Steven P

Always ask permission first, there are a lot of reasons why wood is left 'lying around', could be that where it is is a better store - for now - than taking it back and filling up a yard till it is needed,. could be that there isn't quite enough there to fill some kind of transport and waiting a season more to fill a truck, could be that it is left there for the beasties to eat, or it might be hard to extract and not economic. Most people don't wander in the woods with a saw just to cut a tree down for no reason and no plan what to do with it. In the last cases, if it isn't viable to pay some ones wages to take the wood away then asking the landowner might get you the answer you want. A good option is the local tree surgeons or the tip site, but you have to be patient and accept that you will get wood if it is better to drop it off at yours than their yard (ie a shorter journey), might get 2 loads in weeks and then nothing for a year. Some people might appreciate a contribution to petrol costs, some a beer and some nothing but they get home half an hour early that day. One of mine has a tip that I have permission to go to you might get that arrangement instead, When it comes to 'helping yourself' no one is going to complain if your kids pick up a stick to take home but if you turn up with a car, trailer, van, saws and so on and no permission then you are open to all sorts of landowner complaints and whatever else they want (best case, they make you empty your carefully collected load and then put in in their own vehicle to take home, thanks for doing the hard work for them!) So rule of thumb, get permission first or ask a local tree surgeon if they can spare any

Multifuel... the hottest fires I tend to have are a mix, get a base fire going with coal and then add logs on top, hotter than that are the coal with chainsaw dust on top, that tends to get things a little bit glowing and rattling. For general all day long fire I'll stick to logs. Did I read somewhere that with the hot ashes built up around the grate it is in slight danger of getting too hot and shorter lifespan (ash has some insulation properties). With a wood grate / base there is cold on the bottom to keep it cool, with ash taken out there is an air flow going past it keeping it cool, cover it all with ashes and all you have is heat... and before you say it doesn't get that hot in there, look at the state of any nails you pull out (certainly I've had a couple with weak welds) and with a good hot fire the edges of the firebox glowing (see above... coal + saw dust does that nicely)

Yup, that is what I understand too, all the land is owned by someone somewhere and what is on the land is theirs so taking it you should ask for permission. In reality a child picking up a stick to play with isn't going to cause much trouble, but turn up in full safety gear, with tools, saws, and so on and you are asking for someone to ask what you are doing. The land registry (or registers Scotland) will tell you who owns the land.... if if it is a genuine that no one owns it.. well claim it as yours! It is however unlikely if as you say the owner hasn't done anything to the land for years that they will be passing. If it is accessed by the public then you should also get liability insurance just to be sure. How big is the limb by the way? I am not advocating this but it might be possible to carry it away with a few strong people, the log limb still belongs to someone. As for the land being left, some land is on purpose left more wild - nature likes it that way

Get it dried, bring it in the house, throw it on the fire straight away.... We had (have?) woodworm in some floorboards, I did some reading. House wood has been treated now though the stuff I used doesn't penetrate the wood very far, what is in there is still munching away but when they try to get out they eat the stuff and die. Yup woodworm beetles come out of the wood to breed and there is about a month when they do this, each beetle lives outside the wood for only a few days (or weeks, I can't remember) - just checked April to August, in the winter the larva are busy munching away in the wood. Wood goes onto fire, end of that one. I am not convinced that they have a calendar in there so if you bring cold wood into the house and it warms up, the larva might just think it is breeding season and come out mid winter - how quick it does this I don't know. The tip here is to only bring in what you need.then burn it You might be unlucky and get woodworm from firewood, I am not convinced about mine reckoning I had 2 lifecycles of 7 years happen for the floorboard to give way and the fire had been in for7 years then. I would however recommend treating the wood in the house just as a precaution - a DIY job but awkward depends where you have to go (I was under the floorboard in the crawl space spraying it all) - can be done as and when you get access to the floorboards (say when you get a new carpet perhaps) As a matter or routine I tend to knock my logs together now as well before I bring them in, knocks most beasties off, and if you are delivering to customers in the winter transporting the logs should also knock off any loose bugs reducing the likelihood of taking beetles to customers houses

I used to use paper till I stopped commuting to the office and didn't pick up a daily free paper, firelighters now just for speed. I could of course split up wood kindling and no need but that gets to be a long job for a fire ever day. I tend to go bottom up but put enough bigger pieces on top so it goes if I get distracted. Top down works just as well though and if I thought about it would probably go sort of middle-out

.. but it is 'home'.....

You should stop.. not wanting to do it a disservice, but it was a lovely town once (grew up near there). Says something when the Weatherspoons is right next door to the DSS, get your cheque and be buying beer with it within 5 minutes. I once asked a taxi driver, who knew all the town, which bits he would save rather than start again and he had to think hard about that. I guess that is the same with a lot of towns, nit wanting to be a grumpy old man, but town centres have had their hearts ripped out all over with our preference to buy all our stuff from Amazon

This is true, can't say they are all the same, however here you can spot the ones doing this as a career, to the casual passer by though, maybe not. You can also spot the genuine cases,.,,, who are less common and pushed to the outskirts by the 'professionals', the family groups who can be persuasive to the single beggars to move along to less profitable spots. I'd have to go out my way to pass by one of them.

'Fiskars have it nailed' - I reckon so, the axes you buy in our favourite DIY warehouse are very similar colourings, 'Magnusson' branded, but made for 'Kingfisher' - or B&Q If they are trying to rip off the branding there is a reason for it.

When I was working in town you get to recognise the beggars, same people, same spots every day, and then you get to notice that they all know each other, often walking off together. At a conservative £100 a day each (100 people dropping money in their hat, 7 hour day, needs £15 an hour, 1 donation every 4 or 5 minutes... which they easily do in some spots) and with a family (there is a group of 6 who are all one family) it isn't a bad family income, tax free, undeclared, plus state benefits. Never had time to follow them home yet but I bet they don't go back to a hostel. They don't get anything from me as a rule of thumb now

Walked down the street the other week feeling generous, gave a few coins to all the beggers.. at the end of the road, I had to ask people, begging as it were, for my bus fare home.

Don't you need that to buy new number plates, and clone the vehicle

Hello, and thanks for looking. I am looking for firewood, like everyone is.... (obviously the best wood, cut to length and split, all delivered for free because I know you love to do that). I am not fussy, it will all burn, so long as I can move it about (so nothing too heavy), I can probably cut and split it. Access is quite good - I have had Transit sized tippers down the drive no problem, reverse in, tip and off you go, quite easy (I think the widest vehicle I had was a flat bed car transporter once to load and take away a 'dead' car). You can see the access on a streetview website - it is the house with the white wall and drive (and currently some logs in the drive too) (photo from google) Soft woods and hard woods are both OK, they go in a wood burner so 'spitting' wood is not a problem ether. It would be perfect if it was mutually beneficial to us both, you don't need to drive to your usual tip site and I get a load of wood without having to make many car trips to collect it all. Appreciate that it might be a detour to my house - which is why I am offering a donation to your funds, whether it is cash (or cheque), a few beers or even cake, we can work that out when you phone to say that you are coming. Oh, please phone if you can, just in case I need to move the car off the drive, if it isn't there then there are no restrictions when you can tip. Chippings - Yes, I can take chippings as well, Just realised, I haven't put my contact number on here - 07931348915 Thanks for looking Steven

Yup, that's what I was told about wasps too, the nests last a year, the old queen dies and so do the workers, the new queens find somewhere comfy for the winter after using the males, in the spring the new queens come out and make a new nest, lays eggs and off it goes again. If you see an old wasps nest it -should- be OK to remove it, they don't reuse them (often!). Never had rats yet, but have had mice nests (abandoned during the winter when I get to those logs, not sure where they go to hibernate), I get toads in the bark on the floor, all sorts of beetles and woodlice, spiders, not had a wasps nest in the log pile (guess it is only a matter of time), but I did get a wood wasp one year - they are huge but harmless (?). Woodlice.. if you are that way minded you can cook and eat them.

Out the log store, into the fire. I reckon on half a dozen logs in the house at a time - enough for 2 fuelings - and reckon most of the bugs will still be snug in the when they go in the fire. Bashing them together helps a bit as does having them in the dry garage over winter. Did have a dose of woodworm but it is 50-50 with their life cycle whether the logs were the cause. Treated the floors with a borax solution which should help - and this is a tip from somewhere to spray the logs with that, kills the bugs but does make the logs a bit more fireproof

some are left for the beasties to nest in and eat too if they look easy to get there could be other reasons they are left (I tell mrs P that too, can't clear the drive fully since the toad nests in the bark and chippings)

if you want a local based tree surgeon then maybe you have to chase them a bit too... most established firms will be sorted for their usual trade. Working outside their area they might go looking where to tip. Along with the tip site listing, might be worth asking a couple of local ones if they pass and if they can to tip at yours instead of driving back to base

PPE, so the sun stops accidents? (every requirement comes off the back of a serious accident or death) Heat stroke, many on here are working in Britain whose workers will have just sat in the gardens all weekend burning themselves and getting a bit dehydrated. 10:00 now so perhaps a bit late with this comment, but if they are starting work in the hear a little dehydrated it will only get worse. In countries used to this heat they don't have the mad sun-is-out-fry attitude, and will often drink more through the day. Nothing wrong with the heat as such, but in the UK we do make it worse than it has to be. Obviously not everyone will have been in the garden all weekend.

Might not be the answer but I got a petrol B&Q job for £100 about 10 years ago, now about £150 and that does me OK for grass. I also cut paths in the wood behind the house which gives it a decent work out - a lot of sticks, nettles, brambles, nettles, and so on. This is standard domestic size, but how large are your lawns? Are you needing something bigger than that? I can't fault this mower, It had an oil change once, gets a blade sharpening once a year (the woods... needs a proper good sharpening after them), usually 2 stroke petrol (got 1 petrol can, the little 2 stoke engines and the 4 stroke mower all get the same regardless), turned over once a month over the winter and it is still going OK. Problems with it are all body work, a couple of holes underneath (wonder where it did that), and it lost a screw for the handle - all fixed OK I'd certainly look second hand as well, and the local police auctions might throw up a bargain if you have the time to look.. and even worse Freecycle - you never know! Factor in some cash for any repairs, clean filters and spark plugs that way

Not sure the legalities but they are plants. Not planted I guess to cause annoyance to the neighbour. Imagine this scenario, my garden backs onto a small council owned wood, we get nettles and brambles growing in the garden obviously from the woods - I am sure a situation thousands of people are in. So are the council responsible? Should I call them and ask? How about anyone next to a grain field whose flower beds also grow a nice crop of wheat? call the farmer? All those dandelions, seeds blown from further up the road, should I call round and ask them to sort them out? In my view it is just one of those things. You might also consider common practice if a tree hangs over your boundary, you are entitled to cut it back to the boundary no problem, can also take the fruit on your side too I think. So based on that my opinion would be their garden they can do what they want but also their garden and they are responsible for the maintenance. Where this argument fails a bit is with tree roots under foundation and if is your tree and a neighbours house you might get the insurers lawyers knocking. Might not solve a problem though, telling the neighbour where to go never solves a problem, but I think your daughter is doing the right thing showing willing to remove them earlier than she might have otherwise, hopefully the neighbour will understand that she is sorting it out and needs some patience for the rots to die. If he gets right arsy though, weed killer them yourself on his side and ignore his amazon delivery drivers when he is out.

A post like this and you get to know the really really weird people online.... Milton does the job well, Gran used to swear by boiling vanish in pan to get rid of proper burnt on stuff, does the same in a flask, but be warned, soapy chemicals leave an after taste for years (took 2 years with one flask, but learnt to drink from it breathing out at the same time so I couldn't smell the soap), but like anyone knows a good aged cup with tea stains are the best. Dad used a flask every day in work and left it full of water soaking overnight (cold water that still has the chlorine in, does heating tap water boil that off?). Never store anything with the lids left on. For me, if I can, I will have a small stove, gas and brew a coffee fresh, else some ground coffee in the flask, pour in the water and let it brew till I want it, if it is kept upright for a while the grounds sink well enough. Anyway, Mellow Birds anyone?

Got to be patient, often the tip sites are good for tree surgeons out of their usual area looking for somewhere to tip. Established firms are likely to have their arrangements in place, so all depends wo is working in your area. Might also be prudent to give the local firms a shout directly, ask if they are passing your place to drop off there instead of back to their base. Might be that if they need to get back to their job and you are 10 minutes each way quicker than the base, they will drop things off, but might not come out of their way to get to you... if it is easier people will come

Could just have a solid base with air holes round the edge?

Maybe I am paranoid but my first thought when a company pushes me to use an App is "why", and what benefit do they get out of me using one, for the costs and time it takes to create and maintain one, they have to get some benefit.... which is often the little buttons "access everything I have ever done on my phone" and "bombard me with adverts and offers". However for a forum and a social site you might use often, I might be more inclined to consider it.. but forums and social sites like this don't get the finances to support one. Understandable if it is not able to be supported and like above the browsers versions are often better. (however all irrelevant now, I have got a basic phone, quite bombproof, costs £20 to replace when I trash it...and no constant pressure to be online and lovingly stroke the thing every 30 seconds like some people do)

Angle grinder.. used for grinding stuff, drill, used for putting holes in stuff, sander, used for sanding stuff. What kind of condition are the floorboards in to need sanding? and what kind of condition is the upside down face of them in? For ease if they are all lifted, can't you put them in upside down? Suitable attachments could cost as much as a cheap sander or sending them off to a carpenter to sand down