Muddy42

Do you mean fuel hose disconnected from the carb or impulse line disconnected from the cylinder? Either way glad you got it sorted

Facebook market place is good and doesn't charge fees. But people tend to be quite flakey and don't reply to messages.

I have a small esse one and its OK but I wouldn't recommend it enthusiastically. Yes I can get it going but its on the hard side to light and smokes a bit. The top of the door is too close to the flue exit. Its been installed properly with a decent double skinned liner, flue insulation and a cowl. I used an equivalent 5kw Charnwood the other day and it was excellent.

Amazing. Ive never seen anything that thick

Box wood over 12 inches diameter is pretty rare.

Yes but I grow my own. Unbelievable stuff, fine evenly grained like ivory and very strong. Great for cutting a thread into or chess pieces or tool handles or knife handles. Keep some just in case you get the urge!

Not with a robo flail, but I once got my ears pierced by a flying piece of wire from a tractor topper. I was driving the tractor and turned to investigate why the cutter was making a weird noise. It turns out I had driven over some fencing wire. A hot piece of wire flicked out and pierced my ear lobe perfectly. I remember smelling the burning flesh and pulling the metal out. Amazingly the hole closed over and healed completely. I was very lucky it didn't get an eye. With robo flails, surely the machine could sense when the controller was too close?

Any wood as long as its seasoned and really dry. I like seasoning outside, so by the time that's done, its quite hard to tell what is what.

yes that makes sense. If It helps, my eco angus log boiler has three safety features. This is basically a jacket of water around a furnace which is pumped via a flow and return loop and the heat is exchanged into storage tanks. Firstly once the water reaches a set temperature the fan turns off and slows the fire down. Secondly if the jacket of hot water gets too hot, it will trigger a value which dumps the hot water out of the loop. This seems to happen if I set the temperature too high (say 90c) and don't have the radiators on enough (if its seriously cold and the radiators are on 24/7 90c is fine). I've never seen the third feature in action, but I can see the boiler is connected to the cold water supply - if triggered cold water floods in and cools the boiler somehow. In a power cut I guess the fan would stop working, and so would the pump, but the two valves would still provide a safety net.

I’d love to see a diagram of a hot water and radiator system back boiler from a stove if possible? I’m helping renovate a rental cottage which I think has such a system, but the former occupiers didn’t use it. I'm doing the heavy lifting/woodwork and organizing the other trades like plumbing and electric. It’s a small two story cottage without any obvious heat pump. I think I understand the concept that (unlike gas/oil central heating) it needs a vent/pressure/heat release in case the stove gets too hot. The person who lived in the property 10 years ago says it used to work fine – lots of hot water and warm radiators. If the system got to hot, he said you could hear it boiler off in the attic. But who knows what has happened since then. The attic is very hard to get into and had bees in it (!), so I haven't been up there yet. I am concerned that it might be too much of a ‘hands-on’ system for modern millennial tenants, who want guaranteed instant heat and hot water. So the system would need to work in tandem with electric. But if its working, I am loath to remove the system, purely because it would be so hard to replicate.

I'd wait until you have your tickets, PPE and a saw. Then try calling some farmers or people in rural areas. They always have trees falling on or hanging over fences and everyone needs firewood.

I agree with this. A small amount of wood burning furiously is more efficient than jamming the stove full of wood and letting it slumber. Plus this causes premature wear to the firebricks. Some modern eco design stoves for smoke controlled areas even prevent you closing the stoves down completely - either holes at the rear or some fixture in the vent that stops it closing fully. I'm not sure I am 100% comfortable with this, as there may be a safety reason to clamp the stove down completely if it got too hot for example. I struggle with my Esse One Eco design stove to be honest. There isn't enough metal between the top of the door and the flue, so it smokes back into the room when it is being lit, or the fire is cold or the window is closed or its windy. Yes I can make it smoke-free with a few tricks, but its not ideal. I feel its designed by scientists for perfect laboratory conditions. I'm going to try replacing the liner, adding a suspended cowl and insulating the flue. If that doesn't work I chuck it and buy a second hand clearview. I've never had problems with clearviews - I even swapped in my clearview from a different room - totally fine! Before anyone asks, its Scotland where the rules on DIY work are different.

Thanks all. I'm nervous that if I apply too much lifting power I'll just rip the fence out of the ground. I think I'll attempt the easy ones first (straight one-for-one replacement of sections) and then I'll have some smashed sections to play with or even scavenge metal from.

Hi All. I've gathered that a few forum members work on estates where 'estate fencing' might have been used so might be able to give me some advice. I have some of this fencing that needs attention. It looks quite like the below except much older (probably 80 years) and in shorter three-piece sections that look bolted together. Given its age its in fantastic condition, the damage looks fairly minor - for example where trees have fallen over the fence causing bending. For the minor re-bending, I was thinking of making some angle iron jigs that I can clamp on in situ, to straighten things out also with a hammer and a torch. For the major damage, I have access to some spare sections, that I will just replace one for one. However I've never worked on these before , so any advice or tips would be appreciated.

Please keep it rather than pour it down the drain - its still harmful to fish/rivers/septic tanks. for most applications, even downpipes you can reuse it many times.

No problem at all. Some sweeps or drainage people will only use the lock fast ones. Most require use of a key or spanner to lock/unlock every rod. It comes down to personal preference.

True, but the lockfast ones slow you down if you have to do repeated passes. With tricky flues I might go up and down three times (with progressively wider brushes). I've only had a 3/4 inch threaded one separate once and that was simply user error.

A long time ago I made the ‘no turning’ mistake. The draft seemed fine so I ended up just burning as usual. A half burned plastic fireball emerged a few weeks later. I learned my lesson and no problems since. Dont try this at home, i do not advise this technique, open fires are nasty, hot and dangerous etc etc.

I'm glad for you. Mine is a similar age and type of property. I have tried every trick up my sleeve with no success so far! First off obviously if you burn dry wood creosote is less likely to develop. However in reality most old properties will have some tar or creosote from years of use. This is flammable and can cause chimney fires. There are some aggressive brushes you can use, but I am nervous that these will cause harm to mortar and clay liners. One of my flues is pretty bad, so I am currently using this stuff. You sprinkle it onto the dying embers last thing at night once a week. Chimney and Flue Cleaner reduces tar, soot and creosote | VITCAS SHOP.VITCAS.COM Vitcas® CFC Chimney and Flue Cleaner is an excellent cleaning product for eliminating creosote, soot and tar deposits from chimneys and flue linings. Can even be used on... This is what I do. Its best to replace the bricks/panels before they crumble into pieces. I buy vermiculite of the same thickness and then draw round the old panels.

Yes I get the sweep in occasionally to keep the insurers happy, but I still think any reasonable proficient DIY-er should have their own rods. Open fires or older clay or brick flues can benefit from sweeping twice a year. Plus it keeps the professionals on their toes to know you have a set. My sweep doesn't go on the roof for insurance reasons so I do that just before he turns up. Plus you can quickly respond to jackdaw nests, clear gutter downpipes, drains etc. I'm also tempted to buy those thinner more flexible rods for the AGA and the stove flues.

I use the time tested 3/4 inch screw in drain rods. My record in a tall house was 21 rods. They are perfectly fine for lined brick or clay chimneys, but too stiff for narrow metal liners.

I like Clearviews, they are strong and look nice. Personally I have had bad experiences with modern ‘eco design’ stoves in old houses. These are designed to burn well at full pelt in perfect laboratory conditions NOT old houses with long/windy flues. I have one and its pants - hard to light and smokes back into the room. My clearview with an identical flues (same stack) lights easily and draws like a steam train.

Agreed, its making me sore just thinking about it!

For that type of abuse, I’d go for the either of the petrol husqvarna or stihl 40 or 50 cc options. The 50cc versions are amazing but heavier. I think they both have forestry versions with slightly shorter reach to help with sawing trees. You’ll want saw blade attachments not mulching to get through 3 inches of 12 ft gorse.

Totally agree, there is a shortage of charging capacity and queues as it is without all this anti-competitive nonsense. How was tesla ever allowed their own proprietary charger? So shortsighted. Mobile phones have been around for 40 years, have we not learned anything about the benefits of a standard charger.