Mr. Ed

Interesting that a Holder A50 according to its test data has similar ground clearance of 25 cm or so

I was assuming I'd go straight to Germany to be honest. After the events of recent years, Ireland is learning the joys of auto-translate and buying a lot of stuff from the continong rather than the UK. There's a sizeable community of Holderphiles in Germany and Kärcher, who now own the remains of Holder, have a spare parts service.

The Holders? Apparently yes - the earlier ones can be problematic apparently. But you always can get until suddenly you can’t. They’re supposed to be very robust, although I’ve seen several distressed messages on Arbtalk about finding clutches.

Understood about the centre of gravity. I’m reconciled to buying one in the UK or Europe-land. I work in the UK most of the time - Am here now for instance.

Thanks OSM. I’m in County Kerry as it happens. Very few such machines in the country let alone the county … Rigid with 4 wheel steering? You mean as opposed to articulating?

I need help! I need/want a wee tractor to negotiate our quite steep-in-part woods for winching and towing. I only have a modest budget and am generally happy with old scruffy things as long as they work. I’m no mechanic but our neighbourhood is full of good mechanics who can fix anything. I’ve gone all OCD about it and am torturing myself over a 20 year old AGT 835 and a 40 year old Holder A50. Similarish costs …. I do like the Holder vibe but also know I need to be practical. The only thing I know about these things is that I know nothing about these things. Apart from having a nice old Ford 4000 in the yard I have no practical experience and would very welcome advice from people who actually know. I’ve ransacked these forums quite extensively. I suspect either one would be fine - the Holder in question has a front loader which would be great, but will the loader make it more cumbersome in the woods? Take the bucket off I suppose and point the thing in the air? Also the Holder has a cab which is nice in the rain but I’m a big chap and it looks like it might be awkward to get in out of.

Thanks again Paul. I’m surprised they don’t specify what season the wood was felled - there must be a big difference even in hardwoods.

Wouldn't help with this one that seems to be under-registering!

Thanks Paul - in fact the 32 is the max reading of the Wagner! It so happens we have a flue man here doing a different flue and he's also given me a very stern telling off about the amount of creosote we've added to the flue he did just a couple of years back. I think I know what did it, as well - I used a whole metre bag of stuff that the cheap one had at 19%.

I used the spiky one on fresh split and across the grain and along the grain and on freshly cut endgrain and they all gave much the same number. I cut across the grain on purpose to give the posh meter a nice flat surface, in an attempt to remove a variable. And yes, the sticks are still quite heavy and yes they make a good thwack when you hit them together and they weren't grey but still a bit shiny, but I don't trust my instincts - I can't tell you how much trouble I've got into by following them throughout my life . . . Oh, and the wood itself is young ash - left cut in lengths for three years (I was busy) and then cut and split this last summer

So, I've managed to get in trouble (only for our domestic) by believe a cheap meter off the interthingy. Which one would you trust? The one that cost £15, or the one that cost £300. I wonder... By the way, the Wagner only reads up to 32%. In other words it's maxed out

Do you season in billets for ease of handling and then saw them, or use/sell them like that? I see lots of photos of cold European parts of the world doing it like that, but assume that they have very long burners.

It can be a great investment, as long as your accountant understands the PRCI basis: Psychic Return on Capital Invested.

aha I see they steer with a hydraulic ram at the hinge like an articulated tractor. Attractive also because it’s made from bits and pieces lying around I guess.

because he could? If it’s enough reason for dogs to lick their elbows … yours for 15k

Anyone seen anything like this? Take a 2wd tractor, remove the front axle, do something clever with the transmission so’s you can steer it, and join it to a trailer. seen in a Swedish small ad. Maybe it’s a thing there.

Fuel Stock — sawdustboilers.co.uk WWW.SAWDUSTBOILERS.CO.UK fascinating that they demand wet wood to burn! if your sawdust is too dry you must soak it before burning. Riddle me that …

Crikey, that's the real deal . . . Er, I don't think I'll show you mine . . . How long does a load take?

Thanks for this interesting post. Electric powered kilning? What sort of fuel cost do you see?

Now can you tell us the make of stove?

Thanks for this thread. I thought it was just me - we’re just cutting enough firewood for ourselves, and what seemed dry enough in September is now fizzing like sherbet and sulking like a teenager. I’m having to give even these little sticks a day or two in my “dehumidifier kiln” (aka a big cupboard with a fan a heater and a dehumidifier)

Books are shite to burn - more ash than heat. Use them for what they’re intended - underlay for motorways. BBC NEWS | England | West Midlands | M6 Toll built with pulped fiction NEWS.BBC.CO.UK

ah. Never heard that usage. Thx

“Cut them with no sink.”? Sounds interesting. What’s a sink in this context?

If there's doubt about an interpretation of a rule, it can be unwise to ask for a ruling. If formally asked, there is a tendency to favour the strictest interpretation. If there really is ambiguity then you at least have a case to argue (not to say you would win in the unlikely event...) and you're unlikely to be spanked for what you've already done, although you might be asked to do it differently. Many tales of outrageously strict interpretations of rules are in the context of players who have antagonised and repeatedly dodged the law: this is certainly true of planning problems. Civil servants are humans too.