Jump to content

Log in or register to remove this advert

Muddy42

Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    899

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Muddy42

  1. Muddy42
    yes I currently plan to feed, remove the fallen leaves and give it a few courses of various garden fungacides. Thanks
  2. Muddy42
    Well done. Now you need to make the gate! I often use oak immediately if its going to be used outside. On the third mystery cut where you got stuck, could you have maxed out the width of your mill and some part of the saw/mill come in contact with the bark or a branch? Its easy to do and I have done it a few times.
  3. Muddy42
    Yes here in west Scotland, I spend a fair bit of time burning and killing the common rhododendron ponticum (grows like crazy, purple flowers) but nurturing the less common garden varieties, with are much less invasive. Yes ponticum is poisonous and produces a mild narcotic smoke when burned I believed. But I'm not afraid of it, nor do worry about over shading of the garden varieties. Its taken 30+ years to grow 10 foot high!
  4. Muddy42
    Thanks. The area is fairly open and mixed in terms of trees, there are single spruces 500m away and blocks of sitka spruce about 1/2 a mile away. Happy to rake off dead leaves if you think that will make a difference. It was growing healthily for about 30 years. It was quite rare when planted, but less so now. Can you treat rust? I will google this also. thanks both
  5. Muddy42
    Pictures below of my Rhododendron Campylocarpum. Normally it has yellow flowers. For the last three years or so it has slowly wasted away. It has very few leaves and those few that remain don't do well. My working assumption is that it is some kind of fungal infection and I have treated it once so far (yesterday) with Triticonazole. I have also removed over-shading trees and branches and fed it some well rotted manure and a sprinkle of fertiliser. I have ordered some Ericaceous feed also. Any further diagnosis or advice would be gladly received! Thanks in advance.
  6. Muddy42
    That looks really odd. Are you sure the flue is clean, not broken somewhere inside and the liner is connected properly at the top? There appears to be two vents at head height, can you get one of them removed to have a look in? Try looking up at the flue with binoculars when the fire is lit in a range of weathers (rain, cold, damp, wind directions). Do the same at night with a bright torch, to see if there are any reflections of moisture running down the flue or wall.
  7. Muddy42
    I do use motomix in 2 strokes and find it works well,but this esso fuel is for my old quad
  8. Muddy42
    thanks I’ll stock up
  9. Muddy42
    is it still the case that Esso Synergy+ in England is ethanol free? Specifically near Luton? Im travelling for work and have brought some empty fuel cans, in case! Thanks
  10. Muddy42
    good idea
  11. Muddy42
    I agree it sounds like a fuel starve issue. You say the issue has reappeared, so I would try checking the whole fuel system again, for example sawdust or gunk could have got back into carb (tiny guaze filter). there are plenty of youtube videos showing you how to clean out a carb. Or as above the impulse line has come off. Also eliminate the simple things. Replace fuel and air filter, clean out the fuel tank, check tank breather is sucking air.
  12. Muddy42
    Indeed! One is always broken/blunt/jammed into a tree so you need another to get it out!
  13. Muddy42
    Just to add to what I said earlier, a 565 would be excellent size as a second crosscutting saw when milling with a bigger saw. That way you don't need to keep swapping one saw in and out of the mill. If it really is a decent price, go for it and upgrade later, you can never have too many saws! Just be aware you don't overheat or stress the saw. Leave the saw to idle for a while between cuts to warm up and cool down, keep the cutters really sharp, take your time and keep the kerf open with wedges applied by hand.
  14. Muddy42
    Those trees look a bit small and fiddly to process with machinery, but to your benefit the site looks nice and level. I'm aware of local firewood processors in Scotland offering £24 per tonne standing for about an estimated 300 tonnes of firewood. Its a b@stard of a location though (steep banks, lots of wet bits and streams) and access is not great. You get about double that if the wood is higher quality and fit for the mill.
  15. Muddy42
    What width of wood are you trying to create and is it hardwood or softwood? As described above, when milling, you lose at lease 4 inches of useable bar, plus its helpful to have a bit of wiggle room to allow for corners, branches, lumps and bumps. Then factor in the fact that the bark and outer layers of wood aren't that decorative or useful. 70 cc is generally considered the minimum power for a small mill. Yes you can make it work with lopro chain or even skip chain, but you'll always be right on the edge of the saws capabilities, even with a super sharp chain. Millings is really hard on saws and there are plenty of examples of saws that get burned out by this form of torture. If you havn't bought the saw yet, I'd seriously consider a more powerful saw. When milling you can use some of the older and cheaper second hand brake-less saws.
  16. Muddy42
    Or Jackdaws? They don't tend to like flues that are in use, but I've had them move in when I've been away for two weeks. They can put sticks down the chimney to try and form a base for a nest. Or the sweep in October might have disturbed the chimney pot or liner, causing an issue? Or there could be something wrong with the outflow from the stove to flue - broken vermiculite panel or baffle plate. Personally I'd want to separate the stove from the flue, clean the flue and remove all the ash with a dustpan and brush and then a hoover. Check the air intakes are working correctly not filled with ash and then smoke test flue and stove in turn with burning newspaper (open windows). Is the base of the firepan designed for multifuel (a grate - metal bars with gaps between them) or wood (flat surface)? If its the later don't use coal. Coal needs air and for the ash to escape easily, otherwise it slumbers and could easily cause CO.
  17. Muddy42
    Do this first. It is quite hard to have a carbon monoxide issue if the flue is lined and clean.
  18. Muddy42
    How thick is your recess? You can get as thin as 10mm deep double glazing panes made to measure. These are designed to replace single glazing. Once decorated they look great. Please use linseed oil putty rather than mastic. It looks better and will be more airtight as it expands and contracts in a similar way to wood and glass. Edit: sorry I just saw that you are concerned about them misting up. Modern units are meant to be way better than 1980s double glazing.
  19. Muddy42
    Thanks, learn something everyday. I do season wood as full lengths to save double handling logs and avoid having hundreds of IBC cage space. I think the rot is pretty minimal, mostly hardwood.. I also have an eco angus so its a fairly big scale operation.
  20. Muddy42
    I've always been told that if the wood is still rock hard and bound together by sap or covered in bark, the inner parts can't dry out, the water simply can't get out. You need to wash out the sap and effectively turn the wood into a bundle of straws. I understand though that a semi rotten wood theoretically has less energy BTUs, but maybe that the price you pay for a clean burn? I guess you could test this - measure the moisture on the outside and then split the log and measure the inside. Really wet logs hiss when you burn them. Isn't it the fact that the wood is wet that makes it burn cooler and dirtier. Maybe a kiln can dry the inside of green logs? i have no experience with kiln dried logs.
  21. Muddy42
    Agreed. I believe seasoning wood is a two stage process. First it needs to sit outside, to let rain wash out all the lignin, sap and starts the rotting process, then it needs to dry out. By the end a good sign is if the bark and some of the outside wood is starting to flake off.
  22. Muddy42
    I'm not in a smoke controlled zone. I just burn wood now. I hate smokeless coal and even real coal - its something about all the dust the smell, makes me feel a bit sick. I get it that seasoning wood takes space and time but it helps massively.
  23. Muddy42
    Sorry. I hit return before finishing the post. What I meant to add is that I think they are going about it the wrong way by focusing on the specifications of the stove/ fire place insert / flue etc. One of my fires is just a brick hole, but with decent wood the emissions are invisible.
  24. Muddy42
    When properly seasoned and dried wood is burning, the smoke is invisible from the outside of the house.
  25. Muddy42
    Its quite hard to say without a closeup side profile picture, but I'd say the first chain (top three photos) has taken a really big hit to a stone or something similar and has a few bluntened off points. All the teeth need to go back. Get a new file, it helps remove metal faster. A good scrub with petrol wouldn't go amiss either.

About

Arbtalk.co.uk is a hub for the arboriculture industry in the UK.  
If you're just starting out and you need business, equipment, tech or training support you're in the right place.  If you've done it, made it, got a van load of oily t-shirts and have decided to give something back by sharing your knowledge or wisdom,  then you're welcome too.
If you would like to contribute to making this industry more effective and safe then welcome.
Just like a living tree, it'll always be a work in progress.
Please have a look around, sign up, share and contribute the best you have.

See you inside.

The Arbtalk Team

Follow us

Articles

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

  I accept