until the very last minute and certainly won't be signing up unless I absolutely have to.

@gdh, Where did you get that group of files from? Is it downloadable from the internet or did you have to apply for it? I've been on the BSL, Woodsure and Readytoburn web pages and apart from a single application form on the Woodsure website, I can't find much info. I'm a self-supplier so unless things change, it looks like I'm going to have to certify to myself that my wood is good for me to burn - which I already know it is as it is all air seasoned for between 18-24 months (and I have a cheapy moisture meter 🤣 to confirm this). Looks like it could cost me between 5 and 10% of my RHI payments from a quick calc, so not the worst news, but it is still money going out for no good reason - a tax on carbon efficient fuel.

Received my letter today. I'm registered as a 'self supplier' so that I can reclaim the RHI for my biomass central heating system. Not quite sure (yet) what I need to do to continue to claim the RHI but as I've got about 3-4 years left on my RHI claim, I don't want to lose that! I'm watching with interest!