Vedhoggar

Use a section of scaffolding pole for years on one with no problem.

The Burley Holywell 9105-C and Bradgate 9305-C are both up to 90.4% efficient, it’ll be the Holywell 9105 that you have Stubby not the 9105-C. Both 5kW norm - 6.4kW max. Haven’t got one myself but a friend of mine has just ordered one and if I was after a new wood burning stove of that size myself I would definitely get one.

The most efficient UK stove is the 2022 Burley Ecoelite range of stoves, designed, developed and made in England, they produced the only UK stove, three stage combustion with a catalytic converter, some models are 92% efficient, double glazed with temperature reaching 400-600C with no extra use of fuel - more heat and less woodfuel. They do 4kW-12kW stoves (burley.co.uk).

Haix Protector Light Up to size 13.5/EU49 Trekker Mountain 2.0 Up to UK 14/EU 50 Protector Pro 2.0 Up to UK 15/EU51

I think advice given to client at the outset was sound and outcome therefore not your fault. The best thing to do now I would have thought would be to spray regrowth with Gyphosate before end of August, if a problem in spraying some areas consider using a weedwiper on foliage. You could also in places possibly take a mattock and get down to sections of roots/damage them and then apply roundup. Point out that repeat follow up applications may be necessary in future years.

Is your wire core flipline long enough? Are you using an aluminium karabiner or heavier steel karabiner? In some situations you could attach flipline to a length or rope and get groundsman to walk around tree. On your second point - I use a prussic loop these days instead of rope grab and never had it slip. Never fallen out of a tree in a lifetime of tree work because of a flipline or climbing rope. Have ended up in wrong position on steep lean but never been stuck.

Tree Climber’s Companion for knots and climbing techniques. Knots Step by Step Des Pawson for Guide to tying knots in general is quite good. Climbing knots I use (old school): bowline, prussik knot, figure of eight and double fisherman’s knot (to make prussik loop). Other knots I used in general tree work: running bowline, timber hitch, marlin-spike hitch, carters hitch, sheet bend and anchor bend variant.

Suggested options: 1. Cone splitter then the 3m sections through processor. 2. Cut into 1m lengths/split with reasonably fast vertical or horizontal splitter to <15cm dia, stack billets/pre season then sell as 1m billets or put through processor when seasoned/light enough to manually lift and cut to required log lengths. Don’t know of anyone with mobile equipment large enough to process those oversized logs.

What percentage increase did you feel was necessary to cover costs related to Woodsure?

What sort of lengths of timber to process?

Didn’t realise some Landrover pickups had a bed length of 2.5m thought they were about 1.9m - 2m, if 2.5m then should take two 90 x 90 x90 bags.

Depends on the size of bag but the bed won’t be not long enough to take two common size 90 x 90 x 90 bags with tailgate up but it might take small ones, no problem weight wise with seasoned logs. You can just fit two bags 90 x 90 x 90 into the back of a single cab Mitsubishi L200 single cab with tailgate up and the bed is 2.15m long which is longer than the Landrover. Volume wise if you empty the dumpy bags and net the logs you may be alright.

As there is a housing shortage in the UK the probability is that house prices will continue to rise although there may be ups and downs however returns on stocks and shares has in the past been greater when the two options are compared over the long term as an investment. Buying a house is not the best option for everyone as you have a lot of capital tied up in one asset which you might want for other things furthermore you reach a point in life when you might be better selling up renting a house and buying a motorhome and/or traveling with the proceeds from the house sale or something unless you want something to pass on as inheritance. If young, settled and raising a family it might make sense to buy a house if you can afford it. Sometimes a leased or rented property might be better in terms of location, size and opportunity for operating a business than you would ever be able to afford if you buy for the same monthly payment.

Alder

Garmin GPS with inReach satellite communication has two-way text messaging and can SOS from anywhere, you can also load OS maps which cover whole of UK and for other countries. When actively used you get about 35 hrs but you can carry spare batteries. It doesn’t come cheap, apart from the initial cost of the device there is a subscription fee too (various plans depending on needs). If just for emergency help McMurdo FastFind PLB (personal location beacon) which is small enough to fit into a pocket and half the price of the Garmin mentioned and no subscription, it works on satellite technology, it sends out an SOS signal when activated and will locate position within a few meters (I’ve had one for years but fortunately never had to use it).

One of pros about living in Sweden is the comparatively low cost of housing in rural areas where many Swedes are do not want to live compared to UK.

There was subzero temperatures in Wiltshire in both January and February 2021 down to -4C in Salisbury to the east. Coastal redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) is frost tender when young becoming hardier but frost hollows should be avoided - Sequioadendrum giganteum likes similar conditions but can withstand a more acid soil and drier conditions. Western Red Cedar (Thuya plicate) also prefers sheltered locations and not frosty sites. Probably most likely frost damage.

Yeh, Posch 'bomb proof' built machines, more expensive but should have a good useful life expectancy, maybe 12 years or more if looked after.

The black stain caused by the mould will not go away but that white mould and that green/black mould on the surface to some extent can be brushed off with a wire brush when dry and it doesn't seem to affect the burning of wood once dry. The stain sometimes is just on the surface and not far into the log but can be right through the log with some species. Let the sun and air at it and stack off the ground but cover up as mentioned if rain is forecast. If for own use when ready to burn just bring some indoors and put it straight into the stove alternatively run a wire brush across the face beforehand to remove what you can. Not great firewood but all wood will burn when dry enough.

What time of year did the trees turn brown? How much of the trees turned brown/how far up and was it just on one side - was it actually the whole tree? Any other trees in the area affected? If winter and near a main road possibly salt spray damage but would be mainly on the roadside of tree, if springtime possibly frost damage, if summertime there are arable fields nearby could be herbicide drift damage. Have worked in that area in the past and a number of hedgerows planted got badly damage on more than one occasion by drift of herbicide from adjacent farmland. Stourhead/Mere area is quite a distance from sea so probably not that. Ask Head Garden and/or Head Ranger based at Stourhead if they have had a similar problem.

Not all 6k or less machines are slow and flimsy but many are. Posch log splitters are well made, the SpaltAxt models mentioned have a fast return speed (26-46 cm/s depending on model) but slow downward speed and just one speed (5-8 cm/s depending on model) and having a reasonable amount of large timber to split if too big for a processor as you state it might be too big for a SpaltAxt although you could always cut logs down to size with a chainsaw. What machine you go for will of course depend on the process i.e. if cutting 20cm - 33cm logs or 1m billets to pre-season before cutting down into small logs, if the later then the VMR 12ESS DP is a very well made fast 12T vertical splitter with a double pump and comes also with log lift for bigger dia lm lengths of wood (Speed 1 (cm/s) 14, Speed 2 (cm/s) 25 , Return speed (cm/s) 22 (22cm/s is a fast enough return speed), the machine can also be adjusted to cut any length of log. Thor log splitters are also well made and some might meet your requirement. There is no perfect splitter it is always going to be a compromise related to what is required/what you intend to do mostly with it, cost and backup should something go wrong/parts required. Posch and AMR have a good dealership backup behind them in the UK but not sure about Thor as don't have one now.

I like the adrenaline rush but it’s safer than bungee jumping … haven’t tried the leaves yet but if I do and my heart stops I’ll let you know.

I’ve eaten the red fleshy part many times, it’s very sweet but always spit out the pip.