Vedhoggar

Two table spoons of salt to 1/4 water same reading 40%. Will try drying a sample in oven sometime.

I find tongs are safer to use when lifting larger/heavy rounds than pickeroons and if a problem with elbow or shoulder a better choice.

Stihl hokeroons tip snapped off the longer one with 6 months on coming in contact with frozen wood and the wedges came out of shorter one, they are light as you say and grip well. Haven’t used to short Ochsenkopf so not in a position to comment it’s grip, we have a 1100mm Ochesenhopf which is not used to lift logs but to roll larger logs and is well made as is Ochesenhopf de-barking spade we have. It sounds like you are happy with your Stihl hookeroon which it what is important.

The Dolmar MD812 moisture meter is designed to measure water in wood within in range of 5% to 40%. Put it in water and it measured 40% put it in seasoned birch now indoors which was cut/split and kept dry since spring 2020 and that came out at 20%, measured moisture content of pine table in a very dry room and came out at 10%. Its the second one we've had and it has a resolution of 1%, the we had before was a small Stihl meter which has a resolution of 2%. Accurate enough I find to give some indication as to whether wood ready to burn but operating temp is 0-40 degrees C and RH 0-70% , the humidity today is 78-90% and RH probably hasn't been below 70% since summer so unlikely to get a prefect reading outside this time of year with this device.

Border Esk Fencing, Longtown, Cumbria who also sell firewood as well as fencing products have been drying firewood using this method for a some years (bordereskfirewoodcumbria.co.uk.). Have bought in firewood from them when have been low on stock and would say that moisture content can be <20% sometime and sometimes >20%. The boiler the floor is heated with is located in a boiler room situated next to the drying floor and run on waste from the fencing side of the business. Logs in dummy bags (90 x 90 x90 cm) are placed on the drying floor and left for a few days.

Never had rats chew through nets sacks, had mice damage the odd one in the past but have traps set all the time now. Rats are established on property next to us because of bird feeders there and occasionally trap or shoot one if I see them about but haven’t seen any recently since feral ferret about. Bag some nets up in the summer for the following winter but when they’ve gone tend to bag as required.

For what you want boots for go for one of cheaper boots and you should be fine with Class 1 ... been using a chainsaw for over 40 years and not sure how you would manage to cut a foot with a chainsaw at full revs beyond the toecap but expect you can if you try hard enough!

From Schedule 2: "Dry it in a sunny, well-aired space for at least two years" while this may be true for some species and could be applied for mixed loads this is factually incorrect in relation to some species, split birch for example can be brought down to <20% with 6 months during the drying season.

At min cost of £505 for enrolment in scheme and annual fee some might take the view just pay the £300 fine if caught.

Try FC website or Tree Source cost about £26 but can be downloaded as a PDF at www.forestresearch.gov.uk (you are looking for FCBK039). The first copy I bought in 1985 was £6 and the reprinted/revised version in 2007 was £24.

On correct fit there should be about 1.0 to 1.5 cm at the front of the toes, if you take the insoles out and place your feet on them it can be used as a guide however the thickness of socks to be worn will have to be taken into consideration. Haix boots have a guide mark on insoles but don’t know about those Andrew’s. Haix have also three options on insoles for narrow, medium and wide feet and provide a free stretching service if required but with safety boots if too tight in toe area then have to go up a size as that part of a boot cannot be stretched. There needs to be a bit of space in boots around feet otherwise in winter feet can be cold.

We use the 10mm Docma rope with spliced end/hook but other similar ropes that are strong enough will do (10 - 12 mm for Docma Red Iron), the standard Docma rope is 100m but 50m would do us.

Self-employed in relation to tax is not to be confused with insurance requirements, it comes down to what the insurance policy covers. You would expect a bona fide sub-contractor to be insured but self-employed can be covered under the main contractors insurance.

The stump could be taken down further just above the ripple bark I would have thought being careful not to cut the stem next to it however the stump is probably providing some support to that decayed stem, the contractor possibly made the cut at that point so as not to cut the remaining stem ... best to leave things as they are in my view.

It’s probably one of those magnetic stove thermometers, we’ve got them on both of our stoves which are well worth having.

Depends on how straight the cordwood, dia and length but say reasonably straight 1m lengths and 7 -16cm dia hardwood then something like 1.5m3 loose split logs from one m3 stack of cordwood allowing for airspaces.

The Docma VF105 can be used for assisted felling and will hold if you stop winching. On best out there it depends really what you want to do with it/what's important to you, I chose the Docma V105 because of its weight, speed, the power that I required as well as price but I can understand why some would opt for the more expensive Eder 1800 which would be too heavy for carrying about in the woods and also I've never needed that amount of power.

Bought a Docma VF105 Red Iron from Treadlight about 3 years ago, it is used to extract firewood in sensitive/difficult areas to work, winching 25-30m max normally, it is used to also pull down hung up trees which it is good for as well as pulling trees over. It has been used for hrs at a time but never all day long. Considered all portable winches and it came down to the Docma VF105 and Eder 1800 but in the end opted for the Docma because 3.5kg lighter, cheaper (£700 + vat currently) also needed pulling power of 1000kg but not more and the speed was acceptable at 20m/min. Use only one choker at the moment but with shortwood (2m) just bunch the lot up and choker with a cable run though a cone. Not used for haul back of bigger winch. It works best when tension on rope like pulling up a slope or pulling down hung-up trees but when pulling downhill if the log slides or rolls the rope can become tangled up on the capstan, likewise on the flat if it get stuck and then surges forward it can become tangled otherwise no problems with it.

A 25cm long log will season more quickly than a 50cm but 50 cm better length for stacking also I find that a 25cm log in a crate with top covered will dry more quickly, it of course also depends on location and weather, have got oak down to 20% in one season but normally it’s two for me or 18 months.

Cut to <8cm (3") for two drying seasons then transfer to woodshed or barn before the autumn/winter wet weather ... seasoned quite a bit of oak and find it generally needs two seasons to get down to <20%.

Stopped selling kiln dried firewood a few years back as the air dried wood at <20% MC actually burned better than the kiln dried stuff and also works out considerably cheaper, nobody ever asks for kiln dried wood. Don’t buy in wood only standing or at rideside and locally sourced.

Hourly rate £8.20/hr - £9.50/hr to begin with. Oak generally splits easy, start from the outside and work inwards, some wood will be difficult/impossible to split with an axe and with some logs steel wedges will useful at times. With some jobs consider hiring in a log splitter and charge it out on top of labour rate. Be aware of risk of injury to leg area when using an axe as well as eyes also if driving in metal wedges with a sledge hammer or back of a log splitting maul wear ear protection and of course wear steel toe cap boots .

Haven’t been able to access site for days but it seems back to normal now without making any adjustments my end.

I deal with quite a lot of blown trees on the farmland and saws used are MS460 (76.5cc) 25" bar, MS362 (59cc) 16" bar and MS240 (42cc) 13" bar, the trees are mostly >160 yrs pine, lime and beech. The range of saws used is well suited in dealing with with blown trees of this size, the MS460, a nearly new second-hand purchase years ago, isn't much used but couldn't do without it. That MS500i looks like a good saw but haven't used it.

74m3 over 3 days how many people involved/man hrs on site? 9t of softwood processed how many people/many hrs on site?