Steven P

I just start them up for a minute or so every other week - do this for all my petrol toys - reckon that keeps everything free inside and moving well

Another thought, how fussy are pellet burners for needing exact cylinders of wood? Would these work in such a fire?

I wouldn't, they are consumables so should be easy to replace. My vermiculite does the same - stays in until it falls apart

Just got my stove ready for the winter. New firebricks again (every 18 months but I will burn coal, coke and wood), it needs a new baffle plate soon , and grate (6 years old stove) Replaced the glass after we cracked it and the rope this year This year I am trying screed (concrete) fire bricks (had to cast them myself) - the woman on the phone said they would work so here goes and hope they last say, 2 years.

Was chopping some branches this week with the intention to use it as BBQ fuel next year. I am not bothered about it being charcoal so long as it isn't too smokey and will give a decent bed of ashes (when I was younger and in the Scouts that's all we used to cook with, didn't use charcoal so I guess it must work well) - just to give another idea where you could market it. Doesn't solve the problem for selling it in bulk though. Put some on the stove they burn, the room is getting warmer but the market wants logs so you wou;d have to do some good marketting to sell this

If my house is cold then yes, its good to burn.

There are 2 known ways to argue with woman. neither work...

Pease don't say that, Mrs Steven will only go and get ideas. Serious question, my ideal house is about 19 degrees - suits me fine and is good for shorts, mrs likes it hotter, but what is the general threshold for fire or no fire?

Snap - same here,. The upstairs open fire is brilliant at moving the air about the house, We have a small fire up there most months just for that.

And with this one, I am pretty sure he shouted that loud enough to be heard from space too. Should have heard that Yes the plans should be available for all the utilities assets.. and the assets for electricity and gas companies extend under the garden and up to the meter, BT up to the master socket. Afterwards its the home owner. they don't know where other utilitie are. The disclaimer is there because 100+ years of say, buried electrical cables didn't always have GPS surveying, and installation to current standards. Always play it safe and assume there could be cables and pipes somewhere

Whats the worst that can happen..... This was caused a post hole borer in the US, hit a fairly major gas pipe.... Apart from the pic, yes, you have a duty of care I think to let the tree surgeon know if they are using digging in the area... but they should also do their own checks - not all owners / tenants know where their buried services are. The relevant utility companies should provide some sort of marking on top of the service for example a marker tape that will be seen above the service, similarly if asked for they should also send a plan of known services (for a nominal fee. and you need to ask each, the electrical, the gas transmission companies (those that own the cables / pipes) plus the water company, fibre optics, BT and so on (the engineer might have got these plans when looking at the job). Of course all these are 'should'... and the best way to find a hidden service is to get all the info you can, get a spotter watching where you dig and then go in with the JCB on ground that is safe. Anyway, short answer for future reference, yes, give all the information that you can. Pic:

From a consumers point of view... I have a multifuel stove - coal or logs - and from a financial point of view logs for me have to compete with coal. I am paying the same for 50kg coal as I was 5 years ago when we moved in the house - and I am not being tight, I tell my coal man off every year for not increasing his prices. It's not as simple as wood increasing in price, the big users, those of us who only use solid fuel as heating - you have to compete with a stable coal market too. I can appreciate your decision, your getting squeezed from both sides and hit in the middle by cheap imports too I've no complaints paying a fair rate... but also have to watch the ££ and heat my home for the best prices.. which is often coal or free logs

When wood dries the fungus tends to dry out In the winter when you want to use fire wood the ants are hiding in their nests Moving the logs off the ant nest will annoy them but they will adapt and be happy again soon enough. If your client is like me they won't store all their winter fuel in the house, just enough for that day / motning, afternoon, evening / hour, there won't be the opportunity for a mass invasion of ants Fungus spores - could be a problem of course, but not something I've ever worried about Hard to split wood - if I get some that won't split at the moment, it gets put back till later and euither I'll have another go when it has dried or I'll get the saw at it/ And for the overriding thought - its there as firewood, why not just splity it all and use it?

I was just going to add to the firewood point.. if you want the tree surgeon to take away the tree then they have to cut it to lengths that they can carry from the tree to the van. If you ask they will probably make these pieces suitable lengths for firewood - similar amount of work and cost, jut the logs are left at yours and not in the van. You mate can get an axe and split it from there. If you want the wood to be actual logs (as in all you do is dry them and throw them straight onto the fire) then this is more wotk and so costs more. Leaving wood in your garden is just as easy as taking it away. You could always be ask them for a price to transport the logs to your mates house - probably cheaoper than hiring a van to do it and quicer than throwing them all in the back of your car. Now if your mate would want some wood chip to go onto his garden as well they would love that, dump it all at theirs!

Mime is going on the compost heap - I only small amounts though (about 2 coal sacks full a year) - with the grass, left over veggies and so on it does OK

thanks.Getting the fairy liquid out later then

Good afternoon, The internet suggests a few ways to do this, so was going to check the best way on here. any hints and tips would be appreciated. Internet suggested something like Turps would clean it and then to put on a light coating of mineral oil - would that be the way to go?

I wouldn't sell it as poplar. If (or when I have to) buy firewood I will be wanting the best for my ££, if I was offered a named wood (as opposed to 'hardwood' or 'softwood') I would check it out online. So if all the tables say 'avoid' I wouldn't pay big money for it unless I knew otherwise.

anecdotal evidence really but I notice that logs stacked together tightly will loosen off a fair bit as they dry, could be them moving but I have always assumed it was each log losing volume as it drys

Suppose the job was to include taking away materials and you didn't get full payment, then would it be safe to assume that the payment was for the work you had completed and not the last part of the job.. clearing the site. So justified in not taking anything away until you get the payment as requested / contracted to get. As for returning the materials afterwards I would say that's a bit dubious but I guess in your discussions about payment mention that you haven't been paid to take the materials away and will be returning them.. then no arguments when yuo do so As for adding anything extra to what you return that's not on (say the waste from another job)

Reading all of this, when do they require you to test the log? Is it when you declare it is ready for sale (after seasoning, coming out of the kiln) even if you don't deliver it till 6 months later, is it at a time that suits you or is it when you dump it on the customers drive? As for manufacturers requirng 15%, - I haven't got my paperwork here at the moment - but I bet that 15% is so that they cvan claim the efficiency figures that they do

I think I am in the wrong business then, £200+ a client and I bet it would only take a day a month total for each one, 4 weeks x 5 days x £200 x 52 weeks...I need more fingers.

Just wonder if the council sent him a bill for 10 council tax? Could get him into an interesting argument - to one department "no, I just built it, so owe no tax", to the other "Its been here for years, let ut stay there"

It is a lot of years and the owner of the land has to avoid it all that time really. In the case of a wood - that is not built on - how would you prove adverse posession? I think thats where cases might fall down and the owner could simply say they visited the site, no one was there and so all is good (easier to prove if you have built something on the land or for example if you are taking a house when utiity bills can show posession and the owner would have to be aware from visiting that someone else was using the house) If I Wanted to own the wood I would phone the council up and make them an offer and take it from there.. no planning permission, and not much commercial value it wouldn't cost the earth.

AHPP - that was a thought I had when we moved in, to go for something like that. We get the benefits but none of the risks (OK apart from trees falling on my head). Squaredy - probably the best option, just I had a feeling that it would take an hour on the phone to organise something, that would take 20 minutes to fix.. plus for the access they might want us to be in so they can get access through the gardens (a half days holiday). Thanks