john87

Yes, one thing you can be certain of with the law, is once you step in a court you have no idea what will happen. NOTHING is set in stone with a judge, there might be established case law, but they can choose to ignore this, there is a word for it, but it escapes me right now.. HOWEVER, you can guarantee, thet the one thing that a judge will have uppermost in his mind is the bit about "the disease which inflicteth the commonwealth" [the prevention of smoke] This disease blah blah thing comes from Heydon, a case from 1584, so i think it can be taken as well established by now.. You say i missed the "golden rule"... It is the golden rule which establishes that words shall be given their ordinary meaning, hence my bit about "animals" not including unusual things such as lions and tigers.. john..

Correct, 100% correct.. When a judge interprests the law, he reads the words of the act in question. The words are then, as far as possible, given their usual meaning. For example; the word "animals" has been held to mean ordinary everyday animals, and not for instance, lions and tigers.. Likewise, when trying to interpret acts, the judge loks at the intention of the legislators, in legal terms, what was the; "disease that inflicteth the commonwealth" that the legislators were seeking to legislate about.. So, no matter what clever devices designed to thwart the legislation that one might come up with, the judge will look at the intention behind the act, look at your actions, and decide and act accordingly.. It would not end well.. Having said all that, it has already been decided that the penalty for breaches of the act will be a civil penalty, a fixed penalty of £300 and this would be enforced as a civil debt [like a parking fine say] so the only time anyone would end up in a court is if they CHOSE to, which bearing in mind the above, would be a bit daft!! john..

As an ex HGV class one driver, do you know what REALLY and i mean REALLY winds me up?? When you are following someone in an artic and at roundabouts they drag the tyres all over the kerbs. They KNOW they are doing it, and they HAVE the ability not to, they are just wankers that think "not my tyres, i do not give a shit" Do lots of you come across arb workers that treat your stuff in the same way, or are arb workers expected to supply their own stuff?? john..

Ok... ASSUMING, that in any given scenario there is sufficient room for the larger trailer, you will in fact find that reversing is easier as the trailer will respond more slowly to steering inputs, and so be less "twitchy" [you know what i mean] AND it will also be easier to see where it is, so you will have no problems at all.. [I have a class one HGV so have towed just a few trailers, just a few miles in my time..] You will be fine.. john..

See, the top and bottom of it is, the whole entire idiot scheme was dreamt up, not even by people with good intentions, but by people purely motivated by greed.. john..

It all revolves around wood that is sold for the purposes of "combustion" so i would imagine it does not matter what form it is in. Still, if you sold slabs cut from a tree and said they were garden ornaments of axle stands you would be ok!! john..

Hey, guess what?? I could not care less about rules for selling wood, as 1, they do not apply to me, [as i do not sell wood], and 2, i have access to a 60 acre estate where i can get all the wood i want so i do not have to buy any anyway, and thirdly, i do not live in a "smoke free zone" so i could burn car tyres if i wanted to.. I am just trying to help you lot.. Laws, are interpreted literally: If a laws states, "wood" for example, it does not mean "coal" Having actually read the act concerned, there is NO reference to "supply" or "deliver" or any other like term.. The operative term is "sell" Soooo, unless you give the stuff away, there is no getting away from it.. Out of interest, how are wood drying kilns powered?? and does it not take rather a lot of power to dry out the wood?? Like, how much heat and i suppose you have to keep it up for weeks on end?? john..

I would imagine that insofar as fuel is concerned they are exactly the same. The only difference i would imagine between the different makes is the type of oil added to them. Stihl claim JASO FB for their's and Husqvarna claim JASO FD [the synthetic stuff] for their's.. john..

Hi All, I have only used the Aspen 4 stroke stuff once so cannot compare it to anything else. The Husqvarna stuff, i have used both sorts. Apart from my chipper that i bought second hand, the only fuel any of my stuff has ever seen is Husqvarna fuel. Yes, they say the stuff keeps for 5 years in the can or 2 years in the machine.. I know some people do not like the cost, and if you are using a machine every day, then you are probably going to be ok with pump fuel, but if your stuff is ever going to be stood for any more than a few days, well, you would have to be daft not to use the alkylate stuff.. As for starting and stuff, everything i have always starts instantly, no probs at all, hot or cold and i have quite a few different machines.. The exhaust fumes smell a bit strange though!! john..

Says here that sometime you HAVE to sell it by weight... Quantity of wood fuel Unless the local authority in your area has passed a bye-law that states otherwise, there are no requirements relating to the sale of wood fuel. Your local trading standards service should be able to confirm whether such bye-laws are in existence. Where there are local bye-laws wood fuel must be sold by net weight, and if it is in a container ready for sale the net weight must be made known to the customer. The requirement to sell wood fuel by net weight does not apply for quantities of less than 7.5 kg or more than 500 kg. If wood is sold by the 'truckload' with an indication of net weight, merchants are advised to weigh the vehicle on a weighbridge and obtain a weight ticket. If there are no bye-laws in existence then there are no requirements to sell by weight or to provide the consumer with a statement of the quantity provided. If, however, you make a voluntary declaration of weight that is incorrect in terms of quantity, you may be liable to legal action under the Weights and Measures Act 1985. The Solid Fuel Association website contains brief information on the Approved Wood Fuel Merchants Scheme. Customers of scheme members may rely on the correct descriptions being applied to wood fuel, advice on the safe and efficient use of wood burning appliances and levels of customer service in line with SFA standards. In England, from 1 May 2021, wood for domestic use can only be sold in quantities less than 2 m3 if it has been certified under the Ready to Burn scheme. Woodsure has been appointed by Defra to run the certification scheme that will come into force in England from 1 May 2021 for most wood fuel suppliers. If you are a small-scale wood producer who supplied less than 600 m3 of wood between 1 May 2020 and 30 April 2021, the scheme will apply from 1 May 2022. Sales of wood fuel greater than 2 m3 do not need to be certified. See the GOV.UK website for further guidance. john..

I agree with what you are saying, but the exact same situation applies to electricians doing notifiable work that are not registered with a scheme. I have yet to hear of ONE prosecution, other than the scams suing someone for falsely claiming the are a member when they are not.. I am not sure trading standards have a duty to do anything, merely a "power" if they so choose. I can tell you that they will refuse to act against people with lots of money too [from personal experience] IF you register, you can EXPECT a visit. [after all, you went and paid them to] If not, you "might" get one.. [cos now they are out of pocket] john..

Ok, so it turns out that the penalty is set at £300 This being less than £500, i know what i would be doing... Interestingly enough, the regulations all refer to a "person" What if the enterprise supplying the wood is a linited company?? Then what. How do you "fixed penalty" [it is not a fine] a limited company?? You cannot give a penalty to the bloke that drove the van, or the bloke serving in the farm shop, as they are mere employees.. Whole thing is unworkable, the LA has not the resources to get involved, the customers just want the wood.. I think you can all just forget about it to be honest.. john.. Fixed penalties 18.—(1) An officer of a relevant local authority who has reason to believe that a person has committed an offence under these Regulations may issue that person a penalty notice in respect of the offence. (2) A penalty notice is a notice offering a person the opportunity to discharge any liability to conviction for the offence to which the notice relates by paying a penalty in accordance with this Part. Contents of a penalty notice 19.—(1) A penalty notice must— (a)state the alleged offence; and (b)give such particulars of the circumstances alleged to constitute it as are necessary for giving reasonable information about it. (2) A penalty notice must also state— (a)the name and address of the relevant local authority on whose behalf the officer of the authority was acting when the notice was given; (b)the amount of the penalty and the period for its payment; (c)the consequences of not paying the penalty before the end of the period mentioned in paragraph (b); (d)the relevant local authority to whom, and the address at which, payment may be made; (e)by what method payment may be made; (f)the relevant local authority to whom, and the address at which, any representations relating to the notice may be made. (3) A penalty notice must also— (a)inform the person to whom it is issued of that person’s right to be tried for the alleged offence; and (b)explain how that right may be exercised. Amount of penalty and period for payment 20.—(1) The penalty is £300 in respect of the offence in respect of which the penalty notice was issued. (2) The period for payment of the penalty is the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the notice is issued. (3) An unpaid fixed penalty may be enforced by a local authority as a fine, a civil debt or as if it were a sum payable under a county court order. john..

Just thought i would leave you all a link to the regulations themselves, so in the event of any arguments you will have a copy of the actual act of parliament itself.. The Air Quality (Domestic Solid Fuels Standards) (England) Regulations 2020 WWW.LEGISLATION.GOV.UK These Regulations are made under section 87 of the Environment Act 1995 (c. 25). They make provision... They do not apply to wales or scotland.. situation unchanged there.. john..

Well, if the regulations state "delivery" then none of it applies to collections then. What if a separate arm of your business acted as a transport company transporting wood [for a fee] for people that had bought it... No rules broken there... john..

The difference between you and virgin, is they know they cannot bully virgin, as they know virgin have the money to take them to court and clean them out. LA managers are scared to take decisions despite the fact that they are paid as managers to take decisions. They are DEFINITELY scared to take decisions that might rub virgin up the wrong way.. One law for those with money, another for those without.. john..

Oil does a lot more than lubricate though. It does five things in fact, some of which may be a bit academic in a two stroke, but anyway, it; lubricates, cools, cleans and carries away impurities and keeps them in suspension, seals, and prevents corrosion.. Personally, i would use the ratio the makers specified, but if you have had no problems, then happy days.. I would be careful adding extra oil to premix though as the oil you are adding [the cheap stuff would be JASO FB] might not be compatible with whatever is in the premix [The oil in the stihl motomix is JASO FB so should be ok though] NEVER use anything that says API TCW on the label though.. This is for motor boat engines and has all the "goodness" taken out lest it hurt the fish.. As a point of interest, the makers of my ECHO saws state that you must use a JASO FD oil for them, and so i use the Husqvarna XP2 as this has the FD oil required.. john..

That is what i would do.. john..

No idea, it is a second hand one. So long as it is not broken i am not worried what defra or anyone else think!! Fed up of being frozen.... john..

ha ha! Nothing!! I just think it is demented that you all are subjected to this sort of crap, people trying to make you pay £500 a year to be able to sell your own wood. I had an idea... So, it only applies to sales of less than 2 cubic metres of the stuff, yes?? What would happen then, if the customer [i presume you all have regulars] signed an invoice for the supply of, say 3 metres of the stuff, but with staged deliveries and payments.. You would all be exempt then!!!! john..

And it will all be at huge expense.. People will not bother and just get gas central heating.. Oh, i forgot, the gas is running out.. They will all have to have electric heating.. Oh i forgot again, silly me, the government went and sold all the power companies to their foreign friends.. [and wonder why they have a deficit. every time you switch on a switch money flows out of the country] Funnily enough, I am going to get a log burner on the weekend. I can cut plenty of wood myself then and burn that.. john..

Yes, i see what you mean.... john..

Simple practicality, isn't it? To sell by weight I'd need some sort of massive scales, all I need to sell by volume is a tape measure. Not really.. i have a set of electronic crane scales. You could simply hook on a bag, press the "tare" button, and then throw in logs to the desired weight. You could dangle the whole lot from a chain block.. john..

Well, i dont think weight would be a problem. Take coal: there was all different sorts, some great, some not so great, some stoney imported shit, but you still bought it by weight. Calorific value did not really come into it. The customer bought the sort they bought and that was that. Problem with going all scientific like you say, is that once the customer takes it home and gets it all wet, all the figures will be wrong anyway.. Same thing with coal.. You would think coal was coal, but any old person will tell you that "old coal" was not as good as fresh coal.. You would spend more time explaining it all to the customer than you would working on trees!! john..

I would think selling it by weight would be best. That is how coal was always sold, and that worked ok. Say you sell a cubic metre of logs, what happens when the customer stacks them neatly and then says it does not measure a metre square?? john..

Well, at the end of the day, you could all just ignore the rules.. What will happen?? Precisely nothing. Look at the "part "P" thing for electrical work. Half the councils admit they are not interested. Sure, if you want to get building regs signed off you will have to have the appropriate cert, but even building regs do not seem to matter much.. The people next door to me built a great big extension, it was permitted development, but they did not even bother with building regs, neither did the council. They sold the house and the new people took out insurance in case the council ever did turn up [they did not] As for everything else, look at all the "electricians" on facebook and elsewhere. Most of them are not even qualified, never mind able to issue certs. Think the council even care.. The planning department here is only open a few days a week as they cannot afford enough staff. Even then it seems they are more concerned with pointless paperwork, "construction environment management plans" and that sort of nonsense, oh, and bats.. Take it from me, they have not got the time or money to worry about wood. As for the wood being tested at the customers place, the conversation in court will go some thing like this. The wood was dry when i sold it.. No it was not, and the inspector tested it and he said it was wet too Counsel for the defence.. "Was the wood wet when you got it??" no, Can you prove that?? it is wet now, the inspector said did it get wet after you bought it. no can you prove that?? it was wet it was wet!!! Let me put it another way, is it POSSIBLE that it got wet [burden of proof and all that] that it got wet at your place?? It never it never!!! Can you prove that.. case dismissed.. I would not even worry.. john...