Steven P

Going to stereotype - he is Scottish, and 'careful' with his cash....(says the man from outside Glasgow)

End result though you need a sharp blade whatever you do (and a lesson for The Boy this week - he had stick in stiches the other week - cut from a tree he was playing in - this week, my similar cut from a sharp chisel, no stiches - because the clean cut heals far better - sharp is always better!)

But they will typically only do 1 and sit about a few months before the next, day in, day out you'd get used to the work.

On to axes, also get yourself a sharpening stone and Fiskars do a sharpener too - but eventually you'll need a stone to take all the dinks out

Not sure if the DIY warehouses still do them, B&Q have a very similar coloured Magnusson branded axe (made by Kingfisher... owners of B&Q), so check - not sure they will be the same quality. I'd second a Fiskars, not used the mail for years really. The axe will get through most things. Couple of tips Electric saw shouldn't be too noisy, so go ahead when you want (remembering be social whatever). Chain sharpening kit with measures are about the same as getting a chain or 2 sharpened at the shop, a no brainer to get one, need to replace the files every now and then Chains - My Oregon one will sharpen quicker but loose its edge a bit quicker than the Stihl blade, but will easily do a few charges of the battery between sharpening. Do the rakers as above, test each tooth as you go, I find if it just 'bites' my thumb it is OK (learrn quick enough how much pressure to use!!). I tend to run the flat file once along the top edge of the tooth as well, gives it a little sharper edge but never worked out if I should or shouldn't do this. If I get any longer branches (2m or so), I'll split them lengthways - for a decent straight bit it will split in as many hits as chopping it and splitting, but the saw will cut it better (thinner wood, faster chain speed and so on). Also satisfying domestically seeing that length split. Nothing wring with splitting a log edge on rather than from the cut end (with care of course that you hit it straight so it won't fly off somewhere uncontrolled) Those little wedge shaped offcuts - perfect as... wedges.. for the knottier wood, hit with the axe, and put a wedge in where you can, knock it in if you can, will open the cut so your next hit will more than likely be where you hit before, put wedge in more and go again (obviously don't aim for the wedge). Often for a twisty but that won't quite go, a decent half log hit into a split will force it open, Anything I can't get with the axe will either cut with the saw, awkward shapes go out to rot in my wood - for the bugs an toads to live in (I don't get many of them) Quit the gym - use your work out time with the abs, legs, arm, making firewood Big time saver is avoiding double handling.. but that is cancelled if you have to spend an hour sweeping saw dust and chippings off the drive. As above with the long lengths, I'll let them dry like that (holds the wood stacks together one every now and then), and chop to length in the garage (battery saw) - the saw dust is more contained there (most flies straight into the coal if you want to know). Brings me to new toys - a leaf blower is quicker than sweeping up and gets into the corners better

Had some go through a couple of primer bulbs - lawn mower and saw and assumed the same, that they quite liked it - if they didn't they wouldn't have gone after the other one. Currently they were working their way through a box of night lights n the shed, paraffin wax and petrol, must be something in it.

been mentioned a couple of times above, batteries!! Build quality should be similar, but if your mate is considering other battery kit in the future try to get a compatible system. Real shame they arn't standardising batteries yet

Might be that the work in your local area over the winter has been done by locals with established tip sites / routes for their waste. As far as I can tell tip sites work best for those working outside with usual area and so will be searching for somewhere to tip.

The alder I have on my drive looks a bit more wrinkled. However I would hazard a guess at 'firewood' - probably hardwood - and the way it has cracks in reasonably dry too, should be OK for the winter. Why do you want to know the brand of wood it is?

In their defence though "fit for purpose" - the engine runs, the chain turns and for the weekend gardener, fit for purpose, they will cut down a 6" silver birch that is in the way in the garden. Perhaps the problem isn't the saw but what it is required to do? As above I wouldn't expect a cheap and cheerful warehouse DIY store saw to do the same as an entry level brand named saw, but then I wouldn't be paying the same either. (I did take a punt on a saw from homebase once, half priced battery one for £90 or there abouts and it is my go to saw for around the house so they arn't all bad)

I think from reading this that flipping the saws for now is a good idea, a hobby till you finish education, puts a few ££ in the bank,. and some knowledge in your head but with no customers ringing up at 8:30 in the morning demanding their saws back for their urgent job tomorrow. if it is something you like I would put some of the profit away to buy a stock of 'spares' as you see the deals come up - might be a 'sales or repair' that was run over by a truck has a decent carb, blade and chain and some intact plastic bits... which will let you make a better profit on the next job. A bits box is a great thig. Then after education if you want to do this to make money repairing other peoples machines then go for it - sounds like threads on here are a god market for you. You'll have the knowledge and experience to turn a repair around quickly, and with luck with your flipping have a stock of bits that you might struggle to get otherwise. Finally - good luck and nothing to loose by going for it

First thought here, is it worth falling out (more) with your neighbour over it, sounds like you could be there living with them for longer than you want to the tree to be? Some sort of compromise which from the sounds if it - you cut down half, they keep half? but perhaps try to get them to see your viewpoint in a nice way? Could offer to get it removed and plant a more acceptable, smaller growing tree in its place (for the cost of removing a tree a few £10s for a new tree is a small amount) (I'd probably accept a couple of nice fruit trees in it's place if it was me). If it is acceptable to you, you might have to confirm you will pay any associated costs for removal. If it is a sycamore, I think it will be OK, chopping it off above the black marker should reduce the number of new shoots growing from the base afterwards? Even if it chopped down fully a new tree will be established quiet well within what, 10 years? Perhaps on the 'correct' side of the fence. However chopping half down doesn't really solve the problem of the shaded garden or proximity to your house, the other half is still there. For your boundary, I would perhaps consider the fence corners to be mostly accurate, and a straight line between them to be the boundary? Working on the assumption that the fence corner has 3 or 4 interested parties to make sure that is accurate, along the fence line only you and the neighbour. I wouldn't argue this too much though - back to paragraph 1, and you have to live with your neighbour, and so many tales of the nice neighbour suddenly flipping over a small issue.

Time to go back to the question. I might be off here but if my neighbours tree overhangs my garden, I can trim it back to the propery line - so long as I offer the the branches back or something like that? So in this case, if the unknown owners trees are overhanging the road then the highways department can cut them back to make them safe? (sometimes the quickest way to know who owns soemthing is to start work - legaly - they crawl out the woodwork pretty quick)

always going to need to bend a bit - even if just the last part of the cut to make sure the chain doesn't dig into the ground, and unless you are lucky the way the logs lie, bending again to lift and shift them to where you want to cut them. OK for me, for domestic purposes, but I have a saw horse, put the barrow at the end and the cut logs fall into that, wheel it to where the log stack is saves a little bending at least.

But bending to cut the logs and the back will be OK? My back likes me to stand straight, picking stuff up is OK but bending over and it will tell me about it later

OPs image is just from the Amazon, Olympia Tools 80-934 Forest Master Ultimate Sawhorse, might be she didn't have a photo otherwise. i'm the same as Stere, cheaper, made of wood - less likely to damage a chain on wood, can make it sized to suit and so on. Easy to repair too. In mine I have the legs set and measured to the length my stove needs, if a log is balanced between 2 legs it is 2 long and if it falls through the gap it will fit in the stove.

However like I said before, if the total fuel bill is smaller next winter after using logs then it doesn't really matter if on or 2 logs a showing a bit of rot. If the fuel bill has gone up and the fire isn't just for aesthetic purposes then I would be upset too.

Wikipedia suggest that this beetle likes rotting and wet wood (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wharf_borer) so if your wood is drying it should be OK - the photos don't show rotting wood (it would be damp, and squashy). As such I reckon your house timbers should be safe as should the living wood in the trees. You wouldn't be seeing thousands and if you did the wood would be full of beetle tunnels, For the farmer selling you large rounds of wood as seasoned, I guess he is technically correct they have been seasoned just not to a level of dryness recommended by the stove manufacturers - getting them split and stacked to dry is the best thing to do here. If they are reading 20% now try splitting one and take a reading from the freshly split side, since wood dries from the outside in, the outside edge doesn't show the true moisture content, you need to split one and measure from what was inside to get that

For the type of wood I wouldn't get too hung up over the species unless you are being sold say, Oak and receiving say, Poplar. It will all work OK and if the price is good for you then all is good - you will know at the end of winter if the gas and electric bill has dropped more than the cost of the wood if the deal was good (else why bother, go convenience). If you are buying the wood as dried, ready to go then for the beetles, their lifecycle is such that over the winter they are in the wood, emerging in the spring or summer.... so if all the wood is burnt before the weather heats up you should be mostly OK. if it is fresh wood, recently felled, again their lifecycle I think is such that they spend a couple of years in dead wood before emerging - and the same applies - it should all be burnt by the time they would want to come out. Problem might be if the wood has stood in the suppliers for longer, say in the corner of a field for a hew years before being cut and split then they beetles might be ready to go. However the photos show fairly fresh wood, -shouldn't- be an issue - but I am not an expert. Species - I'd also go for oak (the bark picture in the first set), and ash or beech for the smoother bark

Yup, first port of call I would make for future reference would be a clean - cannot see a problem if it is caked in muck

Did you look behind the sofa, whenever I am looking for something, it is often there, otherwise you could register on the tip sites (link above) This is a common question and there are loads of other hints and tips in the forum

Hammer, nails, saw, tarp, to make a shelter - I'd go light weight and just take a tent

... 3rd post. Getting it in quick. Realising that is probably the wrong turn of phrase.

If you're not sure, why not leave it and see what - if any - apples it produces? That might help a decision.

Back to the question, the size is OK, but to the latest answer it would be very good practice to test and clean any chimney before any installation works - you might find that the chimney is sound, you might find that it is full of holes. If the liner is inside a sound chimney though even if the liner leaks the outer chimney will still be safe for fumes I think... but not sure any installer would go for that.