Steven P

also depends where you put them to dry, along the side of my house for example birch felled and split a year ago is roaring away just now, but that gets the wind right down the long edge of the stack, similar quantity of soft woods at the end of the drive - wind hits that but doesn't pass it - and it isn't quite ready just now. Instead of a tarp I will often just put bark on top like roof tiles - naturally waterproof, falls off the logs when they split and what else would I do with it?

Russian gas? Noted that the US were quite quick off the mark offering to tanker it to us instead. Green is very subjective... take fire wood, burn it and we are giving off CO2, let it rot and it gives off methane - which is worse for the ozone layer and global warming, however burn it and we send out fine particles into the air, yet in a power station these particles are miles from houses, but still there I think (but fewer of them due to the tall chimneys). Why should the west bother with it all when the Chinese are (reportedly) doing nothing (yet they are involved with the new nuclear power station), but if we don't show leadership, no matter how effective our actions, then how will the world follow, but we get priced out the market with our expensive production costs... so we buy cheap from China.. and support their coal plants... All depends how you want to look at something. tricky isn't it.

my rule of thumb is t split it as soon as I can and then it gets the best chance to dry. Speed all depends on the environment it is dried in, a good hot summer and stacked where the wind catches it and it will be good, a long wet summer and stacked between the shed and garage where no wind gets, then no chance.

Might be seen that the firewood is a reward for clearing the trees out the way.

All you can do is ask, and if you don't ask you won't get.

Not just you I am disagreeing with slightly... but the OP says the fire is running cool at the moment, no amount of tech or where it is placed will stop my other half prodding me in the side and telling me the house is cold, I reckon we can all tell if the fire isn't putting out the same heat as usual. So look to the fuel, damper logs might be the cause, depends where they are stored - my outside logs are wet but it has been raining since winter started (it is always raining in winter in Scotland... if the logs aren't in by October, they are next years). If they are in an outside log store, similarly they might be wet, could be they getting lower down the pile and that is where the rain gets blown - near the top they are protected by the roof (and we just had a couple of storms too). Could be a different species of wood too, different ones take different times to dry, if you are anything like me I'll get one type this week and split it, the next type I pick up will be different and in the wood pile these are in layers as they are split (currently Scots Pine layer). Then look to the stove itself, wood burners don't need emptying as often as burning coal but might need a clean, also take the baffle plate out and dust that down... and while you are there feel around the chimney see how much soot is there, if you think it is a lot time to get the chimney swept (though shouldn't make a huge difference, that is more a precaution against chimney fires). Also a quick check on the rope seal - shouldn't be much affect but while you are doing a mini service, why not. I will assume you are doing nothing different with how you fire the stove, logs on when it looks the same, same settings with the vents (silly check by the way that no nuts have fallen off and they the vents are opening and closing as they should).

It all belongs to someone, so if you can find the landowner ask and often you are OK. Mostly if you are picking up a stick on a path - such as a dog or child might do no problem but turn up with chainsaw and a trailer then the landowner will have words and send you on your way,,, and then load up the logs you cut for their own use. if a right of way is blocked I think you can clear a way through.. but again can't remove anything from site

I wonder if the sums above also take into account maintenance costs? An electric heater doesn't need much, but you can add in another £100 - £!50 a year for a chimney sweep, I tend to wear out firebricks every 3 years (at say £35 to £60 a set), in 10 years also 1 new window (not my fault!), a new grate, baffle, and rope seal (about £200 for all of that), and I guess you can also spend a coupe of hundred on a covered waterproof outdoor store for your nice kiln dried logs, and £20 every few years to treat it's wood (and I guess this week, a new roof for it).... Stoves are cheaper than electricity I think but long term when things needing to be replaced and maintained they are a bit ore than the article might suggest. Free logs... apart from the £100 in axes, £400 chainsaw, annual maintenance of that and sharpening (plus a couple of chains I knackered while I was learning not to saw rocks), and hours to collect and split, dry and store the wood.. depends on the value of your time. Collect free wood paid for itself in about 2 years using wood as my main heating, more if you only use the stove a couple of hours a day

Always surprises me how people sit about filming the mundane, because if they were filming knowing that the tree was about to fail and be dangerous, 1 or 2 seconds later and it crushes the truck, if people were filming knowing a dangerous situation was occurring and didn't act to make things safer then surely that makes then slightly liable if a preventable accident happens? Can't say for sure in this case, they might have phoned the council or police to warn them and to get help, they might not have done.

Watched it on you tube, bought a chainsaw from Lidl and just took out that tree....

I watched it and was suprised at the end - without wanting to give away thr end of the episode - he's spent a day or so with a gypsy family and I guess had explained what he was doing. trying to portray them in a fair way, time to move on and found out his caravan had been broken into, a dump on his transit windscreen. dented roof and front bodywork trashed... For a Gypsy PR exercise they didn't come out of it very well.

Stuck outside for a week and it is 'seasoned', but not dry, same as sprinkling it with salt and pepper.....

However you can't blame the OP for asking, and no need to be rude (we're not being rude but sometimes threads go that way). OP wants the trees removed, and then sees people selling wood for hundreds, B&Q doesn't help here either, 2m 20mm square piece of oak for £10? must be able to get hundreds out of a tree.... without realising the expenses and waste produced to get that nice piece of timber. Might be that someone should make a sticky thread just listing all he things that have to happen to get that nice valuable tree out of the back garden and into a saw mill, all the pitfalls and all the reasons why the wood looses value or is rejected straight to the maybe firewood pile. Might be the second post in that thread can do the same why that tree in the back garden isn't going to be worth £100 a ton as firewood as it stands. but till then home owners will see that tree in the garden and think "That needs to go, bet there is value in the wood, maybe enough to pay for a 3 or 4 person team to carefully dismantle it, and get it to the roadside ready for collection"

Whenever I go to friends houses now, I just declare in the living room "Alexa, play Baby Shark", do it on entering when I leave and if the hosts ever leave the room. Just for giggles and to mess with their play lists.

Being nosey with your postcode, I see a line of overhead cables, BT and power along the road which would need more thought felling any trees along there, which takes time and adds cost and that the back gardens are huge... so if your trees are right at the back of the house, it will take an extra effort to extract a decent trunk.... which also costs. I would be asking for recommendations for local tree surgeons to fell the trees and advice what could have value, then post photos of what they identify to see in the milling forum see if you get any takers. Unlikely based on previous questions to have trees that will pay for them to be felled, stumps ground and removed from the value of the unprocessed wood

how old are the kids? Got to learn sometime and if you can supervise while they learn and teach them how to hold a log safely and to use an axe safely then that will pay off in the long term. Might be that they get used to splitting kindling using one of these, then at what 12 or so have a go with a proper axe "We've split loads of kindling".... so don't want the supervision and that's when they pick up bad habits. My boys have been having on and off goes with the hatchet since they were about 3 or 4 just to get used to it and the safety.

That would all be OK if it wasn't going to cost money to do what they want, fire alarms make sense, but at about £200 a house, maybe £150 a flat for wirelessly conected, it is a lot of money fo a lot of people.. especially with energy prices rising, taxes rising, NI rising, and wages... not rising. Fire alarms, another mini-rant, that there is no standard for interconnection, they 'should' talk to another brand but might not.. you are tied to a single brand for them all and as such increased prices because there is no competition (some companies do cheaper heat alarms, exensive smoke alarms, some do cheap smoke, expensive heat alarms, he full system, about the same from all companies). You can hard wire them all together.. but that will mean taking apart the ceilings or floors to install cablng.. or get an electrician in... and for all of this we only started getting adverts to tell us this change about a month ago, straight after Christmas and not 2 years ago when the ligislation was passed quietly. Not best pleased with this one. Then EPC... the only way I am gong to find out what my house is is to pay to get someone in to do a check, no government advice on what I can do if I wanted to rent the house out. there are online EPC places so I assume al the data can be input int a spreadsheet if it is online and doesn't need a physical surveyor.. and if it can be done by spreadsheet then I reckon that should be available online for free. Averge UK rating is D.

I spoke to a blacksmith friend years ago who'd just fabricated a 5mm steel frame to go round the front of a filing cabinet, make it more secure from casual opening, with secure padlock, and much better than the standard barrel lock you get. All good till he said "This will just need a tin opener and you can take the back right off".. your security is only as good as it's weakest link. Buy a massive chain and lock for a gate, they'll take it off its hinges, thick concrete walls, they will go through the roof, only thing you can do is make it an uncomfortable place for them to be I think. Our house garage came with 'Blaster' and other security.. but the roller shutter door held closed with spark plugs, I have been in buildings where work had to insist on ear defenders on entry because the alarms were too loud. I'd go with alarms, and have them internal not external - can't disable them till you're in, 2 alarm sounder too, big lights if you can.. which will help at night with any cameras. If you really want to go for it, a shell and inside your more secure enclosure... and internal cameras too If you want go for 2 systems, a quiet one to capture evidence, then a minute or so later hit them with the lights and sound

Similar point, what type of wood and how much do you want? For example, 3m long 3' diameter trunks off loaded with a crane be any good. I would put your name on the tip site, might work, might not, but be clear what you can accept. The more versatile you are the more you are likely to get, the easier access you have the better (I can get a van right down the drive for them to tip, for example, and am set up to deal with most logs that can be lifted onto a tipper truck, drive in, tip, drive out) Similarly, regular tree surgeons in your area will know where to get rid of their waste, a tip site, friendly locals, so you are more likely to get contacted by those working outside their area who don't want a long dive home with logs to their usual sites.

It never will, got to open the log up and split it from the side inwards

Spruce is reasonable straight grained and nice to split, obviouly the bigger lumps take a bit longer. I think the above has most of my tips.I use an axe, fiskars, apart from the really stubborn bits Check to see where any side branches are, and try not to cut perpenduclar to them Try a couple of hits in a couple of directions going rght through the centre - should avoid side branches there - and they can sound 'hopefull' that they will split that way then worth sending a few more hits to split it in half and work from there If not, I'll work round the edge taking the biggest liumps off that I can - anything to make the piece smaller. Often wrking round the edge will square off the centre and then the next step for me would be to knock the corners off - easier than gong through the centre still. Eventally nibbling away like this will make is manageable. Sometimes it can work going side on to a piece, not the flat face but through the bark. Sometimes turn it over and work the same angle from both flat faces, and the edge. If I start to struggle I will use a chipping - one of the wedge pieces that come off as a wedge and put that in where the axe opens the log up. Wooden you can leave it in as you make your next cut and often the pressure from that will make it easier to split afterwards.

Second thought, if this is all freshly cut then all the moisture coming off it is straight into condensation onto all your other stuff in the gerage..... Just me but I tend to leave it all outside stacked up till it is dry then bring it inside.

Completely knackered the whole lot there.. send it to me and I can 'dispose' of it, It will be fine.

Likewise when it comes to kit, Firskars X27. I've tried a maul, didn't like it, and a generic 'big axe', didnt like the either. Saw - don't knock electric, it is the future and battery power will come down in price enogh for the professionals to use them all day soon enough. For what you are doing then I'd be temed to go battery - my go to quick saw for the garden is a qualcast battery saw, and so long as you kee the blade sharpe it is as good as the Stihl for logs - petrol scores if I want to go through several tanks of fuel in an afternoon though. Haven't tried log grenades or splitters, I get on OK with the axe - enough wood for me and in 8 years I think maybe 2 gnarly bits of log defeat me a year, the axe and the saw combined (without sawng it to death) I'll tend to split logs in length and chop them shorter later in the year - sometimes makes it wasier to stack. Stacks... while I am here... no ned for pallets, Like I said mine get raised off the ground on a couple of bricks, with a split log on top lengthways and built from there. Doesn't tke long to learn how to make a sack of logs without needing pallet supports -I even buid them into play houses with windows for the kids, with roof, just from logs that are burnt at the end of the ear. Wheelbarrow of logs a day.. yes, on a cooler day that will be about right - I only heat with the stove though. Always suprsing how much you can actually burn (Imagine a car... about that volume)

Yes, it will dry OK, and as you go you can slowly build up to having 2 years of firewood perhaps. The main key is airflow, if you can stack it where the wind will blow it will dry quicker. for example, my drive gets the wnd so my wood is stacked on that leaving plenty of gaps for airflow. Also if you split some of the longer piece lengthways only and not cut them, raise them up off the ground - a couple of bricks at each and or a split log - and then tack on top of there to keep the logs off the ground.... rain will take a long time to soak into the centre of the log but if it is standing in a puddle it will get wet very quickly. For you, split them as soon as you can, get them stacked up in a windy part of the garden, and off the ground and you'll be OK