Baldbloke

Moray, Scotland. I’ll have a look at the settings when I get near a computer to update my profile[emoji1303]

In another three weeks up here perhaps [emoji3]

We find that during warmer weather a fire once every three days is sufficient to keep the three bathrooms warm for mornings and nights

David, with that relatively small accumulator do you find that you can easily over fire the tank? Even with our 4000 ltr tank I find I’m on occasion putting in more wood than is needed, so can waste wood

How has everyone else got on with their installations, and are you happy with the result?

I will respond here when I get their reply[emoji1303]

I have just fired off an email to [email protected] asking whether I can now apply for the RHI tariff. They promise a response within 10 days. If the recent changes allow me to apply I'll be owing you a drink

At 59 I have never been in a gym but I have worked most of my life outside in either agriculture, woodland or keepering. I have had ACL repairs to both knees, slipped disc and am presently waiting for a new hip. Although I'm told I look fit, I'm generally pretty knackered. The people who determine when you will eventually be allowed to start collecting your pension will probably have never lifted more than briefcase, and probably only get in a sweat when having a w***. Look after yourselves guys as age and aches creep up pretty quickly when you have worked outside all your life.

You are absolutely correct in that I have not included the cost of the wood or my time for the processing. I enjoy the cutting and the processing keeps me a bit fitter. The two lorry loads I previously purchased from the Forestry Commission (2015/16) came to £410 and £423. There was supposedly around 22 tonnes on board each time. Delivery by haulier cost a further £250 and £270. My oil bills were up to £4.5k a year including running an Aga. Oil for the Aga still runs at approximately £1000 to £1200/ year. Think you are wrong as I complained (in 2014) to various bodies (DECC, RECC MCS) after a retrospective consultation limited boiler size for domestic consumers to 45 kw. This was immediately after I had the boiler installed. Absolutely crazy that the biggest houses (and therefore the biggest users of heating oil ) should be excluded from a subsidy payment. My mistake was getting in too early before they had got the detail finalised. Which is why (in a strop) I stuck up a wind turbine which not only pays better subsidies, but also helps to power immersions in my thermal store. Don't believe that's true unfortunately even though it makes perfect sense. The letter I got from the DECC specifically says for domestic use that the boiler size limit is 45 kw. Since they stated I was a Domestic Consumer it did allow me to bypass a lot of bollocks and have the reassurance of consumer status for accessing the wind turbine subsidy tax free, as well as only having to pay 5% VAT on the whole installation. What is really stupid is that one is actually allowed a 45 kw log or wood chip boiler alongside an additional oil boiler and are still able to access the domestic RHI. Commercial RHI is not so limited for Wattage but does requires meterage. However if you are correct and can guide me to the correct legislation I'll be due you a pint!

Yes. Beech Lime Elm Beech Beech The big trees were probably planted at around the same time the present manse was built (4th house on site supposedly). Third picture down is the last elm in the area which is dying from the beetle. Shame the large beech blew over. An unusually strong summer east wind and shallow roots abutting the driveway didn't help. No amount of pulling would bring it back upright....

For two years I bought pulp type wood from the forestry commision until getting my act together so have a fair idea. With soft wood I would say about 30 tonnes or just over considering the weighbridge says a wood lorry load of unseasoned wood is around the 20-24 tonne mark. Our place is quite big (7 bed, x two living rooms etc) I'm presently using dead elm and recon on about 20ish cubes a year. However this year as spring has yet to spring probably more. For a 3 bed house older house you'd probably get away with a 30-45 kw boiler and smaller thermal store. With that size you would also get the domestic subsidy payments so might be worth considering. The boilers themselves are quite efficient compared to say an open fire or a log burner that only heats locally. Ours was 24k and took a team of two 5 days to install. Since 2013 it has effectively already paid for itself when I look at the old oil bills.

Although everyone appears to cut here I’ve not seen much mention of people using their own firewood. Thought I’d post a picture of our 60kw boiler and thermal store. Do you have something similar and how do you rate it? Ours has been in since 2013 and has so far been trouble free. This doesn’t qualify for any subsidy as it’s supposedly too large for domestic use, and I already claim domestic consumer status to claim tax free subsidy for a 20kw wind turbine. This plant keeps our largish house cosy through the winter with one fire a day, and only needs fired up once every three days through a decent summer. Before this we had a large log burner in the house that burnt almost as many logs without the benefit of heating much of the house.

With that quantity would it be worth getting it under cover, drying it and selling it on to the renewables sector?

And the law has changed on buying rat poison[emoji1304] You can only buy it in smaller quantities and at half the strength.

+ 1 for the Fenn traps but make sure you keep skin contact with the trap to a minimum. Crafty bastards appear to be able to sense that traps are not conducive to a long life. My Fenns are kept outside and I only set them using gloves I use for handling wood. Avoid poison in the house as they find the most awkward and inaccessible places to snuff it. Almost had to move out of a house following that mistake. Place your trap in a tunnel/pipe for best results (ensuring trap can spring freely within that tunnel) and place tunnel up against a wall. Make sure trap doesn't rock or stick up too much above ground. They tend to follow walls and generally avoid crossing open spaces.

This was the third time I had this problem so I did claim on his insurance this time. I did get a payout covering my time for a couple of days work. I'm a little concerned with harrowing as we have heavy clay soils here and some of the green within the lawn is moss. The ground hasn't really dried out since last summer, so putting a large tractor over it is probably going to make matters worse. Thanks for the suggestions, and I'm thinking rolling it, followed by something that can pull some spikes and top dressing of coarse sand/grass seed

My local farmers cattle had a day out on my lawns last autumn and I've yet to repair the poaching. It was wet at the time and twenty X four hooves have made a right old mess of the ground as well as the grass actually now being longer than I'd like, because I was unwilling at the time to try to level it off with a mower. Some of the deeper indentations are around 9" deep. I'm tempted to wait until things dry up a little and run a roller over it, although mine is a little on the light side. I've about 2 acres to do. Any suggestions?

Is your hitch/towball positioned low down on the blade, midway, or nearer the top? My trailer runs on bigger wheels so I welded a strengthening bar to mount the hitch on the rear of the body so it ran level. However I'm thinking of getting/making a lighter trailer so am interested in a different solution.

Pmed you

Cheers! Looked in the classifieds but couldn't see the 084. Now notice that there's a specific milling forum.....

Hi all, I have access to sound standing dead elm and was considering trying to set up a chainsaw mill to make up roof trusses for an old farm building that needs re-roofed. My biggest saw is a Husky 365xp which I'm concerned might struggle. Should I start looking for something heftier, or would the 365 do the job in this hard wood? Up to now I've been using the wood as firewood which seems a bit of a waste. The trees are not too big in diameter with 16"/18" being about the average at the butt. The trees have grown within a wood so are straight. I'd be looking for a second hand saw if something bigger is required to keep costs reasonable. What would you recommend?

I'm sure it would be much handier and quicker than scrabbling about with the bucket. However, when I have been too greedy with dragging too many stems up a bank the bucket is handy for putting a tine through the strop, blade down and the arm will then pull the load up, whereas with towing it can just spin the tracks if you ask too much of it. Great clip Rowan Lee. I particularly like the way the operator just picks up the lightweight empty trailer rather than maneuvering it for the turn I do find that my two wheeled trailer is too weighty for that, and that if its full of wood it will fight reversing.

Plus possibly having to cut above head level?

I have thought about a small trailer but my present wood access is quite steep in places. I don't know that it would be too safe doing the hills with a heavy trailer behind. I've been fortunate in being able to open up a drag line that lets me bring up dead elm that's approximately a foot to perhaps 18" in girth at the base and maybe up to 50' long. I've left some sacrificial trees on the drag line route to ensure I don't debark or knacker the roots of the trees that are remaining. By lengthening or shortening the strops and chains in the tricky sections I can ensure that I'm only pulling heavy loads when the digger is relatively level. I'm probably only doing (to log stage) 6 trees a day as I'm getting on a bit