Rob_the_Sparky

wrt firewood: all wood has a similar amount of energy in it by weight (when dry) and all wood burns on a wood burner.  I often hear (not here so much) that xyz is not a good for firewood but if you have it and have no other use for it then any wood will heat your house as firewood.

On 17/06/2025 at 20:05, PeteB said:

Insurance is a rip off at times. My dragster Ford Focus is cheaper to insure for 6k a year than my Disco4! That's getting sold when I get home,  ill use the V8 Focus to go shopping!

Same story for my 5.0 TVR, cheaper to insure than a 7 year old Ford S-Max!!!  We should all just start driving V8s

Try a search on here, there are a number of threads along the sort of "how much" lines.  I suspect that more info will be needed from what I've seen in those threads.

Agreed with the above but generally when it comes to drying there is no fixed time it takes.  Longer unsplit rounds take longer (most of the drying occurs through the end grain if not split).  Shorter, split wood is quicker to dry.  Then you have the wood type on top of that.

I have a chunk of willow on the wood pile from last year ~3' long and 8" round that is still growing!!!  and yes I really need to get it split ASAP but thought it would have stopped long ago...

There are a few home firewood users on here (me included) but most people on here are pros so unlikely to get any bites on here for it.  Maybe the tip site if worth a look though?

Does this old thread help any?

On 18/05/2025 at 08:10, doobin said:

Pallets are treated wood hence why it costs.  Doubt OP would want to take the risk in a commercial setting. 

Not true on the whole. The vast majority are only heat treated and are perfectly burnable.  There is a stamp on every pallet that tells you but in my experience you rarely find anything other than HT (heat treated).  Having said that, there is a lot of air in a pallet and not much wood plus they burn fast and hot.  Great for kindling but hard work for the amount of wood you get out of them for any other purpose.

Added link: 

Markings on a pallet: What do they mean? An Extended Guide

QUICARGO.COM

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Read our guide to learn the pallet markings, treatment codes, and authorities for pallets, as well as how to identify them for your business.

FYI the local small tree surgeon I get my wood from is saying: more people elect to keep the logs, he gets rid of a lot of it by advertising on Facebook and then I take the few ods and ends he has left.  He has no problem getting rid of the wood he does not want and TBH would be too small for you anyway.

N.B. a few years ago he used to dry and sell logs as well but the new rules put paid to that. (mostly anyway)

Interesting little tool for my home use.  OTT numbers of tree for a mere amateur like myself but yeah interesting to see some numbers against the logs I chop/burn.

If there is a zero missing then maybe 3 tons makes more sense?  60mm and "large" along with 3 tons seems that there is something wrong somewhere.

I had something like this but not a big when I dug up a large bamboo.  Big tangled block of roots and mud.

I tried and killed a hand saw, was not going to kill my chains saw chain.  pressure washer got some of the mud off but not as much as you would think.  In the end I used a mattock to break/cut it up into managable pieces that I could then dispose of but it was hard work and took a while.

It is all in theory as well, not sure anyone has ever tried this.

Heating the intake air from the flue is going to improve efficiency (which is why balanced flue gas boilers do this)  However, it also cools the exhaust gasses that contain a large amount of water along with a cocktail of other compounds.  Balanced flue gas boilers have to drain the water that condenses but burning gas does not result in the same flue chemicals.  With a complete burn that may not be a problem but condensing water running back down into the fire would be bad.

All this has nothing to do with external air as such, it is about running the external air down the flue pipe...

On 03/03/2025 at 16:17, Jackmar said:

24 height would,  probably get away with 12 in diameter 

I use something with a similar height for the chain saw and about 12" for chopping.  I achieved it just by stacking two rounds.  Going to be much easier to find something like that.

Tree surgeons are treating most of the wood as waste so it is cut into lengths than can be sensibly handled. Hence, smaller diameter stuff will be longer and the bigger stuff shorter.  This is likely why you are struggling as 24"x12" is a big big log to handle by hand.  TBH it would be a bit of a pain to move around at home as well.  Try a rethink in what you are needing as I think to get a log of the size you are after will take planning.  I.e. specially left that long for you and that will not be easy to get.

"The court heard the capital asset value of the tree was put at more than £114,000."

Liverpool: West Derby man fined for cutting down tree worth £114,000

WWW.BBC.CO.UK

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Carl Bellis carried out unauthorised work on a protected beech tree outside his Liverpool home.

Just a nice a random big number to get headlines?  I don't get how you can put a cash value on a tree (that number makes no sense if we are talking the price of the lumber).

25cm bar is short but I guess it depends on what you are doing.  My mains saw has a 14" bar (~35cm) and that is mostly enough.  I have played with a 12" (~30cm) petrol saw and really noticed the shorter bar.

For me though the main thing is that a mains saw never has a flat battery and costs a similar amount (for a quality one as a bare battery saw).  They also can have more power but the major drawback is that you can not use it away from home.  There is no best, best depends on your circumstances.

On 19/02/2025 at 12:33, AHPP said:

 

Front (drive) wheels turning, back wheels (handbrake) skidding. Should have tried it in gear. Load cell arriving in the post today.

That may be a significant contributor.  A front wheel drive car (most are) has a lot of the weight over the front wheels as relatively little over the back so if the fronts are not locked it will move relatively easily.

Looks like he is cutting at home (in reach of a mains cable) so a mains powered saw would be a good choice.  Both for purchase price and maintenance (basically none beyond keeping the chain sharp and the oil full).

There is no magic bullet, if you need a regular supply then you need a financial arrangement with a local supplier.  If you are accepting cast-offs from arb waste then you can not expect a regular reliable source.

Having said that, it might be possible to get more than you need in arb-waste but you will need to build a relationship with one or more local companies and come to an agreeable arrangement for all of you.  It took me a few years to get this arrangement with a local company but there are no guarantees, even if you are spending a cash to make it worth their while.  It is harder if you want cast-offs.

Clearly if there is more cash in it for them to keep the wood and sell dried logs then they will, that is business.  If you are lucky then your place will be close to a work site so it is quicker (I.e. cheaper) for the logs to be dropped at yours than take them somewhere else (pretty much how my arrangement works).

That was tow truck driver fault to some extent at least, that wire rope would have been hard to see for anyone and a wheelie bin isn't great warning.  Although, even with cones I bet the cyclists would have done the same!  Better to park the truck in the middle of the road so obviously blocking it, even though that is a pain as truck would have to move to complete the pull.  You can only do your best to avoid problems, you can't account for everyone in the general public.  I feel sorry for those who have to work with them...

Maybe I think if people see something they are not expecting e.g. a big branch maybe more will wake up. Never going to work for all but might help.

Ona fully plastic (double insulated) product there is commonly no earth connection at all.  As above though if you have a basic idea of electronics you should be able to work it out.  Probably a switch, a motor and a safety cut-out or two.  If that is a broken wire then the length and the other end of the wire should be enough to figure it out...

Having said all that I've had a few mains shocks (working a place making mains powered stuff) and I do not recommend it.  If you are not confident then leave it alone.

On 02/02/2025 at 20:33, Pete Mctree said:

It’s always been an issue - never better, never worse. 
 

One tip I will share for stopping pedestrians is the magic branch. Put up a barrier, string some tape across and they will snap it, however if you put a reasonable sized branch or two in front of said barrier 9 times out of 10 it will stop them in there tracks. The simple fact is that the lazy retards do not like lifting there feet and stepping over stuff - just try it, you will see what I mean

I've seen a heavy recovery youtuber who says that leaving a couple of chains on the road close to the rig has an amazing effect on how close cars get when passing him.  You can put out as many cones as you like and have as many lights as you like but leaving something solid in the work area seems to be what works.

Nothing wrong with Mr. Heath Robinson if there is no other easy options.  Whatever works to keep the rain off is better than nothing as long as it does not block the airflow.  Just don't expect perfection from a Heath Robinson attempt but if it is 90% effective then that is very good as long as you don't spend too much on this type of solution.

I have used old tarps I had lying around on top of pallets to maintain the airflow.  I know my Dad has done similar with old bits of corrugated iron.  Just from the view point that is has to better than nothing and not expecting it to last long or to be perfect...

Just an FYI: good wood and hard wood are not the same thing.  All dry wood burns and all has more of less the same energy per unit dry mass.   They burn differently and take up different amounts of space but it is not quite as easy as better/worse.  If you are paying per unit volume then yes you get more dry weight but you also pay more.  You may want a mix though as lighter woods are easier to light than denser ones.  It is all personnel but don't get too hung up on "must have hardwood".