Steven P

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

I saw Morrisons were doing one near us for £40.. would have enough space inside for about 3 days worth of logs....

Thanks - I thought the answer would be to leave well alone and to get the boys to run about somewhere else until they fall over. I like the idea that somehow I could make them roll off the stump tree - not sure if it would work though but I could do that from a distance. A couple of pictures of the trees here and more about the woods below (not mine but it is where my kids play and I don't want them to get hurt) Picture 1 and 2 how the trees are, pictures 3 and 4 are the crack at the base of the stump. Since you're asking - the woodland (its small) is a council wood grown as a shield between our houses (4 houses on our road) and the cemetry and sewerge works behind them. Access to the wood is limited - a stream (complete with occasional sewerage overflow) on 2 sides, 3rd side is the back gardens and a small amount of road, wire fence and tall hedge that would need to be cut to get access, and side 4 is the cemetry where you need to climb over a decent distance of brambles - the only feasable access is through the back gardens. Effectivly then only our houses have access to the wood. It hasn't been maintained in 20 years (apparently). I mowed a path in them for the boys to run around. No public rights of way. I can alter the path just by walking a different way with the mower. I haven't touched any of the trees in the wood (not mine) but would in this case helping nature along a bit to make it safer for the boys

Good afternoon, (hoping I have this in the right section) In the wood behind the house, where the boys play there is a path. Last winter 2 trees were blown down half way - and are now propped up by a third, dead tree (it is a 'stump' about 15' high). These trees span the path - enough space to still run under them though. So the tall stump has one tree on each side of it and is holding each up with a branch. The 2 fallen trees are proper big pines (about 2' diameter at the base, and quite long). The base of the stump tree is cracked and it is starting to fall over. Normally I wouldn't bother and let nature do its thing in a safe way... but the boys play in the woods. Chances are that if / when the trees all fall down there will be no one abouts but.... Recently the trees have moved - so I suspect they will fall soon. So my question is... is there a safe way to make all these trees no longer be in the air? I can pop photos on later. I can access the base of the stump tree and its crack... but if I cut through there the tree above could come straight down. If I cut through the fallen trees near the base, they might move in unexpected ways. It could be possible to put a rope around a tree and try pulling them - but I'm not sure how much force I would need for that. Third option is to let that path over grow and cut though the weeds and let the boys run another way... but I would prefer the trees to be on the ground. Thanks in advance. and I suspect the answer is going to be a combination of let a professional have a look and leave it well alone myself

I used to love that game, but they stopped phoning me, how long can I keep them talking for, never got to 10 minutes though

So trees are brilliant for the environment, - havens for wildlife, insects, shelter, nests, give out oxygen, take in carbon dioxide , sort of carbon neutral for building (better than concrete) and burning - a big list. Plant trees in the city centre, or along main roads and they suck in a lot of bad stuff leaving the air cleaner... where does all the bad stuff go to? Is it locked into the wood (so if I burn it later it is released into the atmosphere again) does it get converted to other things? Does it go through the tree and come out into the soil? Thanks if anyone has any ideas

Prices.. I always compare price to how much heat I'd expect to a bag of coal. If coal is cheaper for the heat then I leave the wood. However you do have to pay for someone to process the wood for you, the more processed it is when you receive it, the higher the price - get it straight of the back of a van in randon species, you store and split it is the cheapest Kiln dried / seasoned only makes a difference really for the seller - kiln dried and they can process more in a year in a smaller area. Seasoned and you need a large area to store the wood as it dries for a couple of years. Otherwise exactly the same. Certificates will add a cost. Storage - keep the rain off is key. Depends how much of your heating will be by the stove Iguess depends where you store the wood. If you have to mobe 1m3 everyu other week to your shed from warehouse then it might make more sense to store it in the shed. Mine is in the garage once dried - easy access

Split some just then - OK it will be for spring 2019 when all the other wood has been burnt

Firewood can be a dark art sometimes, what you buy, how much, moisture content, wood type and so on. There are some good answers here. I'll add a bit more to your picture of firewood. Typically it is sold by volume though by weight would be easy, if you buy wood at 20% moisture content and 25% moisture content you might get the same volume but the second lot will be heavier,,. yet you could get the same amount of heat from both (if they were both then dried to the same moisture content) If you have 1kg of dry oak, it will have pretty much the same energy as 1kg of dry pine. However the pine will be a larger lump of wood - it is less dense. 2 pieces of wood with the same dimensions, the denser (typically hardwood) will burn for longer than the less dense (lighter softwood). So burning softwood you have to add more fuel more quickly than hardwood to get the same heat output. Less dense wood (softwoods) will burn quicker and release the heat quicker (in my experience) - so if you want a hot fire to heat a room quickly use softwoods, for a sustained heat use hardwoods. And for these reasons people prefer hardwoods over softwoods. But since hardwoods are prefered by many.. they are sold at a premium. There are tables online with the energy contained in each wood. Ash is good, if I could I would burn hawthorn all day. Some wood spit but in a stove this is OK, the sparks are contained (older tables might say which woods spit). You won't always get a supplier specifying what the wood is. Fruit trees are generally good Now when it comes to volume, there is no standard. Buy coal and you get 50kg sacks - all legally controlled weights - firewood has a random quantities - m3, ton / builders bag, load, trailer, weight and so on making direct comparison harder. It is often sold as 'hardwood' or 'softwood', but again since some woods are denser than others one batch you might get more heat than the next, (then there is a mixed bag - a bit of both). I'll let others tell you the benefits and pitfalls of buying kiln dried, seasoned, dried or otherwise. You might have to do a bit of trial and error with your wood supplier because there are so many variables -but you will get one who is honest and delivers a consistent product at the right volume and price. Gumtree / ebay splits into 2 camps those that make a living from the firewood - more expensive - and those that have a tree cut up in the garden to get rid off (cheaper). Often the cheaper will describe the wood as 'a tree' and no more details (assume then its softwood)

I might be getting this a bit wrong, but what is there to stop any pressure build up escaping through the carb? Trying to remember but carb has a pipe into the fuel, a diaphragm pump thing which should allow pressure to pass and then a pipe into the air intake to the cylinder - nothing to block that route is there? Sothen can't you just leave te fuel caps as they are and reduce the risk of accidental spillage - either in the shed or in the van?

I'm reading this and trying to think of the incentive behind the idea. I reckon that they are picking on wood burning stoves because that is what is being installed these days - not open fires. If city centre flats were being fitted with open fires then the legislation would include them. Now here is a thought for the deeply cynical. If you can get those in the cities to only use kiln dried logs.. sold at a premium.. then the tax revenues will increase. You cannot tax a ton of wood that has no financial value (ie the free stuff).. but you can if it is sold as dry hard wood. Now you could take this a step further and say that kiln dried hardwood is a premium product, a luxury perhaps - especially since we all know that air drying overtime can get the same results ... no tax breaks for luxuries are there?