DocMustard

Cut and split approx 2m³ of well seasoned beech last night, very hard but straight grained so not too difficult to split by hand. Ready for autumn now.

I'll add to the X27 recommendations. Very easy to swing for hours. I also have a Fiskars Isocore 8lb maul (described confusingly as a builders axe) which is excellent for large section logs. If that doesn't do the trick, an Estwing 'sure split' wedge with 14lb sledgehammer (eye protection worn) or my trusty Husky 550xp2 if the log is too knotted.

Morning all, I got a load of sycamore from a plot of land being cleared yesterday, the stump base of the largest trunk about 2 feet across. I'll be logging and stacking that today, if the weather permits! Forecast thunderstorms here in Lancashire.

So it is, apologies.

It wasn't clear in the OP that arb waste was what was required, the opening statement was 'raw wood that could be processed into firewood'.

£30 per tonne? Good luck with that! Otherwise please feel free to share any supplier who is able to supply firewood grade hardwood at this price, I will have an artic load. The majority of roadside timber prices I have seen on this forum over the past 2 years have been near double your expectation, i.e. £55 to £65 per tonne roadside. Note the person selling the wood to you will not set their price based on what it costs you to transport/process the wood after you have bought it, they will base the price on the cost of labour, machinery, business running costs to extract the timber.

Got offered a felled ash today, was very grateful and sawed the trunk and large limbs into carry sized pieces, sawed up the branch wood for the tree owner's chimenea, both happy chaps at the end of the afternoon.

Back to the post subject, Fox Blox are made by a Lancashire timber moulding company from all their shavings. Their website states that the shavings are compressed using a load of 1700kg per square centimetre, in order to force the lignin to bind the wood fibres together. So based on a block surface area of, say, 20 x 10 cm (or 8 by 4 inches) this equates to a load of 340 metric tonnes compressing it. (200 square cm @ 1700 kg). That's a fair piece of machinery!

Morning, I have done a lot of proof reading of technical documents over the last 25 years, including PhD theses when I was doing my PhD, research papers and engineering reports in my job. I'd be happy to proof read your book if there is still a copy spare. I obtain and process a lot of log wood myself and have read other books on the subject which provide good comparators.

My dad uses Chantlers and is pleased with the quality of the hardwood logs. Look them up on the internet, they have a website.

Have an 18" bar on my 550xp2 and it is great, use for hardwood logging and ground cutting/harvesting, timber up to 24" diameter so far and the power (3kW) is fine. Low weight so good for using hours on end and good fuel efficiency.

A full afternoon logging oak, using some top equipment. Husqvarna 550xp2 to cut and the Fiskars X27 and Isocore maul to split. It is a joy to work with good tools.

Used my new Fiskars isocore splitting maul/builders axe for the first time today. Very good. Split some awkward lumps of curved grained sycamore and some very straight grained oak with relative ease. The maul will complement my X27 nicely.

The problem isn't the retailers of firewood, it is the bloody morons who don't have a clue about the moisture holding properties of wood and try to burn it wet (even when the wood may have been sold to them dry), don't understand the 'physics of fire' such that they produce a load of smouldering embers and in many cases don't know how their appliances actually work so can't adjust airflow, for example, to alter the characteristics of the fire. I source my own firewood, from diseased trees that have been condemned and felled. I season it for over 2 years under cover outdoors with plenty of airflow, cutting and splitting it to let it dry out. If my stocks get high, I may sell a bag on to a family member. There isn't a woodsure logo to be seen, but the logs sure burn brilliantly because we know what we are doing. The legislation is being forced in because of idiots who don't have a clue.

Blimey Moose, what length is that bar? Is it on a 550? Regarding swapping the 18" for a 15", I will run it on the 18" for the forseeable and if I need to replace the bar, will consider which size to get. Thank you.