Steven P

I guess there isn't a lot people can say to change your mind so if you are determined to carry on, ignoring the professional advice (none of them are quoting for your job, none of them are going to make a profit from this advice), maybe take a bit of advice so help keep you out the hospital? Are you just taking down the one tree and leaving the rest or are they all coming down? Basing this next part that the safest place for you is on the ground and not in a tree. How big are the trees and how close are the nearest obstacles? If you were to take down the fence panel could you fell the tree through those gaps and miss everything? If you did take the panels away, get a new quote and it should be cheaper so long as the tree surgeon is OK to leave dents in the lawns.... Youtube, don't just watch videos of what to do if that is your way of learning, but also look at vidoes of it all going wrong, far more learning opportunities there if you can work out the mistakes. Last comment, how much have you spent so far? £300 for the saw, £100 for other kit? And your time, 4 or 5 hours to do what you have done so far (including shopping, getting advice and watching youtube? I know the price I put on my leisure time and your costs are approaching half the £1300 quote.....

The other thing I picked up here is that you don't offer to buy the wood from the customer! If they think they can sell it they start looking at what they would pay for wood, forgetting all profit margins made along the way. You might be upsetting the customer whatever you do now, cut the trunk into two 3m sections and leave it they will be upset since they can't shift them, do the same and take them away and you are profiteering from it, cut the stem to 'firewood' sections and you have left them something they can handle but ruined a valuable trunk, but you can't take them away to mill yourself.... tricky one Have a conversation on the morning to confirm what they want to do with the wood is about all you can do, if they want to 'sell' it to you, then you know the price you'd pay and let them know otherwise you'll leave it for them.

Am surprised no one has answered this yet. I guess your question is related to the value of the wood when it is taken down? I am no expert but if so, the crown - for firewood? Going on forum answers, pretty much break even with your costs after you transport it 'home', time and materials to process it, dry it and sell it on if you are not set up to do so, never going to make a dent in the costs to remove the tree itself (despite what a tree owner might think how valuable fire wood appears as an end product). Most commercial firewood is produced en-mass rather than the careful extraction of a single tree from a single garden to make it profitable. The crown is mostly smaller pieces so the efficiency of machinery will be lost a bit. If you don't have the machinery to do it yourself then you'd have to hire it, hand split it all or take it to someone who will charge to split it. Then store and dry it - your cash tied up in the firewood for a year (so incurs an interest charge). Yup, break even for a one off. Gumtree it and might make a small profit as unprocessed. So lets discount the crown as a valuable product. Trunk is a possibility. Milling on site if you can, you know how long that will take and I think you are lucky if it is 6m, most posts I see here ask for 3m lengths. Be tempting to charge the owner time and expenses and leave them the wood? Otherwise use local contacts to produce something from it at their workshops - for a cost which might be cheaper than your time. Firewood - see above. Parquet flooring for £2k, not sure here, £2k raw product, retail profit is 1/3, wholesaler 1/6 and manufacturer 50% (I reckon manufacture would double the cost, selling £2k for £4k at least - lets understimate)...... yeah online calculator time... retail price for £2k of wood about retail to £7k of flooring @ £50/m gives 145sq m of finished wood. Lets work the other way, piece of flooring might be (using google and adding something for sawdust and tongue and groove) 0.000387 cu M, 10,500 pieces in that tree, 130sq m - if the tree is nice and square, it isn't so lets take away 1/4? waste - corners, bark and stuff. 100sqm, a bit off his £2k estimate. Still good luck with that. Just guesses, but one thing often crops up here is that the home owner always thinks their tree is worth far far more than it actually is.

I assume you are are getting the message about this.... However if you are determined then I would consider hiring a saw for this, cheaper than buying one I think and the hire places should also be able to hire out suitable PPE.. and a taller ladder. If your ladder will go up 40% of the tree, that would be about 5m? Tree is about 12m? where would that land in relation to your neighbours if it went the wrong way? However...... Looking at the photos the quote you had would be taking into account not trashing the shed or any of the fences, or your neighbours shed which I believe is more time consuming. Though it is only a shed, get 6 of your strongest mates around you can probably empty it and lift it out the way, if the floor will survive that, might also get you a cheaper quote too for having a clear area to drop things into. Might get a cheaper quite too if they don't have to clear the site (and then you can get a saw yourself the next weekend and chop up what is left on the ground... with suitable safety kit first). So assuming you arn't going to have too much of a go, how about you get another couple of quotes and before you do anything call whoever sent you the £1300 quote and ask if there is any prep work you can do to make it cheaper and if it would be cheaper if they didn't clear the tree away afterwards. (Firewood... not going to be profitable and will need some effort from you but if you can cut the trunks into rings.. after they are on the ground... someone will take them as firewood... probably for free....leaving just the little stuff to take to the tip).

2 hours later I would have expected a few comments, my initial thoughts are they can be useful... but only as good as whoever is monitoring them. Give your teams some slack and should be OK, monitor and get them to justify their every movement and you will create an unhappy team. As for a piece of kit, good review

Had one of them once...

I'm going to need a bigger car jack then. So... coffee didn't work,. and sawdust didn't work in that set up, going to put it down to an interesting experiment - worthwhile I think to record it here because I wasn't the first to wonder if it would work and no doubt won't be the last. Not viable for the expense of a real machine either. Interesting stuff about how real briquet and pellet machines work and the physics of how the pellets are stuck together. Experiment 2 then, I wonder if this will work...... I have a car scissor jack, and a load of saw dust...... Inside the mould from before the dust was quite compacted as you'd expect, so bean tin, dowel down the middle, filled with saw dust and compressed with the jack to make better sawdust burner - should contain more sawdust than just hand filling, should burn for longer, and the kids might be able to make them to play with.... but that is for another day.

7k purchase, I would probably spare the extra hundred or so to go and see it, might be that hiring a suitable self drive vehicle to take it back would be similar to the transport quotes thr seller found if you have nothing suitable to take it home with. Of course, if you suggest this option the seller would be accomodating for you to do this - saves them the hassle of waiting in for somen to collct it

Coming back to this again, I've seen and made the sawdust burners (last years experiments), and they work well, barrel of some sort, even a bean tin sort of works (for the kids!), a hole down the middle, and off it goes (got in trouble for this one when I tried that in the garage and it still smelt of smoke in the morning). Wax, or used oil, yes, seen that and I reckon that would all work nicely. Been making lard/seed bird feeders with The Boys this week, wonder if melted lard would work too, then decide which is cheapest. Back to what I was doing this week, dried coffee grounds are no good, crumbles, so now trying the same with wet coffee grounds see if a bit of water helps (thinking back to coffee shops having to smack the coffee holder to get the pressed coffee out after making a brew, though this might be a factor of it being heated up with the hot water / steam). Wet coffee went in last night, 24 hours later - tonight - will see how it goes.

You're right of course, far better ways to spend my time, had an hour to kill yesterday though. It is never going to be mass production, sweep up the sawdust and work out where to put it - compost, paths, or see if I can burn it. Yes about a carrier bag an hour - this time next year, I'll be a millionaire? (confession time, I would have been using the saw but going to sharpen it Friday with my glasses on I saw how knackered that chain is! New chain on order for Monday, didn't fancy the bigger saw for the amount I have to cut this week)

So dry sawdust didn't work, in the die it looked and felt nice and solid but coming out it just crumbled and had shown no interest in sticking together. Not giving up yet, it must have taken an hour to put the mould together, I might try the coffee grounds - this idea has been in my head a couple of weeks and have enough damp coffee to have a go with now. Want to make a small change to the mould, adding a double layer to the liner, when I pulled the single layer out it pulled the edge of the sawdust apart, can cure that and try again with a different mix. The 2 ton jack was just to see if the idea works at all before buying something with a bit more ooomph. Though understanding what you are all saying above, sweeping all the sawdust and putting it on the compost and cutting those couple of extra logs to make up for that looks easier... but experiment started now!

As background to my thoughts, over the year processing my own firewood I create sawdust, and typically this goes onto the paths in the woods or onto the compost. Can I use this as heat tidily - I can throw it on the fire but typically sawdust will spill onto the hearth. I can put it into a card box (think food box such as half a cereal box) outside and just throw a box full on, also a bit of spillage. Yesterday I made up an open box (as an experiment), 5 pieces of old decking, a loose inner liner (5 pieces of pallet), and a 'piston'. Filling the inside of this with sawdust, put the piston on top and then compressing it all with a car scissor jack (I have a spare one in the garage - just trying tis out so not spending money yet). I think the scissor jack is about 2 tonnes strength. Hoping that this will produce a sawdust briquet for me. Also assuming here that the paper briquet makers won't have the power to compress sawdust nicely. Tried this out yesterday with dry sawdust, I haven't opened it yet (figuring that the longer it is compressed the more likely to make what I want). I am expecting it to fail on my first attempts. I reckon that 1 log would be an afternoon sawing (in between household chores, family time, and so on, I don't get long cutting wood at the weekend), it can sit in there for 24 hours. Commercial machines are not viable for domestic firewood. So the question, has anyone done anything like this before and are there any top tips to make a decent enough briquet. Seeing the 'coffee logs' if this works with sawdust then will use my own coffee ground and recycle them onto the fire (they are expensive!) (not admitting to a coffee habit by the way, about 13kg a year all going onto the compost) (note also I am not interested in paper ones, the advertising is good "free fuel" but in reality every time I burn papers (old bank statements and so on) it just kills the fire) Right so any tips, and I'll update with the results of my first log later

Hydro - look to 'old fashioned' water wheels and the race to get water to the wheel - a pool upstream with a weir and a sluice gate to one side - open the sluice, water flows to the wheel. If you own 1 river bank, is there anything to stop you creating a pool / widen the stream on your side dug down a bit and take water off from that (pipe or a 'race') - hydro is all about the head of water, don't need so much water if you take off the supply high enough and pipe it to your turbine. Hydro like this is good, as long as your pool is a big enough store for the dry spells then it is constant, day and night There are digesters out there that will harvest methane from slurry and silage I believe, not sure of their costs though

Likewise.. though twice a year if I can get a weekend morning with no fire in mid winter... and same again, will do it about mow ready for next year. Maybe tomorrow morning I got fibreglass 'super flexible' (or something like that) rods, purely that the I was struggling to get the thicker ones to bend through the stove door and up the chimney (paranoia perhaps that it would be too powerful and push the fittings apart), plus a suitable brush head for the liner. Didn't go for power sweep but looking at how much soot the manual brush gets out it does the job

I'd agree with that but most people will be paying for installers and the relative small cost of a sweep as peace of mind to do a check I think is worth it. Not sure of minimum quantities for things but might be that a smoke 'grenade' has a minimum order of say 10 (at retail prices) (when OP only wants 1), plus the cost of a set of brushes for the brick flue... plus the extra for smaller brush for liner, and if OP wants to send a camera along it, that hire cost - all adds up and getting a professional in to do it might not be a lot more. So yes I would do a quick check first - assumed most people here at a minimum would chine a torch up to have a look and perhaps a -small- newspaper fire (smelly smoke) to see if the chimney draws - maybe that is just me and what I would do assuming others would do the same.

If you haven't used the chimney before and not sure when it was last used I would get a professional in to sweep, smoke test and inspect it - mine wasn't that much more than just a basic sweep, They should be able to spot potential problems. if you are getting a stove in I would get a liner in the chimney too, so the inspection might sound pointless however it might also show any serious problems you might miss doing it yourself. if using a liner then the flue is more than likely to be OK for that.

Much better!

I'll repeat what I said earlier.. what is in these posts is not really bad compared to a lot of forums, a lot of opinions based on different experiences and expectations, and a couple of lighter hearted comments that have been taken the wrong way. Experience teaches me not to rise to the bait on many occasions and the internet is better for it. Ivy is a subjective subject, looks like you want a scientific based answer though then opinions, which you are not likely to get given the diverse forum membership here. I think one of the earlier comments nearly summarises it.... Like marmite, you either love it or hate it (other yeast extract based spreads are available).

So I have read through the posts - all the ivy ones - and as far as I can tell there is little malice in them from the members, no real name calling (really - you should see some forums!), and the OP seams to be very quick to jump that the members here are being unfair with their comments, which they are not really. You'll always get a difference of opinion and always get curious members asking the reason for a post here or there and if you have an opinion ask what your background in the post subject is - might be you are curious, might be you are a renowned professor so we know the depth of your knowledge. Nothing wrong with knowing nothing and asking so you learn, nothing wrong with passing on the knowledge of a lifetime study and work. So as far as I can see, the discussion is no worse than many I have seen. Just the OP appears to have a chip on their shoulder that we are all out to get him - we're not, just voicing an opinion (like this first paragraph) Have a sit back, listen to what people say without shouting that they are all trolling you (and long term members of a forum rarely troll people). So ivy, you like it, some don't and we all have a reason for our opinions - a climber will hate it with a vengeance on a job for example, an ecologist will love it for birds nests and so on, a gardener might be 50-50, a farmer might not like it but will live with it or add it as yet another job to do... all valid reasons. Me, I am no big fan of it purely for aesthetic reasons - doesn't look good - and I associate it with older woodlands that could do with some care and attention. On a house - never, roots into all the mortar and pulls it apart.,

Sensible answer again for a moment, not sure there is ivy -underground- but above it, it could do with serious consideration.... But I guess it would have to be drained (petrol is banned I think - fire risk), and e-scooters are banned due to the lithium batteries, so I guess a chainsaw battery isn't technically allowed either. You might consider each tooth as a blade and carrying one of them in the open isn't so good, so a scabbard probably required. There is an archaic rule that you can't be scruffy, so best arb trousers, but a clean saw as well. However I think there is defence that you can carry the tools to do your job uness a specific underground bylaw stops you (like a carpet fitter on the way to a job on the bus could carry hammers, and a stanley knife, a teenager on a night out can't) Now you have started me, tonights google "Things I can't do on the unerground"

Reading through the contents list and I appreciate we all might be a bit late with the comments if you are nearly ready to publish but here we go anyway. No comment on your writing style, people will pick up the book in the shop and read a bit, if they like your style will buy it, if not will buy someone else. I wouldn't be too hung up on species of logs, most wood burner owners will phone up their supplier and ask for a 'load' of logs, some will specify hardwood or softwood, a small number might specify a species and an even smaller number will get the reply "Almond you say, yup I'll drop that off this afternoon". Most will be happy to get hard or soft. I'd be tempted to put that all in an appendix. I would then aim that at those who collect or produce their own firewood and split the types as worthwhile to process and not worth the time, perhaps with a suffix (H) or (S) after each type. Again if you are getting it free, not too fussy on species. You have 3 pages about the ready to burn scheme... which might last, or it might change next year, so to future proof your book and make it international-ish maybe this could be a very generic description, else you could have an out of date book next year (think gas fitters, was once Corgi, now Gas-Safe, things change). Then the main question I want to know, how much wood will I need takes a page - particularly if you are looking to install a stove want to see what the costs are likely to be rather than the ins and outs of a trade scheme. A final comment from me is that there is quite a large section on free firewood, but not a lot about what to do with this log you dragged back to the house and how to turn it into 18% moisture content logs roaring away on Christmas morning.... Maybe a note about tools you will need, I reckon most of us will want or need a hatchet for kindling or splitting the occasional big log, perhaps a saw, and then you might comment on a splitting axe or 2, or a maul, splitting wedges and saws - there is another book in tools and producing your own firewood but a chapter might not be a bad thing, remembering all the relevant safety kit too.

I'll read the sample pages later, but... my mum has an almond tree stump at hers (north east England), would burn for a couple of hours, however she wants to use it for climbing plants to grow up it (probably ivy or something nice) so I am not allowed to try it... this week. Never come across it before though

Take the bark off to make it dry quicker.....I tend to put the bigger pieces on top of my log piles as roof tiles, keeps it drier and of course, once dry the bark burns quite well too. Little pieces are in a pile by the tiny pond in the wood for the toad to live in

.. and if you are really carefull taing te pallets apart you can re-use the nails too... Mind I don't even do that, just stack the logs up to dry but for the winter I store them in the garage.

Just asking where you got the smokeless from? A petrol station forecourt / DIY warehouse / supermarket smokeless is priced to compete with the people who buy 10kg of fuel at a time, for the occasional fire that looks nice in the evening (same as petrol station logs at £1 a piece), not priced to supply those who heat their houses with solid fuels. The quality doesn't have to be high either (see my comment above of sand filled briquettes) (and similarly 'kiln dried logs' that were stored outside the petrol station kiosk all winter. and are not 'kiln dried' any more, or even dried). If you didn't try it already, might try phoning your local coal merchant and get them to deliver a sack of coal - in my experience better quality and bit cheaper. Quality can be seen by the amount of ash it produces - 10kg shop coal needs the ash pan emptying every 10kg bag, but coalman (mine is a man before anyone jumps on me for not being PC), coalman coal produces a lot less ash, every 2 days to empty the ash pan. As for logs / coal being more efficient, in my mind coal is a bit cheaper for the heat, the fire isn't as hot but it burns at a consistent heat for longer (irrelevant for me now, got a good supply for now, just need to collect the logs, chop, split and dry - but not everyone can do that)